High prices, segregated neighborhoods, crowded apartments… All of these problems stem from a single root cause: New York City doesn’t have enough housing.
We want to make it easier to build new housing in New York City. But changing housing and land-use rules is political. Politics is about organizing, showing up, and talking about it. Come to public meetings. Write and call your elected officials. Tell your friends. Meet us at our events
Help us make our city even better, and join our pro-housing movement today.
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CRAIN'S
COUNCIL WANTS TO SET HOUSING GROWTH TARGETS FOR EACH NEIGHBORHOOD—WITH NO ENFORCEMENT
Andrew Fine, policy director of the pro-housing group Open New York, said the council lacks the ability to impose construction mandates through regular legislation—instead, it would need to come through a citywide zoning text amendment, a charter revision to grant the council that power, or, more easily, through a state law.
Fine, of Open New York, called Adams’ legislation "a great first step," but one that should be paired with state legislation to have a real impact.
"Targets need enforceability and requirements in order to make a meaningful difference," he said. "We want to work with the speaker and the City Council to translate these targets into something that will be enforceable over time."
GOTHAMIST
EMPTY NYC-OWNED APARTMENTS COULD HELP SOLVE HOUSING CRISIS, POLICY GROUP SAYS
Open New York, a group that advocates for development and renter protections, identified more than 200 rent-stabilized apartments in vacant buildings controlled or funded by the city as part of a crowdsourced survey on empty units. That’s likely a fraction of the total, said Andrew Fine, the group's policy director. Fine, a former official at the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, called for “a public reckoning” to revamp the city-owned units that are sitting empty, pitching a proposal to expedite repair deadlines and a push to rent apartments sooner. "This shows that there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit out there," Fine said. "When we talk about government being a meaningful player in solving the affordable housing crisis, we need to think about the things that are just staring at us already."
Become a Member
Housing and land-use is political.
To meet our goals, we need to organize and work at the political level. That means attending community meetings, writing letters to our elected officials and speaking up as much as possible.
By becoming a dues-paying member of Open New York, you can support our advocacy and ensure you are kept up-to-date on all member actions. It will also give you access to our very active Slack where you can talk about anything from bike lanes to the latest City of Yes Zoning Text Amendment. We encourage you to become a member today!
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Opening our neighborhoods to more housing means more benefits for our neighbors, friends and family. More tenant bargaining power. More integration. More equity. More access to the best city in the world.
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