The Village Sun recently published an editorial entitled “Just Say No to COYHO [City of Yes for Housing Opportunity]” that perfectly sums up the many dangers of the plan and the harm it would do to our neighborhoods and city. Wrapped in rhetoric around increasing affordability, Mayor Adams’ plan would provide virtually no requirements for building new or preserving existing affordable housing, and would in fact eliminate existing incentives for doing so.

What it would do is gift developers the ability to build bigger, taller luxury condo developments in our neighborhoods based on the premise that more unaffordable housing will make our city more affordable — a premise that has been largely disproven — and that it’s an overall shortage of housing, rather than a shortage of affordable housing, that’s making our city so expensive. “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” would double down on the failed policies of the past and allow even more unaffordable housing to be built in our neighborhoods and affordable housing to be destroyed in the process, under the premise that the trickle-down effects will benefit everyone. It would also allow construction on precious open space in our neighborhoods where building is currently prohibited, and vastly increased “air rights” transfers with little or no public oversight or input.

We expect Mayor Adams’ City Planning Commission to rubber-stamp the plan (with some minor modifications possible) this month or soon thereafter. Then it will go to the City Council, which will truly decide its fate.

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