City Planning Chairman Carl Weisbrod & HPD Commissioner Vicki Been are sworn in before the Council’s oversight hearing. Image credit: William Alatriste, NYC Council

HPD, City Planning, NYCHA among those who answered questions on the results and direction of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan.  On November 17, 2014, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, joined by the Committee on Land Use and Committee on Community Development, held an oversight hearing on Housing New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan. The Council heard testimony over the course of seven hours from Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been, City Planning Commission Chairman Carl Weisbrod, along with representatives from the New York City Housing Authority, the Housing Development Corporation, labor unions, tenant advocacy groups, and other stakeholders.

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The property tax exemptions will affect seven buildings in Brooklyn Community Board 16. Image credit: Department of City Planning

Dean Atlantic HDFC received property tax exemption for seven buildings.  On August 21, 2014, the City Council voted 47-0 to approve an Article XI property tax exemption on seven buildings owned by the Dean Atlantic Housing Development Finance Corporation.  The Department of Housing Preservation and Development requested the exemption from the City Council on Dean Atlantic’s behalf.  The buildings are all in Brooklyn Community Board 16, covering the Ocean Hill and Brownsville communities.  Six of the buildings are located in an area bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the north, Dean Street to the south, Rockaway Avenue to the west and Eastern Parkway to the east.  The seventh building is located further south at the corner of Park Place and Saratoga Avenue.  The buildings are either  two-or three-stories for a total of twelve residential units, with five of the buildings featuring a commercial space on the ground floor.  The residences are two- and three-bedroom units.

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Rendering of the approved Domino Development proposed by Two Trees Management. Image credit: SHoP Architects.

Local Williamsburg Council Members Antonio Reynoso and Stephen Levin led questioning of Two Trees Management on Domino Project.  On April 1, 2014, the City Council Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard Two Tree Management’s application for special permits and a zoning text amendment to transform the Domino Sugar Refinery into a mixed-use development.  The City Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the application on March 5, 2014 following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement of Two Trees’ commitment to significantly increase the square footage of affordable housing. (more…)

Rendering of Rheingold Development as seen from Bushwick Avenue and Forrest Street, Brooklyn. Image Courtesy of Forrest Lots, LLC.

Controversial Bushwick development project questioned on affordable housing goals in public hearings. On December 10, 2013, the full City Council voted 48-1 to rezone six blocks in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in order to allow the development of ten mixed-use developments. The rezoning area is bounded by Bushwick Avenue, Flushing Avenue, Melrose Street, Stanwix Street, and Forrest Street.  Council’s Committee on Land Use voted 18-1 and Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises unanimously voted 10-0 to approve the project. Council Member Charles Barron voted in the negative at the Stated Meeting and Land Use Committee meeting, citing concerns about housing affordability. (more…)

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.

Presumptive mayoral candidate focuses on solutions to the “middle class squeeze” in speech. On February 11, 2013, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn gave her final State of the City Address. Speaker Quinn, who is term limited at the end of this year, is expected to announce her candidacy for mayor in September’s Democratic primary.

Quinn’s speech focused primarily on helping the middle class. The Speaker highlighted The Middle Class Squeeze, a report that she and the City Council issued earlier that same day. The report explains that the City’s middle class has shrunk due to decreasing middle-class jobs, increasing middle-class unemployment, the expensiveness of the City, and rising housing costs that exceed middle-class incomes. In her speech she stated, “Our top priority must be to keep our middle class here, attract new middle-class families, and give every New Yorker the opportunity to enter the middle class.” The Speaker contended that New York faces an affordability crisis and the City needs to make sure that people who want to stay here can afford to do so.

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