City of Yes Chugs Along as Planning Commission Certifies Midtown South Plan

“​​We have a 1.4 percent apartment vacancy rate,” City Planning Chairman Dan Garodnick told reporters Friday during a roundtable event. “And with a vacancy rate that low everyone suffers. We need to find every opportunity possible to give New Yorkers housing relief and to turn the tide on this crisis.” 

To help with that, the Adams administration is targeting Midtown South, one of the most centrally located transit and job-rich neighborhoods in the city, with 7,000 businesses and 135,000 jobs concentrated in the area, according to the Department of City Planning. However, the area’s decades-old zoning prohibited new homes from being built. 

Garodnick also noted the area struggled more after COVID-19 with higher commercial vacancy rates, resulting in the need for an economic boost, which the Midtown South rezoning hopes to provide. 

“It’s unfathomable that in an area this central with a housing crisis this dire, that if you wanted to build housing here, our own rules would simply not allow it,” Garodnick said. “Our efforts at the end of last year with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is a big boost, but that is what the Midtown South mixed-use plan is designed to do in this area.”

The plan hopes to turn Midtown South into a vibrant  24/7 neighborhood with a variety of commercial, manufacturing and residential spaces. The goal is to add thousands of new homes with a significant percentage being designated as permanently affordable, though the exact amount hasn’t been finalized.

This would be the first time the city is requiring affordable housing in Midtown through the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing law, which was adopted in 2016 and requires developers to provide affordable housing in specific areas across the five boroughs. The rezoning will also take advantage of some changes from the City of Yes to make office-to-residential conversions easier.

“It will be the first plan to take advantage of the changes that we put into place through the City of Yes for Housing, such as increased flexibility for office conversions and also new high-density residential zoning districts,” Garodnick said. “This plan will support the Midtown South economy by increasing foot traffic and permitting a wide range of nonresidential uses, including light manufacturing, office space and retail.”

Mayor Adams has made tackling the city’s housing crisis a staple of his administration. At the end of last year, his ambitious City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan to overhaul the city’s outdated zoning rules cleared the New York City Council. City of Yes seeks to allow for the production of around 80,000 new housing units over 15 years.

But his administration has not been without controversy. Adams is scheduled to go on trial this spring on federal charges of corruption that include allegations of illegal campaign contributions. The mayor is also accused of accepting over $90,000 in stays at discount luxury hotels and flight upgrades from Turkish officials in exchange for putting pressure on city officials in 2021 to permit the opening of a new Turkish consulate in Manhattan, according to Reuters. 

His administration is also facing inquiries into its handling of office leasing for city agencies.

Despite an exodus among his staff, Adams has repeatedly said he would not resign from office, most recently at his State of the City address. Garodnick said the mayor isn’t allowing his legal challenges to keep him from providing more housing for New Yorkers. 

“We have kept focus on the issues that matter to New Yorkers, and will continue to do that,” he said. “We are proceeding into the next step for Midtown South. We understand what matters. The mayor understands what matters, and we’re going to continue to do all the work that we can for New Yorkers.”

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.