New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick on Dec. 22 introduced the ‘Manhattan Plan,’ a blueprint to add 100,000 new homes in Manhattan over the next decade.
Following an extensive public engagement process that garnered over 2,500 ideas for where and how to develop new housing in Manhattan, Adams stated that the plan outlines key strategies for creating new housing in the Area. These include adding more homes near transit and in areas that restrict new housing, redeveloping city-owned sites, facilitating office-to-residential conversions, implementing regulatory improvements, and others.
Since unveiling the Manhattan Plan in his State of the City address earlier this year, Adams said his administration has already advanced several initiatives to create more housing in the borough. These include passing the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan to build nearly 10,000 additional homes in the heart of Manhattan, the redevelopment of city-owned sites such as 100 Gold St. in Lower Manhattan, and individual applications for zoning changes, including the creation of nearly 700 homes above a future Second Avenue Subway station in East Harlem.
“For too long, the cost of living in Manhattan has gone up, working-class families have gone away, and our city’s housing crisis has grown more severe. Our administration promised to change that, advancing bold plans to bring thousands of new homes to the borough and make sure that Manhattan is still a place you can live and raise a family,” said Mayor Adams.
“We passed the first citywide rezoning in six decades, landed the plane on our Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan, and with today’s announcement, are putting forward our ambitious ‘Manhattan Plan’ to bring 100,000 new homes to the borough.
“With the innovative ideas laid out here, we will help create the homes that Manhattan needs, deliver the more affordable future that all New Yorkers deserve, and reinforce, once again, our position as the most pro-housing administration in city history,” he added.
“For generations, Manhattan was the place where people of all backgrounds could start their life’s journey and find new opportunities. This important plan lays out how it can fulfill that role once again,” said DCP Director Garodnick. “By embracing the ambitious, transformative ideas outlined in this framework, we can ensure that many more New Yorkers can live, work, and follow their dreams in a more affordable, welcoming, and vibrant Manhattan.”
Adams said Manhattan’s unparalleled job market, transit access, and walkability helped make the borough “a site of enormous opportunity through the 20th century and drove a housing boom that unlocked all the island had to offer for millions of New Yorkers.”
However, the mayor stated that Manhattan now produces housing at a level sharply below that of the previous century.
Today, he said Manhattan builds less housing than every other borough except for Staten Island; it also provides extremely few income-restricted affordable homes.
Due to limited housing options, Adams said that almost half of Manhattanites are rent-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on rent. About a quarter are severely rent-burdened, spending more than 50 % of their income on rent.
He said the Manhattan Plan directly addresses this severe housing shortage with strategies to help create 100,000 new homes over the next decade.
“Delivering these additional homes will allow more New Yorkers of all income levels to live near transit, jobs, schools, parks, and cultural resources — reaffirming Manhattan’s historic role as a place of opportunity,” he said. “Ultimately, new housing will deliver a win-win-win: giving New Yorkers more affordable places to live, workers more opportunities to connect with nearby jobs, and small businesses more foot traffic.”
The mayor stated that the Manhattan Plan focuses on six key themes for increasing housing: building near transportation and job centers; targeting areas with high potential or low productivity; utilizing city- or government-owned land; leveraging private sites; enhancing development and regulation; and expanding building models and methods.
