Jack Connors (Open New York) on conversions, housing plan, and transit-oriented development
Connors supports Intro 657 (Safer Homes Act), Intro 178 (Office of Conversion Assistance), and the housing plan's inclusion of shared housing and citywide TOD. He urges the Council to ensure more housing is built near transit and that wealthy neighborhoods stop being 'frozen in amber' at the expense of communities of color.
Good afternoon.
I'm Jack Connors, City Legislative Manager at Open New York, a statewide grassroots advocacy group that pushes for more homes and lower rents.
Thank you to Chair Sanchez and members of the committee for the opportunity to speak in support of Intro 657, Intro 178, and Mayor Mamdani's housing plan this afternoon.
For too long, housing scarcity has allowed negligent landlords to subject upwards of 350,000 New Yorkers to unsafe and unconscionable conditions for years, if not decades.
Insurance 657, the Safer Homes Act, empowers HPD to advocate on these tenants'behalf by reopening the third-party transfer program with expanded tenants'rights to form HDFC co-ops and critical guardrails like eliminating the block pickup provision.
Open New York is also proud to support Councilmember Epstein's Intro 178, which would create an Office of Conversion Assistance.
So far this year, the city has permitted 74 office conversions that will yield more than 10,000 new homes.
Such conversions are a critical tool in building the 700,000 homes we'll need in the next decade to meet current and future demand.
Still, complicated permitting and building code requirements remain persistent barriers.
An Office of Conversion Assistance can help applicants navigate these processes and identify reforms to streamline future applications.
Turning to Mayor Mamdani's housing plan, we're pleased to see the Safer Homes Act and Intro 66 Councilmember Maloney's shared housing bill, as well as citywide TOD included in
It is priorities of this administration.
We hope to see the council build up the city for all and fair housing framework to ensure that a little more housing is built in every neighborhood, especially near subway, rapid bus, and commuter rail service.
For too long, wealthy neighborhoods have remained frozen in amber at the expense of communities of color, which face extreme displacement pressure.
We urge the council to embrace the citywide nature of our housing crisis and partner with the admin to co-locate public goods with housing, comprehensively reform our building code, and allow more New Yorkers to live near the transit that they depend on.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.