World to Council: Say ‘Yes’ to the End of Parking Mandates in City of Yes

What do some of the city's wealthiest developers, strongest YIMBYs, venerable environmental groups, key labor groups, top architects, livable streets non-profits, housing advocates and Shams daBaron have in common?

By Gersh Kuntzman

9:54 AM EST on November 14, 2024

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Lots of people want the City Council to end parking mandates.

They all support the Adams administration's efforts to foster housing development by eliminating costly parking requirements.

A who's who of New York leadership groups — 50 to be exact, plus one high-profile homeless advocate and former mayoral candidate — sent a letter today to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and her restive 50 fellow lawmakers demanding that the Council approve Mayor Adams's City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning initiative, which promises to create more than 100,000 new units over the next 15 years ... if the Council doesn't water it down at its expected vote next week.

"Collectively, we encourage the Council to include lifting parking mandates citywide, without exceptions, in the final version of City of Yes," the groups wrote, calling the zoning initiative "critical," but also, "in many ways it is modest" because it spreads the additional housing across the entire city.

"No one neighborhood will feel a sudden increase in housing," the letter continued, preemptively addressing one of Speaker Adams's concerns. "This gradual development means there will be time for the city to invest in critical infrastructure, including improved public transportation, to meet the needs of new residents."

But the main trust of the letter was bolstering the part of City of Yes that appears to have the weakest support of the full Council.

"We must lift parking mandates to provide the flexibility for our neighborhoods to evolve over time, rather than locking in car dependency for generations to come," the groups said. "In many cases in New York City currently, we see developers building more parking than is currently required, showing that the mandates are not necessary. On the other hand, in many places mandated parking is being built where it is not needed and is sitting empty. New York City is diverse and current mandates do not reflect that diversity. Lifting parking mandates would provide the flexibility for parking construction to meet demand and match future goals."

As Streetsblog has exhaustively documented, eliminating mandated parking won't eliminate parking, but it will allow developers to construct more housing in areas where the current level of parking isn't needed, such as near transit. Each parking space costs developers $67,500 on average, and up to $150,000 — costs that typically result in less affordable housing being built.

Crucially, City of Yes includes incentives for developers to build affordable units — but if those units also require parking spaces, the numbers don't pencil out and City of Yes will "not actually result in additional affordable housing" because of the mandate.

"Cities that have abolished parking mandates have seen a surge in the amount and affordability of new housing created," the letter added. "When New York City lifted parking mandates for affordable housing in the transit zone, production of affordable units increased by 36 percent." That's a big boost for a city that is slated to have a regional housing shortage of 920,000 units by 2035.

The same is true of the City of Yes plan to allow for the creation of accessory dwelling units. Few homeowners would convert an old garage into a new rental unit if the unit required the construction of a new parking space, too.

"We strongly support lifting parking mandates citywide, without exceptions," the group concluded, urging the Council to "meet the moment."

The letter was signed by (partial list):