Arts and Culture in Lower Manhattan

The Architecture Research Institute/Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot) and the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED) held a roundtable on "Neighborhood and Housing in Lower Manhattan: Recommendations for the Mayor's Housing Plan" on November 10, 2003. The event was part of the Civic Alliance's Beyond 16 Acres program series.

Attendance: more than 75 concerned citizens, including community leaders, planners, architects, housing advocates, developers, bankers and finance professionals, representatives of community organizations, and neighborhood residents in Lower Manhattan. The program provided a forum to learn about Mayor Bloomberg's housing and neighborhood plans for Lower Manhattan, and to discuss how these plans could do the most to enhance mixed-income housing and mixed-use neighborhoods.

Moderator: Ron Shiffman, long-time director of PICCED and a leader with Beyond 16 Acres.

Proceedings: After introductions from Beverly Willis (ARI/R.Dot) and Brad Lander (PICCED), the panel began with a presentation by Vishaan Chakrabarti, the Director of the Manhattan Office of the NYC Department of City Planning. Mr. Chakrabarti presented the Mayor's plans to facilitate the new development of 15,000 housing units in Lower Manhattan, along with improved parks, open space, and other infrastructure investments--both at Ground Zero and around Lower Manhattan.

Ron Shiffman then asked a series of questions to the panelists:

Frank Braconi, Executive Director, Citizens Housing Planning Council; Lisa Gomez, VP, NYC Housing Development Corporation; Shaun Donovan, Managing Director, Prudential Mortgage Capital Company; Chris Kui, Director, Asian Americans for Equality, NYC Planning Commissioner; Carol Lamberg, Executive Director, Settlement Housing Fund; Karen Phillips, NYC Planning Commissioner; Damaris Reyes, Community Organizer, Good Old Lower East Side; Jonathan Rose, President, Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC; Jon Salony, Vice President Community Development Corporation, JP Morgan Chase; Brian Segel, New York Director, Low Income Investment Fund; Joe Weisbord, Staff Director, Housing First!.

A wide variety of issues was discussed, including:

- Opportunities to utilize new housing development to create a 24-hour, mixed-use community in Lower Manhattan, and to strengthen the existing neighborhoods.
- Strategies for creating mixed-income housing and communities.
- Strategies for creating affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families.
- Strategies for preserving existing affordable housing in Lower Manhattan.

Audience members posed questions, offered ideas and opinions, and helped to make the forum into a genuine dialogue about the best ways to integrate neighborhoods and housing to make Lower Manhattan a vibrant, mixed-use, mixed-income community.

The program materials (including program, background information, and biographies of the panelists) are attached.

Recommendations "If you think about what would be the most appropriate way to build for the future for those left behind and to remember the sacrifice of those 2,800 people who died at the World Trade Center on September 11th, what could be better to memorialize them than to have housing and schools, and cultural institutions, and retail. It all goes together and makes it a vibrant place.You want a mixture of housing.You have to have housing for the wealthy... But not everybody is lucky enough to afford housing at any level.You want to have all sorts of people at all sorts of economic levels... and that's what is beautiful about New York."
-- Mayor Michael Bloomberg, July 19, 2002

General Recommendations:

- Lower Manhattan offers one of the best places to create mixed-income housing through various cross-subsidy mechanisms, since the market can support it better here than in other parts of the city. Contrary to the argument that developers can't afford to create affordable housing because the market price is too high, it is precisely this value which enables them to afford to have some low- and moderate-income units in the building. Much more action is needed to create affordable and mixed-income housing.
- In order to generate greater public value, housing development must be part of broader efforts to create a vibrant, mixed-use community that stimulates economic dynamism in Lower Manhattan. Housing must be planned thoughtfully in concert with cultural facilities, retail, government, open space, public transportation, etc. There are now models around the country for how cities have worked to create vibrant, mixed-use downtowns.
- It is critical to blend government, business/developer, and community perspectives in a transparent process to plan and develop the future.
- Build sustainably, utilize existing green technology to create more self-sustaining buildings that consume less energy, and have less negative impact on the environment and pocketbooks.
- There was considerable consensus that advocates should rally around the preservation and expansion of the Section 8 housing subsidy voucher program, and around the preservation of existing affordable housing in Lower Manhattan with expiring subsidies.

Specific Recommendations:

Develop a vision and comprehensive plan.
While people praised the presentation by the Department of City Planning, some panelists and audience members felt that there was not a comprehensive plan for the creation of housing, especially affordable housing. These individuals called on NYC to build consensus for what we need to do in Lower Manhattan first, and then to capitalize on available resources.

