Monday, March 23, 2026, 10:30 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Land Use
The Committee on Land Use, chaired by Council Member Kevin C. Riley, held a preliminary budget oversight hearing covering the Department of City Planning (DCP) and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Members questioned newly appointed DCP Director Cindi Sherman and her staff on staffing and vacancies in borough offices, neighborhood rezoning capacity (including the White Plains Road plan), the Sunnyside Yards proposal, City of Yes implementation (ADUs, office conversions, transit-oriented development), the ULERT process, and the governor's proposed environmental review exemption. LPC Executive Director Lisa testified on designations, permit processing via the Portico portal, vacancies, violations, and demolition by neglect. Public testimony addressed landmark preservation, DCP funding, industrial service provider contracts, and the preservation of Bushwick City Farm. No votes were taken; numerous follow-up data requests were made.
0:01 Know. Welcome. Bull. Oh, good
0:01 morning, ladies and gentlemen,
0:13 welcome to the New York City
0:14 council hearing for the
0:15 committee on menus at this
0:16 time I'd like to remin
0:18 deveryone to please silence all
0:20 devices and at no point. You
0:22 approach the dais.
0:24 If you want to testify at
0:25 today's hearing, please see a
0:26 sergeant at the back of the
0:26 room to fill out a testimony.
0:30 Slip chair. We are ready to
0:33 begin. Thank you. Good
0:35 . Morning, everyone and
0:36 welcome to the committee on
0:38 land use. I'm chair Riley of
0:41 this committee. I would like
0:42 to welcome my colleagues in
0:43 government will join today
0:44 about cheer mart, a councilman
0:48 corcione Council Member Thomas
0:49 Henry and Council Member
0:53 felter. Welcome, cheer,
0:53 sherman. Thank you for being
0:54 here today and we are glad t
0:56 ohave you lied in the
0:57 department of City planning
0:59 today as six. So we really,
1:00 really appreciate you being
1:04 here today. I am particularly
1:05 pleased that it all right,
1:05 this City planning is someone
1:06 with a strong equity
1:09 background investing in black
1:10 and brown communities is a
1:12 priority of myself in chair
1:16 lewis due to unforeseen
1:17 ,unforeseen events share. Luis
1:18 will not be able to atten
1:20 dtoday are fortunately chair
1:21 ssherman, you seem to be joined
1:23 at a hard time because I was
1:25 surprised and disappointed by
1:27 the proposed budget for the
1:30 agency.
1:31 We are in the middle of a
1:31 housing crisis and the
1:32 proposed preliminary budget
1:35 for fiscal 20 26 is not being
1:38 increase and to make matters
1:39 worse, the administration is
1:42 proposing to significantly
1:44 decrease the agency's budget
1:45 in fiscal 20 27.
1:48 For fiscal year 2026, the
1:50 current budget is $58.2
1:53 million and then we'll go down
1:56 in fiscal year 20 27 the way
2:00 we are going to solve our
2:02 housing crisis is going to
2:04 include much more planning and
2:08 not less so my questions today
2:09 are focused on first the need
2:11 for more staff in and borough
2:15 offices to process more
2:16 rezoning in a thoughtful way
2:18 centered on our communities
2:22 actual needs. Second, the need
2:23 to pursue holistic
2:26 neighborhood planning. Third
2:26 ,how much housing has the City
2:28 of yes, reform that we passed
2:29 in 20 24 created to date and
2:33 forth the ongoing effort to
2:36 reform the environmental
2:37 review process, which is
2:38 important tool for our
2:40 communities. I will also touch
2:41 on some questions that I kno
2:43 wchair lewis wants to act today
2:46 about the importance of urban
2:48 design sunnyside yards and
2:52 fair housing. As you can see
2:53 we have many issues we want to
2:55 discuss today because land use
2:57 and proactive plan and for the
2:59 council under speaker man his
3:00 leadership is a higher
3:08 priority issue
3:09 . And just want to say. For
3:09 the record we've been joined
3:10 by a Council Member Salaam and
3:11 counsel member Brooks Powers
3:23 online. Uh,
3:24 okay, I'm just going to
3:25 recognize the panel that is
3:27 testifying on behalf of we
3:29 have our chair. Ah ah, we have
3:32 edith his sue chen and we have
3:36 David parish. I'm just going
3:37 to give the floor to you guys
3:38 so you can make it open
3:47 statements. Good morning chair
3:48 , Riley subcommittee
3:51 subcommittee chairs. Uh, I
3:52 know chair lewis is not here
3:53 today and she's smart and
3:56 distinguished members of the
3:56 land use committee. I am cindy
4:00 sherman, I'm director the
4:01 department of City plannin
4:02 gand chair of the City planning
4:04 commission. I'm joined here
4:05 today by City planning
4:07 executive director edith suit
4:10 and she operating officer
4:10 David.
