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Adams proposes process changes to enable 50,000 more homes over 10 years. Announced 500,000 "moonshot" would require far more.


Actually, the 111 bureaucratic changes announced yesterday, from the Building and Land use Approval Streamlining Taskforce (BLAST), are aimed at speeding processes to unlock 50,000 more homes (as indicated in Politico's preview). That's a big difference--though, as noted below, a good number of press outlets bought the hype.

From Mayoral press release
Most of the proposed changes can be completed without any legislative approval, but with some not insignificant hurdles, like hiring more people.

To get to 500,000 homes would require a lot more, including rezonings and other legislative changes, likely including some revamp of the state's 421-a tax break, which expired in June and has not been renewed.

A development-friendly analyst (and former Department of City Planning official), Eric Kober of the right-leaning Manhattan Institute, commented that the plan "indicates a laudable desire to streamline" process, but that "none of the proposals he has advanced is remotely capable of reaching" the "moonshot" goal."

Kober cited "the economic infeasibility of the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program." A commenter on the left, City Planning Commissioner Leah Goodridge, said on Twitter, "What I think we really need to do is build as much affordable housing as possible. The 25-30% that is the current approach isn’t enough." That implies a greater commitment of public resources.

(The administration also offered more details on the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, which builds on the M-CROWN proposals from Brooklyn Community Board 8. I'll write about that separately. Also, it was coincidence that my City Limits article on two Atlantic Avenue rezonings appeared yesterday--it was supposed to be earlier.)

Building for whom?

According to the Q&A, Adams noted that the 500,000 homes "is low, middle and market rate." He didn't specify the mix.

The nonprofit housing organization ANHD was not impressed, saying Adams should focus on low-income housing, not overall production. 50,000, or 500,000?

As noted in video, embedded below, a reporter asked about how the number of 50,000 units was arrived at.

"I'm sorry, you said 50,000 or 500--?" Adams responded.

After some crosstalk,  Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Economic and Workforce Development, took over, saying that a system "based on process" would become "one that's based on progress. And so if we enact all of 111 reforms, we cut the time in half for a project to get from environmental review to actually permitted with people in them, and we're saving about $2 billion. What that unlocks, if we can build as fast as we want to through this plan, are 50,000 additional new homes over the course of the next decade."

 

Asked if the regulation would unlock funding, Torres-Springer said the increase in speed would save money by cutting, for example, the time to deliver housing in half. "And that's an additional 5--  50,000 within the 10-year period of new homes that we've added to our housing supply." 

(Note how she seemed ready to say "500,000.") 

A reporter followed up: "There was a 500,000 number. I'm curious where that came from as well."

"So 500,000, it is a moonshot," Torres-Springer responded. "I believe we can get there. As the mayor said, we added 800,000 people to the city in the last decade, only 200,000 new homes. So how can we not just recover from this pandemic but prosper into the future and meet both population economic growth if we don't at least double that." 

(At that moment, watch Adams' tented hands, which are supposed to be a signal of confidence, except in this case he starts disconnecting and reconnecting them, to my mind signaling stress, perhaps at the ambitious, outlandish number.)

To get to 500,000, she said, they not only need to build faster, as proposed, but  "we need to build everywhere, all of the work on land use and zoning, and we need to build together, which is why we're calling on our federal and state partners to join us and City Council, of course, to join us in this effort." 

Return of 421-a?

"How are you going to reach it without 421-a, which was a tool that your predecessor had for most of his years, and we might be entering a recession or a period of slower growth," a reporter asked. "So those are two very big challenges to 500,000."

Adams said the report "points out that we need the legislative body to look at incentives to repair existing properties in housing and to incentivize building more houses."
 
From the report

The Get Stuff Built report (bottom), in its Executive Summary, stated:
The improvements identified in this report will cut the cost of land use approvals in projects subject to CEQR [City Environmental Quality Review] and the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) in half—resulting in over $2 billion per year in savings—and is estimated to unlock at least another approximately 50,000 units of additional housing production over the next 10 years.

