Mayor Adams's signature "City of Yes" rezoning proposal faces an uncertain vote in the City Council this week, but the mayor's would-be election challengers strongly support the Adams administration’s approach to boosting housing production.
The Council looks like it will water-down the mayor's quest to eliminate mandatory parking citywide by creating a three-tiered system — one that will end up creating less housing than promised.
Too bad for Hizzoner that challengers Zellnor Myrie, Brad Lander, Scott Stringer, Jessica Ramos and Zohran Mamdani — all Democrats — aren't on the Council.
“I urge the Council to resist efforts to revise the proposal in any way that would yield fewer homes,” Myrie, a state Senator from Brooklyn, posted on X after the news broke of the Council’s proposed modifications. “If we want to build a city where every New Yorker can put down roots, then every neighborhood and resident has a role to play in supporting more housing. It’s time to build our city up – not water down solutions.”
Comptroller Brad Lander, a vocal critic of the administration, announced his support of the plan in late October. Lander said in a statement that he “supports” the “common sense policy” and highlighted that the unamended proposal would allow New York to “catch up” with other cities that have enacted policies to reverse exclusionary zoning.
“The proposals would help us catch up with cities across the country that are working to end exclusionary zoning and further fair housing goals, correcting for dozens of rezonings over the past 20 years that limited new development in neighborhoods with strong access to public services. In particular, allowing new development in transit-rich neighborhoods will help increase New Yorkers’ economic mobility and access to opportunity,” said Lander.
That was slightly different than the tiny hedge Lander gave to City and State in its article about this same topic.
“I urge the Council to resist NIMBY pressure to trim the proposal and roll back urgently needed housing reform,” Lander told that outlet. “New York City will never pull out of our housing affordability crisis if we continue to prioritize parking spaces over housing in transit-rich neighborhoods.” (The differentiation of neighborhoods that would be free of parking mandates vs. those that would not is the key "NIMBY pressure" that Lander simultaneously urged the Council to resist.)
Scott Stringer, who also ran for mayor in 2021 after serving as the city’s Comptroller, told Streetsblog that he urges the Council to pass the plan in order to build more housing in the five boroughs. However, he added that he sees the plan as a small step towards addressing the city’s housing needs.
“[The City of Yes] is ultimately a drop in the bucket. The passage of City of Yes is a small step in the right direction, but let’s not take a victory lap. At the end of the day, this minimalist proposal is a small part of a long journey to make sure that working people can live and thrive in our city,” said Stringer.
Mamdani, an Assembly member from Queens, showed his support for removing parking mandates citywide at a “people over parking” rally in September. The Democratic Socialist spoke to the crowd urging the City Council to get rid of the mandates that force developers to build costly parking garages, therefore hindering housing production.
“While we cannot address the housing crisis through zoning actions alone, ‘City of Yes’ is a good start," he told Streetsblog. "Every neighborhood needs to be part of the solution, especially areas that are well-served by mass transit. The Council's recommendations make some important improvements that complement the proposal, particularly in the financing of deeply affordable housing, investing in infrastructure and protecting tenants. I do, however, oppose changes that would create less housing, especially watering down the elimination of the parking mandate."
Ramos, a state Senator from Queens, had the most nuanced view of the zoning proposal, telling Streetsblog that the mayor hasn’t done enough to ensure the plan is successful and that in her view the plan was introduced “too late” in his tenure.
Then she offered a statement that had an air of NIMBY.
“I urge the Council to hold the line and resist any efforts to weaken efforts to make our city a place working families can continue to call home,” Ramos told Streetsblog in a statement. “The urgency of the crisis suggests that we work with community boards diligently to solve for the units needed while protecting the character and uniqueness of our neighborhoods.”
But Ramos did add that she would vote “yes” on the plan if she were a member of the City Council.
Independent candidate Jim Walden, who on the day he declared for mayor issued a "special message to the media" to promise that he'd answer questions because "freedom of the press is an essential freedom in our democracy. Full stop," has not responded to Streetsblog’s inquiry.
