The timeline for land use proposals, once they begin the city’s review process, is predictable. The date a key vote is supposed to happen? Not so much.
“We wait. We are bored … We are bored to death, there’s no denying it.”
This observation, from the character Vladimir in Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot,” ran repeatedly through my head as I waited nearly six hours for a City Council subcommittee and committee to vote on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
More than an hour after the vote was supposed to happen at 11:15 a.m, a large group of City Council members posed for a picture in the Council chambers to commemorate a resolution declaring Nov. 30 Shirley Chisholm Day.
By 2:44 p.m., it was just me, staffers and Council member Gale Brewer waiting in the frigid committee room in City Hall, where the City Council’s zoning subcommittee and land use committee were expected to vote on the housing plan.
Reports surfaced that a deal had been reached that morning, yet negotiations dragged on. I watched my laptop’s power drain as Brewer read to someone over her phone. (I think they were going over her newsletter, but I was not actively eavesdropping. I had work to do as well.)
As I charged my laptop in the City Council chambers, some Republican members sat together. One watched a video and another declared that everyone would be there until midnight, a joke I did not find funny. Council staff on break debated whether Mike Tyson threw his fight against Jake Paul.
The land use review process, blessedly, has deadlines. Text amendments do not technically go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, but follow a similar process and timeline. If you ever feel bad about procrastinating, I recommend attending a meeting where the City Council has to vote but has not announced an agreement to pass whatever they are considering. Chances are they will negotiate until the very last minute.
To be fair, the text amendment is more than 1,300 pages, very complicated, and not a riveting read. They had a lot to work out.
By 4:30 or so, Council members Erik Bottcher, Kevin Riley, Lynn Schulman and David Carr had joined Brewer at the half circle table in the committee room. The rest filed in just before 5 p.m.
The final deal included a $5 billion capital commitment for housing and infrastructure. It cut down on the amount of housing to be added, including by preserving some parking mandates and restricting the expansion of accessory dwelling units.
The bottom line is that the administration is on track to pass substantial zoning changes that will create fewer units of housing than the original proposal. Instead of up to 109,000 dwellings over 15 years, just 80,000.
Still, that’s 80,000 more units than would otherwise be built. The Adams administration and pro-housing groups are taking the win, while others are scolding the Council for bending to suburban concerns about neighborhood character and lack of parking. Industry response so far is positive. I heard from a developer who said the reduction in parking requirements will make building an affordable housing project in the Bronx easier.
Given that it is such a multifaceted proposal, and that a bunch of other factors affect development in NYC, it is difficult to say how transformative City of Yes will ultimately be — in terms of the city’s housing crisis and attitudes about the importance of all communities addressing it.
What we’re thinking about: How many of the 51 City Council members will vote for City of Yes on Dec. 5? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Listening to bird sounds can help “reduce stress, restore a sense of wellbeing, and increase enjoyment of nature,” according to Psyche.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park (and casino) plan got a thumbs up from all five community boards that reviewed it, receiving 85 percent of the votes cast. The endorsement is just a recommendation but puts pressure on state Sen. Jessica Ramos to sponsor a bill to “alienate” park land (which is actually a parking lot) on the Flushing site and make it eligible for commercial development. Ramos could also stand down and let a Senate colleague sponsor the bill. Cohen would still need a casino license from the state and faces stiff competition. Without redesignation of the park land, his odds would not be good. — Erik Engquist
— The City Council on Thursday approved Continuum Company’s down-sized 962-972 Franklin Avenue. It took seven years to get to this point, but developer Bruce Ian Eichner agreed to downsize the project to 355 apartments, of which 106 will be income-restricted, and take other measures to decrease how much shade the project will cast on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In exchange, the City Council allowed higher rents in the below-market-rate units.
— The Federal Highway Administration on Friday signed off on the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, Gothamist reports. The tolls for southbound drivers crossing 60th Street in Manhattan go live Jan. 5.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $24.8 million for a penthouse at 500 West 18th Street. The residence is located at the Witkoff’s Group’s One High Line condo and is 5,600 square feet. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group and agents Steve Gold and Deborah Kern have the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $10.5 million for a 25,500-square-foot retail space at 162-17 Jamaica Avenue. The building is four stories tall and has three units.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $9 million for a penthouse at 7 Bond Street. The condo unit is 3,000 square feet and asking less than its January 2022 sale price of $9.2 million. Compass’s Marta Maletz and Carl Gambino have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 64,398-square-foot, 13-unit residential building at 1801 Weeks Avenue in the Bronx. Leandro Dickson of LND Design + Build is the applicant of record. — Joseph Jungermann