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TESTIMONY

Nuha Ansari from Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts on concerns with the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal

0:36:11

·

3 min

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Nuha Ansari, Executive Director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, expresses concerns about the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. While supporting the goal of creating more affordable housing, Ansari argues that the proposed zoning amendments fail to address key issues and may have negative impacts on neighborhood character and public review processes.

  • Criticizes the proposal's reliance on market regulation of prices, citing failures in the Upper East Side where affordable units have been demolished for luxury high-rises
  • Expresses concern about weakening public review processes and potential negative impacts on historic districts and neighborhood character
  • Argues against reducing rear yard sizes and eliminating open space requirements, emphasizing the importance of light, air, and green space in high-density areas
  • The market has failed to regulate prices and create affordable housing on the Upper East Side
  • Concerns about weakening the public review process and transparency
  • Potential destruction of historic district character due to changes in landmark transfer development rights
  • Reduction in light, air, and green space due to proposed changes in rear yard sizes and open space requirements
  • Need for zoning that prioritizes resident well-being and creates truly affordable housing
  • Urges the commission to consider alternative solutions that strengthen neighborhoods and ensure an inclusive review process

[EXPERIMENTAL]

Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?

  • UAP
  • Campuses
  • ADU

The following are AI-extracted quotes and reasoning about which elements of the proposal were discussed in this testimony.

This is a quick, close approximation. Occasionally, the connection between a testimony's transcript and specific elements of City Planning's proposal is tenuous.

Read about this AI-generated analysis here.

UAP

"The proposed universal affordability preference allows developers to opt out of creating affordable housing by foregoing additional SAR."

This quote directly addresses the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) element of the proposal, highlighting a concern about its implementation.

Campuses

"Lifting open space requirements for tower and the park campuses also could lead to development that destroys valuable Green Space that residents depends on."

This quote directly addresses the campus element of the proposal, specifically mentioning concerns about changes to open space requirements for campuses.

ADU

"Propose changes like reducing rear yard sizes and eliminating open space requirements in favor of accessory dwelling units with diminished light, air and green space."

This quote directly mentions accessory dwelling units and discusses concerns about their impact on open space and living conditions.

About this analysis:

This analysis is done by AI that reasons whether or not a quote from the testimony discusses a particular element of the proposal.

All the prompts and data are open and available on Github.

You can search for testimonies that mentioned a specific element in the table on the main meeting page.

When an element is explicitly stated in the testimony (e.g. "Universal Affordability Preference" or "UAP"), the analysis is accurate.

But the connection between a quote from the testimony and an element of the proposal is sometimes implicit.

In these cases, the AI might eagerly label a testimony as discussing a proposal when the connection is tenuous, or it might omit it entirely.

↗ Why are there transcription and diarization errors?
Nuha Ansari
0:36:11
Terrible Rodnick, honorable commissioners.
0:36:14
My name is Nuhan Sari speaking on behalf of friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
0:36:19
You might actually not find my testimony wholly in favor of City of Yes.
0:36:24
We like many New Yorkers.
0:36:26
Share the goal of creating more and relatively affordable housing across the city.
0:36:32
However, we believe zoning amendments should be approached in a context draw an equitable way that is respectful of the public review process and of neighborhood character.
0:36:43
City of Yes, a housing opportunity proposes to rely on the market to regulate prices, a system that has demonstrably failed, on the Upper East side, an area that has also seen hundreds of existing relatively affordable units in historic housing typologies such as tenements, demolished for ultra luxury high rises.
0:37:05
The proposed universal affordability preference allows developers to opt out of creating affordable housing by foregoing additional SAR.
0:37:16
We need zoning reform that prioritizes the creation and preservation of truly affordable housing, especially in high density neighborhoods like ours.
0:37:26
We're concerned furthermore that the proposed amendments would weaken the public review process in several instances by shifting decision making to the commission level as in the case of the landmark transfer development rights.
0:37:41
This removes valuable community input and undermines transparency.
0:37:46
We urge the commission to maintain and strengthen these vital processes.
0:37:51
As preservationists, we are concerned about changes to landmark tons of development rights, which would now be able to travel to receiving sites much further away and with no public review.
0:38:03
This could destroy the character of historic districts and neighborhoods.
0:38:07
We also caution against the proposed streamlining of zoning text that is specific to a special purpose district as this could potentially undermine their special character.
0:38:19
Propose changes like reducing rear yard sizes and eliminating open space requirements in favor of accessory dwelling units with diminished light, air and green space.
0:38:32
And especially important in higher density areas like the Upper East side, the donut holes at the interior of our city block for instance are crucial for mitigating heat.
0:38:43
We need zoning that prioritizes the well-being of residence by ensuring access to light, air and green space.
0:38:52
Lifting open space requirements for tower and the park campuses also could lead to development that destroys valuable Green Space that residents depends on.
0:39:01
We urge the commission to consider alternative solutions that strengthen our neighborhoods prioritize resident well-being, ensure a transparent and inclusive review process and create a path to more affordable housing.
0:39:16
Thank you for your time.
Dan Garodnick
0:39:17
Great.

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