Land use reform in New York involves the policies, zoning regulations, and environmental review processes that dictate how land is developed and how housing and infrastructure projects are approved. This page covers CBC’s work on streamlining the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, reforming the State Environmental Quality Review Act, modernizing building codes, expanding as-of-right development, and implementing expedited land use review procedures.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
To boost production, the plan’s rezonings would allow more as-of-right development, especially near transit, and leverage newly streamlined review processes to build more housing in neighborhoods that for too long have resisted growth.
The plan will deliver for NYCHA residents by maximizing PACT, the Preservation Trust, and new infill development—the most viable strategies to swiftly repair and rebuild.
The City should take a critical look at the City’s building codes, including unique requirements for elevators and plumbing that contribute to New York having the world’s highest construction costs.
The City should take full advantage of State and federal resources and partner with the private sector to deliver the housing that New Yorkers need.
The Administration should make changes to the Mayor’s Management Report to publicly track progress.
Key Data
As of March 2026, New York remains one of only 7 states that require environmental review for local zoning and land use actions, exposing projects to litigation where, in 2024, state courts decided 43 SEQRA challenges and only 5 succeeded.
In January 2026 testimony, the CBC reported that local environmental reviews increase development costs for 500-unit projects by 11%, or $82,000 per unit, in New York City, and for every year that environmental review drags on, project costs increase by 5 percentage points.
In March 2025 testimony, the CBC found that New York City's discretionary land use process is excessively slow, with private rezoning approvals taking between 2 to 3 years and the median time to approve dispositions of City-owned land taking 14 months.
Following the passage of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity in December 2024, the CBC estimated the plan would yield only one-fifth of the city's needed additional housing production, largely because City Council compromises cut nearly 30,000 potential units from the final agreement.
A June 2024 policy brief noted that housing scarcity drives outmigration, pointing out that in 2022, New York City suffered a net loss of 160,000 residents to domestic outmigration, which cost the city over $300 million in lost personal income and sales tax revenue.
New York has enacted reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, a long-standing barrier to development, to help address the state's housing shortage by exempting many projects and establishing firm timelines. These changes represent a significant shift in policy aimed at streamlining the construction of desperately needed homes.
The "Block by Block" housing plan aims to increase housing production through rezoning for as-of-right development near transit and streamlined review processes, while also addressing building code requirements that inflate construction costs. The proposal prioritizes repairing and rebuilding NYCHA housing through PACT, the Preservation Trust, and infill development to meet the city's housing needs.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
To boost production, the plan’s rezonings would allow more as-of-right development, especially near transit, and leverage newly streamlined review processes to build more housing in neighborhoods that for too long have resisted growth.
The plan will deliver for NYCHA residents by maximizing PACT, the Preservation Trust, and new infill development—the most viable strategies to swiftly repair and rebuild.
The City should take a critical look at the City’s building codes, including unique requirements for elevators and plumbing that contribute to New York having the world’s highest construction costs.
The City should take full advantage of State and federal resources and partner with the private sector to deliver the housing that New Yorkers need.
The Administration should make changes to the Mayor’s Management Report to publicly track progress.
New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), originally intended to ensure government accountability, has evolved into a bureaucratic obstacle that delays and increases the cost of essential housing and infrastructure projects. Reforming this process by exempting strategic priorities like multifamily housing would allow the state to address its critical housing shortage and infrastructure needs more effectively without abandoning necessary environmental oversight.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Governor Hochul should exempt a handful of strategic priorities, like multifamily housing, childcare and resiliency projects, from SEQRA to accelerate their development.
New York should reform environmental review to rebalance public decision-making processes so that the state can address its mounting needs at a pace befitting the scale of its challenges.
Key Data
43
— Number of SEQRA challenges decided by State courts in 2024.
5
— Number of SEQRA challenges that prevailed in 2024.
23 months
— Median time to complete environmental review and pre-certification for projects using streamlined environmental assessments.
33 months
— Median time to complete environmental review and pre-certification for projects undergoing a full Environmental Impact Statement.
$2.2 million
— Average home value in Sag Harbor, where a 79-unit affordable housing complex was blocked.
Reforming the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is essential to reduce delays and obstructions for critical infrastructure and housing development projects. While the Senate has taken steps to expand exemptions for housing, broader reform is needed to include other essential building types like parks, childcare, and energy efficiency upgrades.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The State should continue to have a broad, ambitious program for delivering needed infrastructure to New York, omitting a source of delay and obstruction across building types crucial for New York’s future.
The State should support an expanded exemption of environmental review for housing development, as well as time limits on environmental review and litigation.
Reforming the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process is essential to reduce development costs, which currently increase by 10 percent for modest projects and significantly more for larger developments due to lengthy review timelines. Implementing exemptions for specific project types and establishing firm deadlines for agency approvals would lower housing costs and encourage necessary infrastructure development.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Exempting modest residential development from the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process would make building housing cheaper and faster without additional costs to the government.
Exempting water facilities, parks, and resiliency retrofits from SEQR would reduce the cost of projects that improve the environment.
Imposing deadlines on State and local agencies to sign off on environmental reviews would ensure reasonable and predictable timelines and avoid the death spiral of mounting cost increases and uncertainty that too often prevent critical housing from being built.
Key Data
11 percent
— The increase in development costs for 500-unit projects caused by local environmental review.
$82,000 per unit
— The cost increase for 500-unit projects due to local environmental review.
10 percent
— The cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects due to environmental review.
$35,000 per unit
— The cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects in cities like Rochester or Buffalo.
$40,000 per unit
— The cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects in the Mid-Hudson region.
$45,000 per unit
— The cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects on Long Island.
New York City's housing crisis is exacerbated by exceptionally high construction costs, driven by restrictive regulations, complex permitting processes, and labor requirements that make building significantly more expensive than in other major cities. To address this, the city and state must modernize building codes, streamline approval processes, and implement broader zoning reforms to increase housing density and reduce the financial barriers to development.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City and State should modernize building codes to improve productivity and reduce hard costs.
The City should align construction codes and regulations with best practices from other global cities to allow for less costly materials and innovative technologies.
The State should repeal New York’s exceptional Scaffold Law and adopt the liability standards used in every other state in the country.
The City and State should focus on predictability and simplicity over site-by-site approval processes by implementing speedy permitting and as-of-right approvals.
