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TESTIMONY

Pascale Leone, Executive Director of the Supportive Housing Network of New York, on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and its impact on supportive housing

8:42:15

·

3 min

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Pascale Leone expresses support for the City of Yes initiative while highlighting concerns about potential unintended consequences for supportive housing providers. Leone emphasizes the importance of supportive housing in combating chronic homelessness and calls for modifications to protect existing units and the ability to build more supportive housing.

  • Strongly favors the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) for providing more floor area ratio bonuses to build more supportive housing
  • Expresses concern about the loss of off-site options for generating certificates or bonuses, which have been crucial for nonprofit providers
  • Requests permanent ability to sell existing air rights and consideration for supportive housing filed as use group 2 or 3
  • Supportive housing is effective in combating chronic homelessness and providing critical services
  • Supportive housing increases property values of neighboring buildings
  • The network supports the goals of City of Yes with some conditions
  • Concerned about the removal of off-site options for generating certificates or bonuses
  • Request for zoning text language to make existing air rights certificates permanent
  • Concerned about potential loss of value for existing certificates under proposed text
  • Request for zoning text to embrace supportive housing equally when filed as use group 2 or 3
  • Supportive of City of Yes goals but believes modest amendments are needed to protect existing units and ability to build more supportive housing

[EXPERIMENTAL]

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

  • UAP

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

"We are strongly in favor of the UAP that will provide more floor area ratio bonuses build more buildings and more supportive housing."

This quote directly mentions UAP (Universal Affordability Preference) and indicates support for it, showing that the speaker is discussing this element of the proposal.

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?
Pascale Leone
8:42:15
Good evening, Teragoronic and members of the commission.
8:42:17
My name is Pascal Leon.
8:42:19
I'm the executive Director of the support of housing network of New York.
8:42:22
The network represents more than 200 nonprofits that develop and operate supportive housing across the state, We also have over 80 affiliates and more than 120 corporate members.
8:42:33
We are the state's only supportive housing membership organization and
Agnes Vendina
8:42:36
serve as a the voice for
Pascale Leone
8:42:38
the provider community.
8:42:40
Supportive housing, I know some folks have mentioned it on the call, and just by definition, has been around for more than 4 decades and is one of the most effective approaches to combat chronic homelessness, providing mental health and substances counseling, job training, case management, and other critical services tied with deeply affordable subsidized quality housing that has been shown in countless studies to effectively end chronic homelessness.
8:43:03
In addition, other studies have demonstrated that supportive housing also increases the property values of its neighboring buildings refuting frequent and often misguided assertions that supportive housing has sustained negative impact on neighboring property values.
8:43:18
The network enthusiastically supports the overarching goals of City of Yoss with some conditions as the need for affordable and supportive housing units have never been greater with record homelessness, as I mentioned, the ongoing affordability crisis, the rising rents that continue to outpace income.
8:43:35
All of which have driven vacancy rates to historic lows and demand for housing source.
8:43:40
I want to be clear that restrictive zoning that is resulting in a system of de facto dough redlining as a vestige of slavery in Jim Crow.
8:43:47
Black and brown in lower income New Yorkers where we see the most migration have been disproportionately impacted by these trends and addressing these historic and present day harms as mission critical.
8:43:57
We are strongly in favor of the UAP that will provide more floor area ratio bonuses build more buildings and more supportive housing.
8:44:05
However, there are elements of City of Yoss that can be fortified as we believe there are unintended consequences that can negatively impact our community.
8:44:13
Namely, we are concerned that there will be no longer be an off-site option that could generate certificate or bonus as I as currently in the VIAH.
8:44:22
This will be a lost to our members.
8:44:23
These funds have enabled nonprofit providers to acquire properties and build additional units to how vulnerable populations, including seniors.
8:44:31
It seems to us that we'll be losing something very important.
8:44:34
We understand that vesting of outstanding air rights certificates are originated under the current term that's under consideration with DCP, which we really appreciate.
8:44:43
However, we like to see them at zone text language.
8:44:46
Also, their ability to sell those existing rights be permanent and not just for a specific period.
8:44:52
Furthermore, some of our members possess certificates issued or being generated under the current bonus ratios.
8:44:58
Under that proposed test, they will lose much of their value significantly reducing financing for future supportive housing.
8:45:05
In addition, we'd ask that the zoning tax consideration, consider specifically embracing supportive housing equally when it's filed as use group 2 or 3.
8:45:14
Looking at the time.
8:45:14
I just want to say that the network is conceptually supportive on the underlying goals, a city of a yes.
Dan Garodnick
8:45:21
Okay.
8:45:23
Okay.
8:45:23
Thank you.
8:45:23
Do you want to finish finish your sentence there?
8:45:25
I would
Nuha Ansari
8:45:26
We just believe that strongly that
Pascale Leone
8:45:28
would some modest amendments that we outlined would really protect existing units and our ability our provider's ability to build more supportive housing.
8:45:35
Okay.
UNKNOWN
8:45:35
Thank you.

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