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Discussion on concerns over small unit sizes in affordable housing projects
1:19:57
·
166 sec
Council Member Salamanca raises concerns about the small sizes of units in affordable housing projects, particularly in 421-a developments. Acting Commissioner Tigani explains the regulations governing unit sizes and the considerations that go into determining apartment dimensions.
- Salamanca notes that bedroom sizes in some projects are extremely small, describing them as 'match boxes'
- Tigani explains that unit sizes are governed by multiple dwelling laws and building codes
- The commissioner highlights the challenge of balancing the number of units with size constraints due to lot configurations and zoning
- Salamanca suggests that council members should push for larger unit sizes when approving projects
Rafael Salamanca
1:19:57
But commissioner, I have concerns about the sizes of the units of of that we are approving or that we're building here in the city Of New York.
1:20:07
I've approved over 10,000 units of a % affordable housing in my nine years here in the council.
1:20:12
As I'm visiting these these buildings, the unit sizes or the the bedroom sizes are match boxes.
1:20:21
They're small.
1:20:22
You could barely fit in a a bed and a a stand and a TV stand there.
1:20:29
And and as I'm visiting also, there's been an increase of fourteen twenty one a development happening.
1:20:35
I I don't know if, you know, they they started the foundation before it expired, and I'm visiting some of these units.
1:20:42
And those units are even smaller than the ones that we negotiated here in HPD.
1:20:46
What oversight does HPD have on the the unit sizes of these four twenty one a projects?
Ahmed Tigani
1:20:53
So just thank you for the question and, you know, thank you for your advocacy of getting so many units through.
1:20:59
Just to talk quickly about it, building size apartment size and unit size is governed by the multiple dwelling laws.
1:21:05
So it starts with state regulation over the minimum.
1:21:09
So that's the minimum of what's required.
1:21:11
And then generally speaking, anything that has to do with the New York City building code and what's the minimum versus the maximum would live within the building code.
1:21:20
For HPD subsized projects, we do try to think of a thoughtful, efficient design that not only again tries to get as many units, but also incorporates things like sustainability features, know, ADA accessibility features.
1:21:35
We have heard about the push for different unit size.
1:21:40
It for us really is a question of trying to get a reasonable number of units because we're in this housing crisis, but also sometimes the lot configuration or the building envelope zoning constraints, those can contribute to what kind of and how many units and how big those units are.
1:21:58
So we do try to take every project in front of us and maximize it.
1:22:02
We've heard about the number of larger apartments, but we also try to maximize unit size when we can, but there are other considerations that
Rafael Salamanca
1:22:10
we have to I don't don't have thank I don't have much time.
1:22:13
Yeah.
1:22:13
I the council member Darlene Neely did something very smart a few months ago.
1:22:18
She she was gonna kill a project if they did not increase the the size, the square footage of those units.
1:22:25
And I wish I would've I would've used that philosophy when I started here nine years ago, but for my colleagues that are here, take that into consideration.
1:22:32
HPD, you need us to approve these projects, and you need to work with us in terms of bigger unit sizes.
1:22:37
And it's just unfair to the families that we're housing when we're putting them into these small, small units.