Twelve months have passed since New York City lawmakers approved a series of zoning law changes — known locally as "City of Yes" — designed to add 80,000 housing units and help combat the city's affordability issues. Today, the Big Apple is "already seeing the results, with thousands of new affordable homes in the pipeline across our city," outgoing Mayor Eric Adams said.
Adams said this week that housing permits filed with the city's building department have increased nearly 33% year over year. The increase is one of a few signs that City of Yes is making its intended impact, Adams and others watching the Gotham housing market said.
At its core, City of Yes made changes to how and where developers and residents can add housing in the nation's largest city. It gave homeowners, for example, approval to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on their properties, while also permitting developers to construct three-, four- or five-story apartment buildings near public transportation. The legislation also reduced parking requirements that developers faced when building new housing and allowed current office buildings to be converted into multifamily housing towers.
The office-to-residential conversions have already gained traction, the Adams administration said — noting that more than 12,000 new housing units are in the works because of the rule change. Of the 12,000 units, roughly 3,000 will be permanently affordable.
New York has also seen 98 applications from residents seeking to construct an ADU, and half of those came in October and November, city officials said. The city released official rules on building an ADU in September, after holding a public hearing on the matter in July.
Construction hasn't kept pace with migration
Dan Garodnick, director of New York's city planning department, said he hopes the housing construction underway, thanks to City of Yes, will make the city more affordable for future generations.
"The full impact of these changes will take time to be felt, but twelve months in, we’re already seeing success delivering a little more housing in every neighborhood," Garodnick said in a statement. "New York City’s housing crisis has been growing for so long that it is easy to take it for granted."
New York, indeed, has a longstanding housing issue: The number of new units has not kept pace with its rising population, which increased from 8.1 million in 2010 to 8.8 million in 2020, according to state statistics. The city added only about 61,000 new housing units across the boroughs between 2021 and 2023, according to the latest housing survey.
Leaders of local housing advocacy groups said the City of Yes imprint is present in every borough, but now it's up to developers to create housing that financially suits New Yorkers across various income brackets.
Andrew Fine, policy director at housing advocacy nonprofit Open New York, said he has noticed the uptick in housing construction when he visits the boroughs.
"In the Bronx, longtime proposals are finally moving forward with deeper levels of affordability," Fine said in a statement. "Homeowners from Staten Island to Queens are excited to add ADUs, and in Brooklyn, new apartment buildings near the subway are being built without costly parking requirements."