Plan to Lift Limit on Size of Residential Development in NYC Is Rejected, Fails to Win Approval in State Budget!

Breaking News: We’re thrilled to report that the just-announced State budget agreement excludes Governor Hochul’s wrong-headed plan to lift the 60-year-old statewide limit on the allowable size of new residential development. That proposal would have let New York City change zoning to permit construction in residential neighborhoods of any size. Village Preservation helped lead a campaign by neighborhood, housing/tenant, and preservation groups to ensure this measure was rejected, first successfully lobbying to keep it out of the Assembly and Senate budgets, and now preventing its inclusion in the final budget deal between the legislature and the Governor.

This huge victory will help ensure that our neighborhoods are not subjected to further oversized, out-of-scale development, that our infrastructure is not even more overburdened, and that new housing development in our city is not further skewed towards sky-high multimillion-dollar condos for billionaires and empty real estate investments for overseas oligarchs.

We want to thank every one of the thousands of you who wrote state officials urging them to oppose this measure, and the scores of community groups across the city who joined in this campaign. We also of course owe a great debt of gratitude to the state legislators who opposed this measure and urged the leadership of their respective houses to keep this out of their budget.

This is not the first time Village Preservation has helped lead a successful campaign to prevent this measure — long championed by big real estate — from being approved. Former Mayor de Blasio lobbied the state legislature to enact such changes, which we also helped block. However, the proposal came closer than ever to becoming a reality this year, with the Governor including it in her formal budget proposal, highlighting and arguing strongly for it in her budget announcement.

We must remain vigilant, however, as this and other measures designed to grant ever more leeway to big real estate and undermine the character and livability of our neighborhoods will no doubt return. Village Preservation remains committed to fighting for a fair, equitable, livable, and sustainable city, and against measures like this which would undermine those vital and essential qualities.

TO HELP:

Make a donation to Village Preservation NOW to ensure we can keep fighting and winning these battles to preserve the livability of our city and our neighborhoods.

April 7, 2022