That goes to a footnote, which states, "These estimates are based on City data of number of projects; the Citizens Budget Commission’s estimates of project costs, including CEQR/ ULURP soft costs, and financing costs; recent per unit mid-rise housing production costs."

Projects under 200 units eased?

One notable proposal is to exempt more of development actions from conducting an Environmental Assessment Statement. Such Type II actions today include "retrofitting an existing building to incorporate green infrastructure, or a small expansion to an educational facility."

That would include "HPD-financed affordable housing buildings up to a certain size and private rezonings for small increases to housing density," according to the report.

"Based on an initial analysis of past environmental reviews, housing developments of up to 200 units generally do not appear to exceed most thresholds for analysis"--of traffic and open space impacts, for example--"in the CEQR Technical Manual and do not result in adverse impacts."

Note that that would have exempted--and could still exempt-- projects within the so-called M-CROWN zone, which cumulatively have added significant amounts of housing, from completing "a costly and time-consuming EAS," or Environmental Assessment Statement. The report states the proposal is subject to a "thorough review," which means it's not ready.

The summary

According to the document, to turn New York into the “City of Yes”, BLAST makes 111 recommendations across City Environmental Review (CEQR), Land Use approvals, and Building Permitting with the following goals:
  1. Increasing the speed of compliant projects while decreasing costs;
  2. Ensuring environmental protection and meaningful public participation; 
  3. Promoting an increase in affordable housing and environmental sustainability—both of which are broader policy goals of the Adams Administration, and; 
  4. Reducing risk for entrepreneur businesses and emerging developers by improving predictability of the development process. 
The 45 improvements to the City Environmental Review Process (CEQR) will: 
  • Streamline and update the present CEQR process to produce information that’s more useful to the public and decision-makers, as well as reduce the time and cost of CEQR review;
  • Improve the data inputs for CEQR analysis, as well as data provided to the public about potential environmental impacts of projects;
  • Facilitate better coordination between agencies to shorten the timeline for the CEQR process, without a reduction in quality; and,
  • Improve clarity, accessibility, and utility of the environmental review documents produced in the CEQR process to reduce burdens on applicants and improve public understanding.
The 19 improvements to the land use approval process will: 
  • Reduce time and costs of land use processes by minimizing the rounds of review and complexity of applications in the pre-certification stage; 
  • Maintain and improve the public’s opportunity for meaningful participation in land use processes; 
  • Improve legibility and notice of documents for public review; and, 
  • Simplify the requirements, findings, and rules in the Zoning Resolution. 
The 47 improvements to the Department of Buildings’ permitting process will: 
  • Reduce the time and cost of the permitting process by improving coordination between agencies and streamlining agency review; 
  • Maintain public safety and oversight of the construction process, and; 
  •  Improve the transparency and predictability of the permitting process for applicants. 
According to the document, city agencies have already implemented several of these improvements, with about half of the improvements to be implemented in the next 12 months, and the remaining half of the improvements in the next 24 to 36 months.

Changing the pre-certification process

The report goes unto details, not typically discussed but under the surface for spot rezonings that then surface in the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, since it's clear those proposals have emerged from much discussion with the Department of City Planning, or DCP.

The pre-certification process, as stated in the report, has no mandated timeline and can often take two years before public review in ULURP can begin.

It includes the following agency-required steps: 
  • Informational Interest Meeting: Applicants submit materials and meet with DCP staff to discuss the proposal, and DCP staff provide guidance to shape the proposal. 
  • Pre-Application Statement: When enough information has been provided, DCP informs the applicant to submit a pre-application statement (PAS). 
  • Interdivisional Meeting: The applicant presents the project and PAS to DCP staff who identify necessary actions, guide the preparation of application materials, and ensure completeness.
  •  Draft Land Use Application and Filed Application Review: DCP staff review all the materials for the land use application and require edits and modifications until the application is deemed ready to be filed. Filed applications are made publicly available on DCP’s website and distributed to the affected Borough President, Community Board, and City Council. Applications undergo multiple rounds of review by DCP staff to ensure they are ready for certification by the City Planning Commission Chairperson and ULURP.
The report proposes improvements to land use processes including: 
  • minimizing the number of rounds of review between DCP staff and applicants in the pre-certification phase, and
  • allowing most applications to be filed and available for Community Boards and the public earlier in the process;
  • Standardizing public review processes for similar actions, 
  • Lowering burdens on actions to as-of-right rules or more minor review, 
The pre-certification process, according to the report, has no mandated timeline and can often take two years or more before proceeding to ULURP. 

