Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Annemarie Gray from Open New York on housing reforms
1:34:58
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154 sec
Annemarie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York, testifies in strong support of the four housing and land use proposals.
She calls them essential reforms to address the city's housing shortage and break down the hyperlocal veto points that keep neighborhoods segregated and expensive.
However, she urges the commission not to put additional controversial non-housing questions on the ballot, fearing they could distract from and endanger the success of the vital housing reforms.
- Gray expresses excitement for the four housing proposals, calling them a priority for her organization.
- She believes the reforms will add teeth to the fair housing framework and allow for the type of modest, incremental growth that has been difficult under the current system.
- She supports the land use appeals board as a way to balance hyperlocal vetoes.
- She strongly recommends not adding controversial election questions to the ballot, as it might risk the passage of the housing reforms.
Annemarie Gray
1:34:58
Good evening, commissioners.
1:34:59
My name is Anne Marie Gregg.
1:35:00
I'm the executive director of Open New York, an independent grassroots pro housing nonprofit with hundreds of volunteer members across the city of state, and I'm testifying on behalf of the organization.
1:35:10
The housing issues you are considering are so important that I am in front of you for the third time this year.
1:35:15
As I've said previously and as both of the preliminary and interim reports explain clearly, our housing affordability crisis is rooted in a dire shortage of homes, which is exacerbated by the current design of our land use review process.
1:35:27
I am very excited to see questions one through four address the priorities I have highlighted in my previous testimony and years of work at Open New York.
1:35:35
Question number one is a type of fast track for for fair housing proposal that has been our top priority, adding teeth to the speaker's fair housing framework and real accountability for low growth neighborhoods that have been allowed to opt out of being part of the solution for far too long.
1:35:50
Question two will help break down our current system where nearly every proposal is a toxic fight, where only the largest and best resource developers can afford to go through the lengthy and costly public review process, where small climate resiliency projects hit unnecessary barriers, and where the type of modest incremental growth that has defined our city for generations can be an option again.
1:36:10
The proposed land use appeals board in question three, is along the lines of reforms that other cities and states have adopted to balance the hyperlocal veto points that keep our neighborhood segregated, exclusionary, and expensive.
1:36:23
It is essential for the final details of this proposal are designed to prevent bad faith rejections of new housing, not undermine pro housing council members who are negotiating for better projects in good faith.
1:36:35
Question four, there are so many invisible and unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles that make it hard to approve our city.
1:36:40
This is an easy low hanging fruit reform that can speed up building more homes.
1:36:44
We look forward to learning more about the details of the final questions, but I recommend these four advance to the final stage.
1:36:52
The additional questions being considered about elections are outside the scope of Open New York's focus.
1:36:56
However, I strongly recommend you do not put additional controversial nonhousing questions on the ballot that risk distracting from the success of the housing reforms.
1:37:05
Explaining complex and complex housing and land use issues in plain language enough for the median voter to understand and building support for them will be hard enough.
1:37:14
The urgency of smart reforms for our land use process and the unique opportunity and responsibility for the commission to do everything in your power to help bring down the cost of housing for New Yorkers is too great to endanger.
1:37:25
We have a real chance to reform the city charter to address our housing crisis ensure we remain a city not just for the privileged few.
1:37:31
The stakes are very high.
1:37:32
Thank you.