Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Zack Viera, Member of the Public, on housing crisis solutions including ULURP and member deference reform
2:21:52
·
3 min
Zack Viera, a New York City resident, testifies on the housing crisis, advocating for reforms to member deference and the ULURP process.
He argues that individual council members should not have unilateral power to kill housing projects and supports reforms to the land use review process (ULURP) by consolidating advisory portions to expedite development. Viera believes these structural changes are crucial for increasing housing production to meet demand.
- Viera believes NYC's housing emergency since 1960 is due to not keeping pace with housing demand.
- He argues against council member deference, where individual members can block projects, likening it to feudalism.
- He advocates for reforming ULURP by consolidating advisory review stages to speed up the process for housing projects.
Zack Viera
2:21:52
Good evening, commissioners.
2:21:53
My name is Zach Vieira.
2:21:55
I've lived in New York City for five years, and I hope to spend the rest of my life here.
2:22:01
I wanna start by thanking the commission and staff for putting together the preliminary report.
2:22:05
I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging it was and impressed by how information dense it managed to be.
2:22:13
And I especially wanna thank executive director Alec Schoenbach, for his beautiful letter and the reminder of how we might choose to view our beautiful city.
2:22:23
Like any city, though, we're experiencing growing pains.
2:22:26
As the report notes, New York City has been in a declared housing emergency since 1960 with a current net rental vacancy rate of just 1.4%.
2:22:37
This clearly isn't improving.
2:22:40
Every few years, the city council extends the housing emergency, but we haven't been able to dig ourselves out of it yet.
2:22:48
I firmly believe that this is because we haven't kept pace with the demand for housing in the greatest city in the world.
2:22:55
To fix that, we need to significantly increase our housing production.
2:23:00
The report outlines a number of ideas to address this crisis, but I believe two areas have the most potential for impact, member deference and ULURP reform.
2:23:12
Charter revisions targeting these structural issues could make a meaningful difference in our ability to build enough housing to meet demand and eventually reach a more sustainable equilibrium.
2:23:23
On member deference, I don't think it's acceptable that individual council members can unilaterally kill building projects in their districts.
2:23:31
I agree with Queensborough president Donovan Richards who likened the current system to feudalism, treating council members as feudal lords who rule over land as though it were a personal fiefdom.
2:23:44
If we want a more diverse, less segregated city, we need cross district collaboration to support housing development equitably.
2:23:53
A lot of what we know about how development decisions play out comes from the projects that do get proposed.
2:24:00
But in many districts, developers don't even bother trying, as was brought up earlier in this meeting, knowing that under the current deference system, their projects are likely dead on arrival.
2:24:11
As the report points out, in the last decade, some council districts saw no applications at all, and only five of 51 averaged more than one per year.
2:24:21
That's deeply telling and troubling, especially since this practice isn't even codified in the Charter.
2:24:27
There's also real opportunity in reforming our land use and zoning procedures.
2:24:31
ULURP, as it stands, is a long and complex process.
2:24:35
Since I know this has already been the subject of much testimony, I'll just say I agree with the most common recommendation: consolidate the advisory portions.
2:24:45
This would still allow for thorough review while avoiding unnecessary slowdowns.
2:24:50
As Parkinson's Law reminds us, work expands to fill the time allotted, and the example of the New York City subways being approved in only one week shows what's possible.
2:25:00
ULIP is robust, but at this point it may be too robust for a city facing an urgent housing crisis.
2:25:07
Thank you, Vice Chair Greenberger, and members of the Commission for your time and attention.