Adams Unveils Sweeping NYC Zoning Reforms To Build 100K More Homes

NEW YORK CITY — A gargantuan set of zoning reforms will literally reshape housing-starved New York City and pave the way for 100,000 more homes, said Mayor Eric Adams.

The proposals unveiled by Adams during a Thursday address would be the most sweeping zoning changes since 1961 and perhaps, as the mayor contended, in the city's history.

"Changes that will finally end exclusionary zoning, cut red tape and transform our city from the ground up," he said.

"This is not tinkering around the edges. This is groundbreaking, literally."

Adams said the changes will add a "little more housing in every neighborhood."

The proposals include an end to parking mandates for new housing — a goal of many advocates who argued that it effectively put cars ahead of space to actually live.

They also call for:

• Allowing affordable housing to be about 20 percent larger than other types of housing
• Re-legalizing “shared living” homes with common kitchen or bathroom facilities
• Bring back “main streets” commercial corridors with two to four stories of residences over ground-level commercial space
• Connect housing to transit hubs by allowing three- to five-story apartment buildings on large lots near transit stops
• Legalize accessory dwelling units on one- to two-family properties
• Help speed up conversions of empty offices into housing through tweaks to restrictions

"By rewriting the wrongs of history, this plan will allow us to build a little more housing in every neighborhood, incentivize affordable housing, build more housing near transit hubs, convert unused office space into apartments, renew our commercial corridors, help small homeowners to build better spaces on their property and, finally, prioritizing people over parking," he said.

City officials estimated the proposals could add 100,000 homes over 15 years, create 260,000 temporary jobs, 6,300 permanent jobs and provide $58.2 billion in economic impact over the next three decades.

The proposals received some early glowing praise from advocates.

Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, had previously advocated for completely scrapping "insane" parking mandate. She said Adams' parking proposal is an "unflinching," historic step.

"This is what meeting the moment looks like," she said in a statement. "Ending mandatory parking mandates works for the entire city by knocking out an obsolete, antiquated barrier to housing affordability, home ownership, efficient mass transit, and economic development."

Other advocates said they'd work to help the changes pass through an upcoming process.

"The proposed changes to New York City’s outdated zoning code are comprehensive and common-sense measures to encourage housing growth," Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York, said in a statement. "If passed, every neighborhood in the city will finally take part in solving our dire housing shortage."