The State should reform environmental review laws to exempt beneficial projects.
The City should pursue rezoning to increase opportunities for development to address the high cost of land and reduce housing scarcity.
Key Data
$82,000
— Estimated cost increase per unit due to a two-year discretionary review process.
23%
— Higher cost to build affordable projects with prevailing wage requirements.
7%
— Minimum increase in total development costs attributed to the Scaffold Law.
1.4%
— Citywide vacancy rate, which is the lowest it has been since 1968.
$3,730
— Record-high asking rent for vacant apartments in July.
2.5 years
— Average time required to secure zoning changes in New York City.
New York City's land use decision-making process currently adds up to $82,000 to the cost of each housing unit and takes between 2 to 3 years for private rezoning approvals, hindering housing production. Voters are encouraged to support four ballot questions that would streamline review procedures, establish an appeals board for affordable housing, and digitize the city's outdated paper-based map system.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Vote Yes on Question 2, which would create fast track reviews for affordable housing through the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) and for mixed-income residential projects in the neighborhoods that produce the least affordable housing.
Vote Yes on Question 3, which would create an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for three types of zoning proposals.
Vote Yes on Question 4, which would create an Affordable Housing Appeals Board to serve as the final step of the ULURP process for residential projects with affordable housing.
Vote Yes on Question 5, which would modernize the administration of the City Map by digitizing it and transferring administration to the Department of City Planning.
Key Data
$82,000
— The cost added to each housing unit in 2025 dollars due to the current land use process.
2 to 3 years
— The time it takes for private rezoning application approval under the current land use process.
8,000
— The number of individual paper maps currently used to administer the City Map.
30 percent
— The maximum increase in residential capacity allowed for projects in medium- and high-density districts under the proposed ELURP.
12
— The number of Community Districts that permitted the least affordable housing over the preceding five years.
The proposed Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) aims to accelerate housing production, but requires specific modifications to prevent new sources of delay and uncertainty. Key improvements include allowing all necessary land use approvals to proceed through ELURP, clarifying environmental review requirements, and streamlining the 90-day combined pre-certification and review process.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should allow all necessary land use approvals for ELURP-eligible projects to go through the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure.
The Charter language should clarify that applicants can leverage CEQR findings to satisfy the infrastructure requirement and RER reviews to evaluate projects’ consistency with the fair housing plan.
The Charter language should clarify that the CPC assessment is not subject to a private right of action, which is a primary source of delay and uncertainty.
The City should specify clearly what needs to be transmitted to Community Boards and Borough Presidents to make the process more certain and less open to legal challenge.
The ELURP reform should require the Department of City Planning to transmit the completed ELURP materials at the start of the 30-day pre-certification notice period.
The Charter language should clarify that the 30-day pre-certification period is the maximum amount of time that Community Boards and Borough Presidents have prior to the start of their ELURP review period.
Key Data
45 feet
— The height limit for projects eligible for expedited review in low-density districts.
2.0
— The floor-to-area ratio limit for projects eligible for expedited review in low-density districts.
30 percent
— The density increase limit for projects eligible for expedited review in medium- and high-density districts.
30-day
— The duration of the pre-certification period for ELURP.
60-day
— The duration of the review period for ELURP.
90-day
— The combined pre-certification and review period for ELURP.
New York City's land use review process, known as ULURP, creates significant cost and uncertainty that deters housing production, particularly for modest projects. Streamlining this process by fast-tracking smaller residential developments and exempting non-zoning actions like minor revocable consents and special permits would help increase housing supply.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should fast-track residential buildings of 250 or fewer units in moderate- to high-density zoning districts and 175 or fewer units in low density districts through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
The City should exempt all "minor" revocable consents and franchise agreements from the full ULURP process to allow modest projects to move more quickly.
The City should exempt otherwise as-of-right public projects, such as new parkland, from the full ULURP process.
The City should exempt special permits from ULURP because they are administrative, not legislative actions.
The City could allow the City Council to call up special permits only if the applicant is required to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement under the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) rules.
The 2025 mayoral candidate questionnaire highlights critical debates regarding New York City's land use and housing policies, including the $1.2 billion cost of the CityFHEPS voucher program. Candidates expressed varying views on streamlining the land use review process and adjusting capital spending priorities to address the city's housing and infrastructure needs.
Key Data
$1.2 billion
— The cost of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program in fiscal year 2025.
14%
— The current share of capital spending allocated to housing in the Ten-Year Capital Strategy for Fiscal Years 2026-2035.
New York City's land use review process must be reformed to better balance local community concerns with the urgent citywide need for increased housing production. Prioritizing citywide needs in zoning decisions is essential to overcoming the historic resistance to development that has contributed to the current housing crisis.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should ensure that citywide needs play a substantial role in zone and land use decision making to ensure zoning policy meets the needs of all New Yorkers.
Changes to the land use review process should seek to address the failure to produce enough housing and increase production citywide.
The City should consider adding teeth to the Fair Housing Framework as a potential method to improve housing production.
48,000 is the number of new homes to be created when we add together the 40,000 that should be enabled by 5 neighborhood rezonings and the current proposed plan to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. New York must dramatically increase housing production if it is going reduce its affordability problems…
CBC's Andrew Rein was joined by NYC Director of City Planning Dan Garodnick and NYCEDC President & CEO Andrew Kimball for a wide-ranging discussion on job and population trends, housing affordability, and economic development in a time of uncertainty. Dan Garodnick is Director of the New York City Department of…
New York City's land use decision-making process is currently too long, expensive, and uncertain, adding $82,000 to the cost of each housing unit and discouraging new development. Reforming the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) by consolidating advisory reviews, creating an appeals process, and shifting non-zoning actions to administrative agencies would streamline approvals and reduce costs.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Merge the Community Board and Borough President advisory reviews into a single review under the Borough President.
Allow applicants to appeal actions rejected by the City Council to a ULURP Appeals Board consisting of the City Planning Commission and Council Speaker.
Focus ULURP on zoning and shift review of non-zoning actions and modest rezoning applications with no adverse impacts to City agencies or commissions.
Implement time limits to ensure that agencies review projects in a timely manner.
Require the City Council to publicly explain why it rejected an application.
Key Data
2 to 3 years
— The time it currently takes for private rezoning application approval.