 The Community Board receives the Land Use Application only near the end of the precertification process, after the application is filed.  DCP will now make filed application materials available to the Community Boards and the public significantly earlier in the pre-certification stage. This will also expedite DCP-staff review in pre-certification.

Development mitigation funds

The report notes that, for projects with open space impacts, "negotiations around mitigation can be a long, drawn-out process between the lead agency, other city agencies, and the applicant."

A streamlined process would allow the Department of Parks and Recreation to "develop steps to replace individual project negotiations with a standard mitigation fund structure," allowing "the Applicant to pay into a fund for park improvements that is targeted to any park directly impacted by the project, as well as other local parks affected by the project or used to acquire park areas in the study area."

New help for the public?

A new CEQR Handbook will provide a layperson’s level guidance on how to read and understand CEQR documents, aiming "to provide the public and Community Boards with additional guidance on CEQR methodologies and how to participate in the CEQR public comment process."

Beyond making applications available to Community Boards and the public well in advance of certification and in advance of the 30-day required notice, DCP will add a feature to the Zoning Application Portal to allow anyone to subscribe to automatic notices for relevant alerts in a particular area. 

As the City Planning Commission transitions back to in-person meetings, DCP will maintain and enhance a hybrid format with remote participation options for members of the public to observe or participate. 

DCP will expand training modules and instructional materials for Community Boards and other civic groups, to help members of the public prepare to participate in the land use process.

Stakeholder groups
 
The report ends with a list of 50+ stakeholder groups that participated in roundtable discussions and/or provided feedback and recommendations.

They include Building Departments from the cities of Miami, Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago Building Department; housing, planning, and affordable housing groups like Citizens Budget Commission, Regional Plan Association, Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council, Municipal Art Society, and Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development; real estate organizations, law firms, consultanties in real estate, and several developers.

The coverage

These articles mentioned the hope for 500,000 but not the goal of 50,000:
This article mentioned the 50,000 but not the 500,000:
This article got the headline skewed but only mentioned 50,000:
The press release, in full

Mayor Adams Unveils "Get Stuff Built," Bold Three-Pronged Strategy to Tackle Affordable Housing Crisis, Sets "Moonshot" Goal of 500,000 new Homes

December 8, 2022

"Build Faster" With 100+ Concrete Reforms to Accelerate New Construction Approval Process by Half
"Build Everywhere" With Vision for 6,000 New Homes in Bronx, Ambitious Plan to Add Housing in All Five Boroughs
"Build Together" With State and Federal Policy Agenda Focused on Creating Affordable Housing

New York – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today unveiled "Get Stuff Built," a comprehensive, three-pronged effort to address New York City's affordable housing crisis and underlying housing shortage by rapidly accelerating the pace of housing production, with a "moonshot" goal of meeting the need for 500,000 new homes over the next decade. Led by a new report titled "Get Stuff Built," Mayor Adams' plan focuses on building housing faster, everywhere, and together in partnership with New York State, the New York City Council, and New Yorkers in all five boroughs.

"If New York is to remain the city we love, we must have places for the people we love. We need more housing, and we need it as fast as we can build it," said Mayor Adams. "The system has been broken for so long that we have come to view it as our reality. Our city declared a housing emergency five decades ago, yet, we have failed to address it with the same urgency we would any other crisis. That ends now. We can, and we must, do better. We need to add hundreds of thousands of units to address the problem, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Today we are saying yes to more housing and yes to getting stuff built. We are going to build faster, we are going to build everywhere, and we are going to build together."

