Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Cormac Slade Byrd, Member of the Public proposing Council supermajority and at-large seats
2:45:12
·
3 min
Cormac Slade Byrd proposes two specific charter reforms to combat the housing crisis by addressing member deference and promoting supply: requiring a City Council supermajority vote to block housing projects during a declared emergency, and adding 10 citywide at-large Council seats to introduce broader perspectives.
- Byrd argues current processes fail to address the root cause: insufficient supply.
- Proposal 1: Amend section 197d to require a supermajority (e.g., 3/4) Council vote to disapprove housing projects during a housing emergency.
- Proposal 2: Amend chapter 2 to add 10 citywide at-large Council members to balance local interests.
- He believes these reforms would force recognition of the emergency and facilitate needed construction, citing historical examples and recent Cambridge, MA reforms.
Cormac Slade Byrd
2:45:12
Good afternoon.
2:45:13
My name is Cormac Slade Byrd.
2:45:14
I urge this commission to take bold action to perform the charter for a more prosperous New York City.
2:45:19
For decades, our city has been mired in a housing emergency, a crisis declared year after year with little to no real change.
2:45:26
For over fifty years, we have simply hoped that the emergency would fix itself, but housing remains as unaffordable as ever.
2:45:32
This failure exposes our inability to address the root cause, insufficient new housing supply.
2:45:37
There are two proposals that can help break this cycle.
2:45:40
To help contextualize these proposals a little bit, they're working on the member deference problem that Howard Slatkin eloquently brought up earlier today.
2:45:48
First, we must reform city council's role in land use decisions during a housing emergency.
2:45:53
Today, the council can block or dilute new housing proposals with a simple majority vote repeatedly stifling projects essential to increasing our housing stock?
2:46:02
What if instead, during a declared emergency, the council power to disprove land use decisions be raised to a super majority threshold?
2:46:10
This change to section one ninety seven d would force the council to take its own emergency declaration seriously, ensuring that only proposals with near unanimous opposition can be blocked.
2:46:21
Second, we need to reshape the council's composition so that it represents the entire city rather than narrow local interests.
2:46:29
With 51 district based members, our current council is often paralyzed by parochial pressures.
2:46:35
Let's add 10 citywide at large seats, to chapter two of the charter.
2:46:40
This would inject a broader perspective into the legislative process.
2:46:44
These representatives, accountable to all New Yorkers, would focus on metropolitan wide issues and help counterbalance localized resistance to progress.
2:46:53
Consider the transformative potential of these reforms.
2:46:56
In the early nineteen hundreds, New York built over 700,000 new housing units in less than a decade, a construction boom that stabilized rents, created and created vibrant diverse neighborhoods.
2:47:07
This historical example shows that bold supply driven policies can reshape a city's housing market.
2:47:13
As a great New York City Politician once declared, far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glory triumphs, to win glorious triumphs, or eve even though checkered by failure.
2:47:26
The spirit of daring innovation has been lacking here in New York City.
2:47:29
While the recently passed city of yes was a step in the right direction, it was significantly watered down and pales in comparison to what we could be doing.
2:47:37
Just this week, Cambridge, Massachusetts passed zoning reforms, which eliminated outdated single family restrictions and now allows six story buildings to be built citywide.
2:47:46
It is now more restrictive to build in Brooklyn than it is in Cambridge, a disparity that must change.
2:47:52
In summary, these two reforms work in tandem to break the cycle of inaction that is just that has defined New York City's housing policy for far too long.
2:48:00
By imposing a super majority requirement for blocking new housing during an emergency and by expanding the council to include citywide voices, we can set up New York on a path toward real rapid change.
2:48:11
Thank you to chair Berry and the, charter revision commission.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
2:48:14
Thank you so much.