Year in Review: Department of City Planning Advances Major Initiativess - DCP

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Testimony and Comments


Press Releases

For Immediate Release

December 21, 2023

Contacts:

Casey Berkovitz, Joe Marvilli – press@planning.nyc.gov (212) 720-3471

Year in Review: Department of City Planning Advances Major Initiatives to Build a City of Yes, Support New Homes, Economic Development, Sustainability, and More in 2023

2023 Saw Adoption of City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality; Key Milestones in Advancing City of Yes for Economic Opportunity and City of Yes for Housing Opportunity

Neighborhood Plans Advanced in All Five Boroughs, including Adoption of South Richmond Zoning Relief

NEW YORK – Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick today released a list of important wins and progress on major initiatives to improve the lives of New Yorkers over the course of the last 12 months. During 2023, the agency focused on tackling some of New York City’s biggest challenges, from our three City of Yes proposals that will have a significantly positive impact throughout the five boroughs to neighborhood-focused plans that are being tailored to meet those communities’ specific needs.

“From the climate crisis to the housing crisis and more, it’s no secret that New York City is facing serious challenges. But with the leadership of Mayor Eric Adams, City Planning is rising to meet the moment,” said Dan Garodnick, Director of the Department of City Planning. “Our work has put our city on the path to a more sustainable future, and will bolster the success of small businesses and the creation of much-needed housing for generations to come. That’s what building a City of Yes means for New York.”

Highlights from the second year of the Adams administration include:

Setting New York City on the path to a greener future: With the City Council’s adoption of City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality, we enacted a citywide set of zoning changes that made it easier than ever to install solar panels and other energy-efficient systems, retrofit buildings, access electric vehicle chargers, and much more to help the city reach its carbon reduction goals.

Paving the way for our small businesses to thrive: DCP started public review on City of Yes for Economic Opportunity, a series of proposed zoning changes that will bolster the city’s industrial sector, revitalize commercial corridors, foster vibrant streetscapes, and boost growing industries, such as life sciences, nightlife, amusements, and urban agriculture.

Announcing the most significant pro-housing reform ever to our zoning: DCP announced and began environmental review on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, which would bring down housing costs and tackle exclusionary zoning by building a little more housing in every neighborhood. These carefully crafted policies include lifting parking mandates, creating affordable and supportive housing, enabling conversions of empty office buildings into homes, supporting homeowners, and more.

Shepherding South Richmond Zoning Relief through adoption by the City Council: These zoning changes, approved by the City Council, will ease burdens for homeowners by simplifying zoning and planning procedures, enhance the preservation of natural features, and strengthen community oversight of large and environmentally sensitive sites within the Special South Richmond Development District in Staten Island.

Advancing new land use around the largest expansion of Metro-North in the railroad’s history: DCP continued to engage with community stakeholders around the Bronx Metro-North Station Plan, a rethinking of the land use around the sites of four new Metro-North stations coming to the East Bronx, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support Bronxites with access to jobs, housing, amenities, and more.

Releasing a draft zoning framework for the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan: Following eight months of public engagement conducted by DCP, Councilmember Crystal Hudson, and WXY Studio, the agency shared the draft zoning framework for the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, which would deliver around 4,000 new homes — including up to 1,550 income-restricted – and a $23.9 million investment in St. Andrew’s Playground.

Launching the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan: Alongside New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, New York City Councilmember Nantasha Williams, and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Mayor Adams and DCP announced a community-driven study to explore opportunities for job growth, new housing, especially income-restricted housing, opportunities for Faith-Based organizations, and enhanced resiliency to manage flooding, and held early community engagement, including an online survey and working group meetings.

Kicking off the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan: DCP began public outreach for this initiative, which looks to foster vibrant, 24/7 mixed-use neighborhoods across 42 centrally-located Manhattan blocks where housing is currently not permitted under today's half century-old zoning rules. By expanding housing opportunities, bolstering economic activity, and enlivening the public realm, this plan will help ensure the area’s long-term success.

Starting the planning process for the Long Island City Neighborhood Plan: DCP, in partnership with Councilmember Julie Won, began a community engagement process on a holistic neighborhood plan to create a brighter future for Long Island City with new housing, including income-restricted housing, a broad spectrum of job opportunities, new waterfront open spaces, a neighborhood climate resiliency strategy, and more, to help this vital mixed-use community experience equitable growth.

Advancing the “Green Fast Track” for housing: DCP began the rulemaking process to enable a streamlined environmental review process for small- and medium-sized housing projects that use all-electric heating. The changes would cut up to two years and $100,000 of red tape for these projects, getting more homes built faster and helping to address our housing and climate crises.

Creating the Community Planning and Engagement (CPE) Division: DCP’s first new division since 2016, CPE supports all policy and neighborhood planning proposals, as well as discussions on the city's civic infrastructure, to increase and diversify participation in decisions about the future of neighborhoods and the city at large. The division led community engagement across the city, including new online survey tools and youth engagement at Bronx high schools as part of the effort to reimagine the Cross-Bronx Expressway.

Providing unparalleled online tools to understand NYC: DCP provided world-class digital tools for New Yorkers to better understand our city and demographics, including the Population FactFinder and MapViewer tools to visualize Census data; DCP Housing Database and visualizations of where new housing is being built in New York; regional analyses of jobs and housing across the metropolitan area; a historic update of the NYC Street Map to make the history of the city’s streets available in one place; the most comprehensive data set ever of building elevations and flood risk; and much more.

Unveiling recommendations to convert underused offices to homes: Crafted by the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force, these recommendations propose changes to state laws and city zoning requirements in an effort to extend the most flexible conversion regulations to an additional 136 million square feet of office space.

Publishing the Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene "Eds and Meds" Framework: To promote and guide this area’s growth as a vibrant, 24/7 neighborhood, DCP published this framework in order to identify opportunities to create new housing, including income-restricted housing; family-sustaining jobs, particularly in the neighborhood's core industries of education ("eds") and health care ("meds"); safer streets; and high-quality public space.

Supporting faith-based and community organizations working to provide services to New Yorkers: In collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, DCP pioneered new outreach strategies both as a part of the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan and citywide to offer guidance and policy proposals to help these important institutions provide housing and other essential services for all New Yorkers.

Department of City Planning

The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations applicable citywide, and its contribution to the preparation of the City’s 10-year Capital Strategy. DCP promotes housing production and affordability, fosters economic development and coordinated investments in infrastructure and services, and supports resilient, sustainable communities across the five boroughs for a more equitable New York City.

In addition, DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of approximately 450 land use applications for a variety of discretionary approvals. The Department also assists both government agencies and the public by advising on strategic and capital planning and providing policy analysis, technical assistance and data relating to housing, transportation, community facilities, demography, zoning, urban design, waterfront areas and public open space.