$82,000
— The added cost to each housing unit in 2025 dollars caused by the current land use process.
90 days
— The current combined time for Community Board and Borough President advisory reviews.
14 months
— The median time to approve dispositions of City-owned land through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Urban Development Action Area Program.
15 percent
— The amount by which the current review process increases the cost of small residential buildings.
10 of the 14 members
— The supermajority vote required by the proposed Appeals Board to override a City Council rejection.
New York City's land use decision-making process is currently too uncertain, lengthy, and costly, often discouraging development and increasing costs by up to $82,000 per residential unit. To address these issues, the city should reform its charter to better align land use decisions with citywide strategic goals, improve community engagement, and balance neighborhood concerns with broader city needs.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The process should evaluate proposals based on potential benefits and alignment with the goals of its Charter-mandated strategic plan and other plans.
Advisory reviews at the community level should be more collaborative, participatory, and productive.
Balancing citywide needs and neighborhood concerns should not be circumvented by member deference.
The City should offer ample opportunity for as-of-right development while also facilitating approval of discretionary actions aligned with citywide goals for jobs, housing, and resiliency.
Reforming the Charter’s land-use decision-making processes would enable the City to modernize the zoning code to increase as-of-right zoning capacity, give private landowners guidance and predictability, and encourage projects that advance City priorities and goals.
Key Data
$82,000
— The two-year-long review process increases construction costs by as much as $82,000 per unit.
2.5 years
— On average, private rezoning applications filed between 2014 and 2017 took 2.5 years to secure approvals.
30,000
— Compromises demanded by the City Council to secure approval for the City of Yes plan cut nearly 30,000 potential units from the proposal.
14 months
— The median time to approve dispositions of City-owned land through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Urban Development Action Area Program was 14 months.
$67,000
— The current $82,000 per unit cost increase is much greater than the $67,000 per unit found in the 2022 report.
171
— In the four years studied, only 171 private proposals came forward.
The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative is a positive step for housing development, but it only addresses one-fifth of the city's total housing needs. To avoid widening the city's $8 billion fiscal year 2026 budget gap, the $5 billion in new spending commitments must be offset by reductions elsewhere.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City Council and the Administration should develop and implement plans that will boost even more production all across the City and especially in neighborhoods carved out of the final City of Yes deal.
The new operating budget spending must be paid for with reduced spending elsewhere or it will widen already huge budget gaps, potentially driving budget cuts.
Key Data
one-fifth
— The portion of New York City’s needed additional housing production that the City of Yes initiative will yield.
30,000
— The number of potential housing units cut from the City of Yes agreement during negotiations.
$5 billion
— The amount in commitments secured by the City Council as part of the compromise.
$8 billion
— The size of the fiscal year 2026 budget gap when underbudgeted services are taken into account.
80,000. That’s the number of additional new housing units the Adams’ Administration hopes will be developed over the next 15 years thanks to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The City Council votes this week on Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to tackle the housing crisis. However, that is not…
109,000 is the number of new homes New York City aims to create over the next 15 years through its City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning proposal.
New York City's persistent housing shortage, driven by restrictive land-use policies and sluggish production, has led to record-high rents, increased homelessness, and significant outmigration that erodes the city's tax base. To address this, the city must modernize its zoning ordinances and implement broad-based development strategies to increase housing supply at the scale necessary to improve affordability and economic competitiveness.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The city must modernize its zoning ordinance to allow for more housing development throughout the city.
The city must implement local zoning changes, such as the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal, to increase development capacity.
The state should reform its environmental review laws to facilitate increased housing production.
The state should pass laws to encourage development in the downstate suburbs.
The state should repeal the Scaffold law to reduce insurance costs and encourage development.
The state should modernize building codes to support increased housing production.
The city should reform its property tax policy to better support housing development.
Key Data
$300 million
— Conservative estimate of personal income and sales tax revenue lost due to net outmigration in 2022.
$1.4 billion to $1.9 billion
— Potential annual boost to City tax revenue from building enough housing to close the supply gap.
1.4%
— Rental vacancy rate, the lowest level since the City started vacancy tracking in the 1960s.
22%
— Increase in rents from pre-pandemic levels as of April 2024.
160,000
— Net loss of residents from domestic outmigration in 2022.
$433 billion
— Reduction in national economic output in 2022 caused by a 2 percent drag on GDP from restrictive land-use policies.
Governor Hochul's proposed housing package aims to create 800,000 new units over the next decade by requiring local governments to plan for growth and rezone for transit-oriented development. These strategies focus on removing regulatory barriers, such as restrictive land use policies and environmental reviews, to boost housing production and affordability.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Local governments should be required to meet production targets or allow streamlined development to facilitate housing growth.
Municipalities should rezone for transit-oriented development to increase housing density.
New housing development actions should be exempt from costly and time-consuming environmental reviews to accelerate construction.
The state should create a path to legalize New York City basement apartments to maximize existing housing potential.
Policymakers should lift the floor area ratio (FAR) cap on new development and modify the cap for commercial conversions.
The state should provide a tax incentive for conversion of offices to mixed-income rentals to repurpose underutilized space.
The state should extend the construction completion deadline for active 421-a projects to ensure ongoing developments can be finished.
Key Data
800,000
— Number of new housing units intended to be created over the next decade under the proposed package of bills.
Converting underutilized commercial office space into residential units can help revitalize neighborhoods and address housing needs, provided that regulatory barriers like Floor Area Ratio (FAR) caps are lifted. Policymakers should prioritize as-of-right conversions and ensure that any necessary tax incentives for mixed-income projects are cost-effective and well-targeted.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Policymakers should implement regulatory reforms, such as lifting the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) cap and making zoning and building code changes, to make commercial-to-residential conversions possible for buildings that would otherwise be prohibited or financially infeasible.
The City should allow conversions as-of-right, rather than through discretionary processes, to maximize the potential number of conversions and let the market determine where they are the best option.
Policymakers should ensure that any tax incentives for mixed-income rental conversions are well-targeted and cost-effective.
The City should implement several other zoning changes identified by the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force to allow more commercial buildings to convert to residential use as-of-right.
Key Data
13 million square feet
— of commercial space was converted into 12,865 residential units in lower Manhattan under the 421-g program.
