Exposing the City’s False Affordable Housing Claims for SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Rezoning

The rezoning area is filled with rent-regulated affordable housing that, under the City’s own definitions, would be endangered by the rezoning. And yet the City claims no rent-regulated housing would be endangered by the rezoning.
The rezoning area is filled with rent-regulated affordable housing that, under the City’s own definitions, would be endangered by the rezoning. And yet the City claims no rent-regulated housing would be endangered by the rezoning.

Village Preservation continues to analyze and debunk the false and misleading claims made by the City in their massive SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown upzoning proposal, and to share our findings with decision-makers, allies, and the public. Most recently, we wrote city officials highlighting the patently untrue claims regarding the threat the rezoning poses to rent-regulated affordable housing in these neighborhoods. In spite of the City’s claims to the contrary, we found that:

  • Landlords and developers know they can eliminate rent-regulated units by demolition, which this plan offers huge financial incentives for them to do
  • Many more of the rent-regulated units in the rezoning area would be threatened with and vulnerable to demolition than the City claims
  • Rent-regulated units in the Chinatown section of the rezoning (which has the highest concentrations of lower income and Asian American residents) would be made especially vulnerable, with 100% of the units made vulnerable to demolition under the City’s plan, by their own definitions of vulnerability

Read our letter HERE.

The City has consistently provided misleading, incomplete, or just plain false information about the rezoning and its impacts throughout this process, which we have consistently rebutted and refuted. Read our other pieces here:

TO HELP:

Tell City Officials The Mayor Has Lied About the Impact of the SoHo/NoHo/Chinatown Rezoning and the Plan Must Be Rejected – CLICK HERE
September 16, 2021