Issue Briefs

More than 50 representatives of public agencies, industrial development corporations and nonprofit research and policy advocates, based in 13 cities, met on October 18-19, 2012 in New York City to launch the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA). UMA is a national collaborative of non-profit, for-profit and governmental stakeholders working together to grow urban manufacturing, create living wage jobs and catalyze sustainable local economies.

The gathering, convened by the Pratt Center and SFMade, with support from Citi Community Development and the Surdna Foundation, marked the first meeting of a unique platform for U.S. cities to exchange best practices and to collaborate in support of the urban manufacturing sector. A broad national consensus has emerged that revitalizing the U.S. manufacturing sector is essential to the goals of creating well-paying jobs and rebuilding the middle class. UMA’s formation comes at a moment when manufacturing job growth is leading the nation’s economic recovery, as large and small companies are “re-shoring” production, and as manufacturing start-ups are bringing new products to market at an unprecedented pace. Cities have led the country’s manufacturing renaissance, providing access to diversely talented workforces, as well as to customers, suppliers, designers, investors, and the myriad services that enable innovation and rapid response to markets. But “making it” in cities can also present challenges, from competition for scarce land, to aging and obsolete infrastructure.

Three separate proposals impacting Flushing Meadows Corona Park are being advanced independently – but they would cumulatively transform Queens’ flagship park, and the densely-populated neighborhoods of Corona, Flushing, and Elmhurst that surround it.

The legislature is poised to renew a tax break to New York's real estate industry that shortchanges affordable housing

The tax abatement on new multifamily residential real estate development known as 421-a cost New York City nearly $755 million last year in foregone taxes, or two-and-a-half times the level of property taxes forgiven under the program just five years earlier. The abatement, prized by the Real Estate Board of New York, expired last December. Now, the state legislature is poised to revive the tax break in exchange for the renewal of rent regulation, which expires June 15. As Albany trades 421-a renewal for the rent laws that protect the access to affordable housing of more than 1 million tenants in New York City alone, it is critical to understand the actual value of the tax abatement to developers and the ways in which the program as currently constructed gives out its benefits indiscriminately, in most cases without leveraging anything in exchange.

This issue brief from the Pratt Center details the cost of the 421-a abatement to New York City and recommends measures to better target the benefit to generate affordable housing and transit-oriented development.

Mayor Bloomberg has announced the appointment of a City Charter revision commission. While its review of term limits may initially grab the most attention, the commission will be looking at something else just as vital to the city’s future: land use and the process through which property owners, residents and the government decide what gets built in New York City.

The new Pratt Center issue brief "City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In" outlines the major land use challenges the new commission must confront: 

• The City Planning Commission has ceased to plan
  
• The City Charter's aspiration to community-based planning has not been fulfilled 
• Attempts to promote "fair share" of burdens have fallen short
• Side agreements to land use decisions have proliferated without disclosure or enforcement

A renewed and independent role for the City Planning Commission, substantive support for community-based planning, an updating of fair-share to meet current realities, and disclosure and enforcement for side agreements are all essential measures for the new City Charter commission to implement.