City Of Yes? Scratch That — Council Wants City For All

What You Need To Know

As the New York City Council has been reviewing Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes housing plan, the big question hanging over the sweeping rezoning proposal will be how it will change. On Friday, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and a group of other council members revealed her counterproposal, a new plan dubbed “City for All .”

The mayor is proposing a citywide rezoning which would allow for higher density in all parts of the five boroughs. The council's leadership is solely focusing on making housing more affordable. 

“We must go beyond zoning reforms to address all the unrelenting housing pressures that leave New Yorkers struggling to afford finding or staying in homes,” Adrienne Adams said in a statement.  

Some of the changes the City for All plan calls for include:

• Increase production by further funding the Housing Preservation and Development five-year capital plan for affordable housing programs, supporting faith- and community-based organizations’ development of housing, and bumping funding of community land trusts . It would also heighten affordable housing targets.
• Support homeownership by funding the HPD’s HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program and HomeFix program along with increasing financial support for production and homeowner legal services.
• Investing in public transportation, open space, street upgrades and other infrastructure improvements. 
• Preserving housing by incentivizing returning vacant units back to the market, funding NYCHA Section 9 units, and other city housing conservation programs.
• Strengthening tenant protection programs, including right to counsel and the Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection program.
• Enhancing HPD and the Department of Buildings’ development programs, ability for inspections and neighborhood plans. 

You probably noticed that nearly all of those proposals ask for increased funding, which would result in huge costs for the city as Adams has looked to slash spending in recent years.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s City of Yes does incentivize more affordable housing through Universal Affordability Preference. The component allows developers to build at least 20% more units if the additional homes are permanently affordable. The city estimates If UAP had been in place since 2014, 20,000 income-restricted units could have been created – enough to house 50,000 New Yorkers.

The city council is set to pass or ax the City of Yes by the end of the year. 

— Sasha Jones

Send tips, love letters and hate mail to sasha.jones@bisnow.com or message me via Signal @SashaJones.06 to keep it encrypted.

What I Want To Know

 The New York City Housing Authority’s board approved a plan to demolish 2,000 public housing apartments.

Through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together plan, Related Cos. and Essence Development will build new projects on the two Manhattan campuses where 4,500 residents live. The new buildings would consist of 3,500 units, both replacement affordable housing and market-rate apartments. 

The replacement plan is the largest of its kind in NYCHA history, though that’s not hard given the agency’s historic lack of funding. Needed improvements to existing housing are estimated at $78.3B. 

That growing bill is why former Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced PACT in the first place, which allows private developers to fund improvements in exchange for tax incentives. We’re starting to see the first results of the program, though many campus improvements are still in the planning and engagement stages.

PACT is a controversial program, but it is arguably what NYCHA needs if the city ever plans to improve living conditions. What has competition been like for these projects? What has community response been like? And what plans do other developers have for their campuses? 

First Look

The New York Department of City Planning dropped a new draft of its Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan Wednesday, potentially bringing higher density to 42 Manhattan blocks.

The plan now allows for approximately 9,700 units of housing, with 2,800 being permanently affordable — a major upgrade from the previous version that only permitted 4,000 homes, 1,000 of which were income-restricted.

And it’s a major change from how many units of housing currently exist in the districts, which is none. 

The proposed new zoning districts are close to Penn Station, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Herald Square and Bryant Park — all areas heavily burdened by unused office space that are prohibited to be converted to other use under current zoning. 

Can I Give You My Number?

11

That is Manhattan's ranking among U.S. cities for overall real estate prospects in PwC and Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate report for 2025. The report expects a large recovery for the city, which fell to 42nd place in 2021 and ranked at 31st last year. Brooklyn came in close behind at 14th place. 

They Said What? 

“A couple of you have asked, ‘Why the hell isn’t he in jail yet? ’” said Anna Phillips, the trustee overseeing the recovery process in Nightingale Properties CEO Elie Schwartz’s alleged embezzlement scheme. A recording of a webinar Phillips held with investors in Schwartz’s settlement was obtained by my colleague, Jarred Schenke. 

Hang Out With Me

• Tuesday: Election Day! New York polling places are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find your poll site here and learn about the proposals on the ballot here . And here’s a breakdown of everything that is at stake for CRE. My colleague Jarred and I spoke to real estate leaders last week to get a gauge on where the industry stands in what has been a pricey and polarizing election . The answer? Things are still very uncertain in the days leading up to tomorrow, with multiple people saying they are burnt out from the noise.
• Tuesday: A plethora of earnings, including for Newmark and Vornado Realty Trust . I’m looking forward to anything chatty CEO Steven Roth may have to say about Election Day.
• Wednesday: Earnings continue with JLL and Starwood Property Trust . Again, I’m excited for any thoughts Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht may have this week.
• Wednesday and Thursday: Oh, and if having an election isn’t hectic enough for the markets, the Federal Reserve will meet in the following days to decide whether another interest rate cut is in our near future.
• Thursday: Bisnow’s Connecticut State Of The Market event.

Drop The Hot Goss

The Slice is produced by Bisnow Senior New York City Reporter Sasha Jones and is edited by Deputy Managing Editor Ethan Rothstein. Got an answer to my questions or info that you think I’d be interested in? I’m always happy to chat, on or off the record. Reach me at sasha.jones@bisnow.com or @SashaJones.06 on Signal, an encrypted messaging app.