Rezoning New York City : A case study of East Harlem

Abstract

New York City is projected to add nearly one million residents by the year 2040. At a time when housing supply and affordability are a significant factor for global competitiveness, the city has implemented a variety of regulations and incentives to encourage new development. Current Mayor Bill de Blasio's housing strategy includes an initiative to rezone several neighborhoods to accommodate higher density, encouraging the private real estate development industry to build more units while requiring that a portion of those units be made permanently affordable. While rezoning actions are often studied years later in order to provide enough time to measure their success, the city's plan calls for as many as 15 neighborhoods to be rezoned within 10 years. A real-time analysis of an individual neighborhood rezoning proposal, approved during the time of this thesis, provides the ability to evaluate research questions related to how rezoning is being carried out now and how participants may alter their strategies going forward. The neighborhood of East Harlem, the third area in the city to undergo this rezoning process, is thus used as a case study for how rezoning is carried out, compromised and ultimately approved. The analysis reveals that the total amount of new residential development made possible through rezoning is limited compared to a "no action" scenario. Thus, the most significant impacts of rezoning are not to dramatically increase the number of new residential units to be built, but rather to require that a portion of those new units are made affordable through the introduction of the city's mandatory inclusionary housing program. Additionally, the rezoning process resulted in significant city commitments to public investments in the neighborhood. Yet, these commitments are not guaranteed within a specific timeframe and are almost entirely the responsibility of the public sector to implement. While the ability of rezoning to produce a significant number of new residential units is limited, rezoning will continue to serve as a primary means for the city to attempt to house its growing population.