On Sept. 21, Adams introduced the “City of Yes” proposal, a strategy for building thousands of new homes through a series of reforms and incentives, using the language of the “Yes in My Backyard” (YIMBY) movement. Building on the mayor’s moonshot “Get Stuff Built” plan, the goal of “City of Yes” is to permit 100,000 new homes over 15 years by lifting zoning restrictions. It will eliminate mandates to include parking in new developments, legalize dorm-style shared housing and allow the addition of accessory dwelling units, including unregulated basement apartments vulnerable to flooding. And if the plan passes environmental review and wins all the necessary city approvals, it would give affordable housing developers a leg up by allowing apartment buildings to grow by 20% when the extra units created are affordable.
Done right, experts say, transit-oriented development can kill two birds with one stone: create new customers for transit services, which have suffered ridership drops in the wake of the pandemic, while also providing housing in desirable areas.
“This is North America’s biggest rapid transit system,” says Alex Armlovich, senior housing policy analyst at the nonprofit Niskanen Center. “You have real capacity. Thirty percent of [subway] riders disappeared between 2019 and today. We need to fill the trains back up. That means serious buildings. Or even just the stuff we built 100 years ago,” he adds, referring to the classic six-story walk-up and other types of apartments that are not legal to build in much of New York today due to zoning.
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