5 Easy “Tricks” for NYC

Forget that One Weird Trick to make NYC a more livable and equitable city, we’ve got 5 Tips (plus a bonus!) for the presumptive next Mayor. So Eric Adams, if you’re listening…

1. Commercial Conversions

We’ve talked about it since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The drop in demand for office space is real and will have lasting effects. In fact, given that office leases are traditionally very long, it’s quite likely we haven’t yet seen the the bottom of this drop, although subleases have begun to hint at the sustained impact. But this doesn’t have to mean the death of these neighborhoods altogether. We must have the private sector work hand in glove with the public sector to create conditions where these suddenly vacant spaces/buildings can be repurposed to evolve into vibrant, mixed-use residential communities, quickly..

There were various competing proposals, each with a host of restrictions, earlier this year, but ultimately very little has been done to make progress. We suggested our own proposal — it loosens regulations without geographic restrictions, encourages conversions to residential and other more future-facing uses, incentivizes affordability, and doesn’t require allocating huge sums of public $. We strongly recommend that Eric Adams adopt our proposal.

2. Upzone R1 + R2

New York City is no place for single family home zoning. Full stop. That’s not to say single family homes don’t or shouldn’t exist in NYC, but rather that zoning shouldn’t preclude two-family, three-family, and multi-family housing in any part of the City. We talk about it here; the 15-minute City concept should be applied throughout the five boroughs. Upzoning the urban burbs is a good place to start.

3. Parking

Parking, parking, parking! Are we a city of the future or a city of the past? That’s ultimately the question here. If we want to maintain our hold on the title of the world’s capital well into the 21st century, and remake our city to be climate- and resident-friendly, we must rethink our parking strategy. Namely, (1) radically reduce street parking, and (2) eliminate parking minimums in zoning — or better yet install parking maximums.

We’ve seen the benefits of open streets and outdoor dining, now let’s focus on policy that doubles down on using public street space for the actual public. Policy should center on managing (and earning revenues for) the myriad competing interests for the curb, flexibly: dining, public seating, parklets, pickup/dropoff, deliveries, emergency vehicles, bike lanes, bus rapid transit, and more.

4. Affordable housing

A discussion of the future of planning, development, and land use in NYC of course is not complete without discussion of affordable housing. As we have discussed previously, we’re in a unique moment in NYC’s history where supply and demand values are shifting. During the first year of the pandemic, we no longer had the supply crisis we’ve had for decades. As we’ve seen in recent weeks of rent hikes, this is not a permanent phenomenon. A more permissive Biden immigration policy (and the 2020 census figures recently released indicate demand is significantly higher than assumed earlier this year) and a post-pandemic rush to value gives us a mandate to act quickly. First, the development/creation/conversion of new housing through the re-use of commercial buildings and upzonings (discussed above) and ADU-creation is critical. Reducing the cost of as-of-right development is another step towards affordability. The elimination of parking requirements will allow for more and cheaper housing development, which means more affordable housing.

The next Mayor should focus on demand-side subsidy policy rather than supply-side price regulation. Giving more people flexibility on affordability AND location is a healthy way to grow the affordability and equity we need in our city.

5. ULURP

The process of changing zoning designations is problematic. It’s lengthy. It’s costly. It’s imbalanced. Community groups feel shut out of the process. Developers feel irrationally squeezed. Ultimately, neighborhoods lose out. Might there be a better way? Of course there is!

And it all starts with adopting (and continuously refining) a comprehensive plan for the City, with tangible goals (x% carbon reduction by y date! x% homelessness reduction by y date! x% air pollution reduction by y date! x% “complete” 15-minute neighborhoods by y date!) and metrics and specific pathways to achieving those goals. New York City doesn’t have a master plan. Repeat — NYC doesn’t have a master plan. This is the root of the haphazard and overly political, hyper localized planning and development processes. Let’s collectively decide what we want to achieve as a city, align these goals with capital spending, and then execute that vision in the neighborhoods. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be intentional, clear-eyed steps in the right direction.

6. BONUS — Aesthetics

And then there’s the topic no serious NYC land use professional would dare touch…Aesthetics! The mere thought of regulating the look, style, color, and material of buildings gives off anti-urban HOA subdivision vibes. And yet…we think it’s worth discussing. Because, let’s be honest — everything we’ve written about above is about making our city better. Better on equity, better on affordability, better on livability. We’re trying to make it more desirable to live here. And ugly ain’t desirable. So we’ll go where no one has gone before and propose that we figure out how to incentivize high-quality, beautiful, long-lasting development, so our grandchildren’s grandchildren can be proud of what we’ve built.