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TESTIMONY

Robert Fanuzzi, President of Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, on flaws in the City of Yes for Housing proposal and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

4:36:42

·

3 min

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Robert Fanuzzi, representing the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, argues that the City of Yes for Housing proposal and its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are fundamentally flawed. He calls for a new or supplemental EIS to address several critical issues.

  • Questions the EIS's ability to document specific housing needs and criticizes its reliance on a supply-side academic thesis
  • Argues that affordability should be the primary need addressed, with the proposal designed to meet this goal
  • Calls for an alternative analysis to measure less impactful steps and compare the proposal to other potential measures
  • Expresses concern about the proposal's impact on sustainability and climate adaptation, particularly regarding increased flooding risks
  • The City of Yes for Housing proposal and its EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) are fatally flawed
  • The EIS needs to document more specific housing needs
  • Affordability should be scoped as a need, not just a desired outcome
  • The EIS should include alternative analyses to measure least impactful steps
  • The proposal does not adequately address sustainability and climate adaptation needs
  • The proposal rewards the real estate industry without addressing specific housing needs
  • A new or supplemental EIS is needed to realistically calculate housing growth and its impact on communities

[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

"UAP lettuce recall is voluntary."

The speaker directly mentions UAP (Universal Affordability Preference) and criticizes its voluntary nature, indicating a discussion of 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?
Robert Fanuzzi
4:36:42
Sorry about that.
4:36:44
Thank you all.
4:36:45
I am president of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality.
4:36:48
We believe that the city of yes for housing proposal and its EIS are fatally flawed and that the CPC cannot reach its conclusion until it unless it demands a supplemental or better yet New EIS is the following questions.
4:37:03
Number 1.
4:37:04
What housing need does or can this EIS document?
4:37:09
In lieu of empirical comparisons of disaggregating has a tranche of submarkets and income needs, the EIS adopts the supply side academic thesis.
4:37:20
This is not planning.
4:37:21
It is development, and the CPC is not a development agency.
4:37:26
This EIS must document more specific housing needs, such as the missing middle, so that the proposed action has a planning purpose.
4:37:36
Number 2, is affordability scoped as a need or included as a desired outcome?
4:37:43
The stated need makes it impossible to evaluate the contribution of the proposed action to affordability goals.
4:37:51
Affordable housing should be the need and the proposal reverse engineer to reach you.
4:37:57
UAP lettuce recall is voluntary.
4:38:00
Absent this purpose stated in a bench, it's disingenuous to claim that this proposal will increase affordability.
4:38:09
Great.
4:38:10
Does the EIS included in alternative analysis, which to measure the least impactful step?
4:38:17
Having roiled community boards across the city and opposition.
4:38:22
DPC has a right and an obligation to test the proposed actions against all other measures and steps, including improvements to MIACQA, more streamlined administrator procedures for permitting, and embargoed rental units that could impact housing supply.
4:38:41
Number 4, How can the CPC sale pace a sale passed sustainability in climate adaptation needs?
4:38:50
Seeker asked only for sewer capacity, and the particular DEP division does not have a record of Naysay.
4:38:57
CPC must explain to the public increased flooding risk that additional impervious surface and development will mean to their communities.
4:39:08
We believe that this proposal skirts the hard work of increasing housing supply where and for whom it is needed.
4:39:15
It rewards an industry already responsible for wild imbalances between housing supply and demand.
4:39:23
And which has disenfranchised the younger generations whose housing needs, as we've heard today, break hearts.
4:39:30
Unless and until the CPC demands a new or supplemental EIS that realistically calculates housing growth.
4:39:37
And its impact on communities.
4:39:40
City of YETs will bring business as usual and all its unintended, familiar consequences.
4:39:46
Thank you.

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