Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul said the New New York panel generated recommendations for the city and state to partner with each other and across sectors to reimagine a “New” New York that propels the city and the region forward for its next chapter of equitable, inclusive growth.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently released “’New’ New York: Making New York Work for Everyone,” a set of 40 proposals intended to make the five boroughs the best place to work and serve as a roadmap for the city’s future.
The New New York panel was launched in May 2022 and is being led by co-chairs and former New York City deputy mayors Richard Buery, now CEO of Robin Hood, and Daniel Doctoroff, former CEO of Sidewalk Labs. The panel of civic leaders and industry experts worked for six months to generate recommendations for the city and state to partner with each other and across sectors to reimagine a “New” New York that propels the city and the region forward for its next chapter of equitable, inclusive growth.
The plan proposes 40 initiatives – to be advanced through legislation, policy changes, additional funding, and other actions – that Adams and Hochul embrace as a roadmap for the future, including the following five key areas of action for 2023:
- Make Midtown and other business districts more mixed-use and flexible: Actions include facilitating market-based conversion and redevelopment of outdated office buildings to residential uses, easing conversion of buildings built before December 1990, eliminating the 12 floor area ratio cap on residential buildings, and passing the “City of Yes for Economic Development” zoning text amendment to create needed flexibility to fill vacant storefronts and allow businesses to evolve and expand.
- Create modern, pedestrian-oriented districts with major public realm interventions: Actions include appointing a director of public realm at City Hall to oversee all public realm-related policies and projects, advancing a coordinated master plan to reclaim street space for new pedestrian and cyclist spaces in Midtown, and bringing public realm improvements to business districts and job hubs in all five boroughs.
- Increase the supply of housing by removing regulatory barriers to housing growth across the city, to increase affordability, reduce displacement and encourage inclusive communities,ensure workers have access to stable housing, and give employers confidence that they can retain and attract talent in New York City. To meet this urgent moment of our housing crisis, this set of city and state legislative changes will encourage housing production for all income levels to address the need for hundreds of thousands of new housing units across the city and state over the next decade.
- Increase access to jobs and decrease commute time to Midtown and other business districts: Actions include dramatically expanding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) CityTicket program to make all Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad trips, including peak travel, that begin and end within New York City cost only $5, while encouraging greater housing density around downstate regional transit-oriented development.
- Help working families participate in the labor force and drive an equitable recovery by making childcare accessible and affordable: Actions include continuing to implement the city’s childcare blueprint, encouraging uptake of the recent Business Income Tax Credit and Property Tax Abatement for creation of new childcare seats, exploring expanded eligibility for childcare vouchers and the Empire State Child Tax Credit, and clarifying and streamlining city regulations around using second floor and basement spaces for childcare centers.
