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City Council Committee on Waterfronts

Testimony last updated September 25, 2008

Committee on Waterfronts

September 25, 2008

Intro No. 809 – In relation to the City Planning Commission

Good afternoon. My name is Jennifer Barrett and I am the Research and Policy Associate for
the New York Industrial Retention Network (NYIRN). NYIRN is a citywide economic development organization that works to promote both blue-collar jobs and sustainable development.

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Pratt Center Calls for Inclusive City Charter Process

Testimony last updated April 6, 2010

On Tuesday, April 6, the Pratt Center submitted testimony to the New York City Charter Review Commission, highlighting the need for an inclusive, accessible and transparent process and the vital importance of land use -- how planning and zoning get done in New York City - among the areas the commission will need to address.

The Pratt Center called for: 

  • Comprehensive planning 
  • Meaningful community participation
  • Fair share
  • Committments to communities

See Janelle Farris testify at the April 6 City Charter Review Commission Hearing (starts at 57:00)

Click below to read the testimony. 

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Department of Buildings Challenge Procedures

Testimony last updated March 6, 2009

Testimony to the New York City Department of Buildings Against Proposed Rule 105-05 to Change the Procedures for Challenges

Brad Lander
Pratt Center Senior Fellow
March 6, 2009

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on NYC Department of Buildings Proposed Rule 105-03.  My name is Brad Lander.  I am a Senior Fellow and past director at the Pratt Center for Community Development, former executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, and a resident of South Park Slope, a neighborhood which saw an explosion of illegal construction in the period prior to the recent rezoning going into effect.

I have been both a not-for-profit affordable housing developer -- and so have been an applicant for permits from DOB on many occasions -- and a community planner and advocate, and so have worked with many community groups concerned that DOB was issuing permits for projects that did not comply with zoning, and frustrated by their inability to be heard.

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Illegal Residential Conversions in the East Williamsburg In-Place Industrial Park

Report last updated May 1, 2004

An anaysis of residential uses in the East Williamsburg In-Place Industrial Park, now called the North Brooklyn IBZ. This study documents the severity of the problem and the failure of some City agencies to enforce the law, and recommends changes to both the zoning and the administrative process needed to address the problem.

illegal_residential_conversions.pdf

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City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In

Issue Brief last updated March 10, 2010

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.

PrattCenter_CharterBrief.pdf

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Increasing Housing Opportunity in New York City: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning

Report last updated October 29, 2004

A result of a collaborative effort betweethe Pratt Center and PolicyLink (a national nonprofit research and advocacy organization working to advance policies to achieve economic and social equity), this report describes how affordable housing can be expanded in New York City, citing successful examples from areas throughout the country. Increasing Housing Opportunity in New York City makes a strong case for inclusionary zoning (IZ) as a successful strategy for expanding affordable housing opportunities and creating mixed-income communities. The report was made possible through the generous support of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.

The report recommends:

  • Apply mandatory IZ to all neighborhood-wide zoning changes, and voluntary IZ to other areas where more density could be appropriate.
  • Instead of blanket downzonings, utilize balanced neighborhood rezonings with IZ to preserve neighborhood character while creating room for new mixed-income housing.
  • Design an IZ program that is economically feasible, serves a range of income levels, is permanently affordable, and encourages on-site development.
  • Balance the need for housing with the need to retain manufacturing-zoned land to preserve jobs.

Executive Summary
Full Report
Press Release

Supplementary Financial Analyses:

Financial and Architectural Feasibility Analyses Summary
Financial Analyses of Model Sites (all links below are in Excel format):

Greenpoint-Williamsburg:                Central Harlem:
     Inclusionary Zoning                         Inclusionary Zoning
     Non-inclusionary Zoning                   Non-inclusionary Zoning
     Land Sales Costs
  

Inclusionary Zoning Full Report.pdf

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Protecting New York's Threatened Manufacturing Space

Issue Brief last updated April 16, 2009

When Mayor Bloomberg came into office in 2002, New York City had 12,542 acres of land where manufacturing businesses could legally operate. Today, thanks to zoning changes, it has fewer than 10,746, and another 1,800 acres would be converted to other uses under proposed rezonings. This Pratt Center Issue Brief assesses the loss of manufacturing land, looks at its impact on local businesses and job opportunities, and recommends measures for preserving what's left.
 

 

threatened_manufacturing.pdf

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City Charter Revision

Past Project last updated June 23, 2010

As the New York City Charter Revision Commission meets to rewrite the document that governs New York City, the Pratt Center has been the city's leading advocate for reform to the city's land use process.

NEW: Tell the City Charter Commission fair share must be fixed this year.

Read the Pratt Center's June 24 testimony to the City Charter Revision Commission.

Comprehensive, Inclusive City Planning: What NYC Needs Now

Since the 1930s, charter review commissions have recognized that New York City needs to map out the course of its future growth, through an impartial body and transparent process. Under the current charter, the City Planning Commission (CPC) must detail its zoning and planning policies and describe proposals for implementing them.

But while the City Planning Commission was created to guide comprehensive city planning in the public interest, it is not fulfilling this basic part of its job description. Instead, the mayorally controlled Department of City Planning (DCP) calls the shots on land use, and redraws the city’s map at will. While CPC sometimes modifies DCP’s zoning proposals, it invariably approves them. Under the current charter, the two bodies work hand in hand, in structual alignment.

The result is that unlike other major U.S. cities, New York lacks a road map for future development. The city is inadequately prepared for growth – and neighborhoods pay the price when development overloads their streets, schools and services. Too often, developers drive the land use process for their own benefit. In the absence of a forward-looking, publicly developed plan, government agencies do not know where their resources will be needed. And when communities attempt their own planning, under charter Sec, 197-a, they have no way to connect their efforts with the city’s own plans. Opposition to land use proposals frequently arises out of fear impacts won’t adequately be addressed.

The City Planning Commission should create and enforce a planning framework, to make sure that rezonings promoted by the Department of City Planning serve neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

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Inclusionary Zoning

Past Project last updated April 29, 2009

Brad Lander at the IZ Press Conference

A Powerful Tool for the Creation of Affordable Housing

During his first term in office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced expansive plans to rezone more than twenty New York City communities – including the Far West Side of Manhattan, Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Long Island City, and parts of the South Bronx. As originally proposed, the plans were poised to generate more than 50,000 new units of housing, almost all of them for rent or sale at market rates. 

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