"Making our city stronger and bringing opportunity within reach of every New Yorker isn't something that's going to happen accidentally," said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. "We need bold action to address our chronic and acute housing crisis and we cannot leave any stone unturned – from reforming our own processes to building housing near new transit stations and to allowing a wider range of unit types in neighborhoods across the city. I'm looking forward to working with our partners to 'Get Stuff Built' and to build everywhere, faster, and together."

"New York City can and should be a leader in ensuring everyone has access to housing. Today's announcement is a proud moment that shows we are committed to making government work for our neighbors," said Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. "This means cleaning up our processes, updating the rules, and removing the unnecessary administrative burdens that are holding us back. 'Housing Our Neighbors' laid out a blueprint for tackling the city's homelessness crisis, and today you are seeing the results of that work. We have a long way to go, but we will 'Get Stuff Built' together and ensure all New Yorkers have a safe, stable, and affordable home."

"The future prosperity of our city is dependent upon our collective ability to reform broken practices and replace the status quo with impactful and sustainable policies that reduce burdens and respond to the demand for a more efficient, effective, and equitable delivery of government services," said Chief Efficiency Officer Melanie E. La Rocca. "These recommendations are a real step forward."

"Get Stuff Built," a report produced by the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Task Force (BLAST) convened in June, includes 111 concrete actions the city will take to create more housing more quickly by cutting red tape, streamlining processes, and removing bureaucratic obstacles that are slowing housing production and economic recovery. These actions will increase the speed and lower the cost of development by accelerating project timelines by 50 percent, ensure environmental protection and meaningful public participation, and stimulate the creation of affordable housing across New York City.

Additionally, Mayor Adams formally kicked off the environmental review process to rezone the areas around two of the four new Metro-North train stations coming to the Bronx, with proposals to create thousands of new homes and family-sustaining jobs. Finally, Mayor Adams announced a series of policy priorities focused on stimulating housing creation, which his administration will pursue alongside partners in New York City, Albany, and Washington, D.C.

All of these initiatives fulfill commitments made in "Housing Our Neighbors," the Adams administration's blueprint for housing and homelessness; "Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery," the administration's blueprint for a strong, equitable comeback; and the mayor's "City of Yes" plan, which includes proposed zoning changes that would allow for the creation of a significant amount of additional housing.

"From day one of this administration, Mayor Adams was clear that our city's recovery and future depended on our ability to cut red tape and make government work for our partners and all New Yorkers," said First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo. "I am tremendously proud of the team's work in this area, and I know that this ambitious plan will deliver real results and put our city on the right path for generations to come."

"We can't 'Get Stuff Done' when existing unnecessary and complex regulatory hurdles stop even the simplest of projects from getting off the ground. With today's announcement, we remedy this wrong," said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. "Today's report will result in streamlined processes and clarity for New York City builders of every size, from single-family homeowners to large developers."

"Our plan to build housing faster, everywhere, together with our communities will help ensure more New Yorkers can find affordable places to live or stay in the neighborhoods they love," said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright. "It also addresses one of the most pressing crises facing our city. Our NYC Speaks community survey asked 50,000 New Yorkers their number one priority for creating safe neighborhoods, and housing was the number one response across every income level. This plan is a step in the answer to their call and demonstrates that their voices have been heard loud and clear by this administration."

Build Faster

The "Get Stuff Built" report includes 111 specific actions that will improve efficiency and effectiveness of three governmental processes that have slowed housing production: City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR), land use approvals, and the city's building permitting process. These improvements will shorten the time needed for these processes by 50 percent, accelerating the creation of new housing and reducing costs. City actions will include:

