Council Approves Adams’ ‘City of Yes’ Housing Agenda, With Many ‘No’ Votes

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams celebrate at City Hall the Council passing the City of Yes housing plan, Dec. 5, 2024. -Photo by Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Splitting 31 to 20, those voting in favor cited the high cost of housing, while opponents raised concerns about funding and who will ultimately benefit. 

This Article originally appeared in The City. 

By Samantha Maldonado

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NEW YORK - A divided City Council gave the go-ahead Thursday on an update of the city’s zoning codes projected to create new capacity to construct up to 80,000 new residences over the next 15 years.

The Council voted 31 to 20 to advance Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes for Housing Opportunity agenda — with some members saying they were moved to approve the package after obtaining concessions from the mayor’s original plans.

The overhaul aims to address a housing shortage that has given New York City its lowest rental vacancy rate since 1968.

Before casting her vote in support, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) made an impassioned speech on the floor of the Council chambers, saying New Yorkers who need places to live are counting on the Council.

“I am tired of the homelessness rate going up. I am tired of my community going south because their city is unaffordable for them to live in. I am tired of watching daily people on the brink of eviction and other means of losing their homes,” she said. “This cannot be the Council that turns their back on [the] homeless. This cannot be the Council that turns their back and continues to say ‘Scrap it.’ Let’s move ahead.”

City of Yes aimed to create a “bit more housing in every neighborhood” in order to address growing inequities between areas that have produced a disproportionate amount of new housing and others insulated from new development by restrictive zoning codes.

The vote culminated a long campaign by the mayor and deputies. Administration officials, including Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick and First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer appeared at rallies at City Hall over the past year to galvanize support for City of Yes, joined by some borough presidents.

Meanwhile, fierce opposition arose in many outer-borough areas — including eastern Queens, southern Brooklyn and Staten Island — where residents voiced fears the zoning changes would dramatically alter the character of their neighborhoods and put further pressure on stretched sewers and streets. Some tenant advocacy groups also criticized the plan, saying it would not create truly affordable housing.

The plan moved forward despite the opposition and a politically weakened mayor. Negotiations between the Council and the administration got down to the wire and resulted in a scaled-down plan.

As part of negotiations, the Council secured $5 billion — including $1 billion from Gov. Kathy Hochul — to invest in sewer and flood-prevention projects, as well as initiatives that include financing for affordable housing development, expanded legal services for homeowners, help with down payments and a boost for rent vouchers. 

In a press conference after the vote, the mayor and Hochul celebrated the outcome.

“This milestone vote by the City Council will clear the way to build a new generation of affordable housing for our city,” Adams said. “It is not just four walls that we’re building: it is hope, it’s opportunities, it’s a safe haven. Today, we say yes to that.”

Hochul called New York City the state’s economic engine, one she wanted to make more affordable. 

“The biggest expense anyone has is their rent or their mortgage payment, if they’re lucky enough to have a home,” she said. “It comes down to one thing: building more housing will drive down the cost of housing.”

Bigger Buildings

Among other measures designed to boost growth, the new zoning lets developers build larger buildings if they include more than the minimum required housing for lower-income tenants, allows a minimum of five stories in areas that are close to transit and above retail, and makes it easier to convert office buildings to apartments.

In the chambers, Councilmember Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) framed her support of the plan as an acknowledgement that the city is “woefully behind in housing production.”

In response to concerns from officials representing mostly low-density, suburban-style districts with many single-family homes and high car dependency, changes made to the proposal prior to a committee vote last month slashed the expected housing by about one-fourth.The Council speaker defended the changes. “Our modifications to the zoning reforms balance respect for neighborhood character — because not all districts are alike — with the citywide need to build housing, especially to build affordable homes,” she said. “While we recognize the importance of zoning reform to build more housing, especially amidst the housing shortage, we knew more was needed to keep New Yorkers housed and address growing housing insecurity.”

In the original proposal, three- to five-story buildings were allowed half a mile from Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road stations, but are now only allowed within a quarter mile. Those buildings are also no longer allowed in areas with single-family homes.

While the original proposal sought to get rid of parking requirements for new development entirely, the plan that passed Council instead preserves parking mandates in most areas but scales them back, dividing the city in three zones. Now creating parking for new housing is optional in most of Manhattan plus western Brooklyn and Queens, with reduced minimums in areas in outer boroughs close to public transit. Elsewhere, the status quo remains — new development must include a prescribed minimum number of parking spaces.

Apartments in basements and garages — known as accessory dwelling units — would be limited to a single story unless they include parking, backyard cottages are limited to one-third of the yard space and homeowners must live on the property in order to build one of these types of apartments. First-flood and basement apartments would be banned in places prone to coastal and stormwater flooding. 

The amendments won the votes of some who had been on the fence, including Councilmembers Althea Stevens (D-The Bronx), Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn) and Nantasha Williams (D-Queens).

“I recognize halting the advancement of housing development will only deepen this crisis and harm the communities that I fight so hard to serve,” Stevens said, explaining her yes vote.

Still, the modifications didn’t appease everyone. 

Councilmember Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan), voting no, described the City of Yes as a giveaway to developers, while others criticized it as a one-size-fits-all approach. Councilmembers Bob Holden (D-Queens) and Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) called the $5 billion commitment “Monopoly money,” that they didn’t trust.

The Council also approved three pieces of legislation to accompany the City of Yes plan. Two bills set up a basement apartment legalization program and lay out safety standards for those and other types of so-called accessory dwelling units. The third would reestablish a tax incentive to help co-op and condo owners rehabilitate their homes.

City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is the third of three City of Yes land use packages from Mayor Adams, two of which — for businesses and environmental projects — the Council previously approved.

Multiple groups — including Open New York, the New York Building Congress and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development — weighed in after the vote to emphasize that City of Yes and the accompanying $5 billion spending plan represented just the start of the work ahead.

“Passing City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is a very important victory that will spur much-needed housing development all across the city,” said Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein in a statement that reflected a common sentiment. “While a critical and welcome step, there’s more to be done to solve our housing crisis.