CM Ossé's viral YIMBY video generates praise, but the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan debate is over affordability, not whether to increase supply.

A simplistic mini-explainer (sort of) on housing--build more and we'll stave off displacement--from the young-and-hip 36th District Council Member Chi Ossé has generated nearly 700,000 on Twitter/X (and more on TikTok) and predictable hosannas from real-estate boosters and YIMBYs.

People are being priced out because we don’t have enough housing. Let’s fix that. pic.twitter.com/HY66MASVMD

— Chi Ossé (@OsseChi) January 16, 2024

But the video itself, and nearly all the online response, show a notable lack of context, starting with the failure to mention the details of--and debates about--the pending Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP), which he alludes to without naming.

There's virtually no debate about whether the rezoning of 13 blocks around Atlantic Avenue, just east of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park footprint, should deliver more housing: an estimated 4,000 apartments--housing perhaps 9,000 people over 8+ years--with perhaps 1,150 to 1,550 of them below-market "affordable" units.

The questions revolve around the level of affordability required, and how and whether job-creating space should be mandated.

As to whether that increase in supply might relieve the general gentrification pressures by diverting some who'd otherwise compete for existing supply, well, somewhat--but it's unclear how much.

The AAMUP, actually, is slated for a far larger piece of Crystal Hudson's 35th District, and Hudson, not Ossé, has taken the lead on the rezoning. 

(Beyond that, Hudson might have reason to be peeved with Ossé, who says in the video that he reps "Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights," though Hudson has most of the latter.)

From the video

"Bedford-Stuyvesant lost more than 22,000 Black residents while gaining more than 30,000 white residents," Ossé states, quoting statistics from the 2020 census.

Not all of that, though, can simply be blamed on gentrification. A lot of not-so-affluent, white Hasidim moved into the northwest section of Bed-Stuy after getting formerly industrial blocks rezoned to add housing. (Hasidim, the original YIMBYs!)

Nor can it be solved by rezoning a relatively modest area.

Nor does providing more housing necessarily guarantee that Black residents, especially, will benefit.

"One solution? Build more housing," Ossé states. "Today we're on Atlantic Avenue in my district. This long stretch of tire shops and gas stations wastes valuable space." He points upward, to the future.

The 36th District, above Atlantic Ave., starts at
Classon Ave. Below Atlantic, it starts at Bedford.

"Soon we're putting out a plan to fill that empty space with housing, for working New Yorkers," he continues. "Thousands of homes for thousands of people, so that you don't get priced out and there's room for everyone."

"This is a complex issue, and I barely brushed the surface," he says in closing," promising to deliver some follow-ups.

Drilling down

A look at the map of the AAMUP, outlined in orange, below, suggests a few ironies.

Only a small fraction of the study area is in Ossé's district: the entire (small) portion north of Atlantic Avenue, which starts at Classon Avenue, and only the final block below Atlantic, east of Bedford Avenue.

Everything else is in Hudson's 35th District. She has faced the majority of the applications for one-off spot rezonings, which one reason she, with her colleague, asked for the neighborhood study to address broader needs.

The reaction

Ossé, can you see? Council member preps for high-stakes housing fight, The Real Deal's Erik Engquist wrote Jan. 18, declaring that the "real estate industry was wrong about" him;

But now Ossé has posted a brilliant video that explains — better than real estate people ever could — why a crucial area of Brooklyn must be redeveloped. That’s a bigger issue because unlike the broker fee bill, it will almost certainly be voted on by the City Council.

Not only do his words and images make a compelling case for change in just one minute and 11 seconds, but Ossé is a credible messenger. He is a local person of color who has searched desperately for housing in the area.

At least Engquist acknowledges that Hudson spurred the AAMUP plan, and that both Council Members "will surely tweak to show they are responding to feedback."

But everyone who lauds this video--and many do--are ignoring that the dispute is not between building and not building. Pretty much everyone gets that.

On NY 1

NY 1 reported Jan. 22, in Councilman turns to social media to press for action on affordable housing:

In a recent social media post, Ossé toured a section of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, predominantly occupied by tire shops and gas stations. He pointed out that these establishments "waste valuable space" and unveiled a plan to repurpose the area for housing.

“When we look at large strips of land like Atlantic Avenue, we can advocate for a larger rezoning and fight for more monies to go towards truly affordable housing,” Ossé said.

The interview was accompanied by a bizarre illustration that did not come close to capturing the scope of the AAMUP rezoning area, since it highlighted just one block.

Note how the chyron, "Brooklyn Councilman calls for thousands of new housing units," frames the issue.

How much affordability?

The question is how much to ask, in return, for giving property owners an enormous increase in land value. One benchmark, I've suggested, is the previous upzonings.

After all, if Hudson could negotiate 35% affordable housing, at a blended average of 54% of AMI in two spot rezonings in 2022 along Atlantic Avenue, why couldn't the city demand more--especially when it's contemplating allowing developers the same bulk (C6-3A zoning) those spot rezonings got?

Among the critics of the draft zoning proposed was Community Board 8's Gib Veconi, who led the M-CROWN initiative that preceded the AAMUP, noted that the Department of City Planning contemplates Mandatory Inclusionary House (MIH) Option 2, which means 30% of the units at an average of 80% of Area Median Income (AMI).

"Deeper affordability levels would require citywide reform to MIH," City Limits quoted Sarit Platkin of the Department of Housing and Preservation Development. OK, but the city hasn't yet engaged with the clear community preference for deeper affordability or to use recent spot rezonings as a benchmark.

This, of course, goes way beyond Ossé's brief video.

Some reaction

A small but notable set of responses were critical:

John Massengale AIA CNU
Thank you, @OsseChi -- I hope you will address the issue that Mayor Adams and the City of Yes are not addressing -- who will build housing that the lower 80% can afford? 

@TanyaEverywhere
Have you considered the impacts of 120 AMI “affordable housing” in your formerly Black district is responsible for the formerly part?

@DR0DRIGUEZ
Sorry @CMChiOsse it’s not as simple as supply & demand & build more housing. These are the talking points of YIMBY’s that have long seized housing policy in NYC & have caused gentrification of our black & brown communities. It matters what TYPE of housing we build.#PublicHousing

@sylvia_nyc
it's funny that everyone is championing this video as clear and effective policy messaging when it's actually about a very specific rezoning proposal in his district that he alludes to but barely explains

@TayXLamar 

Uhhh @OsseChi, I’m disappointed with your logic. There has been so much housing built in Bed-Stuy yet the rents are higher than what the black residents of the neighborhood can afford (AMI) which is a leading proponent of gentrification.

Ossé's follow-up

His Feb. 5 follow-up video, on Good Cause Eviction, has only 27,000 views on Twitter/X so far, likely because real-estate boosters do not support it.

There is no silver bullet for the housing crisis. We need to implement many solutions. Today, we’re talking about the urgency of Good Cause Eviction. pic.twitter.com/gGIklRH5qD

— Chi Ossé (@OsseChi) February 5, 2024