Speed up the pre-certification process and make it more transparent: Historically, land use review applications can get stuck in review and revision loops at several points. The pre-certification process – which must be completed before the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) can begin – has no mandated timeline and can take two years or longer. Through a series of actions and measures, the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) will remove and eliminate certain requirements and actions that will allow applicants to complete the pre-certification process much more quickly. ULURP application materials will also become available to community boards and the public earlier in the pre-certification stage.
Exempt small housing projects from Environmental Assessment Statement: Most housing projects subject to land use approvals or public financing must conduct an environmental review that takes six to eight months to complete and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, nearly all of these smaller projects are found to have no significant impacts on the environment. Exempting small housing projects from environmental review will decrease overall cost and help open new homes to New Yorkers more quickly.
Improve traffic analysis: Proposals to build housing beyond current zoning limits must generally go through the CEQR process. Revising the methodology for traffic analysis could significantly improve the environmental review process and shorten the overall time required on a project. The city will update the current guidelines in the CEQR Technical Manual to replace the existing methodology of predicting possible vehicle delays at every nearby intersection and, instead, use simple modern data tools and reach conclusions based on typical neighborhood congestion patterns and the size and type of the proposed project.
Streamline construction inspections of fire protection systems: Currently, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) performs examinations, permitting, and inspections for construction-related activities of buildings, and the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) monitors operation, maintenance, and compliance for fire safety of buildings after completion of construction. The city will make near-term systems improvements to coordinate plan review between DOB and FDNY, and, in the long-term, will consider transferring FDNY's construction-specific permit responsibilities to DOB – while maintaining FDNY's authority in operation and maintenance of buildings for fire safety compliance – to remove the redundancy of separate inspections during the construction process without compromising the safety of building occupants.
Expand DOB NOW to create a centralized city "one-stop shop" construction portal: This portal will process construction-related transactions across all city agencies involved in construction approval, permitting, and sign-off. This new system will break down silos between city agencies, create a single point of contact for an applicant, and allow applicants to track their approvals in real-time.

City agencies have already completed implementation of several improvements outlined in "Build Faster," with approximately half of the identified improvements to be implemented over next 12 months. Most of the remaining recommendations will generally be implemented over the following 12-24 months. Several actions – namely those requiring ULURP review or major technology upgrades – may take up to 36 months to fully implement.

Build Everywhere

Taking the next steps in the "City of Yes" plan, and delivering on a core commitment in "Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent," to invest in business districts and emerging job hubs across all five boroughs, the Adams administration is advancing two major neighborhood planning efforts.

The first is aimed at leveraging four brand-new Metro-North train stations set to open in the East Bronx in 2027, for which scoping documents are now available. The City of Yes Bronx Metro-North Plan would bring a projected 10,000 jobs; major new public and private investments, including by large health care institutions already in Morris Park; and as many as 6,000 new homes – at least 1,500 of which will be permanently affordable. To support the environmental review process for this project, public information meetings are set for December 13 and 15, 2022, and a public scoping meeting will be held on January 9, 2023. The project is set to be certified and begin ULURP in summer 2023.

The second major planning effort is a neighborhood development initiative in Central Brooklyn known as the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan. It promises to bring thousands of new homes, and permanently income-restricted homes, commercial and industrial jobs, infrastructure, and other improvements to Atlantic Avenue and its neighboring blocks in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. A steering committee formed to help shape the plan held its first meeting on December 1, 2022. Six months of public engagement is expected to begin in January and run through June 2023, followed by the release of a report. Certification is expected in 2024.

Beyond these two neighborhood planning efforts, the administration has proposed Zoning for Housing Opportunity, a citywide zoning text amendment as part of Mayor Adams' "City of Yes" plan. Scoping for this proposal will begin at the end of 2023 and will stimulate the creation of tens of thousands of new homes in neighborhoods across the entire city. The text amendment would:

Expand opportunities for affordable and supportive homes for New Yorkers by increasing the floor area ratio for all types of affordable housing, similar to the allowance already afforded to affordable housing for seniors;
Broaden the acceptable variety of housing types and sizes, including studios, to accommodate a wider range of families and households where appropriate;
Ease conversions of underutilized commercial buildings into homes; and
Reduce or eliminate unnecessary parking requirements that add cost and reduce the number of homes being built.

Build Together

Recognizing that New York City can only meet the scale of the housing crisis in partnership with allies at the federal, state, city, and community level, Mayor Adams committed to working in partnership with Governor Kathy Hochul, legislative leaders and members of the State Legislature in Albany, the City Council, borough presidents, federal partners, and community leaders – including the faith-based community – to advance a shared regional agenda.

