An influential community organization is calling for an investigation into Mayor Eric Adams’ signature housing proposal because of the federal indictment Hizzoner is facing.
The massive pro-affordable housing zoning overhaul called City of Yes has been a key piece of Adams’ political agenda, with Adams repeatedly touting the legislation at town halls as an answer to the city’s dire housing shortage.
But the Queens Civic Congress released a statement Monday saying the city should halt the proposal and investigate the process amid the federal corruption probe into Adams and some members of his administration.
The statement, signed by Queens Civic Congress president Warren Schreiber, is the second blow this week to the proposal.
Queens Councilman Bob Holden released a statement Monday calling on the city to “step back, delay this proposal and put it up for a vote as either a ballot proposal or an election topic for next year’s municipal elections.”
Holden released his statement a few days after the New York City Planning Commission voted to approve the proposal last week and put it into the City Council’s hands.
A council spokesperson said lawmakers the proposal hadn’t “officially filed” with lawmakers but they planned to review it once they formally receive it.
Schreiber’s statement said the mayor had been working with the New York City Planning commission to “expedite” the City of Yes proposal and had not solicited enough community input.
“It is our belief that this process has been duly rushed without adequate community input and deliberation,” Schreiber said.
Holden’s criticism of the proposal centered around the lack of infrastructure in his district needed to accommodate the new housing that would be made possible by the zoning changes.
City Hall estimates the five-borough revamping could bring more than 100,000 new homes to New York City over the next 15 years, including by eliminating parking mandates for new housing projects, allowing more office-to-residential conversions and allowing developers to build 20% more if they include affordable housing units in their buildings.
If the proposal isn’t halted it would head to the City Council for a vote later this year.
Last week, Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the mayor with being part of a corrupt bribery scheme, claiming Hizzoner doled out favors to foreign entities in exchange for illegal donations to his 2021 campaign.
“Our commitment to addressing the housing crisis has not changed, and with the City Planning Commission’s approval of ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,’ we look forward to the City Council’s review of this important proposal as laid out in the city charter — the ability of New Yorkers to continue to afford to live in our city depends on it,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement.
