We MUST show up in force to this hearing, testify and tell them EXACTLY WHAT WE THINK OF THE CITY OF YES FOR HOUSING OPPORTUNITY!

All –

After two months of Community Board hearings and votes on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, that part of the process has finally come to a close.

The work that we have put in to make it clear to Community Boards across the city about our total opposition to this apocalyptic package of proposed citywide zoning changes has paid off.

• In every borough outside of Manhattan, a large majority of boards has voted NO.
• In Staten Island, it’s unanimous opposition from Community Boards – 3 out of 3.
• In Queens, 12 of 14 Boards voted No.
• In the Bronx, which had a majority in favor of the Economic Opportunity package, it’s 7 No, 4 Yes with 1 that hasn’t voted.
• And, in Brooklyn, where we are still waiting for a complete tally, we know that a majority have voted NO.  

The deadline for the Community Boards and Borough Presidents to file their votes and testimony to the City Planning Commission is Monday, July 8th.

We thought that this process would continue in September at the City Planning Commission. However, they had other plans.

Last Wednesday, the City Planning Commission stealthily announced that they will have their (most likely sole) public hearing on Wednesday, July 10th at 10am (see below and here).  

We already know that the City Planning Commission intends to vote in favor of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. 

It’s their proposal and, based on what happened back in March when they had their hearing on the Economic Opportunity portion of the City of Yes, they will pretend that the Community Boards and Public were mostly in favor and approve it with extremely minor changes.

Regardless of how they will vote, we MUST show up in force to this hearing, testify and tell them EXACTLY WHAT WE THINK OF THE CITY OF YES FOR HOUSING OPPORTUNITY!

However, don’t bother going to the hearing in person. Sitting for 6 hours or more in their small hearing room in order to testify for two minutes is, frankly, a waste of your time.

Like the previous Economic Opportunity hearing, this one will be hybrid – in-person and on Zoom – so you will be able to get in your two minutes by Zoom. However, if you are testifying by Zoom, they will not give the actual Zoom information or link out until one hour or so before the hearing – at 9am on Wednesday, July 10th.

It’s important for us to give our public testimony for at least three reasons:

• To show that we will not be silenced and fooled by the propaganda and lies in the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity being put forth by Mayor Adams, Dan Garodnick and the City Planning Commission.
• We need to communicate to the City Council, journalists and other interested parties that we are 100% opposed to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, which will cause wholesale destruction and elimination of our communities.
• We must be on the public record and our voices need to be heard. If this ultimately does pass at the City Council, it will be part of any lawsuit that we file against the city due to the Department of City Planning’s clearly and purposefully deficient Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that is the basis of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.

Here are a few tips to testifying on Zoom:

• Be brief and to the point. Make sure that you keep your remarks specific and short as they will switch your microphone off when the bell marks two minutes. Try to time your testimony beforehand on a stopwatch so that you keep it shorter than that so you can get all of your points across.
• Stay focused on our common concerns – we are all in this together. Our position has been that we are 100% opposed to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunityand that this is non-negotiable, as each and every part of the proposed zoning text will destroy our communities across the city – particularly lower-density, but high-density areas as well. Keeping our testimony clear and focused should be the goal, including such key issues as reminding them that we know it’s not going to create affordable housing of any kind, will replace owner-occupied housing with market-rate rental units, increase density without infrastructure and ultimately end enforcement of illegal apartments throughout the city.
• Most of all, keep it local. If you are the president, officer or other representative of a civic, homeowner or other umbrella organization, make sure that you identify the organization and how many households you represent in your geographical area (not your paid membership). Also make sure that you identify your neighborhood and what borough you’re from. In other words, please tailor your testimony to your own neighborhoods as much as possible to show how economically and demographically diverse communities with different building types and occupancy (one-family, two-family, rowhouses, garden apartments, coops, etc.) will be affected.

It is incumbent upon all of us to show up, speak out and participate in this process. This is not a theoretical exercise, so we have the most to lose. We live in our neighborhoods – and we vote! Please tell your friends and neighbors to sign up as soon as the Zoom link becomes available. This will be on Wednesday, July 10th around 9am.

If you have any other questions or comments, get in touch with me this week!

Best,

Paul Graziano

save1familyny.org

For the full notice and links, please read the PDF at this link.

The City Planning Commission (CPC), acting as lead agency, issued a Notice of Completion on April 26, 2024 for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal in accordance with Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law. A public hearing on the DEIS will be held on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 10:00 AM in conjunction with the CPC’s public hearing. 

To continue to allow for broad public participation, the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) will hold the public hearing accessible both in-person and remotely via the teleconferencing application Zoom. Comments are requested on the DEIS and will be accepted through 5:00 PM, July 22, 2024.

To join the meeting and comment, please visit the NYC Engage site, https://www.nyc.gov/engage.

If you would like to register to testify via phone, need assistance with technical issues, or have any questions about participation you may call any of the phone numbers listed below, then enter the following Meeting ID.

(877) 853-5247 (Toll-free)

(888) 788-0099 (Toll-free)

(213) 338-8477 (Toll)

(253) 215-8782 (Toll)

Then enter the following meeting ID and password when prompted.

Meeting ID: 618 237 7396

Password: 1

[The Participant ID can be skipped by pressing #]

Instructions on how to participate, as well as materials relating to the hearing, will be posted on the NYC Engage site on the day of the Public Hearing, no later than 1 hour prior to the hearing. 

To help the meeting host effectively manage members of the public who sign up to comment, those who do not intend to actively participate are invited to watch the livestream or the recording that will be posted after the meeting. The Public Hearing livestream can be found in the above referenced NYC Engage site and will be made available on the day of the Public Hearing.

Comments are requested on the DEIS and will be accepted through 5:00 pm, Monday, July 22, 2024. They can be submitted via email to 24DCP033Y_DL@planning.nyc.gov or mailed to Stephanie Shellooe, AICP, Director, Environmental Assessment and Review Division, New York City Department of City Planning, 120 Broadway, 31st Floor, New York, New York 10271.