Lawsuit Aims to Stop NYC’s ‘City of Yes’ Zoning Reforms

The long-debated City of Yes zoning reform plan, championed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, is facing a legal challenge from dozens of local legislators and community groups, according to a New York Post article by Craig McCarthy, Georgett Roberts, and Peter Senzamici.

The lawsuit argues that the administration did not conduct the necessary environmental reviews for the plan, which promotes increased density and transit-oriented development ot boost the city’s housing supply. The plan aims to support the building of 80,000 new housing units over the next 15 years — a number lower than the plan’s original goal.

As the authors explain, “The pro-development City of Yes had three environmental reviews but they were conducted as if City of Yes was three separate initiatives — carbon neutrality, economic opportunity and housing opportunity.” The suit argues that separating the reviews avoided the potential negative results of one comprehensive review.

The plan is primarily opposed by lawmakers and groups from less dense neighborhoods who argue that their infrastructure may not be able to support denser development and larger buildings. “The changes were approved by the council in December on a 31-20 vote after lengthy negotiations, which led to a partially scaled-back plan.”