What are the goals for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity? How will this new policy initiative move the needle on quality of life for ALL New Yorkers?

Access to affordable housing is a critical and persistent challenge for our city. Multiple administrations have put forth comprehensive plans to make our city’s housing policies more equitable and just, addressing everything from high rents to homelessness. Join Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and Commissioner Daniel Garodnick to learn about the ways Mayor Adams’ City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will transform how our city meets housing needs and provides equitable access to opportunity for ALL New Yorkers.

The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative is part of an inclusive, citywide approach to expanding and diversifying the housing supply that will help meet New Yorkers’ housing needs with small changes citywide.

In this OHNY Public Policy Talk, hear from Commissioner Garodnick about how City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will guide decision making and priority setting in for DCP. Senior staff at NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and DCP will also outline how they are aligning to tackle housing affordability, and housing quality, in every neighborhood.

OHNY Public Policy Talks is a new programming series about new and evolving public policies impacting quality of place. Tailored for the general public, these discussions demystify how the city functions and who it serves — breaking down what may seem like complicated policy measures for broad audiences to help residents understand the current administration’s priorities. Above all, these talks illuminate how public sector investments in the physical realm are improving the city’s resilience, cultural vitality, social cohesion, and economic opportunity.

This event is presented in partnership with the Department of City Planning and Department of Housing Preservation & Development and is made possible by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

Speaker Bios:

Dan Garodnick is the chair of the City Planning Commission (CPC) and director of the Department of City Planning (DCP). He was appointed to these dual roles by Mayor Adams in January 2022, continuing his distinguished career in public service. Prior to his appointment, Garodnick served as the President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization advocating for a six-mile park on Manhattan’s West Side. For 12 years, Garodnik represented the East Side of Manhattan in the City Council, where he was known as one of New York’s most independent voices and effective legislators. He chaired the Planning and Economic Development Committees, and served as a member of the Land Use Committee.

John Mangin is head of the Housing Division at the NYC Department of City Planning and teaches land use law at NYU Wagner. Prior to that, he worked with low-income cooperatives as a teaching fellow at Georgetown University Law Center and in affordable housing development for Fair Share Housing, an organization that grew out the Mount Laurel exclusionary housing suits in the 1970s and ’80s. He is the author of “The New Exclusionary Zoning” and “Ethnic Enclaves and the Zoning Game“.

Michael Sandler is Associate Commissioner for the Office of Neighborhood Strategies at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The Office of Neighborhood Strategies leads the agency’s commitment to strategic preservation and development through engagement with tenants, landlords, community leaders, and neighborhood stakeholders on issues involving the creation of vibrant neighborhoods anchored by affordable housing. Michael oversees the development of affordable housing on city-owned land; the implementation of neighborhood-based planning projects; and tenant and homeowner protection efforts undertaken in partnership with community-based organizations. In his time at HPD, Michael has overseen high-profile and award winning projects like the Brownsville Plan and Resilient Edgemere Plan. Michael led public and stakeholder engagement for Where We Live NYC, the City’s comprehensive fair housing planning process. Prior to joining HPD, Michael was a Senior Planner for Manhattan Borough Presidents Gale Brewer and Scott Stringer. Michael received a Masters of Urban Planning from NYU with a focus on housing and economic development.

Cassim Shepard is Distinguished Lecturer at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York. He previously taught in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, the Cities Programme of the London School of Economics, and the School of Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As the founding editor-in-chief of Urban Omnibus, an online publication of The Architectural League of New York, he spent six years working with hundreds of local designers, artists, and public servants to share their stories of urban innovation, with a particular emphasis on housing, infrastructure, and the changing nature of cultural institutions. His work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacDowell residency and recognized with an Arts and Letters Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.