
Please see associated article for more information.
The City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use voted to approve the Mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability proposals with modifications. CityLand created a comprehensive chart outlining the modifications made to MIH and ZQA and approved by the Council.
(read more…)

City Planning Commissioners preparing to begin the February 3rd meeting. Image credit: CityLand
Despite expressing broad support for proposals, City Planning calls on City Council to make further modifications. On February 3, 2016, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability proposals, which are two of the major programs to be implemented under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan. This was the first opportunity for City Planning to present its modified versions of the MIH and ZQA proposals since receiving highly critical testimony at its 13 hour hearing held on December 16, 2015.
(read more…)

City Planning Commission hearing testimony at December 16th meeting. Image credit: CityLand
The votes will be taken at the Commission’s public meeting at 22 Reade Street in Manhattan. On February 3, 2016, the City Planning Commission will be voting on whether to recommend approval or denial of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability zoning proposals. City Planning’s vote will be the first taken since the community boards responded negatively at the end of 2015. The vote also comes a month and a half after City Planning’s public hearing held on December 16th.
(read more…)

City Planning Commission hearing testimony at December 16th meeting. Image credit: CityLand
CPC held the hearing at the National Museum of the American Indian in an attempt to accommodate the large number of guests, however an overflow of testifiers waited on lines outside as the hearing began. On December 16, 2015, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, and Zoning for Quality and Affordability proposals, which are two components of the Mayor’s Housing: New York plan. The public hearing was the latest step in the review process for these two plans, and followed up on the Citywide Community Boards’ votes from last month.
(read more…)

Community Board ZQA & MIH Vote Tracker. Image credit: CityLand
CityLand creates comprehensive chart tracking every vote taken by community boards citywide on the ZQA and MIH text amendments. On September 21, 2015, the City Planning Commission referred for public review the Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) citywide text amendments. Since the public review process has begun, community boards across the city have met to discuss and vote on each of the two proposals. All 59 New York City Community Boards have until November 30th to vote on two citywide text amendments.
CityLand has created a comprehensive citywide chart that is tracking every community board action taken on ZQA and MIH. CityLand will continue to update this chart as we receive more detailed information. To date, we have attempted to contact every Board in the City at least twice. We ask readers to please contact us at nycitylaw@nyls.edu with new information to keep the chart up to date. To view and download the chart click on the adjacent picture or click here. (Last Update: December 10th at 11:45 A.M.) (read more…)

Carol E. Rosenthal, Real Estate Partner. Image credit: Fried Frank
The results are in, and two of the de Blasio administration’s key land use initiatives, Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, are not receiving a welcome reception at community boards and borough boards.
In fact, as of this writing, according to CityLand’s vote tracker of the city’s 59 community boards, 45 have voted to oppose Zoning for Quality and Affordability and 38 have voted to oppose Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. Four of the five borough boards have voted to oppose these proposals, with the remaining borough board, Staten Island’s, to vote on December 10. Many borough presidents have issued statements critical of the proposals as well. Such strong opposition is striking as the proposals were thoughtfully crafted and aim to generate more affordable housing, something that everyone seems to want. What’s going on? (read more…)