Testimony: City of Yes for Housing Opportunity from the NYU Furman Center

The city’s severe housing shortage threatens its ability to support its existing population and sustain its economic vitality and diversity. High housing costs and lack of options will continue to constrain the city’s growth, driving away current residents and deterring new talent from coming to New York, which has long thrived on attracting people from across the country and the world. COYHO takes a significant step in addressing these challenges by eliminating key barriers to housing development, creating a path for both affordable housing and market-rate housing in every neighborhood to meet rising demand and ensure New York can remain a place of opportunity for all.

To respond to this critical issue, which is central to New York City’s future, the city needs to make it easier to build affordable housing and market-rate housing. COYHO does that by removing unnecessary obstacles that limit what housing can be built where.

COYHO tackles these issues with a comprehensive set of provisions that, collectively, aim to increase both affordable and market-rate housing by eliminating long standing impediments to multifamily development. As a package, COYHO would make better use of New York City’s limited land, help slow the increase in development costs, and unlock the potential for more housing across all neighborhoods. Importantly, it includes measures designed to address the uneven distribution of housing growth that has exacerbated inequality in recent years.