Council Member Encarnación raises concerns about building quality and warehousing

And then I just have really two statements.

One, I have some really serious concerns about the quality of the buildings and the developments that are happening at this fast pace.

It seems like we're in a race to build fast and sometimes cheaply.

Often we're the ones here in the council that are fighting for wage standards, union standards, when we're looking at building and developments coming into our district.

And without those, we face, quite frankly, some developments that we're already receiving complaints from and brand new buildings, right?

Leaks, elevators that are not working.

These are brand new developments that have come into the district and we're fielding real conversations with our constituents about the quality of the buildings that were built in this fast pace when they do not have all of these other standards attached to them.

So I just want to make a real plug for the fact that if our voices are out of that conversation when we're really fighting for those standards, that we have.

a commitment from the administration that you will also be fighting for those wage standards and that union-built construction that will allow us to not have to feel those questions in the future.

And then, you know, warehousing is a big deal in my district.

We went through an East Harlem rezoning to specifically try to make it more

attractive for developers to build that had been warehousing and sitting on developments for a really long time.

We went through that rezoning.

We utilized and threw everything in the book at them, and they still have not built.

We are still sitting on those 10, 15 years later.

I mean, for some of those developments, my whole life.

And I'm just wondering if you had...

Put any thought into how do we really incentivize these warehouse apartments that are just sitting vacant and in the face of people who are really in need of housing.

And that's all.

Thank you.