In a decisive move to tackle New York City’s housing and affordability crisis, Mayor Mamdani has appointed Sideya Sherman to head the City Planning Commission. This strategic appointment aligns with his commitment to address one of the city’s most pressing issues.
Mayor Mamdani recognizes that affordability is the foremost challenge facing New Yorkers, and he believes that the key to overcoming it lies in expanding housing availability. By creating more housing, the city can alleviate the affordability crisis.
Sherman’s success in this pivotal role is vital for all New Yorkers. She has emphasized her commitment to ensuring that New York remains a diverse city where residents can afford to live. The issue of accessible housing has become a critical concern, impacting the very essence of the city’s identity.
It’s important for Sherman to recognize that the shortage of affordable housing affects every borough and neighborhood. No single area should bear the responsibility for solving this issue, and all communities must contribute to the solution.
Historically, communities have resisted the development of new housing, and local council members often reflect their constituents’ concerns by opposing such projects. Despite these challenges, it’s crucial for the Mamdani administration to consider community input while also pushing forward necessary housing developments.
The administration, known for its populist approach, should ensure it engages with community perspectives on both specific projects and broader land use policies. However, it must not be deterred from making the tough decisions needed to address the housing crisis effectively.
For all of Mayor Adams’ foibles, one of his definite achievements was the passage of the City of Yes package of legislation, which took concrete steps in the direction of facilitating more and larger development.
Mamdani has already begun building on this by launching the first expedited land use process for a development in Morris Park, using powers approved by voters via ballot initiative to change the City Charter last year. Mamdani was too cute in playing with the pro-housing ballot questions, refusing to even state a position until the morning of Election Day, after close to a million votes had already been cast (he was a “Yes”).
The referendum was both an additional authority and a mandate: voters understand that this is a crisis and want the mayor to deal with it, and he has a good deal of political goodwill and capital to do it.
While the predominant objective is to lower the cost of housing, we think that the new mayor understands that the path there does not run exclusively through developing designated affordable housing. That is important and should remain a clear objective, but research has consistently shown that building housing of all sorts, across all income bands, even luxury housing, puts downward pressure on prices for everyone.
So, while some may find it distasteful to see additional luxury homes going up around the city, they should bear in mind that this is housing that wealthier New Yorkers will take instead of competing for the same low- and middle-income housing as everyone else, where they can use their financial heft to outbid other New Yorkers.
The only way out of this is to build all kinds of housing, everywhere — neighborhoods that are already dense and neighborhoods that are not, proportionally but across the board and with a focus on housing near transit.
