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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Adolfo Carrión Jr., Commissioner of HPD, on housing segregation and the 'Where We Live NYC' plan
0:07:49
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6 min
Adolfo Carrión Jr., Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), outlines the city's history of housing discrimination and segregation, detailing the 'Where We Live NYC' plan created to address these issues.
He emphasizes the ongoing challenge of uneven housing production, particularly the lack of low-cost housing in many neighborhoods, which limits choice for New Yorkers. Commissioner Carrión Jr. stresses that while HPD is making progress, systemic change, including zoning reform, is crucial to achieving true housing equity.
- The 'Where We Live NYC' plan aims to dismantle discriminatory housing practices and promote equity.
- Data shows NYC is diverse but remains segregated, impacting life outcomes like health and financial stability.
- Housing production is highly concentrated, with 10 community districts producing as much housing as the other 49 combined in 2023.
- Limited affordability areas exclude low-income New Yorkers due to the lack of low-cost housing options.
- Commissioner Carrión Jr. calls for policy changes, highlighting 'choice' as the guiding principle for HPD's commitment to New Yorkers.
NOTE: the meeting's audio starts 7 minutes in, so part of Adolfo Carrión's testimony is cut off.
Adolfo Carrión Jr.
0:07:49
And preferences.
0:07:50
But the city has a long way to go.
0:07:53
Discrimination, the lack of available housing, and the dearth of low cost and affordable rental housing all deny New Yorkers the choice in where they live.
0:08:04
HPD was a primary architect of the city's Where We Live NYC plan.
0:08:12
Where We Live is an unprecedented and comprehensive set of commitments to undo New York City's legacy of discriminatory housing practices and replace it with justice and equity for those who make New York City their home.
0:08:25
The plan was completed at a moment when the federal government was backing away from its commitment to the Federal Fair Housing Act.
0:08:33
Five years on from its release, Where We Live is recognized as a landmark.
0:08:40
It continued to hold strength through both the pandemic and an administration change, and it was an inspiration for the historic citywide zoning reform at which you know City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
0:08:54
Just to create where we live, HPD and its partners spent countless hours examining data, holding community conversations with more than 700 New Yorkers, and considering exclusionary housing practices from every angle.
0:09:09
We heard from New Yorkers that their experiences around segregation and integration are complicated.
0:09:15
But above all else, we took from those interactions the message that New Yorkers need choice, choice in where they live.
0:09:23
As part of where we live, we looked at multiple approaches to understanding the city's residential patterns and how those patterns have changed since 1990.
0:09:33
Taken together, the data show that the city is increasingly diverse yet still segregated by race and ethnicity by most measures.
0:09:45
And I know we have some visuals up on the screen that demonstrate this reality.
0:09:55
We also identified that life outcomes based on race, disability status, and other characteristics protected by fair housing laws correlate strongly with the city's patterns of segregation.
0:10:08
Asthma rates in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of Mothaven and Melrose, for example, were outsized compared to those from lower density, more affluent and white parts of Queens, and even parts of Manhattan.
0:10:24
Similarly, in neighborhoods with the highest ratios of pawn shops and check cashers to banks and credit unions, all areas with predominant populations of people of color.
0:10:35
Most neighborhood residents had subprime or unscorable credit.
0:10:41
Taken as a whole, the data in Where We Live reveals that the neighborhoods we call home affect our access to essential services, including affordable transportation, quality education, safe streets, and various goods and services that enhance our well-being.
0:10:56
And you can see the visual, about the asthma rates and the credit mats.
0:11:02
Undoing the city's legacy of segregation requires various interventions and investments.
0:11:07
We must address the uneven distribution of housing production, especially the production of low cost housing so that New Yorkers can choose to live in the neighborhoods that are best for them.
0:11:17
Currently, however, new housing production is highly concentrated.
0:11:22
In recent years, some neighborhoods have added virtually zero housing, and some are even losing homes.
0:11:29
Specifically, in 2023, '10 community districts produced as much as the other 49 community districts combined, a factor that contributes to the existence of limited affordability areas.
0:11:44
Now limited affordability areas are neighborhoods that fall below the thirtieth percentile citywide in terms of the number of homes that would be affordable to the median income New Yorker.
0:11:58
Because of the lack of low cost housing, low income New Yorkers cannot choose to move to limited affordability areas and are effectively excluded from these communities.
0:12:10
And you'll see up on the board our housing production map and the limited affordability area map.
0:12:18
HPD is working to make sure that there is more housing, especially low cost and affordable in every neighborhood.
0:12:26
Since the release of the where we live of where we live in October 2020, we incorporated, into our principles and our work to make good on the on on on on the where we live commitments.
0:12:39
HPD and its partner agencies have met 50% of the planned commitments with over 90% in progress and or toward completion.
0:12:50
But HPD cannot truly unlock the power of housing development toward a more equitable and just New York alone.
0:12:57
Key to our progress and to greater housing equity are the zoning practices and policies that make it possible to develop affordable housing in all neighborhoods.
0:13:09
In addition to the commitments the city has made as part of where we live and consistent with the spirit of those commitments, local law one sixty seven of 2023 requires the city to set community district housing production targets and to conduct an assessment of unique community housing needs.
0:13:28
To meet those targets, the city will need more tools to dismantle the obstacles to fair housing that have existed for generations.
0:13:37
HPD has continued to sound an alarm.
0:13:40
Barriers to housing and neighborhood choice are not just part of our city's history.
0:13:44
They are a deeply unfortunate part of its present.
0:13:46
And there is a version of the future in which we allow policies of discrimination and exclusion to persist.
0:13:55
The watchword from HPD's perspective is choice, the choice that all New Yorkers should have to live in the types of buildings, neighborhoods, and communities that suit their needs, the needs of their families, their health, and identities.
0:14:09
HPD views choice as our commitment to New Yorkers, and we believe it is our obligation to raise awareness of this commitment at every chance.
0:14:17
We hope that the commission shares this commitment in its deliberations and that the changes to the charter reflect it.
0:14:24
Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today.
0:14:26
And to all of you, thank you for your service to the City Of New York as part of this commission.
0:14:32
Thanks.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:14:32
Thank you so much, Commissioner.