4:12 Parrish. Thank you for this
4:13 opportunity to discuss the
4:14 department's preliminary
4:16 budget for fiscal year 26. I'm
4:19 honored to have recently been
4:21 appointed director of the
4:22 department of City planning
4:23 and chair of the City planning
4:24 the job. I'm grateful for the
4:30 opportunity to join you today
4:32 and discuss our work to pla
4:33 nfor the future of our City
4:36 first, I want to acknowledge
4:37 the tremendous work that the
4:39 City Council in the City City
4:41 planning have accomplished
4:41 together in recent years in
4:44 partnership with this body,
4:45 the agency has implemented
4:47 historic updates to the zoning
4:48 code through City of yes, an
4:51 advance through neighborhood
4:53 plans advanced, thoughtful
4:54 neighborhood plans across the
4:55 boroughs that will deliver New
4:58 jobs, housing and investments
4:59 to help communities thrive,
5:02 but New York City is no place
5:03 for resting on our laurels,
5:05 the urgency of the housing
5:07 crisis before us does not
5:10 permit it.
5:10 The apartment vacancy rental
5:11 vacancy stands the apartment
5:13 rental vacancy rate stands at
5:17 1.4%, the lowest rate since 19
5:20 68.
5:20 Half of all tenants are rent
5:22 burdened, paying over 30% of
5:23 their income on red, but our
5:26 housing shortage can't be shu
5:27 t, some summed up and he's
5:28 these stats alone because it
5:32 touches every aspect of New
5:35 yorkers lives, it drives the
5:35 imbalance of power that leaves
5:36 tenants feeling at the mercy
5:38 of their landlords, it fused
5:41 the displacement and
5:41 gentrification that reshapes
5:42 the neighborhoods and
5:43 communities that we live in it
5:46 drives the homelessness crisis
5:47 that impacts so many of our
5:49 neighbors, including families
5:51 and children indeed, in some
5:52 neighborhoods as many as one
5:55 in five public school students
5:56 are living in shelter or
5:56 doubled up in an overcrowded
6:01 apartment.
6:01 And the housing shortage is
6:02 quite literally pushing people
6:03 out of the City, particularly
6:04 black and brown New yorkers
6:05 who have long been the
6:07 backbone of so many
6:09 communities. So this is a time
6:10 of incredible challenges,
6:11 but also tremendous
6:15 opportunity.
6:15 We have tools in City
6:16 government to chart a better
6:19 path forward to create a
6:19 fairer, more affordable City
6:20 for New yorkers of all incomes
6:22 and backgrounds and I'm so
6:24 proud to join Mayor mamdani,
6:26 deputy Mayor bulls, arc and
6:26 the team in this work a tcp
6:31 this means unlocking
6:32 significantly more housing
6:34 across more neighborhoods so
6:35 that opportunity is not just
6:37 limited to a few places
6:38 . It means working faster and
6:40 smarter to reduce housing
6:42 costs and timelines. So we can
6:43 get people into New housing
6:47 faster, it means activating
6:48 sites that lie underused and
6:50 creating bold plans that
6:51 support communities with more
6:52 housing, jobs and investments
6:56 ,all to make our City more
6:57 affordable and equitable and a
6:58 more equitable place for New
6:59 yorkers to live in
7:02 . At a personal level this
7:02 work resonates with me deeply
7:05 . I'm a lifelong New yorker
7:06 and throughout my career, I've
7:08 been working with communities
7:09 to drive equitable change and
7:13 stronger neighborhoods. Those
7:14 experiences were absolutely
7:14 shape how I approach this role
7:16 and how I think about the
7:17 responsibility we have to pla
7:18 nfor a City that works for all
7:21 New yorkers and of course, the
7:25 work will continue across so
7:26 many important factors whether
7:28 . It's supporting driving
7:28 industrial and commercial
7:32 sectors enhancing waterfront
7:33 resiliency shaping citywide
7:35 capital investments
7:36 ,contributing to the census
7:38 efforts analyzing the latest
7:39 data trends and engaging in
7:40 yorkers to participate in
7:42 shaping the future of their
7:46 City
7:46 . To my colleagues in the
7:47 council we undertake this work
7:48 in close partnership with you
7:49 and I look forward to t
7:51 ocontinuing a strong
7:53 collaborative relationship as
7:54 we move forward now I'll turn
7:56 to an overview of the
8:00 preliminary budget.
