Editorial Supports Upzoning for Housing Affordability

The New York Daily News editorial board writes a positive review of the recent rezoning efforts completed in New York City—Envision SoHo/NoHo and the Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study—representing substantial upzonings in two relatively affluent neighborhoods in the city.

According to the editorial's assessment, the rezoning of SoHo and NoHo "will produce 3,500 new apartments, about 900 of them affordable, in a 56-block chunk of lower Manhattan," earning a "good" mark. The Gowanus rezoning will "[upzone] 82 blocks astride Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal to add 8,500 new apartments, about 3,000 of which will be affordable," earning a "better" mark.

Tacit in the editorial's evaluation criteria: "the only way to bring down the cost of the roofs over our heads is to create many more of them." The editorial eventually bluntly states that more neighborhoods in the city must be upzoned to accommodate the city's population and economy.

The timing of the rezonings also offers a chance for the editorial board to review the accomplishments of the de Blasio mayoral administration, which ended on January 1 with the inauguration of the city's new mayor, Eric Adams.

"Yet while cranes have risen during a de Blasio administration that promised historic progress in apartment preservation and production, far too many opportunities for growth sit fallow," according to the editorial. "From 2010 to 2018, the city created just 19 housing units for every 100 net new jobs, a sluggish rate of growth compared to other big cities. Some neighborhoods actually lost housing during this period."

Planetizen picked up news of the political deal that pushed Envision SoHo/NoHo across the finish line in December.