In two weeks, the City Council will take up Mayor Eric Adams’ signature housing plan.
Speaker Adrienne Adams on Tuesday gave a preview of what to expect.
“We recognize that zoning reform is one important component to address the housing shortage facing New York City,” she said in a statement. “Yet, zoning reform alone is not a housing plan and cannot address the wide-ranging housing needs of New Yorkers.”
She said that while reviewing the City of Yes text amendment, the Council will put forward its own “housing action plan” and pursue a range of solutions to address the city’s need for more homes.
The speaker listed the need to ensure affordability, increase tenant protections, remove barriers to housing vouchers, invest in neighborhoods, strengthen agencies’ capacities and increase affordable homeownership opportunities.
The statement reads less as a rebuke than as a “yes, and” to the City of Yes.
Still, given the upheaval within the administration and the criminal charges against the mayor, the speaker’s comments take on extra weight. She is saying that while the City of Yes is important, it is not enough.
In other words, the City Council intends to put its stamp on housing policy — and perhaps be seen as filling a leadership vacuum left by the mayor.
So, we can expect changes to City of Yes, likely affordability mandates for at least some aspects of the text amendment and subsidy commitments from City Hall.
The Council might require stricter affordability in the Universal Affordability Preference. The program would allow a 20 percent bonus on projects, so long as the additional housing units are reserved for those earning an average of 60 percent of the area median income. Perhaps the Council will demand more requirements for the AMIs developers must accommodate to achieve the 60 percent benchmark.
Affordability requirements could also be added to the town center and transit-oriented development proposals.
On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced that Maria Torres-Springer will take over as first deputy mayor for Sheena Wright. The press release made clear that Torres-Springer is key to moving City of Yes forward, indicating that she will “continue to manage her housing and economic development portfolio given its significance to the administration’s agenda.”
Two hearings on City of Yes are slated for Oct. 21 and 22. The second hearing is for the general public to testify.
What we are thinking about: First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer is still overseeing her housing and economic development responsibilities. My first thought: That makes sense. My second: Does she ever sleep? How long will Torres-Springer serve in both of these roles? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The Real Estate Board of New York has launched a podcast, “Real Talk NYC.” Its first episode is about how residential brokers use social media.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Attorneys general in New York and more than a dozen other states sued TikTok, Gothamist reports. “TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “In New York and across the country, young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges and many more are feeling more sad, anxious, and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features.”
A TikTok spokesperson said the lawsuits are “inaccurate and misleading,” and said the company has implemented safeguards.
— Mohamed Bahi, who resigned Monday as the mayor’s liaison to the Muslim community, was charged Tuesday with witness tampering and destroying evidence, Associated Press reports. Bahi allegedly encouraged a businessman to solicit illegal straw donations and then lie about it to the FBI. When his home was raided by the FBI, he allegedly deleted from his phone an encryption app that he used to communicate with the mayor.
— Storm King is brat. Charlie XCX is hosting an event at the outdoor museum for the release of the remix of her “Brat” album, the Times Union reports.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Tuesday was $10 million for a 9,000-square-foot townhouse at 1 Montague Terrace in Brooklyn Heights.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $105 million for a 140,000-square-foot medical facility at 225 East 126th Street in East Harlem. Called the Proton Center, it is a partnership between Memorial Sloan Kettering, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $37.5 million for a 3,211-square-foot condominium at 220 Central Park South in Midtown. Ryan Serhant and Jennifer Alese of Serhant have the listing. — Matthew Elo