120 million square feet
— of office space built at densities greater than 12 FAR could be converted in their entirety to residential use if the FAR cap is lifted for buildings built prior to 1991.
12,865
— residential units were created from 13 million square feet of commercial space in lower Manhattan.
New York's climate goals require difficult choices regarding the distribution of costs and economic impacts of various mitigation strategies. To support these goals, policy makers should prioritize strategies that increase housing density near public transit through transit-oriented development.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The state should implement strategies to increase housing density near public transit via transit-oriented development.
New York must address its housing crisis by streamlining permitting processes, reforming environmental review laws, and removing density caps to meet the goal of building 800,000 new homes over the next decade. These reforms, including mandated minimum densities near transit and state-level appeals for land use denials, are essential to overcoming bureaucratic obstacles that have historically stifled housing production.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The city should exempt projects smaller than 200 units from costly environmental review to enable deeply affordable housing.
The city should streamline the Department of City Planning’s process for private rezonings to reduce development bottlenecks.
The state should remove the Multiple Dwelling Law’s cap on residential density to allow for more housing production.
The state should mandate minimum densities near commuter rail stations to address regional housing needs.
The state should implement a state appeals process for local denial of land use actions to prevent exclusionary zoning.
The city should remove the arbitrary 12.0 floor area ratio (FAR) limit on residential development to increase housing capacity.
Key Data
800,000
— Number of new homes New York State needs to build over the next ten years to address current needs and meet expected growth.
$50,000 to $70,000
— Additional cost added to each housing unit by two years of delays, including rezoning and environmental review.
$1.4 million
— Cost imposed by a three-month delay during the construction of a 100-unit building.
25
— Number of new housing units approved per 1,000 residents in New York City over the last decade.
12.0
— The floor area ratio (FAR) cap on new and converted residential buildings in New York City established in 1961.
New York City's efforts to accelerate land use reviews and eliminate administrative obstacles to development serve as a successful model for improving service delivery. This low-cost strategy of facilitating rather than impeding progress should be expanded across all municipal agencies and programs.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should replicate the approach of increasing the speed of land use reviews and removing administrative barriers to development across all City agencies and programs.
As Chief Housing Officer, Katz oversees the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Authority, the Housing Development Corporation, the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations and the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. Katz most recently served as executive director of the research nonprofit Citizens Housing…
2 1/2 is the average number of years it takes a private rezoning application to get approved in New York City, and that doesn't include the often lengthy informal pre-review negotiations. This is one of many findings in CBC's report "Improving New York City's Land Use Decision-Making Process," which can…
CBC convened key stakeholders to discuss how to improve the City's land use decision-making process and CBC's latest report based on their expertise and view of the best path forward. Panel participants included City and State officials and individuals involved in development and neighborhood advocacy. Join us as we explore…
New York City's land use review process is overly complex and time-consuming, which hinders housing production and economic growth by creating uncertainty for developers. To address these issues, the City and State should streamline environmental reviews, better align land use decisions with strategic planning goals, and reform the approval process to improve predictability and efficiency.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
New York State should amend environmental review laws to reduce barriers to beneficial growth and development.
New York State should encourage local governments to streamline approvals of projects that help achieve identified regional housing and job-creation goals.
New York City should create a process that evaluates proposals based on potential benefits and alignment with goals of its Charter-mandated strategic plan and other plans.
New York City should make advisory reviews at the community level more collaborative, participatory, and productive.
New York City should streamline and rationalize environmental review within limitations of State law.
New York City should better balance citywide needs and neighborhood concerns through an appeals process or requirement of a City Council supermajority to reject an application.
Key Data
171
— Number of private rezoning applications initiated citywide between 2014 and 2017.
60%
— Percentage of private rezoning applications initiated between 2014 and 2017 that were ultimately approved.
11% to 16%
— Estimated increase in development costs caused by a two-year-long discretionary approval process.
887 days
— Median approval time for private discretionary development projects in New York City.
990 days
— Median approval time for residential projects with 150+ units in San Francisco.
223 days
— Median approval time for projects over 50,000 square feet in Boston.
The Penn Station Area Civic and Land Use Improvement Project requires careful oversight to ensure that renovation scopes remain focused on passenger flow and that tax abatements are strictly tied to economic growth. Future development plans should prioritize local leadership in rezoning efforts and avoid setting precedents that undermine long-term fiscal responsibility.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The scope of Penn Station renovation should be tightly controlled and focused on efficient and safe passenger flow.
The State and City should resist calls to add purely cosmetic or non-essential project elements, lest an already costly project become unaffordable.
Abatements should be based primarily on promoting economic growth.
Empire State Development should scrutinize any possible abatements based on whether projects would not be feasible without a specific PILOT discount amount.
This plan should not set a precedent for future rezonings or financings.
The City generally should lead rezonings, both within the central business district and for station area plans.
The State should continue to encourage denser development around station areas and consider intervening in local land use issues when local governments fail to enact appropriate transit-oriented development plans.
Key Data
3 percent
— Annual escalation rate applied to the 'make-whole' payments for the City.
10-year
— Property tax lookback period used to calculate 'make-whole' payments prior to construction.
New York City must implement broad-based rezonings to increase as-of-right development capacity and set comprehensive production goals to address the immense need for housing across all income levels. To achieve this, the city should streamline development approvals, improve management accountability, and reform land-use decision-making processes to ensure housing can be built quickly and cost-effectively.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should identify the specific operational and policy actions needed to achieve housing goals.
The City should set goals for total housing production, including both income-restricted and market-rate units, as well as net growth targets citywide and by community district.
The City must implement broad-based rezonings to increase as-of-right development capacity in every neighborhood to double housing production.
The City should track and publish outcome metrics to monitor the effectiveness of both demand- and supply-side housing policies.
New York should speed up development approvals to make it easier to build all housing types across the city.
The City should consider Charter reforms to the land-use decision-making process, such as allowing appeals of City Council-rejected zoning changes.
Key Data
560,000
— The number of additional housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— The number of housing units that must be permitted annually to meet the city's housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
40%
— The percentage fewer housing permits issued per resident in New York City compared to San Francisco.
20%
— The portion of the city's residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make development worthwhile.
22,000
— The number of vacant positions within the city that could be utilized to improve basic operations and housing service delivery.
