City of Yes for All: Mayor Adams' signature housing policy is in the City Council's hands

Mayor Eric Adams’ bid to boost housing by overhauling New York City’s zoning rules is up for a vote in the City Council on Thursday — the final test for a key priority of the current city government.

The $5 billion deal is a compromise between the Adams administration and the Council, which have often clashed over policy. They came together to modify some of the more controversial details of the mayor’s original plan, like scrapping minimum parking requirements, but remain divided over parts of the public narrative — including who gets credit.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams told Gothamist on Tuesday she felt “very good” about the Council’s odds of passing the housing package. She was speaking at City Hall, where she was flanked by councilmembers and surrounded by posters reading “City for All,” a term the Council has used prominently in its public branding for the revised plan.

But the bill’s fate remains uncertain ahead of Thursday’s vote. Speaker Adams has urged councilmembers to set aside their differences and look beyond the preferences of their immediate districts.

“As a councilmember we represent the entire city,” she said. “Our conversations have been to encourage our colleagues to please take an expansive view, not just one little snapshot.”

For Mayor Adams, the passage of the plan — which he originally dubbed "City of Yes" — would mark a much-needed political victory. But he’s been on the sidelines for the final push, as he runs for re-election while fighting federal corruption charges and faces ongoing scrutiny over his administration’s ability to function.

The Council kicked off its formal review of the plan in October, shortly after federal prosecutors indicted the mayor and while scandal clouded his political fate. The ensuing debate reflected deep divisions over how to address the city’s affordability crisis.

“Clearly, it was a lot more than just zoning,” Speaker Adams told Gothamist. “What we needed to assure was that folks that can no longer live here can now live here.”

Adams touted the modified plan at a press conference on Wednesday announcing a proposal to lower taxes for lower-income residents. “This is the most pro-housing zoning changes in the city's history, and thanks to our work, New York City is becoming a City of Yes,” he said.

The final deal commits $5 billion in combined city and state funding for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements, like preservation work on New York City Housing Authority properties. But the compromise calls for nearly 30,000 fewer units than originally proposed over 15 years.

The mayor has downplayed those concessions.

“I'm not disappointed when I'm going to build 80,000 new homes,” he told reporters at a different event on Tuesday. “And many of us sat in this room, and you said I wasn't going to get City of Yes done.”

Although he praised Speaker Adams for negotiating the deal, the two sides remain distant partners. They said they did not speak as talks came down to the wire. And the speaker and other councilmembers have sought to highlight their efforts to reshape the plan, including by rebranding it “City for All.”

“Quite a few” members came on board after the Council negotiated certain modifications, including funding for affordable housing construction and requirements to shore up the number of income-restricted units in some developments, according to the speaker. She said others were swayed by restrictions on new housing in less dense areas.

But it's still unclear how much support the modified plan will pick up when it comes to the final vote. Although a slate of councilmembers have publicly backed the modified plan, a handful have remained quiet in the leadup to Thursday’s vote.

Councilmembers Sandy Nurse, Farah Louis and Nantasha Williams said they hadn’t yet decided how they would vote when reached directly or via their spokespeople on Wednesday. Spokespeople for Councilmembers Selvena Brooks-Powers and James Gennaro declined to comment. All of their districts, as well as Speaker Adams’, got density or parking concessions in the most recent plan, according to a map prepared by the City Planning Commission.

And while the $5 billion price tag was critical to brokering the deal between the Council and the Adams administration, certain details of how the funding will be allocated were still being worked out on Wednesday afternoon, a day before the scheduled vote.

David Brand contributed reporting.