Priorities for the administration include:
Prohibiting exclusionary zoning practices and encouraging appropriate density near jobs and public transit;
Legalizing existing basement apartment units and allowing homeowners to create other accessory dwelling units;
Providing New York City the ability to allow additional residential density in high-density neighborhoods;
Allowing the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to finance and preserve more affordable housing, secure longer affordability, encourage affordable homeownership, and enable affordable housing to include critical resources like child care and senior centers;
Facilitating the conversion of obsolete office buildings into housing;
Creating a tax benefit that enables multifamily rental development while requiring affordable housing;
Establishing an incentive to preserve housing quality and ensure healthy, safe living conditions for tenants; and
Streamlining approval processes and environmental review as outlined in the "Get Stuff Built" plan.

Mayor Adams will also continue to work with federal partners to secure financial support and regulatory changes. This includes working towards an increase in the value of tax credits and tax-exempt bonds and reducing the "50-Percent Test" to stretch federal housing dollars further.

"Cutting red tape and reducing unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles will not only get needed housing and projects built faster but will also spur significant economic growth across the five boroughs," said New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball. "Mayor Adams is truly the 'Get Stuff Done' mayor, and the 'Get Stuff Built' report outlines a critical path forward to address needed reforms in our development and construction process. Thank you to the report's co-chairs – Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz, and Chief Efficiency Officer Melanie La Rocca – for leading the way, and a big thank you to the entire BLAST task force, especially executive director Rob Holbrook, for their dedication and help to bring this report to life."

"This is an all-hands-on-deck moment," said DCP Director and City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick. "By cutting down on red tape, speeding up housing approvals, and advancing significant citywide and neighborhood plans, we will enable a quantum leap in the creation of new homes throughout the city. This has to be our highest priority."

"New York City has been in a housing emergency for decades. The time has come to act boldly, build more housing, and alleviate the pressure and stress all New Yorkers feel," said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. "Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Adams, we are rethinking old processes that obstruct our efforts to build the housing this city so desperately needs. Our agency is committed to continuing to streamline services to deliver on behalf of New Yorkers."

"This interagency approach to streamlining the construction process in our city is an important step towards tackling the housing crisis," said Acting DOB Commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik, P.E. "I would like to commend the entire BLAST task force on their willingness to discuss breaking down bureaucratic barriers between agencies and implementing new and more efficient workflows in the name of good government."

"Housing and safety are what every New Yorkers deserves, and they are essential to the prosperity of our city," said FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. "The department is proud to work with our fellow agencies to develop more efficient processes for the creation of housing and greater economic growth, while not compromising safety."

"The 111 reforms recommended by the task force will cut red tape, speed environmental reviews, and simplify building permitting all while preserving the health and safety of New York City's environment and residents," said Chief Climate Officer and New York City Department of Environmental Protection Rohit Aggarwala. "From digitizing and streamlining sewer applications and inspections, to updating air and noise environmental analyses based on advances in data and technology, to expediting the purchase of land to create nature-based ways to mitigate flooding, these new initiatives will help us be more efficient environmental stewards."

"These concrete actions will chart an easier path to energy efficiency in buildings, ensure that traffic impact is a key factor in project design, and help us create much-needed housing – an essential component of responding to climate change," said Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice Executive Director Kizzy Charles-Guzman. "I am proud that the Adams administration has taken these steps toward reducing emissions and creating a cleaner and more efficient New York."

"The Adams administration's continued efforts to cut red tape and improve the way government delivers for New Yorkers will benefit this city for years to come," said Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser. "I applaud Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer, Chief Efficiency Officer La Rocca, and Chief Housing Officer Katz for their leadership on the BLAST task force and for producing this thoughtful, action-oriented roadmap that will support growth across New York City."

"Small businesses are the economic engines that power our city forward and need clear government guidance to start, operate, grow," said New York City Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Kevin D. Kim. "The work of the BLAST task force is yet another clear example that this administration is prioritizing the cutting of red tape to help create more housing, prosperous businesses, and opportunities for workers."

