Op-Ed | Everyday New Yorkers must step up and say ‘yes’ to City of Yes
New Yorkers have seen a lot of news and headlines over the last few days about what is happening in our city. Here is what has not changed: our city is still facing an unprecedented housing crisis that is larger than any one administration. And we still need our public officials to deliver results. Working-class New Yorkers, like the over 80,000 union strong 32BJ building service workers members we represent in the city are still answering the call, clocking in, and doing their jobs. Let’s all keep our eye on the ball.
That’s why we are calling on the City Council to support the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal, a plan to update zoning to allow more housing across the city. City of Yes for Housing Opportunity rises to meet the urgency of the housing crisis, creating housing options for working people at every stage of life. Now, more than ever, we need city government to keep our city moving forward. That means City of Yes needs to be at the top of the agenda.
For too long, the housing crisis has hurt working New Yorkers while holding back the city’s local economy. More than half of New York City renters —including many 32BJ members — are paying more than 30 % of their income on rent, and the vacancy rate of rental apartments is the lowest it has been since 1968. Homeownership is increasingly out of reach, even for New Yorkers with a good union job and steady paycheck. Rising housing costs chip away at spending power, make it harder to build generational wealth, and push people out of our city.
If New York is to remain a city where working people can live and thrive, we can, and must, fix this. Building more housing is an absolutely critical part of the solution.
Here’s what City of Yes means for everyday New Yorkers. The proposal creates a little more housing in every neighborhood through a set of carefully crafted zoning changes – which has not been done for more than half a century – to increase overall housing supply. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, the proposal could produce as many as 108,850 new homes over the next 15 years. Big problems require big solutions. This is the big picture solution our city needs to make a turn and build our way out of this crisis.
City of Yes will also significantly benefit New Yorkers by creating good jobs and boosting the local economy. The proposal is estimated to directly create 265,000 jobs and generate thousands more indirectly, resulting in a $58 billion economic impact from new housing alone. The increase in job opportunities, coupled with lower housing costs, will spread through the local economy, which benefits everyone. New York City must not miss this opportunity to deliver more housing, good-paying jobs, and economic growth.
There has been a necessary debate over the right amount of new development and the form it should take, and we believe that City of Yes strikes the right balance between unlocking much-needed new housing and preserving the New York we know. The proposal is rooted in the commonsense thinking that we must find ways to build new housing in every neighborhood in the right way—whether that means converting empty office towers into residential buildings, facilitating development in transit-dense areas, or by allowing for slightly more housing in every neighborhood of the city. We owe it to our neighbors, from young people spending entire paychecks on rent to long-time New Yorkers struggling to stay in the city where they grew up, to create housing opportunities of all kinds.
The City Council will have a final vote before the end of the year to turn City of Yes from a vision into a reality. New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of 32BJ members, simply cannot wait any longer. 32BJ is saying ‘yes’ and we need you — everyday New Yorkers — to join us in saying ‘yes’ so our City Council can pass this legislation to help build a better, more affordable city for all.
