The mayor in 2015 set a goal of rezoning up to 15 neighborhoods in a drive to create more density and more affordable housing. Five rezonings have passed and at least three are likely to move forward in 2019.
The new dynamics of power in Albany, and the timing of key decision-making processes in the city itself, will make next year a pivotal one for affordability in New York.
The De Blasio administration has expanded partnerships with unions and amped up construction safety requirements, but advocates say the city could go farther to ensure low income residents access real careers in the industry.
The city is taking several steps to shore up housing options for aging New Yorkers. The question is whether those moves will offset the displacement pressures many feel.
Rafael Salamanca, Jr., is one of the most junior members of the New York City Council but has secured one of the most powerful posts on the body: head of the Land-Use Committee that will oversee consideration of Mayor de Blasio’s neighborhood rezonings.
We start 2018 with three rezonings approved and many more in the pipeline at various stages.
Marisa Lago, director of the Department of City Planning as of March, reiterated the administration’s priorities in a speech to the business community.
The de Blasio administration has mostly focused on low-income communities of color as it seeks to rezone and, it says, expand affordable housing and improve quality of life. Are there whiter, richer areas that could also absorb more residents—and reap those benefits?
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Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for many forms of housing assistance and can be less likely to report landlord harassment. That could make them uniquely vulnerable to the displacement that can come from development.
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