NYC Council Approves $5B ‘City of Yes’ Affordable Housing, Infrastructure Proposal

NEW YORK CITY — The New York City Council’s subcommittee on zoning and franchises and its committee on land use have approved a proposal to invest $5 billion in affordable housing and related infrastructure, an initiative that paves the way for the development of about 80,000 new rental units over the next 15 years. Known as the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the program would fund new housing development and infrastructure upgrades at existing properties across the city’s five boroughs, which have a combined rental vacancy rate of 1.4 percent, according to city officials. Of the $5 billion total price tag, 20 percent ($1 billion) will be provided by the state, subject to budgetary approvals processes. Additionally, the City of New York is committing $1 billion for housing capital, as well as $2 billion for projects that will support investments in sewer and flood infrastructure, as well as street improvements and upgrades to open spaces. Finally, the city plans to spend $1 billion in expense funding over 10 years in flood monitoring, neighborhood planning, tenant protection, voucher assistance and combatting source-of-income discrimination. The proposal exceeds all the housing created from rezonings during the 12 years of the Bloomberg administration and the eight years of the de Blasio administration, according to city officials. According to Bloomberg, a modified version of the plan was approved in mid-November with the amended version seeing the number of proposed units drop by about 29,000 and certain parking requirements kept in place instead of being lifted to free up land for new development.