Policy Agenda — Open New York Policy initiatives and housing reforms in New York that promote affordable, faster construction, and equitable neighborhood development.

Read our full 2026 policy agenda here: opennewyork.org/policy

This was in our 2026 New York City Policy Agenda! It’s great to see it moving.

NYC is putting $4B in pension funds towards financing housing — exactly the kind of scale we need to actually get homes built. Thanks to @nyccomptroller.bsky.social for his leadership.

Member-wide Chapter Meeting with Dan Garodnick! · Open New York Come on out to our Member-wide Chapter Meeting! We'll have chapter updates, project announcements, and a discussion with special guest, Dan Garodnick! A life-long New Yorker, Dan Garodnick is the f...

RSVP now: www.mobilize.us/opennewyork/...

Join Open New York later this week for our Member-wide Chapter Meeting!

We’ll share chapter updates, project announcements, and hear from special guest Dan Garodnick, former Director of NYC Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission.

We proudly support legalizing and building more housing in and around cities where people live to make them more affordable, so that we can simultaneously preserve our forest land and other natural habitats for generations to come.

This is why SEQRA reform is so necessary!

Review the reviews: Hochul’s environmental approval reform is worthwhile The state budget is late because Gov. Hochul is correctly insisting on some needed reforms and one of those important changes is her Let Them Build framework. The Legislature should pass her plan to s...

We can protect the environment and build the housing New Yorkers need.

More from @nydailynews.com on how modernizing SEQRA will make it easier to build housing across New York: www.nydailynews.com/2026/04/07/r...

“This endless paperwork forces beleaguered developers to sometimes return to square one on a particular aspect of the review and, as a consequence, desperately-needed housing is years delayed and significantly more expensive, serving no one, and certainly not the environment.”

From putting a strong housing team in place to launching the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track and pushing SEQRA reform, this administration is making it clear that the housing crisis is at it's root a housing shortage.

Our Executive Director Annemarie Gray on Fox 5:

Op-Ed | It’s time to modernize SEQRA to ensure responsible development It’s time that New York modernizes SEQR and meets the mission to build new housing, reduce delays, and deliver world-class projects.

.@keithpowersnyc.bsky.social is right: We can protect the environment and build the homes New Yorkers need, but not if projects are stuck in years of review and litigation.

Modernizing SEQRA is essential to tackling the housing shortage and building a greener future.
www.amny.com/oped/its-tim...

And, later, in 1961, God delivered unto Andrew Berman the little known 11th Commandment: Thou shall never build a new building from Canal to 23nd, running from the Hudson to Lafayette.

It's "curious" how so much more history apparently happened in Lower Manhattan instead of Harlem. The truth is that only a handful of sites, like Stonewall, need protection.

Indiana Jones voice: "NYC doesn't belong in a museum!"

Designs for New York’s A.D.U.s Are Here. These Are Our Favorites.

These are legitimately gorgeous www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/r...

Environmental regs must speed new homes New York faces a dire affordability crisis. It costs far too much to live here, and the biggest expense for most New Yorkers is housing. The Mamdani administration is laser-focused on creating a more ...

From DM Bozorg:

“Our state policymakers in Albany have an opportunity to make a real dent in the housing crisis. Reforming the state’s environmental review process sounds wonky, but it is fundamentally about a critically important question: whether we are able to deliver a more affordable city.”

Since 1966, historic districts have steadily expanded to cover much of Lower Manhattan.

As more areas are covered, new housing is effectively banned there, driving displacement and higher rents.

Tweet from @NYCPlanning: 1,000+ new homes are coming to Gowanus! The City Planning Commission today approved bulk + design modifications to enable 175 Third St. — a project with 270 affordable homes, commercial space and public open space along the Gowanus Canal.

We fought hard for the 2021 Gowanus rezoning, and it’s continuing to deliver beyond all expectations. Great to see more homes and more open space on the way!

Shoutout to @feathersmcg.bsky.social and all of the other “faceless bureaucrats” who are working toward a future with more affordable housing 🫡

“Alec, I’ll take NIMBYest states for 500”

Be honest… does ANYONE actually use these words in real life? 🤣 Bamboozled Flabbergasted Discombobulated Shenanigans Cattywampus Lollygag Malarkey Kerfuffle Brouhaha Nincompoop Skedaddle Tomfoolery Flibbertigibbet Pumpernickel

Be honest… does ANYONE actually use these words in real life? 🤣

Floor area ratio
Dwelling unit factor
Accessory off-street parking
Sky exposure plane
Sliver law
Rear yard equivalent
Open space ratio
ULURP
Bulk waiver
Narrow street
Special permit
Certificate of appropriateness

🚨 I am calling to landmark the Mobil gas station at 53rd & 10th.

Its bright lights, steady traffic, and expensive gas are essential to our neighborhood character.

Could it be housing? Even affordable housing? Sure.

But we simply can’t risk that kind of progress.

Mount Laurel Doctrine (& @feathersmcg.bsky.social) FTW!

Unlike New York, New Jersey *requires* every municipality to create its fair share of affordable homes—and a new law gives it real teeth.

Many other states could benefit from a framework like New Jersey's: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Thank you!!!!

New York is currently trying to modernize a 1970s environmental review law that blocks sustainable housing and adds $82,000 to every new apt in NYC.

Meanwhile NJ has simply never required new housing to go through this.

Shoutout to @feathersmcg.bsky.social and all of the other “faceless bureaucrats” who are working toward a future with more affordable housing 🫡

NATIONALIZE THE MT LAUREL DECISION

I like the part where he turned to the camera and said he was pro-housing and then specified he’s the exact kind of pro-housing I am

I cheered when I watched it.

The current 12-game Jeopardy champion works at an affordable housing finance agency in NJ, and shamed New York for not building more housing:
"NJ's doing really well, we're ahead of NY, CT, PA. If you're from one of those states, shame on you, build more housing."

SEQRA reform can unlock NY's housing potential. Get it done | Opinion Reforming SEQRA — as Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget proposes — will be a key to readying the lower Hudson Valley for a new surge in housing.

It's notoriously hard to get housing built in New York. Let's get a modern review process in place to build the middle- and low-income housing we need for the future of our state.