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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 Speaker Defends His Comprehensive Planning Bill in First Public Hearing

Corey Johnson says his ‘Planning Together’ proposal will help create a more just and inclusive city planning process.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Lawsuits Seeking to Stop Two Bridges Development Overturned in Appellate Court

A panel of appellate judges on Tuesday reversed an earlier injunction halting the contentious Two Bridges project — a major setback for Lower East Side community groups, which have been waging a legal battle against the city and developers.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Opinion: How NYC’s Leaders Can Empower Black Re-Entry Workers Like Me

'Body Shops specialize in selling the labor of re-entry workers like me because they know how to take advantage of our unique vulnerabilities as Black workers who spent time behind bars.'
By Mike “Millz” Negron
Opinion: Five Myths About the Gowanus Rezoning

'The city, public officials, and developers have all built an increasingly fevered false sense of urgency that shows just how desperate they are to ram through the rezoning while the public is sidelined by the pandemic, economic crisis, and weak sauce virtual hearings.’ Adi TalwarA view of the Northern end of Gowanus Canal.
By Linda La Violette, Penn Rodeen and Benjamin Shepard
De Blasio Housing Plan Created More Affordable Units, But Left Out City’s Most Vulnerable: Report

‘We did have a major emphasis on affordable housing, and a great deal of spending on it,’ during the de Blasio administration, says Samuel Stein, the report’s author and housing policy analyst for CSS.
By Sadef Ali Kully
Opinion: Homeless People are Worthy of Housing — It’s Time to Stop the Stigma

‘Stigmatizing and criminalizing homeless people is just another tool the real estate industry uses to maintain status quo and maximize their bottom lines.
By Rebeka Bryan
Advocates Call for Stronger Rental Assistance Programs to Stem Pandemic Evictions

A coalition of housing and homeless advocates, along with the city’s top real estate group, are calling for the city and state to expand and improve three key rental assistance programs to aid struggling households at risk for eviction — especially before the state’s eviction moratorium expires in May.
By Sadef Ali Kully
City Can Release Gowanus Rezoning Details, But Project Still on Hold: Court

A state Supreme Court judge partially lifted a temporary restraining order related to the project Thursday, but the public review process is still on hold.
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: NYC’s Next Mayor Must Focus on Eradicating Child Homelessness

'New York State could receive $23 billion as part of the ARPA, representing a once-in-a-lifetime financial base to significantly reduce childhood homelessness, a condition that often sets up the cycle for homelessness as an adult.'
By Mirtha Santana and Erasma Beras-Monticciolo
Opinion: To Reach New York’s Most Vulnerable, Vaccines Must Literally ‘Hit the Streets’

'To reach those currently experiencing homelessness, it is essential for organizations with longstanding visibility to be empowered and unrestricted to vaccinate in non-traditional settings. Imagine a popup clinic under the GW Bridge, inside Port Authority or inside the MTA terminals at Barclay Center or Grand Central.'
By Mark Jennings
Opinion: The $4 Billion Housing Blueprint for New York City’s Next Mayor

‘We call on the next mayor to invest… $2.5 billion for affordable housing rental and homeownership opportunities and $1.5 billion for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and to move the city’s reporting structure away from raw production totals and into more meaningful areas, including racial equity and levels of affordability.’
By Rachel Fee
Opinion: Top-Down Comprehensive Planning Will Further Empower Those on Top

‘Upon close examination, the speaker’s proposal falls short and leaves the door wide open for the continuation of City Planning’s top-down, developer-driven rezonings by offering them a new shroud of legitimacy: a comprehensive plan engineered by city officials that fast-tracks rezonings.’
By Tom Angotti
Opinion: City Council Should Approve Cea Weaver’s Nomination to the City Planning Commission

'Time and time again, we have seen the concerns of community members come to fruition, as rezonings have led to rampant gentrification and displacement in working class communities of color across the city.’
By Katelin Penner