Website Comment Summary
This goal received the third-highest number of comments and the ideas presented here represent a great diversity of conclusions and perspectives. Many comments suggest building solely low-density, single-family homes, while many others suggest increasing the density of the outer boroughs and constructing high-rise housing. Comments provide varied suggestions for how, what, and where to build new housing in the city. Some comments express some dissatisfaction with the overall purpose of this goal, suggesting that the city should focus on preventing future population increases, that additional New Yorkers will make the congestion problem worse, and that the goals should focus more specifically on ensuring high-quality jobs and schools.

Many comments address the issue of where additional housing should be built. Many of these suggestions emphasize the redevelopment potential of existing or abandoned buildings, or identify the outer boroughs as the most likely site for additional housing. For specific siting suggestions, comments suggest placing housing in now-abandoned buildings, above commercial areas, in industrial sections of the city, above highways and parking facilities, along the waterfront, near public transit, and above schools and libraries. To identify priority housing sites, some comments recommend a comprehensive housing survey or re-zoning initiative to identify potential housing sites and prioritize development.

Comments are less homogeneous about what particular structures and housing types should be constructed. A plurality of these comments, however, suggest that higher-density housing projects will be necessary given the city’s land constraints. Specific suggestions for housing types include traditional responses such as affordable housing, mixed-income housing, middle-class buildings, and low-income co-ops. Comments also suggest more innovative approaches, such as dedicated senior-citizens’ housing, mandates to ensure that new housing projects conform to environmentally responsible and sustainable building designs, and zoning changes to permit cooperative housing. Several comments suggest that new housing projects must respect the local context of their neighborhoods.

To promote housing development, comments most frequently encourage the continuation or strengthening of affordable housing programs, including rent control and rent stabilization, expanded housing subsidies for tenants, and tax breaks for affordable-housing developers. Several comments express dislike for rent control and rent stabilization approaches, instead suggesting a purely market-based approach. More novel ideas for how to encourage new housing included abolishing large, multi-unit consolidations; investing government pension funds in affordable-housing developments; providing housing subsidies to city employees in lieu of pension contributions; encouraging public-private partnerships for low-income housing; and easing zoning and permitting rules for affordable or green housing projects.

Town Hall Comment Summary
Maintain and Promote Affordable and Mixed-Income Housing
There was resounding support throughout all boroughs for preserving and increasing affordable and mixed-income housing, and comments expressed both general support and specific ideas for how to do so. Suggested tactics that received numerous remarks include:

• Expand or update existing affordable housing subsidies and programs such as the Section 8, Mitchell Lama and 80/20 split programs
• Protect and expand rent-controlled and stabilized housing
• Incentivize (e.g., with tax breaks) or require developers to set aside a certain percentage of affordable housing units in each development
• Expand or mandate inclusionary zoning
• Ensure that affordable housing is available and distributed throughout the boroughs as well as in “immigrant areas”
• Make home ownership more affordable by capping purchase prices or helping low-income individuals obtain mortgages
• Re-address and redefine “what affordable is for the lower and middle classes”
• “Protect the middle class and small businesses”

Increase Housing Supply
Several participants suggested that remediated brownfields be used to build more housing. Others agreed that upzoning should be encouraged “where appropriate” and “where infrastructure can support it,” and that rezoning be done for underutilized industrial areas. There was, however, a suggestion to “downzone Manhattan.” A few participants agreed that new housing could be made available by decking over infrastructure (such as rail yards or the Gowanus/BQE) or building apartments on top of libraries and retail stores. There were also a few calls for more waterfront housing.
Some more creative suggestions to expand housing supply include promoting more house sharing and house boats, converting parking garages to housing, using city facilities to house the homeless, converting abandoned housing for ownership, and “recognize ‘illegal’ conversions as actually being beneficial to the city.”

Maintain Neighborhood Character
Many participants agreed that further development should “ensure new building is in context with existing areas” and should not displace current residents. Several suggestions were made to incorporate aesthetic requirements for new construction, to restrict tall buildings to wide streets or where they will not cast shadows, and to generally increase quality of existing and new housing (including tearing down abandoned or condemned buildings).

