Ronda Wist
4:02:38
Good afternoon, Chair Riley and and Council members.
4:02:42
Previously, I was the Director of Landuse of the City Planning Department, Executive Director at Landmarks And Vice President of MAS.
4:02:49
Now I'm in the board of friends of the upper east side, but today I'm speaking on behalf of myself.
4:02:54
I was very disappointed that this is the best that the city's urban planners could come up with from Manhattan.
4:02:59
My neighborhood, Yorkville needs affordable units because for years, decision makers, and the media have been silent as hundreds of reasonably priced units have been replaced by luxurious oversized condos.
4:03:11
City planning says that every community must take a little more housing.
4:03:15
Using York Hill as our evidence, we know that the trickle down theory of real estate development does not work.
4:03:21
Zoning and zoning lot mergers combined with lack of planning have actually caused the destruction of affordable units.
4:03:27
These demolished 4 to 6 storey buildings housed New Yorkers for decades, the very people that decision makers purport to care about.
4:03:34
Could you possibly fool yourselves into thinking that more ultra luxury buildings will foster even a tiny number of affordable units?
4:03:41
If that's the case, why hasn't that happen in your field?
4:03:44
Zoning to allow even taller buildings will not address our affordable housing crisis.
4:03:49
How we learned nothing from the past when affordable and dense developments such as the historic Cherokee apartments, Tudor City, converted hotels, Penn South, and SROs were constructed.
4:03:59
Small family apartments and studios were offset by outdoor space.
4:04:03
We need affordable apartments, knock grandiose three story lobbies, indoor soccer pitches, and yoga studios.
4:04:09
If the city wants to add housing that will support existing communities, it must partner with other agencies and entities financial, social, union, environmental, and neighborhood.
4:04:18
Otherwise, this document is simply a real estate road map to promote $4,000,000 apartments in ghost stores, make a few more developers even richer and neighborhoods even less diverse.
4:04:28
City Council, Yorkville needs affordable units, and the city of yes needs your help.
