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TESTIMONY

Rashida Tyler from the New York City Council of Churches on the City of Yes proposal and its potential impact on affordable housing development

8:33:31

·

3 min

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Rashida Tyler, Deputy Executive Director of the New York City Council of Churches, expresses general support for the City of Yes proposal while suggesting modifications to allow more time for community input. She highlights the potential of the proposal to increase affordable housing development, particularly for faith-based organizations, but also expresses some reservations about its effectiveness in addressing the multifaceted housing crisis.

  • Emphasizes the need for at least 40 housing units to make projects feasible for faith-based organizations, which current zoning often prevents
  • Points out that zoning changes are only one part of the equation in creating conditions for affordable housing development
  • Expresses concern that developers may still gravitate towards lower-income areas rather than wealthy neighborhoods that have traditionally resisted housing development
  • Generally supportive of the City of Yes proposal
  • Believes changes should be made to allow more time for community boards and residents to comment
  • Supports policies that create more affordable housing
  • Current zoning often prevents houses of worship from building enough units to make projects feasible
  • City of Yes has potential to increase housing in communities that need it most
  • Zoning is only one part of the equation in addressing the housing crisis
  • Concerns about whether the policy will achieve its goals of creating more affordable housing
  • Highlights the multifaceted nature of the housing crisis, including lack of affordability and political will
  • Expresses skepticism about assumptions that building more housing will lower costs and lead to equitable development across the city

[EXPERIMENTAL]

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

  • Campuses

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.

Campuses

"Over this past year, I've had the opportunity to speak with faith leaders across New York City from the far rock waves to Staten Island to Central Brooklyn, Harlem, the Bronx, who would love to build affordable housing to serve their communities."

This quote indicates that the speaker is discussing the Campuses element of the proposal, as it mentions faith leaders wanting to build affordable housing, which aligns with the proposal's aim to allow campuses, including faith-based ones, to use underused space for housing.

"Through the partnership for face based affordable housing and community development, the collaborative offers forgivable predevelopment loans to congregations that wish to develop affordable housing In order to do this, we need to do a site analysis to determine a project's feasibility."

This quote further supports the discussion of the Campuses element, as it specifically mentions congregations (which are often part of faith-based campuses) developing affordable housing, which is a key aspect of the Campuses proposal.

"All too often, we find that current zoning prevents houses of worship from building the number of units which would make it a project feasible. The city of yes, would enable these congregations to move forward with building for their communities."

This quote directly relates to the Campuses element of the proposal by mentioning how current zoning prevents houses of worship (which are often part of faith-based campuses) from building housing, and how the City of Yes proposal would enable them to do so, which is exactly what the Campuses element aims to achieve.


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?
Rashida Tyler
8:33:31
Thank you.
8:33:32
Good evening.
8:33:33
My name is Rashida Tyler.
8:33:34
I'm the Deputy Executive Director of the New York City Council of Churches and their project manager for the Interface Affordable Housing Collaborative.
8:33:41
Well, I'm here to say that we are generally supportive of the city of yes proposal and in general of support supporting policies that create more affordable housing and practices that help to develop and maintain housing that's affordable to people and communities that have literally built the city.
8:34:00
While we are supportive of the city of yes, we believe there are some changes or modifications that could be made to allow community boards more time and residents more time to comment and for the proposal to undergo any occasions to ensure it meets the needs of the many communities across the city that are desperately in need of affordable housing.
8:34:21
As people who are closest to the problem are closest to the solution.
8:34:25
Over this past year, I've had the opportunity to speak with faith leaders across New York City from the far rock waves to Staten Island to Central Brooklyn, Harlem, the Bronx, who would love to build affordable housing to serve their communities.
8:34:39
Through the partnership for face based affordable housing and community development, the collaborative offers forgivable predevelopment loans to congregations that wish to develop affordable housing In order to do this, we need to do a site analysis to determine a project's feasibility.
8:34:54
Fusibility is often tied to how many units can be developed on a parcel.
8:34:58
We have found that 40 units is generally the number where projects can fill out.
8:35:03
All too often, we find that current zoning prevents houses of worship from building the number of units which would make it a project feasible.
8:35:11
The city of yes, would enable these congregations to move forward with building for their communities.
8:35:17
The city of Yes, has the potential to increase housing in the community that needs it most.
8:35:24
And I say potential because creating the conditions right for affordable housing development are necessary and zoning is only one part of that equation.
8:35:34
I would like to highlight the earlier testimony of Maida, Bronsuma, who highlighted the context of the text amendments matter.
8:35:41
Nothing exists in a vacuum.
8:35:43
The reality is the housing crisis is multifaceted.
8:35:46
And can be viewed as a lack of housing, yes, available housing, which a city of y'all y'all can help with, but is also a lack of affordability and a lack of political will and often the will on neighbors to create housing in their communities.
8:36:00
I would like to believe that if we build more housing, costs would be lower.
8:36:04
I would like to believe that if we open up all areas of the city for development, the developers would choose to develop in those areas that are more wealthy and have traditionally refused building housing instead of gravitating toward historically lower income areas that have less resources to fend off development.
8:36:22
Or to have the development in their communities that they wish to see.
8:36:26
I would really like to believe these assumptions.
8:36:28
However, my experience, my background is housing organizer and advocate make me a little hesitant.
8:36:34
While it is true, the more affordable housing development is essential to addressing the housing crisis, it is unclear that this policy will achieve those goals.
8:36:43
Thank you.

