Mayoral candidates each support ‘City of Yes’ the most

New York City Mayor Eric Adams isn’t the only one pushing for a deal on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan as the clock ticks down to Thursday’s crucial committee vote in the New York City Council. His Democratic challengers are also vouching for the sweeping zoning proposal, seeking to make it clear that they are largely all for it – even if they say the mayor’s plan alone is far from enough to combat the city’s housing shortage. 

While most of the candidates have voiced support for the proposal over the past couple of months, they reiterated that support with a string of lengthy statements Wednesday – the eve of the expected committee vote. The declarations came as the Adams administration and the City Council scrambled to solidify an agreement on the plan aimed at easing zoning rules to spur residential development. The land use and zoning committees will vote on the compromise proposal Thursday. The full City Council is then expected to vote on the proposal Dec. 5.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie was the first mayoral candidate to weigh in Wednesday, urging the City Council “to resist efforts to revise the proposal in any way that would yield fewer homes.” While he acknowledged the city needs much more than the City of Yes proposal to fix its housing crisis, the plan is ultimately a step in the right direction. “If we want to build a city where every New Yorker can put down roots, then every neighborhood and resident has a role to play in supporting more housing,” he said in a statement. 

Myrie was referring to parking mandates, according to a spokesperson for his campaign. The Adams administration wants to get rid of them to allow for more units, and a slew of advocates, and many progressive City Council members have defended this aspect of the proposal. According to reporting from The City, a compromise to create a tiered system to lift parking mandates in some parts of the city while reducing requirements in others is under consideration.

Former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer also called on members to pass the proposal, but hedged slightly, describing the “minimalist proposal” as only a small piece of a long journey.

“I urge the City Council to support the City of Yes proposal, which will increase the possibility of building more housing in the five boroughs,” he said. “That said, it is ultimately a drop in the bucket in terms of what our city needs to build the next generation of affordable housing.”

State Sen. Jessica Ramos supports the passage of the proposal – albeit with the caveat that the Adams administration delivers on the City Council’s calls for greater investments in subsidized housing, infrastructure upgrades and tenant protections. In a statement, she praised City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ own recently released initiative – dubbed City for All – and her efforts “to negotiate a more comprehensive package” while charging that the mayor introduced City of Yes too late into his tenure. Funding for City Council initiatives staked around deepening housing affordability requirements, bolstering the use of housing vouchers, protecting tenants and other proposals have been a sticking point in negotiations. Members are pushing the Adams administration to commit more funding toward these priorities in exchange for their support of the City of Yes proposal.

“Zoning reform on its own is not going to preserve existing affordable housing stock, keep tenants in their homes, or expand pathways to home ownership. We need housing for New Yorkers at every stage of their lives,” Ramos said in a statement. “ I urge the council to hold the line and resist any efforts to weaken efforts to make our city a place working families can continue to call home.” 

Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani also backs the City Council’s additional affordability proposals saying, “While we cannot address the housing crisis through zoning actions alone, ‘City of Yes’ is a good start,” he said.

Comptroller Brad Lander touted a rezoning in his district while he was in the City Council that has allowed a massive infusion of housing in Gowanus. “I urge the Council to resist NIMBY pressure to trim the proposal and roll back urgently-needed housing reform,” Lander said. “New York City will never pull out of our housing affordability crisis if we continue to prioritize parking spaces over housing in transit-rich neighborhoods.”