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Mapping the Future

Mapping the Future investigates and explains the history, economics, politics and policies that shape the way land is used in the city of New York and beyond. It is supported by the Ford Foundation and the Neighborhoods First Fund.

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Mapping the Future

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Must Reads

Here’s How NYC’s $101 Billion Budget Addresses Homelessness

The new budget directs $2.4 billion to homeless services in the coming fiscal year, invests billions more in housing over the next decade and funds an increase to rental assistance programs, but is nevertheless facing criticism from advocates who say the spending plan fails to adequately address New York City’s affordability and homelessness crises. Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography OfficeMayor Eric Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announcing an early budget deal for FY2023.
By Jeanmarie Evelly and David Brand
After a Year of Missed Opportunity, New York Revises Sputtering Hotel-to-Housing Plan

When COVID-19 hit, policymakers saw an opportunity: The city had interconnected affordable housing and homelessness crises; the city also had hundreds of empty hotels hemorrhaging cash.
By David Brand
New York’s Legislative Session Ends, With Mixed Results on Housing. Here’s What Passed & What Didn’t

What exactly did state lawmakers do before starting their nearly seven-month break?
By Jeanmarie Evelly , David Brand and Liz Donovan
City Watch: Reckoning With New York City’s Affordable Housing Crunch

Non-profit developers and tenants rights advocates have also been sounding the alarm on the need to create more income-restricted apartments across the five boroughs and to keep existing renters stably housed, especially in communities of color.
By David Brand
Opinion: Forget 421a—New York Needs Radical Reform to Solve Housing Crisis

"We propose a new hybrid financing model that would combine a land value tax (LVT) and community land trusts (CLTs) to address New York’s changing fiscal environment as well as the housing needs of working families."
By John Choe and Marty Rowland
Opinion: NYC Must Prioritize Housing Our Most Vulnerable Families

"For far too long, New York’s leaders have focused on stemming the tide of homelessness, and then struggling to meet that low bar.
By Nicole Branca and Pierina Ana Sanchez
Opinion: Corporate Landlords Are Taking Over NYC—The Numbers Don’t Lie

"Corporations exist to make profit.
By Sateesh Nori
Fate of 25,000 NYCHA Apartments in the Balance as End of Legislative Session Nears

Proposed legislation would allow NYCHA to transfer 25,000 apartments into a publicly owned trust with the power to issue bonds and borrow money for addressing desperately-needed capital repairs.
By David Brand

The Neighborhoods

Click on a neighborhood to get news, documents, opinions and videos about that community.

Key

Proposal Anticipated

Proposal in Approval Process

Proposal Approved

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Rezoning Status

Bay Street

Bushwick

Downtown Far Rockaway

East Harlem

East New York

Flushing West

Gowanus

Inwood

Jerome Avenue

Long Island City

Southern Boulevard

Sunset Park

Two Bridges/Chinatown

Upper West Side

Mapping the Future: Opinion

Opinion: For Youth Aging Out of Foster Care, Housing Support is Crucial

"Having housing and a place to call home gives one hope and stability, which is essential, especially when you grew up in a system that gave you neither."
By Jeremiah Perez-Torres
Opinion: NYC’s Human Service Workers Deserve Just Pay in This Year’s Budget

“The very forces contributing to a worsening housing emergency are also impacting the workers tasked with solving that crisis. Those who work to find permanent and safe apartments for the housing-insecure and homeless should not find themselves at risk of eviction and displacement.”
By Myung Lee
Opinion: NYC’s Rebounding Rents Shine Light on Long-Standing Crisis

"Two years into the pandemic, the city is moving ahead with a return to 'normal,' but the pre-pandemic real estate market’s 'normal' is not something to which we should aspire to."
By Leslie Vasquez, Kimberly Pereyra Monero and Landry Haarmann
Opinion: NYC Communities of Color Face Increased Eviction Filings, Displacement Risk, and Soaring Unaffordable Rents

ANHD’s 2022 Housing Risk Chart highlights the compounding pressures, and risks, to affordable housing in dozens of neighborhoods. Indicators of speculation, gentrification, and displacement pressure are distributed throughout the city and show the necessity of tenant and homeowner counseling and support programs that defend affordability in every neighborhood.
By Barika Williams
Opinion: Supportive Housing Can Help Break the Cycle Between Homelessness and Incarceration

"Deeply affordable housing with supportive services for this population has a proven track record of success and hits all the Adams administration's goals of efficiency, smart government, addressing problems at their root, and getting things done."
By Patricia Hernandez, Bea De la Torre, JoAnne Page and Cynthia Stuart