Build social infrastructure commensurate with new housing
Numerous participants emphasized that “social infrastructure” must be improved and developed in conjunction with housing construction planning, including parks and community facilities, hospitals/healthcare, education and after-school programs. Numerous comments also specifically addressed the importance of concentrating housing development around existing transit hubs and job centers (particularly job centers and commercial districts in outer boroughs) to increase convenience and reduce commuting time. Furthermore, several requests were made to increase community planning and communication during the building process, including involving immigrants in the decision-making process.

Codes, Policies and City Agencies
Some participants raised the need to simplify the building code (“so it is written in plain English” or “along the lines of the International Building Code”) and to enforce housing codes. With respect to property taxes, comments suggested greater tax control, tax increases, and that changes be based on “square footage, not income.” Individual suggestions were also made to improve inter-agency communication, simplify permitting, prevent eminent domain, protect renters, reduce lobbying of city officials by developers, increase DCP staff, “crack down on property speculators and scam artists,” and “stop tax exempt development.”

Green Buildings
Many comments were made in support for “more environmentally friendly buildings,” including for affordable green housing. Specific suggestions were made to “put sustainability practices into the building code” and to incentivize green developments (e.g., with tax abatement).

Miscellaneous
Individual miscellaneous suggestions included: promote “shared resource space: food/energy co-ops,” use prefabricated housing to reduce costs, and reduce dependence on union labor.

Community Leader Comment Summary
Maintain and Promote Affordable and Mixed Income Housing
There was strong support throughout all boroughs for maintaining and promoting affordable and mixed-income housing. Suggested tactics for preserving and increasing such housing included: incentivize developers, redefine/re-evaluate the term “affordable” and related housing guidelines, integrate affordable or mixed-use units in regular housing, preserve existing affordable housing, continue the 80-20 split, initiate “true” 421-A reform, increase rent regulations and provide public funding in the form of government financing, investment, or permanent cross-subsidies. Individual suggestions included: study best practices from other cities, educate public to reduce misinformed opposition to affordable housing, build more low/mid-income condos, and use “special zoning to preserve artists housing and low income.” General individual comments emphasized that “affordable housing” should include middle-income housing, senior housing, and should still be of high quality.

Other suggestions focused on government support to promote home ownership, by creating ownership programs for refurbished abandoned housing, converting some city housing to ownership units, giving renters an option to buy, or providing ownership assistance to low/mid-income renters.

Community Involvement , Neighborhood Character/Quality, Social Infrastructure
Numerous community leaders expressed the sentiment that rezoning should not affect the character of their neighborhood and asked for “more community based planning,” including specific requests for immigrant community involvement, community benefit agreements, more information sharing within the community, and “fewer big box developments” to “save mom and pop stores and ‘homey’ communities.”
Numerous requests were made to include and increase “social infrastructure” in construction planning, including open community space, hospitals/healthcare, and education and after-school programs.

City Agencies and Policies
There were numerous calls for improving city agency performance, efficiency and responsiveness (e.g., DOB). Specific suggestions included: improve inter-agency coordination, expedite permitting, increase HPD/DOB inspections staff, reduce bureaucracy, and engage in more regional planning. Staten Island leaders expressed frustration that their land use study “has been ongoing for 50 years.”

Suggested Housing Locations
Community leaders suggested the following opportunities or locations for housing development: existing or abandoned industrial/residential buildings, remediated brownfields, Sunnyside Yards (Queens), and Seaview Hospital (Staten Island).


Green Buildings
Community leaders support an increase in “energy-efficient”, “sustainable and long-lived” green buildings and green roofs, particularly for new construction. Individually suggested tactics include: require all new developments to be green, change building codes to encourage sustainability, expedite permits for green buildings, and implement educational campaign and incentives for green building.

Zoning
Community leaders in Queens and Brooklyn called for comprehensive and continued re-evaluation of zoning in their neighborhoods. Other individual comments suggested zoning to restrict parking, require open space, encourage mixed-use developments, prevent displacement of current residents, disallow high rise buildings, establish new commercial hubs outside Manhattan, increase land use, and promote industry (job generation) along with affordable housing.

Miscellaneous
There were multiple suggestions for “more transit-oriented development”, encouraging higher density housing, more modular housing, and “reasonably sized dwellings (so as to accommodate real furniture)’”. Individual suggestions included: increase tax on unused land, redefine construction standards, provide set-asides for current population and preserve and invest existing stock.