Deputy Speaker Williams Q&A: Mangin on framework for black homeowner community concerns

All of that said, what framework do you think should apply then when residents of historically black working and middle class homeowner communities raise concerns about development?

As you noted in your written response, as you noted today, you know, you were a part of the Jamaican neighborhood plan.

You weren't necessarily on the grounds fielding the complaints, but it was very difficult.

The community board, both community boards actually voted it down and I still worked with the previous

Administration to push that through despite a lot of local political challenges.

And I think for me, I try to strike a balance in understanding what those concerns are.

And so just wanted to know, you know, your thoughts on what type of framework should be considered for these communities that maybe on the face might feel like you're talking about.

But as you so eloquently stated, you're not.

So what framework would you apply to those communities who do have some concerns about development in their communities?

Thank you for the question.

I mean, I've been to Community Board 12.

Many times and I understand those concerns and they absolutely have to be considered, have to be listened to, have to be taken into account.

And I think that the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan

struck that balance in an extremely effective way, including higher densities in parts of the neighborhood that were appropriate, and higher densities in one part of the neighborhood can take some of the pressure off of some of the lower density parts of the neighborhood.

I think that using the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars for improvements to the sewer infrastructure

was a fantastic win as well.

And it's why, you know, when considering...

Yeah, that I had to fight for.

The administration did not want to do it.

I just want to add that.

They did not want to do it.

It was a fight.

I, it was, it was a legendary, legendary fight, yes.

And...

And, you know, over the course of my time at City Planning, have advocated for policies that don't put a target

on those low-density neighborhoods, but rather take a broader perspective, acknowledging that if we all contribute, that we can address the housing shortage, the policy problems that are...

from the housing shortage without having significant impacts on sensitive areas, neighborhood character and sensitive areas like one and two family districts in Southeast Queens.

Okay, I'll just ask one more question.

I know my colleagues have questions.

So for generations, black families were excluded from neighborhoods and conventional mortgage credit through redlining, steering, discriminatory lending, and other barriers.

Southeast Queens became one of the places where black families built home ownership and intergenerational wealth despite those barriers.

Do you recognize a meaningful distinction between affluent communities using zoning to keep people out and historically excluded black homeowners using the democratic process to protect their ability to stay?

Absolutely.

I mean, the second, I've taught land use law at NYU for maybe nine years now, and the second class every year, we read Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law, Ta-Nehisi Coates,

case for reparations, the chapter of Kenneth Jackson's Crabgrass Frontier that addresses exactly those issues that you're discussing.

So it's something that I feel I understand, that I try to convey to others.

It's always one of the...

Most engaged classes that I have with my students.

And so I absolutely understand that distinction.

Thank you.

I'll just come back for the second round.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

Now I'd like to pass it on to Council Member Banks.