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The City Council passed a major housing plan known as “City of Yes.” Experts and elected officials say it is only a first step to address the housing crisis.
Dec. 5, 2024Updated 4:56 p.m. ET
The New York City Council on Thursday approved an ambitious plan that could make way for 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years, the most significant effort to address the city’s housing crisis in decades.
The plan, known as City of Yes, has been one of Mayor Eric Adams’s top priorities and includes zoning changes to build more housing in a city where rents have soared and the vacancy rate is at its lowest level in half a century.
The plan passed the Council with a narrow majority of 31 votes in the 51-member body, a sign of the contentious negotiations that have consumed City Hall for months.
City leaders appeared to understand that they must do something to address high housing costs. The number of homeless New Yorkers has risen, and roughly one in eight public school students were homeless last year. About 500,000 households spend at least half of their income on rent.
Mayor Adams, a Democrat, and his administration won over skeptical lawmakers by agreeing to spend an additional $5 billion on affordable housing and infrastructure projects and by scaling back some of the boldest proposals.
The goal is to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood” by changing rules around parking mandates for new construction and adding homes above stores and in basements. Opposition was fierce in neighborhoods on Staten Island and in Queens that have many single-family homes, with residents objecting to the prospect of new high-rise apartments.