- The City should develop a comprehensive plan in next 6 months to a year. Develop a vision first and financing can be worked out subsequently. The land and planning have to be taken care of up front.
- Combine planning and organizing approaches to take advantage of opportunities in front of us; the possibility to develop 3,000 units exists now.
- Maximize the number of lower-income units in the 5 city-owned sites on the City's list, even if it means the City buys out the current owners.
- Look at the inventory of available sites as well as areas that have potential for development for low-moderate housing, including the East River Park area.

Build for neighborhood and community:
Make sure all new development is neighborhood friendly. Housing must be planned thoughtfully in concert with cultural facilities, retail, government, open space, public transportation, etc. There are now models around the country for how cities have worked to create vibrant, mixed-use downtowns.

- Insure that planning for every development is thoughtful about neighborhood connections, pedestrian and street life, the challenges of construction, and opportunities for improving the long-term quality of life in the community.
- Increase availability of childcare for all income levels. This increases the economic power of families and their ability to pay rent.
- Increase other community facilities and retail in the area in order to strengthen neighborhoods.

Create a mixed-income community by developing mixed-income buildings that offer much more affordable housing to people at a wider range of incomes: Create more of a balance of diverse incomes and impose affordability criteria in Lower Manhattan. It is more possible to create diversity in Lower Manhattan than in outer boroughs, since higher market prices can cross-subsidize the non-market units. Panelists and audience members agreed that the spirit of September 11th was one that transcended income, and that the new housing needs to offer opportunities for everyone that was affected. Too many of those people - from firefighters and police officers, to the teachers and restaurant and retail workers, to the building service and maintenance personnel, to the artists and culture professionals, to senior citizens -cannot afford any of the housing that will be constructed. Much more needs to be done to create affordable housing for a diverse range of people.
- Increase the income mix of proposed developments in Lower Manhattan by going far beyond the 95/5 split allowed by Liberty Bonds, and even beyond the traditional 80/20 program, to a more diverse mix of incomes including low, moderate and middle.
- Create housing for people at a range of incomes - market, middle, moderate, low, and very-low. This mix should be integrated into all buildings and developments, not segregated throughout the community.
- Create live/work space for artists and cultural professionals.
- Create affordable housing for seniors and students.
- Create a mix of affordable rental and homeownership housing.

Use every available resource and tool to create affordable housing and a mixed-income community: Panelists discussed an array of resources and tools that should be used to create affordable housing in Lower Manhattan and around the city.

Section 8

- "Leave no Section 8 certificate behind." Utilize all Section 8 vouchers. Currently, 10% of vouchers are returned because people can't find housing. Lobby the federal government to preserve and increase the number of Section 8 vouchers.
- Section 8 vouchers make sense as a strategy for enabling low-income families to afford to live in Lower Manhattan.

Utilize inclusionary zoning

- If the City moves in Albany to increase the 12 FAR cap to 18 FAR for conversions of office buildings to residential, this increase in value for owners should be accompanied with inclusionary zoning that requires developers to create some percentage of affordable housing.

Liberty Bonds and tax credits

- The easiest tool for creating affordable housing is the standard mix of bonds, tax credits, and tax breaks for 80/20 and beyond.
- If the City were to add tax credits to Liberty Bonds, it could capture economic energy for affordable housing.
- When Congress approves the amendment of the Liberty Bond legislation to extend the deadline for their use, it should also permit use of tax credits with the bonds.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

- Consider the use of Tax Increment Financing in Lower Manhattan. Use the increasing value of the land to build more affordable units. Transportation projects and expansion of Fulton Mall will increase value downtown and create tremendous vibrancy. This added value can translate to affordable housing and world class commerce.

Preserve existing affordable housing:

Substantially increased efforts should be taken to preserve privately owned, publicly subsidized, multifamily developments (including Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 developments) that are expiring, and where owners may choose to opt out of the programs.

- Several options for doing this were discussed, including City Council bills introduced by Speaker Gifford Miller and Lower Manhattan Councilman Alan Gerson, and an initiative by Mayor Bloomberg to extend rent regulations through legislation in Albany.
- The most important thing is that coordinated action is taken soon. If we do not act now, we will lose far more units of affordable housing for low, moderate, and middle income families than we could possibly create.

Utilize the creation of housing

- especially affordable housing - as a vehicle for strengthening the neighborhood and building social capital.

- Increase awareness and participation of community residents in the discussions surrounding issues of affordable housing and neighborhood development, across all sectors of the community. This is an issue for everyone; not only for low-income people.
- The City should use the creation of affordable housing as an opportunity to strengthen not-for-profit community development groups. As these institutions are strengthened, they can do even more to help the community.

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