Citywide
NYC Housing Calendar, July 8-15
Jeanmarie Evelly |
City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.
Brooklyn
Late-Session Bill Would Add More NYC Neighborhoods to Basement Legalization Plan
Chris Janaro |
“If it were up to me, all of New York City would be included,” said State Sen. Julia Salazar, who is looking to expand the state’s recently passed basement legalization pathway to more neighborhoods.
Bronx
Advocates, Lawmakers ‘Baffled’ By Exclusions in Basement Legalization Plan
Chris Janaro |
“I’m surprised, I’m baffled, I’m angry,” said City Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who represents East New York, where the city ran an earlier basement conversion pilot in 2019. The area is excluded from the new program, which will only apply to 15 of the city’s 59 community districts.
Brooklyn
Opinion: Taking Vacant Land And Power Back from the NYPD
Brianna Soleyn |
“These same vacant lots have 314,048 square feet of residentially zoned land on which new affordable housing units may be built, as well as 114,2071 square feet with the potential for manufacturing space that could bring good jobs to the local community.”
Government
In New York’s Fight to Legalize Basement Apartments, What About Cellars?
Emma Whitford |
While Gov. Kathy Hochul included a pathway to basement legalization in her February budget proposal, the word ‘cellar’ is absent from her plan. The two terms may be indistinguishable to most property owners, but they’re different under zoning and dwelling laws, and excluding cellars from the state’s plan would omit a significant swath of below-grade housing stock from potential conversion, advocates say.
City on the Edge: Climate Change and New York
Comptroller Proposes Roadmap to Legalize NYC’s Basement Apartments
Liz Donovan |
Brad Lander’s Basement Resident Protection Law would create a “basement board” to oversee the conversions and ensure residents of these apartments—called accessory dwelling units or ADUs—have access to tenants’ rights and basic safety protections. It comes a year after rains from Hurricane Ida killed 11 New Yorkers in basement units.
Mapping the Future
East New York Families in Limbo as Developer Plans High Rise to Replace Crumbling Housing Complex
David Brand and George Joseph, THE CITY |
Just six units remain occupied at the Arlington Village complex. Now, those who remain worry about what the owners’ plan to develop the site will mean for them. “What exists now won’t exist.”
Brooklyn
Batalla entre progresistas y demócratas establecidos se desarrolla en el distrito 54 de la Asamblea en Brooklyn
Daniel Parra |
Erik Martin Dilan, quien lleva cuatro periodos en el cargo, se enfrenta a Samy Nemir Olivares, respaldado por el DSA, en una de las elecciones primarias de este mes en las que los demócratas de izquierdas desafían a los demócratas establecidos.
Housing and Homelessness
Brooklyn Developer’s Rezoning Proposal Would Add 400-Foot Towers to Broadway Junction
David Brand |
The project would create about 664 housing units, two commercial towers and a new park in place of vehicle lots and low-rise buildings in an area that city officials have been eyeing for years for potential economic and real estate development.
Zoned Out: Examining the Impact of NYC's Rezonings
House Flippers Continue to Target East New York. Residents Blame the 2016 Rezoning
David Brand |
Home prices in the predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood began to tick up before then-Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to rezone 190 blocks in 2014. But affordable housing advocates and local residents say the rezoning, approved in 2016, only drove more speculators to scoop up homes, jack up prices and push out existing residents.