The Penn Station Area General Project Plan proposes rezoning to catalyze development and finance transit improvements, but it faces significant financial risks and questions regarding the use of local property tax revenue. The project's high costs, estimated at $6 to $7 billion for renovation and over $12 billion for expansion, necessitate careful scrutiny of the financing plan to ensure it does not inappropriately divert city resources or override local decision-making authority.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Before any financing plan is approved, the scope of work should be reasonably detailed, scrutinized, and streamlined as much as possible.
The State and the railroads should focus on improving safety, circulation, and functionality and doing so in the most cost-effective manner.
They should avoid costly, non-essential, cosmetic improvements and should not preclude the possibility of future capacity or service enhancements.
It is important to evaluate how the State will manage and mitigate the financing risks inherent to value capture projects, including who will be responsible for interest payments until revenue from new development comes online or who will be responsible for paying for cost overruns.
Ultimately, the Mayor and City Council should guide whether and how much of the City’s future property tax revenue should be dedicated to specific needs, such as a mass transit project, instead of other needs like public safety, education, or housing.
Key Data
$6 to $7 billion
— Estimated cost for the renovation of Penn Station.
$12 billion-plus
— Estimated cost for the expansion of Penn Station.
New York City requires 560,000 new housing units by 2030 to address the current shortage, necessitating a comprehensive strategy that includes broad upzoning and increased as-of-right development capacity. To achieve these goals, the city must reform its land-use decision-making processes and property tax structures while setting ambitious, trackable production targets across all neighborhoods.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The city must change zoning broadly across the city to increase as-of-right development capacity to ensure the housing plan is realized quickly and cost-effectively.
The city's housing plan should set ambitious but achievable production goals, identify needed operational and policy actions, set implementation milestones, and commit to tracking results publicly.
All neighborhoods need as-of-right zoning capacity to increase to accommodate growth.
Broader upzoning to increase allowable building sizes is necessary to provide enough density to meet an ambitious production target.
The city must implement property tax reform and the right tax incentives to encourage mixed-income development and make housing construction financially feasible.
The land-use decision-making process should be improved so that local representatives have a strong voice without hampering the city’s ability to meet its housing goals.
Key Data
560,000
— The number of housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— The number of housing units that must be permitted annually to meet housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
22,000
— The number of vacant positions in the city that could be filled to help improve basic operations like speeding up approval times.
20%
— The percentage of the city’s residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make development worthwhile.
New York City requires a successor to the 421-a tax incentive program to boost rental housing production and prevent a decline in affordable unit construction. Additionally, passing the NYCHA Preservation Trust legislation is essential to secure federal funding for necessary repairs and improvements for 400,000 public housing residents.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
State lawmakers should support a 421-a successor and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Preservation Trust to improve the supply, affordability, and quality of New York City’s rental and public housing.
The proposed 485-w replacement program should be modified to incentivize more production in moderate-to-middle-income neighborhoods, require greater transparency and public reporting, and harmonize with existing State and City affordable housing programs.
State and City officials should take action to reduce construction and operating costs, increase zoning capacity, and reform the property tax.
State lawmakers should pass the NYCHA Preservation Trust legislation to allow NYCHA to secure federal Tenant Protection Vouchers and oversee renovations.
Key Data
$100 million
— The amount of annual revenue that would be generated if the 421-a program were ended, which is less than the projected benefit of a successor program.
$1.8 billion
— The amount of funding that will not be freed up for decades to come if the 421-a program expires without a successor.
400,000
— The number of residents living in public housing managed by the New York City Housing Authority who would benefit from comprehensive renovations.
New York City's 421-a property tax exemption is critical for making rental housing development financially feasible, as high construction and operating costs otherwise render most projects unviable. A successor program must be carefully designed to tailor affordability requirements to local market conditions, improve data transparency, and align with other city housing initiatives to ensure continued housing production.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Modify ANNY to increase the amount of affordable and market rate rental development.
Ensure greater transparency and public reporting of data to support a robust assessment of the program’s impact and effectiveness.
Harmonize the City and State affordable housing programs and reduce bureaucratic conflicts and red tape.
Create a new option for mid-rise projects outside the PDA.
Offer Option B to all projects outside the PDA.
Developers should submit a simple, non-binding declaration of intent to use 421-a earlier in the process.
Modify ANNY and MIH to be compatible.
Clarify rules for projects receiving bond financing and/or other subsidies.
Key Data
50 percent
— The cost to operate a multifamily building in New York City is 50 percent higher than the national average.
30 percent
— New York's property taxes are 30 percent of rental income, compared to 13 percent elsewhere in the country.
75 percent
— Without the tax exemption, rents would have to increase by 75 percent to generate a reasonable rate of return.
$6,000
— For the typical new development project in Brooklyn and portions of Queens, rents would need to increase to over $6,000 to produce a 5 percent yield on cost.
$9,800
— The median Manhattan rent would have to increase to $9,800 to produce a 5 percent yield on cost without the tax exemption.
8 percent
— Construction costs in New York City increased 8 percent between February 2021 and February 2022.
The state should implement zoning reforms, including denser transit-oriented development, legalized accessory dwelling units, and lifted residential floor area caps, to boost housing production. Additionally, urgent action is needed to stabilize public housing through the Preservation Trust, procurement reform, and increased financial support for RAD partnerships to renovate 110,000 units.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The State should take action this session to bolster the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA’s) capacity to improve its capital stock and management.
Requiring local governments to zone for denser transit-oriented development would increase regional housing supply and take advantage of recent investments in commuter rail.
Legalizing accessory dwelling units would help meet the diverse housing needs of New Yorkers.
Provisions to lift the cap on residential floor area ratios would give New York City more tools and flexibility to stimulate housing production.
Provisions to encourage commercial-to-residential conversions would give New York City more tools and flexibility to stimulate housing production.
The State should approve the proposed Preservation Trust bill.
The State should enact procurement reform.
The State should increase financial support for Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) public-private partnerships.
Key Data
110,000
— Number of public housing units to be renovated through the Preservation Trust.
The proposed Penn Station Area General Project Plan (GPP) establishes a new zoning framework to catalyze commercial and residential development, but it lacks critical details regarding its complex value capture financing structure and the estimated $17 billion project cost. To ensure fiscal responsibility and local alignment, New York City must be granted a substantive role in the planning process and partner in decisions regarding the diversion of its property tax revenues.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
A broader rezoning, perhaps led by New York City, should take a holistic approach to the neighborhood that also includes policies that encourage property owners to reinvest in outdated buildings and reimagine the future of Midtown.
