Adams’ senior officials rally for City of Yes housing plan

Mayor Eric Adams is pulling out all the stops – and pulled lots of staffers away from their desks – to get New Yorkers jazzed about a zoning proposal. A Day of Action for the proposal on Tuesday saw top members of the administration, plus over 100 other staffers, hit all five boroughs to “engage and educate” New Yorkers about the City of Yes zoning text amendment to build a little new housing everywhere in the city. Participants included  First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer; Deputy Mayors Ana Almanzar, Meera Joshi, and Fabien Levy; Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión; and Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick. 

But missing from the action was Adams himself, who’s fighting a historic indictment and major turnover in his administration. “He had (his) off-topic (press conference) to prepare for, and other things going on,” City Hall spokesperson William Fowler told City & State, when asked why Adams didn’t participate in the rally for one of his administration’s signature proposals. Fowler said that the day was a chance for staff and senior leadership to get involved, but said that the mayor had frequently talked about the importance of the plan at other housing-related press conferences and at his town halls. 

City of Yes supporter Sara Lind, who is the co-executive director of the pro-open streets group Open Plans, said that the mayor taking a backseat from the day of action didn’t strike her as weird. “He's obviously busy,” she said, noting that Torres-Springer was there. “She has become, a little bit, the face of this, which I think is great because she’s well respected and seen as someone who can get things done.”

Adams has boosted the plan, his press office noted. He held a rally at City Hall for the plan back in April, and has talked it up more recently, in interviews and at last week’s off-topic press conference.

Adams weighed in on Tuesday’s day of action in a press release. “To spread the word and help educate New Yorkers, our dedicated public servants are hitting the streets to explain how a little more housing in every neighborhood can play a crucial role in making a difference,” he said in the statement.

City of Yes for housing would be a major policy achievement for Adams, who is in need of something to celebrate in his bid for reelection. The text amendment would allow for more flexible housing construction across the city, with the aim of building, as the administration has framed it, “a little more housing in every neighborhood.” The plan faces criticism from outer borough lawmakers and community boards in lower-density neighborhoods, and following a marathon two-day hearing on the plan last week, the City Council now has the power to consider changes before taking a vote.