If "City of Yes" goes forward, Midtown could look very different. (CityRealty)
New York City is currently facing many challenges, but perhaps none more urgent than the shortage of housing. While subsidized units are especially in need across income brackets, both renters and buyers are facing low inventory. In fall 2023, Mayor Adams rolled out the “City of Yes” initiative, which promises to deliver over 100,000 new housing units to the local market over the next fifteen years. This article explains how the “City of Yes” hopes to add new housing units in an already densely populated city.
Proposed Changes
The "City of Yes" features seven initiatives designed to move the dial on housing expansion. However, there is no guarantee that all seven parts of the plan will be embraced by local residents and developers or fully implemented.Universal Affordability Preference
The new Universal Affordability Preference tool will allow buildings to add up to 20 percent more housing units, but only if the units are considered "affordable." While this may sound like a great idea, it is also where the "City of Yes" remains a bit fuzzy. City councilors maintain that "affordable" means that a family of five looking for a three-bedroom would not pay more than a third of their family income on rent, but what does this look like in reality?Let’s say you have two local high school teachers with a combined income of approximately $140,000 annually looking for a home for themselves and their three young children. A third of their gross income would be roughly $46,000 annually, which means an “affordable” three-bedroom unit is anything under $3,900 monthly. Although a three-bedroom under $4,000 would represent a deal in the current market where the average price on a Manhattan three-bedroom is over $9,500, whether such an apartment is truly affordable to a middle-class family is questionable. After taxes and other deductions, the monthly take-home pay of a couple making roughly $140,000 in New York City is likely closer to $7,000, which means that in reality, the couple would still be spending roughly half or more than half of their take-home pay on housing and the rest on transportation, childcare, food, recurring bills, and other basic necessities.
Office to residential conversions
Since the pandemic emptied out many office buildings, there have been calls to convert empty and underused office buildings into residential buildings. In response, the "City of Yes" plan includes several zoning bylaw updates that, in theory, will speed up conversion efforts. However, converting office buildings into residential buildings is easier said than done. While Mayor Adams and his team estimate that office-to-residential conversions could produce up to 20,000 new units of housing for 40,000 New Yorkers, the cost of and likelihood of these conversions happening remains uncertain. Due to the large floor plates found in most office buildings, which require fewer windows and air shafts than residential units, conversion projects, if they are possible at all, are nearly always costly and complex to complete. To help accelerate the office conversion process, the City has also launched a “one-stop shop” for owners interested in converting their properties, but even with such initiatives, many architectural engineers believe that only a small portion of local offices will ever be successfully converted into residential units.Town center zoning
Across New York City’s five boroughs, residential units can be found above commercial properties. With the launch of “City of Yes,” more residential properties will be permitted above existing commercial properties. The hope is that this initiative will bring more housing to major transit corridors, helping to increase housing and public transit usage. But for this plan to work, a high percentage of developers will need to determine that constructing low-rise residential buildings on and near transit corridors is a good investment.Removing parking mandates
Starting in the 1950s, developers were required by law to build additional parking whenever they built additional residential units. While this car-positive law was already being phased out in parts of Manhattan by the early 1970s, the law is still in place in many of the city's less densely populated neighborhoods. In addition to increasing the cost of new housing, the law has, over time, become increasingly misaligned with New Yorkers' priorities and the current administration's commitment to becoming Carbon Neutral by 2050. With the "City of Yes," housing and parking will no longer be linked, freeing developers to add new housing units citywide without adding new parking spaces. There is hope that this will spur new housing developments, especially outside of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn.Accessory dwelling units
Although most New Yorkers don’t have a backyard, for those who do, ADUs (accessory dwelling units) are now legal. “City of Yes” will legalize ADUs (up to 800 square feet) on one- and two-family properties across all five boroughs. In the fall of 2023, the City launched its ADU initiative with the Plus One ADU Program, which provided financing for fifteen lucky local homeowners to start their ADU projects. While the legalization of ADUs may add some housing in the outer boroughs, overall, it seems unlikely to significantly impact the housing shortage in Manhattan proper.Transit oriented development
In many New York City neighborhoods, zoning laws restrict not only high-rise developments but also three- to five-story developments. Over time, this has pushed many New Yorkers into the far reaches of outer boroughs and increased their commuting times to school and work. "City of Yes" proposes to lift the limit on constructing low-rise multi-dwelling units near existing transit hubs to help more New Yorkers live closer to transit centers.A new report by the Regional Plan Association went so far as to say that “[transit-oriented development] is the key to solving our region’s affordable housing crisis,” but acknowledged that outdated zoning restrictions both in New York City and the surrounding suburbs are keeping this from going forward. This part of “City of Yes” could help spur the development of new units, but only if developers agree that building residential units close to transit hubs will likely yield a strong return on investment over time.
Columbia University campus (S Kaya on flickr)
Campus housing
New York City is the largest importer of college and post-graduate students in the nation, which means that student housing is an ongoing challenge. Under current zoning laws, campuses can’t add new height-limited buildings if existing buildings on campus already exceed local height limits. “City of Yes” would lift this limit, enabling campuses across the city to build new high-rise residential units to house students, faculty, and other staff looking for affordable housing on or near their campus. In addition to resulting in new campus residential buildings, an increase in affordable campus housing could shift where students and possibly faculty and staff choose to live, freeing up housing, particularly in student-dense neighborhoods such as Bushwick, where there are no major campuses and yet thousands of student residents.Opposition to the “City of Yes”
While the "City of Yes" has many supporters, it has already garnered opposition from some city residents. For example, in neighborhoods such as Bayside, Queens, some residents fear that with the legalization of ADUs, the neighborhood will lose more of its green space. Local housing activists have also expressed concern that the plan encourages the construction of more housing but comes with no guarantee that the housing built will be affordable.
Contributing Writer
Cait Etherington
Cait Etherington has over twenty years of experience working as a journalist and communications consultant. Her articles and reviews have been published in newspapers and magazines across the United States and internationally. An experienced financial writer, Cait is committed to exposing the human side of stories about contemporary business, banking and workplace relations. She also enjoys writing about trends, lifestyles and real estate in New York City where she lives with her family in a cozy apartment on the twentieth floor of a Manhattan high rise.
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