Public: Jason Cohn (Robin Hood Foundation) supports Mangin
Cohn argues Mangin brings the expertise, judgment, independence, and commitment to fair government that BSA requires. He says serious engagement with controversial land use questions shouldn't be disqualifying, and disagreement with policy arguments shouldn't be conflated with inability to administer the law fairly. He notes 2 million New Yorkers are rent-burdened.
Thank you, Chair.
My name is Jason Cohn, and I serve as the Chief Public Policy Officer of the Robin Hood Foundation.
For nearly four decades, Robin Hood has worked to elevate New Yorkers out of poverty.
Housing is central to that mission.
We believe that John Mangin brings precisely the combination of deep expertise, sound judgment, independence, and commitment to fair and effective government that the Chair of the Board of the Standards of Appeals requires.
Over more than a decade at the Department of City Planning, John has developed an extraordinary command of New York City's zoning and land use framework.
That expertise is particularly important at the Board of Standards and Appeals.
As chair, the chair must be able to interpret the zoning resolutions, evaluate complicated applications and evidentiary records, and distinguish between broader policy preferences and the legal standards governing the individual matters before the board.
John's professional experience has prepared him unusually well for those responsibilities.
We recognize that recent reports have raised concerns
among members of the Council regarding John's academic writing from more than a decade ago in his work on the 2025 Charter Revision Commission.
His earlier writing should be examined in the context of longstanding questions about exclusionary land use practices, housing production, affordability, and access to high opportunity neighborhoods.
Reasonable people can disagree with his conclusions or with language used in those debates, but serious engagement with controversial questions of land use policy should not itself be disqualifying for leadership of a land use body.
Nor should disagreement with a policy argument be conflated with an inability to administer the law fairly.
The relevant question before the council is whether John possesses expertise, judgment, integrity, independence, and respect for the law necessary to lead the BSA.
We believe he does.
For Robin Hood, this nomination comes at a moment of an extraordinary urgency.
Two million New Yorkers are rent burdened.
Our experience reinforces a basic reality.
New York needs both immediate interventions that keep people in their homes and long-term action that expands the supply and availability of affordable housing.
Meeting that challenge requires strong institutions and highly capable servants.
John meets all those requirements.
Thank you.