NYC council approves sweeping plan that includes 82,000 homes

The New York City Council this week narrowly passed a housing plan backed by Mayor Eric Adams (D) known as “City of Yes,” which calls for the construction of 82,000 new homes over the next 15 years in the Big Apple. The passage of the plan has been characterized as some of the city’s most significant strides in decades to address its housing crisis.

But the plan — backed by a mayor who is currently embroiled in a high-profile legal case in which the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has alleged Adams participated in corruption — only narrowly passed the council by a vote of 31-20.

Negotiations to get the plan over the finish line required a scaling back of its ambitions. The final 82,000-unit plan is down from an initial goal of 109,000, according to recent reporting by The Real Deal.

The focus of the production would be multifamily homes, particularly high-rise apartments to be built near the city’s transit stations. Communities in and around Staten Island and Queens opposed the plan, expressing concerns that single-family neighborhoods would be transformed by the high-rise apartments, according to reporting from The New York Times.

Zoning is a major focus of the new plan, according to the city government. City of Yes “addresses this crisis by making [it] possible to build a little more housing in every neighborhood,” the city explained. “This will provide New Yorkers more housing choice and bring housing costs down. If every neighborhood contributes, we can create a lot of housing overall without overburdening any one area.”

Adams celebrated the plan’s passage at City Hall on Thursday evening alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who committed $1 billion of funding from the state to help facilitate elements of the plan. Part of the plan includes making it easier to construct accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and basement-level apartments while also allowing developers to construct larger buildings than they’re currently permitted to do.

Other zoning provisions would remove a requirement to include dedicated parking spaces for vehicles, and to allow apartments to be fashioned over some commercial businesses.

Housing affordability is an increasing problem in the nation’s largest city. A January 2024 survey tallied the estimated total of unhoused people living in the city at 4,140, the highest figure since 2005 and a 2.4% increase compared to the prior year. Nearly half a million NYC residents spend at least 50% of their income on rent, according to the Times.

The negotiations between the mayor’s office and the council — which the mayor reportedly did not directly participate in — was also a source of acrimony between his team and Adrienne Adams, the city council speaker.

The speaker did not attend the mayor’s celebration on Thursday night, but she urged the council to vote for the measure by saying that the body “cannot do nothing” about housing issues in the city.