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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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Must Reads

City Council OKs Rezoning for Controversial Flushing Waterfront Development

Just five councilmembers voted against the land use application for the project, which has drawn the ire of critics who say it doesn’t include nearly enough affordable housing.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Number of Single Adults in City’s Homeless Shelters Hits Record High

Adi TalwarA homeless shelter for men in Ozone Park Queens last year.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Opinion: It’s Time to Do Away With NYC’s Tax Lien Sale—The Giuliani Plan That Won’t Die

Most cities do not sell their tax liens to a private trust.
By John Krinsky and Memo Salazar
Opinion: Don’t Delay New Affordable Housing for Struggling Coney Island

‘1607 Surf Ave.
By Mark Treyger and Hakeem Jeffries
City Says New Stormwater Rule Will Help Alleviate Sewage Overflow into Gowanus Canal

Sewer capacity is a vital concern for residents and stakeholders in Gowanus, where the city is proposing a neighborhood rezoning.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Data Drop: Where the Homeless Children Are

Only a third of the students who reported being homeless last school year were in the formal shelter system.
By Jarrett Murphy
Opinion: To Make New York More Affordable, Fix the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

If the 4 percent rate had been fixed, the same set of affordable housing projects that lost $51 million in equity this year would have raised $240 million instead, helping to finance 1,700 affordable units in New York City.
By Rachel Fee
What’s Ahead for New York City Housing in 2021

Next year will mark a critical time for New York land use and housing policies, as the city faces a looming evictions crisis and the de Blasio administration will push to approve its final neighborhood rezonings.
By Sadef Ali Kully

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

Proposal Defeated or Withdrawn

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: Moving Toward Just Land Use and Housing Policies in NYC

‘Across the city, the mayor and developers are pushing rezonings and development projects that attempt to rip out the fertile roots of people and place, to wholly redefine city neighborhoods for a wealthier and whiter population.’
By Cheryl Pahaham and Paul Epstein
Opinion: NYC Faces a Hunger and Homelessness Crisis. Here’s How to Help.

‘I know hunger is not new. But over the last six months in the New York City metro area it has become worse and there are easy ways that those of us with more than we need can move from awareness to action.’
By Josiah Haken
Opinion: It’s Time to Fix the City’s Rental Assistance Vouchers

'At current payment levels, the CityFHEPS voucher falls close to $500 below fair market rent, leaving thousands of voucher holders competing with each other for the one or two units available on the market at that price range.'
By Shawntel Williams
Opinion: City’s Move to Vacate UWS Hotel Shelter is Adding ‘Trauma on Top of Trauma,’ Resident Says

'After hearing that I would be kicked out of the Lucerne, I felt traumatized – dehumanized at the thought of being moved from shelter to shelter like a pawn on a chessboard during a global pandemic.'
By Shams DaBaron
Opinion: Senate Housing Chair Must Help ‘Cancel Rent’

'Tenants are accruing debt that they will not be able to repay. The latest CDC guidance is not comprehensive or long enough and we need state leaders to act.'
By Sasha Wijeyeratne, Ava Farkas, Steve Herrick, Honda Wang and XingJian Li