Follow-up discussion/remarks

QUESTION

Commissioner Osorio asks for recommendations to achieve City of Yes goals

8:36:44

·

96 sec

Commissioner Juan Camilo Osorio asks Rashida Tyler for recommendations to address uncertainties and achieve the goals of the City of Yes proposal. Tyler provides suggestions to improve affordability and community engagement.

  • Tyler recommends using a small area formula instead of Area Median Income (AMI) to better reflect local affordability needs
  • She suggests extending the time for community outreach and education about the proposal
  • Tyler emphasizes the importance of involving communities in policy development to improve outcomes
  • Generally supportive of the City of Yes proposal
  • Believes changes should be made to allow more time for community boards and residents to comment
  • Supports policies that create more affordable housing
  • Current zoning often prevents houses of worship from building enough units to make projects feasible
  • City of Yes has potential to increase housing in communities that need it most
  • Zoning is only one part of the equation in addressing the housing crisis
  • Concerns about whether the policy will achieve its goals of creating more affordable housing
  • Highlights the multifaceted nature of the housing crisis, including lack of affordability and political will
  • Expresses skepticism about assumptions that building more housing will lower costs and lead to equitable development across the city

[EXPERIMENTAL]

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

  • Campuses

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.

Campuses

"Over this past year, I've had the opportunity to speak with faith leaders across New York City from the far rock waves to Staten Island to Central Brooklyn, Harlem, the Bronx, who would love to build affordable housing to serve their communities."

This quote indicates that the speaker is discussing the Campuses element of the proposal, as it mentions faith leaders wanting to build affordable housing, which aligns with the proposal's aim to allow campuses, including faith-based ones, to use underused space for housing.

"Through the partnership for face based affordable housing and community development, the collaborative offers forgivable predevelopment loans to congregations that wish to develop affordable housing In order to do this, we need to do a site analysis to determine a project's feasibility."

This quote further supports the discussion of the Campuses element, as it specifically mentions congregations (which are often part of faith-based campuses) developing affordable housing, which is a key aspect of the Campuses proposal.

"All too often, we find that current zoning prevents houses of worship from building the number of units which would make it a project feasible. The city of yes, would enable these congregations to move forward with building for their communities."

This quote directly relates to the Campuses element of the proposal by mentioning how current zoning prevents houses of worship (which are often part of faith-based campuses) from building housing, and how the City of Yes proposal would enable them to do so, which is exactly what the Campuses element aims to achieve.


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?
Dan Garodnick
8:36:44
Wait.
8:36:44
Before you go, commissioner, sorry, I have a question for you.
Juan Camilo Osorio
8:36:47
Thank you, Jared.
8:36:47
Thank you for your testimony.
8:36:49
So I wanted to ask you about that last sentence.
8:36:51
So what recommendations do you have for us in terms of what the CDOS could do to break that uncertainty and actually achieve what it's promising.
Rashida Tyler
8:36:59
Right.
8:37:00
So in terms of affordability, looking at applying a more small area formula than AMI, AMI as it is, yes, it's a policy aspect that has to be worked on in a broader context is will not help create affordable housing.
8:37:15
The AMI for New York City and for other areas is much higher than the what the average worker makes.
8:37:22
So even if you're targeting and trying to create affordable housing, using AMI, it's going to be out of scale.
8:37:28
The other thing is an extended period of time to a more lengthy period of time to allow communities to actually learn about this.
8:37:36
One of the reasons these partnerships started holding meetings with faith leaders is because I was walking into Rome, talking to pastors, and no one had heard of the city of yes.
8:37:45
Like, I'm talking 40, 50, 60 pastors, and no one had heard of it in Queens.
8:37:50
In Far Far Walkway Queens, South Jamaica Queens.
8:37:54
No one had heard of it.
8:37:55
And so we began holding these conversations, which the DCP has been at and has been amazing in.
8:38:01
But I'm not sure how many of those conversations took place before.
8:38:06
And policies improve when people are involved.
8:38:09
And so it's not saying that we can see either yes or no.
8:38:12
We have to say this is a structure that we can work with and we can modify, and
Sara Penenberg
8:38:16
the communities who make
Rashida Tyler
8:38:18
New York, New York are entitled TASTER Site.

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