Empire State Development (ESD) and New York City must work together to develop a financing plan and a rezoning that makes sense for both parties, as well as for New York State and City residents.
New York City should have a substantive role in the planning process and should be a partner that agrees to the use of tax revenue that would otherwise flow to the City’s general fund.
The Penn Station Area General Project Plan (GPP) should avoid costly, non-essential cosmetic improvements and should not preclude the possibility of future capacity or service enhancements, including both allowing for through running or for additional track capacity.
There should be a robust discussion about potential tax incentives or abatements for redevelopment projects in the GPP district.
There should be additional public discussion about the merits of the financing strategy compared to other alternatives and whether this is the most appropriate financing approach for the renovation of Penn Station.
Key Data
$17 Billion
— Reported cost of the entire Penn Station project, including renovation, expansion, land acquisition, demolition, and public space improvements.
$6 to $7 Billion
— Estimated cost of a scaled-back renovation project without the proposed Penn South expansion.
$1.3 Billion
— Funding included in the New York State Fiscal Year 2022 Enacted Budget for Penn Station-related projects.
50%
— Anticipated share of the project funding to be provided by the federal government, mirroring the Gateway project split.
25%
— Anticipated share of the project funding to be provided by New York State and New Jersey individually.
47 is the number of people who will have held the office of NYC Comptroller once Brad Lander is sworn in on January 1, 2022. At a breakfast with CBC Trustees, President Andrew Rein sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with the Comptroller-elect, covering subjects including risks to New York’s…
The incoming mayoral administration is encouraged to prioritize economic growth by improving land-use decision-making, reforming property taxes, and utilizing targeted economic development incentives. These measures are presented as part of a broader strategy to enhance the city's competitiveness and quality of life.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The administration should focus on growing jobs and housing by improving land-use decision-making, reforming the property tax and performance-based, targeted economic development incentives.
New York City's proposed comprehensive planning framework aims to integrate land use and capital budgeting, but requires careful design to ensure it effectively prioritizes infrastructure needs and maintains mayoral authority. Reforms should focus on measurable outcomes like housing production and sustainability rather than creating bureaucratic processes that could hinder progress or increase costs.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The Ten-Year Capital Strategy (TYCS) should reflect how the City plans to prioritize investments given its overall needs and its financial outlook.
The Strategy would adequately cover long-range capital planning needs if it were aligned with a comprehensive needs assessment, an assessment of affordability, guided by measurable goals and objectives as intended in the Charter.
The Mayor should retain the role of submitting a capital budget to the Council and the right to propose how to prioritize investments based on strategic planning documents, a revamped AIMS report, or a newly conducted comprehensive physical needs assessment.
The Mayor, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and mayoral agencies, also should conduct and oversee the needs assessment process.
Any changes to the strategic planning process should drive towards measurable results, such as increasing capacity for appropriate as-of-right residential and commercial development, improvements in the city’s resiliency and sustainability, and advancing fair housing, among other goals.
Key Data
78%
— Percentage of spending in the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2022 Ten-Year Capital Strategy allocated to state of good repair needs or programmatic replacement.
$92 billion
— Amount of spending in the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2022 Ten-Year Capital Strategy dedicated to state of good repair needs or programmatic replacement.
less than a quarter
— Portion of the City’s capital plan represented by expansion projects.
29 is the number of acres in the proposed Special Flushing Waterfront District. In our third episode on land use and zoning, we move from Brooklyn to Flushing, Queens to discuss the proposed district that could add 3 million square feet of housing, hotel, retail and office space; remediate Flushing…
8,200 is the number of new housing units that could be created by the proposed rezoning of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Councilmember Brad Lander joins "What's the [DATA] Point?" to discuss the rezoning plan and make the case for comprehensive planning.
20,000 is the number of jobs that could be potentially created by proposed rezoning of Industry City, a sprawling retail, office, and manufacturing complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But this week the developer pulled the plug on the proposal after negotiations with stakeholders came to a standstill. What went wrong,…
Housing affordability for New Yorkers of all incomes is important to the competitiveness of the New York City region. The panelists discuss strategies for spurring housing production and changes that should be made to laws and local zoning regulations. Introduction Karim Hutson Founder & Managing Member, Genesis Companies Presentation of Report Findings Sean…
New York City's housing production has failed to keep pace with job and population growth due to restrictive zoning, high development costs, and an inequitable property tax system. To address this, the city and state should implement comprehensive housing strategies, modernize building codes, and reform property taxes to incentivize the development of diverse housing types.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
New York City should have a citywide housing plan that quantifies the city’s current and future housing needs at all market segments, identifies the gap between these needs and existing zoning capacity, and sets ambitious but achievable citywide production goals.
New York City should update the zoning code to increase capacity, such as increasing density near transit and along commercial corridors, and making it easier to build three-plus unit buildings as-of-right in all zoning districts citywide.
The City should continue to revise outdated or unique building code requirements that increase costs and adopt strategies to encourage construction industry innovation.
New York State lawmakers could require municipalities to zone for both more housing and a wider variety of housing, including accessory dwelling units and multifamily residences, particularly in areas near commuter rail stations.
State lawmakers should pass reforms to make the City’s property tax system more equitable and efficient, including provisions to reduce the high tax rate on multifamily rental buildings relative to single family homes.
Key Data
206,000
— Number of permits for new housing units issued by New York City during the 2010s.
0.19
— Number of housing units added for every net new job created in New York City between 2010 and 2018.
22%
— Increase in the number of jobs in New York City between 2010 and 2018.
4%
— Increase in the housing stock in New York City between 2010 and 2018.
60%
— Percentage of residential lots in New York City that fall into the lowest density zoning categories.
$1.6 Billion
— Cost of 71,095 tax exemptions in fiscal year 2019 in foregone City tax revenue.
New York City's land use process often acts as an impediment to essential job creation and housing development rather than facilitating necessary growth. City leaders should prioritize advancing projects that balance community needs with broader citywide interests to ensure the city continues to adapt as a modern metropolis.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
City leaders should work to advance and approve projects that help New York City continue to grow and adapt as a modern metropolis.
