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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Howard Slatkin, Executive Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Council

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Howard Slatkin, Executive Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Council and former senior city planning official, testifies strongly in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) proposal. He urges the council to approve it in its current form and emphasizes the need for fair housing across all neighborhoods.

Slatkin presents CHPC research showing how restrictive zoning has reduced housing opportunities, particularly affecting communities of color.
He advocates for a diverse range of housing types, including subsidized affordable housing and privately financed options.
Slatkin recommends expanding the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) off-site option and launching a basement legalization program.

Howard Slatkin

0:44:25

Thank you.

0:44:26

Excuse me.

0:44:27

Chair and council members.

0:44:28

I'm Howard Slatkin.

0:44:28

I'm the executive director of Citizens Housing And Planning Council and a former longtime senior city planning official responsible for policy unaffordable housing and zoning.

0:44:37

I'm pleased to testify strongly in support of this proposal, and I encourage the council to approve it in substantially its current form.

0:44:46

First, I'd like to urge the council to adhere to the vision of fair housing that the speaker has so eloquently articulated.

0:44:53

Every neighborhood must fulfill its responsibility to contribute to meeting our housing needs.

0:44:59

CHPC's research has documented how highly restrictive zoning, has decimated the ability to add housing in particular in low density districts eliminating 37% of the land, zoned for low density apartment buildings, and barring the legal addition of a unit to small homes.

0:45:14

This disproportionately hurts communities of color.

0:45:18

Black homeowners are three times more likely to rely on rental income and are more vulnerable to being squeezed out when all we allow our single family homes.

0:45:28

2nd, I encourage the council to think expansively and inclusively about housing of all types.

0:45:33

Our vast and diverse city needs all this subsidized affordable housing we can finance publicly, as well as privately financed housing for all kinds of households.

0:45:41

The more we restrict new housing to a narrow just right formula.

0:45:45

The more we're going to consign New York as to expensive and ill fitting housing and fan the flames of gentrification.

0:45:52

We need not just adequate zoning, but to harmonize it with affordable housing resources and with programmatic support for housing.

0:45:58

The council and administration should work together to launch a basement legalization program based on the recommendations of the base program.

0:46:05

I also urge the council to expand the applicability of the UAP off-site option to everywhere UAP applies to enable the creation of supportive housing in high income neighborhoods rather than only in the low income neighborhoods where it is typically built today.

0:46:21

I also urge the council while I'll add any other recommendations in writing.

0:46:24

Thank you.

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Testimony by Emily Kurtz, Chief Housing and Development Officer of RiseBoro Community Partnership