CM Nurse round 2: Bushwick publicly owned sites and affordable housing design guidelines

Thank you.

Just a couple of questions.

One, I wanted to just echo Councilmember Ressler's point of view about NYCHA being extremely unresponsive.

Sometimes talking to them is like talking to a black hole.

I just don't know how we're going to move forward on some of these things.

So it would be great to hear how.

Getting that, the issue that he brought up, how we're going to be able to move that forward collaboratively.

But while we're here, I did want to check in on how Bushwick is factoring into the housing plan.

We have given three different HPD commissioners a list of publicly owned sites across.

The 34th and the 37th district that has the full support of our community board, which is rare for development on publicly owned sites.

We have one site, 1420 Bushwick Avenue.

We have another site I think is DOE owned on Madison and Bushwick Ave.

And these are just some examples and just kind of wanting to understand where we are

with these sites.

It's been four years, four and a half years since I've been here where we've identified this and we just haven't really moved forward.

So I can't speak exactly to the sites because I don't want to write.

We can certainly come back to you with information on those specific sites, but generally speaking, I think we are putting a lot of emphasis now on moving the public sites through the pipeline more quickly.

As I mentioned earlier, when we are now talking about what we are prioritizing,

at HPD in terms of our pipeline prioritization.

We are looking heavily at cost, heavily at readiness to proceed, but also at the balance between public and private sites.

I think right now we are projecting to do something on the order of three more RFPs on public sites this year.

And then scheduled for closings both in our December and then our following June pipeline, I think another seven deals or so.

I will confirm exactly the number for you.

So this is very much something we're talking about a lot, very much wanting to move forward.

You know, the Lyft initiative, right, where we work to identify.

As many as 25,000 units that can go on public sites, so this is a high priority.

I'm happy to follow up with you on sites that you've been, it sounds like, working on for some time.

Yeah, you and I have had a conversation about 1420 Bush or Gav, certainly Commissioner Togani.

And we'd love to see that one finally included in an RFP.

I mean, it's ready.

It's huge.

It's like a whole block that could be going for housing.

And to get a community board fully behind that is like, you know, miraculous.

So it would be really great to move that forward.

And then just a comment, because it's a hill that I...

Probably will die on before I leave this council, but I really urge HPD to continue to look at the design guidelines and try to find ways to increase the minimum size of bedrooms and open floor

kitchen living room combos.

I mean, these are not square footage sizes that work for working families.

I just went to a tour to a site the other day on Atlantic Avenue, and it's like a mother with three daughters.

Their kitchenette is right there when you walk in the door.

They had only a kitchen table because there's no place else to put

a couch or anything.

Like there's no place to put anything.

They had bunks, you know, teenagers on bunk beds because the bedrooms are tiny closets.

Like we cannot as taxpayers be subsidizing that kind of nonsense.

We have to

create permanent affordable housing that people can actually live in.

They can put their toys in.

They can have a dresser.

Their bed isn't in the corner.

Like, this is not dignified, and we are paying for this.

So I'd really, I just wish, I bring this up every HPD hearing I attend.

Like, I just really wish we could do better by the families, especially because we're footing the bill.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Nurse, and co-sign on the design guidelines.