The City Council should carefully consider how best to balance community needs with citywide interests, which include the potential for job creation with no direct public investment required.
New York City faces a housing crisis driven by high costs and insufficient supply, with over 920,000 renter households currently rent burdened. To address this, policymakers should reform zoning codes, adjust the property tax system to facilitate rental construction, and incentivize suburban housing development to meet regional demand.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Lifting the cap on floor-area ratio for residential buildings would help address housing supply issues.
City and State lawmakers should ensure that zoning codes match the needs of a growing region.
Policymakers should focus on reforming New York City’s property tax system to make it easier to build rental housing without the need for substantial subsidies.
State and local officials should prioritize finding ways to incentivize the suburbs to build sufficient housing to meet the regional demand.
Key Data
920,000
— Number of renter households in New York City that were rent burdened, paying at least 30 percent of their incomes in rent.
90 percent
— Portion of severely rent burdened households that were low income.
22 percent
— Share of all housing units produced in 2017 that were in 40-plus story buildings.
23 percent
— Share of units in 40-plus story buildings that were income-restricted.
The New York City Housing Authority requires $32 billion for repairs to prevent 90% of its apartments from becoming irreparable within a decade. By utilizing underused land for mixed-income development, the city can generate billions in private capital to fund these essential repairs while maintaining public ownership and affordability.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The key to reaching the $3 billion potential is including sufficient market-rate units in any new development.
Elected officials and community members should support ambitious developments on NYCHA property that generates new housing and funding for NYCHA.
NYCHA and city officials can raise billions in private capital for repairs while maintaining public ownership and permanent affordability.
Key Data
$32 billion
— The amount required to repair NYCHA’s buildings and apartments over the next five years.
$3 billion
— The amount NYCHA can raise to repair its apartments by facilitating mixed-income development on underutilized land.
$469 million
— The funding needed over the next five years for the developments at Holmes, Cooper Park, Wyckoff Gardens, LaGuardia, and Harborview Towers.
90%
— The percentage of NYCHA apartments that may not be worth repairing in a decade if the status quo continues.
$25 million
— The revenue a planned 50/50 project at Holmes Towers will raise.
New York City's property tax system is inequitable and lacks transparency, requiring a comprehensive redesign that moves cooperatives and condominiums into Class 1 and eliminates the existing class share system. The proposed reforms include adopting a market value-based assessment system, phasing in changes over five years, and implementing a circuit breaker to provide tax relief for lower-income homeowners.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Move cooperatives and residential condominiums to Class 1 with one-, two-, and three-family homes to ensure consistent treatment of owned homes.
The existing class share system should be eliminated to remove distortions that result in higher tax burdens for commercial and rental properties.
Stability of the property tax should be achieved by phasing-in market value changes over three years for all parcels, while eliminating current caps and phase-ins.
To ease burdensome tax bills, rebates should be provided of owner-occupied residential property taxes based on household income when tax bills exceed a set share of income.
The transition to the new system should occur over a five-year period to temper the impact of redistributing the property tax levy.
DOF should be required to conduct annual sales-ratio studies for all classes except Class 3 utility property to assess the validity of the valuations.
Key Data
four to five
— times that ETRs of commercial and rental properties are higher than those of owner-occupied homes.
2.25
— times the ETR of owner-occupied homes that commercial properties are taxed at in 46 of 53 cities.
10%
— of the five-year average of market value, which is the Constitutional debt limit for New York City.
2.5%
— of the five-year average of market value, which is the maximum property tax revenue that can be raised for operating expenses.
5%
— of household income, the threshold for property tax on residential properties to trigger circuit breaker relief for households with income below $100,000.
20%
— cap on assessed value growth over five years on Class 1 homes.
The New York City Housing Authority faces $32 billion in capital needs, with nearly all properties requiring substantial rehabilitation to prevent further deterioration. To address this crisis, the city should integrate public housing into its broader affordable housing strategy, leverage underutilized land assets for development, and transition to a model that utilizes public-private partnerships for property management.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The City should fully integrate NYCHA into its affordable housing strategy to ensure the unit distribution and funding are appropriately aligned with the needs of extremely and very low-income households.
NYCHA should transition from being a landlord to an affordable housing steward that manages fewer buildings by taking full advantage of public-private partnerships and transferring senior housing and small properties to qualified nonprofit developers.
NYCHA should leverage underutilized land assets to fund repairs and facilitate development by selling air rights and pursuing mixed-income infill development.
NYCHA should improve operations and construction management by updating work schedules, increasing the use of private maintenance contracts, and utilizing design-build methods to speed up construction.
Key Data
$32 billion
— NYCHA's total capital needs, representing a nearly fivefold increase over the last decade.
$181,000
— The average cost per unit for substantial rehabilitation of NYCHA properties.
90 percent
— The portion of NYCHA’s 176,000 units that could deteriorate to the point of being no longer cost-effective to repair by 2027 without dramatic action.
58 million
— The total square feet of development rights controlled by NYCHA across the city.
$1.5 billion
— The amount that could be raised by selling 10 percent of NYCHA’s air rights.
4 is the number of neighborhood rezonings that have been passed under Mayor de Blasio. Sally Goldenberg, Politico's Senior Reporter on real estate and housing, joined Ben and Maria to discuss the rezonings that have passed, those that haven’t, possible future rezonings, and more on housing and real estate.
$307.45 - the minimum per square foot price for selling air rights in East Midtown. NYC Department of City Planning General Counsel and Chief Data Officer Anita Laremont discusses the de Blasio's administration's approach to commercial and neighborhood development, including the East Midtown rezoning, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, and more.
A state proposal to fund the MTA through transportation improvement districts would divert city property tax revenue without sufficient local control or project-specific justification. This approach risks undermining the city's ability to allocate funds for essential services like public safety, education, and housing by granting the MTA overly broad authority.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Any value capture arrangement should be tailored to specific projects and circumstances rather than broadly applied.
The mayor and city council should determine how the city’s property tax revenue is spent, rather than the governor and state Legislature.
Dedicating future tax revenue to mass transit projects should be a policy choice made by the city on a case-by-case basis in a transparent and accountable manner.
The state should ensure any value capture proposal adheres to best practices by limiting the MTA's broad authority to create districts and take revenue.