"The BLAST task force report offers a much-needed view on how to streamline processes, while also increasing transparency and addressing housing disparities," said New York City Housing Authority Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. "We are excited to lend our voices to this vital interagency initiative and look forward to seeing how the recommendations that come out of this program can be implemented across our portfolio and serve to improve the quality of life for our residents."

"We play a critical role in assessing open space and tree impacts from new developments. As such, we were happy to participate in the BLAST task force," said New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sue Donoghue. "We welcome the opportunity to improve efficiencies, flow of information, and interagency cooperation, which all support economic development and enhance our park system and millions of trees under our jurisdiction."

"I applaud Mayor Adams, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz, and Chief Efficiency Officer Melanie LaRocca for taking on this important initiative. LPC joined a dozen agencies to develop actionable steps it can take to cut red tape in the building process," said Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Chair Sarah Carroll. "LPC's initiatives include streamlining our rules to allow for more efficient permitting, eliminating some interagency handoffs, and creating of new digital tools that help applicants. These measures will ensure that our landmarks and historic districts continue to support the economy and vitality of the city."

"The Public Design Commission has adopted a resolution regarding delegation of certain minor projects to the executive director. By shortening our review cycle from a month to two weeks, the delegation has saved our applicants' time and helped move important building system projects forward faster," said New York City Public Design Commission (PDC) Executive Director Sreoshy Banerjea. "This will result in additional time savings and expediting overall project schedules, including filing at DOB earlier, shortening lead times for purchasing, and reducing delays during construction. It's paramount that we center design excellence while getting things done."

"Though a wide variety of factors have contributed to our affordable housing crisis, it is clear that it takes far too long to build in the city, and the delay is driving up costs and contributing to the lack of units," said Jolie Milstein, president and CEO, New York State Association for Affordable Housing. "What the mayor is proposing will allow us to build more and build faster, which will drive down costs for builders and renters alike."

"We are in the grip of a housing crisis in New York that will not remedy itself. Our recent 'Construction Outlook' report shows we are hundreds of thousands of units behind where we should be," said Carlo A. Scissura, president and CEO, New York Building Congress. "We must build faster. We must build better, safer, bolder, stronger – and we must build together. We applaud Mayor Adams and his administration for their bold actions to speed up processes, cut red tape, and coordinate agencies. Our members stand ready to build across the city, in all boroughs, and there can be no such thing as 'not on my block' in a 'City of Yes.' Let's get stuff done, together."

"The mayor's announcement includes an exciting package of policies that, if implemented, would be significant and necessary steps in the right direction toward addressing our housing crisis," said Annemarie Gray, executive director, Open New York. "We look forward to working with the mayor, the City Council, the governor, and the State Legislature on enacting many of these pro-housing reforms in 2023."

"The BLAST task force undertook the first comprehensive review of the bureaucratic procedures that slow the pace and add to the cost of development in the city," said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO, Partnership for New York City. "It came up with recommendations that will enhance safety as well as make the approval process more efficient. Congratulations to the mayor on yet another initiative that will make it easier to 'Get Stuff Done' in our city."

"This is an impressive and much-needed effort to tackle New York's housing crisis," said Jonathan Bowles, executive director, Center for an Urban Future. "It will help make New York more affordable and reduce homelessness, but it is also key to keeping the city's economy competitive in this age of remote work."

"New York City's dire housing crisis requires bold, creative action on all fronts," said Sarah Watson, interim executive director, Citizens Housing & Planning Council. "We have to be a 'City of Yes' to make any headway on our housing shortage. We laud Mayor Adams for this multifaceted plan to accelerate the expansion of our housing options. We desperately need these reforms to our inefficient development processes to speed up housing production, and new neighborhood and citywide rezonings that allow our city to grow sustainably. We are very excited about the upcoming state legislative session that promises to prioritize housing, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the administration to provide analysis and recommendations to actualize our shared vision of a New York City that is accessible and stable for all."
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