Key Data
50 percent
— Share of increased New York City property taxes within transportation improvement districts that the state proposal would capture.
75 percent
— Share of increased property taxes that could be captured for future transportation improvement districts under the proposal.
18 million square feet
— Amount of new office, residential and retail space planned or built in the Hudson Yards area due to the No. 7 line extension.
The Governor's proposal to allow the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to create tax increment financing districts without local approval undermines municipal autonomy and lacks necessary safeguards for revenue use. Instead of bypassing local control, the state should utilize existing laws to collaborate with the city on value capture strategies that ensure accountability and fiscal responsibility.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The State and the MTA should use the powers granted to them under the existing TIF law to partner with New York City when considering the use of value capture for future projects.
TIF districts should be designed to sunset after a period of time, after which the incremental revenue flowing to the district reverts to a city’s general fund.
Incremental revenue should be segregated to repay the costs of the projects that created the value rather than being used for general operating budgets.
The use of value capture should be limited to truly transformative projects rather than projects that do not add capacity.
The size of TIF districts should be restricted to industry-standard transit zones of no more than a one-half mile buffer surrounding individual stations.
Key Data
75 percent
— The maximum amount of tax increment the City would be required to remit to the Authority under the proposed legislation.
one mile
— The distance from an MTA capital project within which the MTA could capture property tax revenue.
$100 million
— The minimum estimated cost for a capital project to be eligible for the creation of a transportation improvement subdistrict.
one-half mile
— The industry-standard transit zone buffer size recommended for transit-oriented development.
The Mayor's Management Report tracks progress on city priorities, including the implementation of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability policies aimed at increasing affordable housing supply. The report highlights increased capital funding and staffing for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to support these housing goals.
Key Data
$419 million
— City's capital funding for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2015.
$748 million
— City capital funding for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2016.
11,708 units
— Targeted number of affordable unit completions for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2016.
High land prices and construction costs in New York City make it difficult to create affordable housing without significant subsidies, as these expenses often push rents beyond the standard 30 percent affordability threshold. To maximize the production of affordable units, policymakers should prioritize strategies that improve land use efficiency, lower construction expenses, and utilize cross-subsidies effectively.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Options for increasing the efficient use of land should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Options for reducing construction costs should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Options for effectively using cross-subsidies should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
The New York City Housing Authority's 10-year roadmap aims to address its financial crisis by utilizing its properties for residential infill development, which is projected to generate between $400 million and $800 million. This strategy seeks to ensure the authority's long-term financial stability by reinvesting these funds into adjacent developments.
Key Data
$400 million to $800 million
— Projected revenue generated over 10 years through residential infill development on New York City Housing Authority properties.
Repurposing underutilized Port Authority maritime facilities in Brooklyn could generate significant community benefits, including thousands of new housing units and jobs, while eliminating ongoing financial losses. Converting these 105 acres would substantially increase available land for development, offering a prime opportunity for strategic city planning and economic growth.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Both of these facilities could be closed with little loss of capacity, while saving money that could be redirected to other regional priorities.
Repurposing them would reduce losses and spending by the Port Authority, saving it $29 million annually by 2029, which would free up 105 acres for development.
It's time to rethink the use of the most underused and obsolete maritime facilities.
Key Data
$82 million
— The amount of money the port of New York-New Jersey lost in 2013.
$29 million
— The amount of money the Port Authority would save annually by 2029 if the facilities were repurposed.
175 percent
— The increase in vacant land in Community Board 6 if the 105 acres were made available for development.
3,800 and 7,600
— The range of potential housing units the site could yield.
2,500
— The number of jobs that could be yielded by repurposing the facilities, more than three times the current number.
105 acres
— The total size of the facilities that could be made available for development.
City Planning Commissioner Carl Weisbrod discusses the de Blasio's administration's approach to land use and developing New York City's Ten-Year Capital Strategy.
New York City has aggressively used zoning as an economic development tool, rezoning over 36 percent of its land since 2002 to encourage job growth in residential and mixed-use areas. Future administrations should continue this trend by expanding special mixed-use districts in underutilized industrial areas to facilitate more diversified economic activity.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
The city should continue rezoning and expand special mixed use districts to facilitate diversified job growth in areas currently limited to industrial use.
The administration should avoid using zoning as a form of protectionism for manufacturing, as reserving land for manufacturing plants does not guarantee it will be used for that purpose.
The city should identify opportunities for additional zoning changes in large tracts of waterfront land in Brooklyn and Queens currently zoned for industrial use to encourage job creation.
Key Data
36 percent
— Percentage of New York City's land area that has been rezoned since 2002.
100,000
— Number of manufacturing jobs lost in New York City over the past 12 years, dropping to 76,400.
130 percent
— Growth in professional, business, and technical services in areas like the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Bush Terminal since 2000.
Rent regulation in New York City provides significant but poorly targeted benefits, costing the city $283 million in annual property tax revenue while failing to make housing affordable for most low-income households. Future policy should focus on phasing out benefits for high-income households while expanding more effective, targeted programs to promote affordable housing and increase supply.
Recommendations related to Land Use Reform
Benefits now available to low- and moderate-income households should not be reduced, but the poorly targeted benefits can be removed at an accelerated pace by phasing out regulation for higher-income households.
The long-term contraction in the scope of rent regulation should be accompanied by expansion of other more effective programs to promote affordable housing.
New legislation should phase out benefits for all high-income households.
The role of state and local government should be to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of existing affordable housing programs and other policies, such as zoning, that affect housing investment.
Future policy changes should be designed to retain the benefits of regulation for low- and moderate-income households, reduce the adverse impacts of regulations, and expand and enhance the policy tools available to promote affordable housing.
Key Data
$2.6 billion
— Total annual rent discount associated with rent regulation under the assumption that unregulated rents would fall by 15% if regulation were eliminated.
$1.9 billion
— Annual amount that 669,000 households in unregulated units paid more in rent than they would have if all units were deregulated.
$283 million
— Annual amount by which rent regulation decreases the City of New York's property tax revenue.
31 percent
— Average discount provided by rent regulation based on 2008 data.
190,000
— Number of units removed from regulation from 1994 through 2008.
5 percent
— Rental vacancy rate that serves as the legal basis for the 'emergency' condition justifying rent regulation.
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