8:00 Entered fiscal year 26 with
8:01 an adoptedudge bt of and an
8:04 authorized head count of 360
8:07 64 full time positions of this
8:11 36.4 million and 190 positions
8:12 are funded with citi City tax
8:15 levy dollars the rest of the
8:16 budget allocation and the 174
8:19 positions are funded by state
8:20 and federal grants, primarily
8:22 through community development
8:23 black grant program
8:26 . Are 56.8 million 26 adopted
8:29 budget allocated or 63% t
8:33 opersonnel services, which
8:34 include part time staff,
8:36 interns and members of the
8:36 City planning commission, the
8:39 remaining went to other than
8:42 personnel services. Now the f
8:44 27 people in a preliminary
8:46 budget in comparison to the f
8:48 26 adopted budget represents a
8:49 net $5.3 million decrease
8:53 . This is almost entirely due
8:55 to the expiration of 7 million
8:57 and temporary funding either
8:58 grants or funding granted for
9:00 environmental impact
9:01 statements for projects that
9:01 have since been approved by
9:05 the council at the same time,
9:05 there is a New and funding t
9:08 osupport work for the 203
9:10 0census and to begin
9:12 implementation of the City map
9:15 charter amendment looking at
9:16 personnel services. There was
9:17 a net six position change in
9:19 head count and total the
9:20 agency gained 12 New positions
9:23 for census City map and
9:23 capital planning work. At the
9:26 same time the agency lost six
9:27 positions that were either
9:29 temporary or grant funded thi
9:31 s
9:31 . Increased headcount came at
9:33 a net increase of 1.3 million
9:36 for personnel services, which
9:38 supports the increase, which
9:38 supports the increase head
9:42 overall, the 26 preliminary
9:44 budget reflects a strong
9:45 foundation with a total of in
9:48 increased full time had count
9:49 of 370 positions
9:53 . We are communicated to
9:54 allocating our resources
9:55 effectively to advance the
9:56 department's mission and to
9:57 help create a more affordable
9:59 ,equitable City for all New
10:00 yorkers, thank you
10:04 , thank you, commissioner. I'm
10:05 just going to ex counsel this
10:07 way, you guys in before we
10:07 start the question good
10:11 morning again, could you
10:11 please, sir, raise your right
10:13 hand and set your name for the
10:15 record City sherman David
10:20 parish, beadle chen. Thank you
10:21 . And you swear to tell the
10:22 truth and nothing but the
10:23 truth and your testimony this
10:24 morning and in the response t
10:26 ocounsel member questions? Yes
10:27 ,yes, thank you
10:30 , thank you, castle. Thank you
10:31 for your testimony,
10:32 commissioner. I just want t
10:32 ostay for the record we've been
10:33 drawing by minority leader
10:35 David Carr and als
10:36 ocouncilmember just Sanchez
10:39 . All right, so my first time
10:40 the question. I really want to
10:41 focus on staff their resources
10:43 as concerned for many council
10:45 members who are leading I
10:47 nneighborhood rezoning projects
10:48 like myself in the bronx, so
10:51 pcp in the borough offices,
10:53 the borough officers are
10:54 responsible for both
10:55 neighborhood planning and
10:56 working with private
10:58 applicants to shape individual
10:59 rezone an this work is very
11:01 essential to address in our
11:04 housing crisis and support
11:05 equitable development that
11:06 uplifts all of New yorkers,
11:09 however, the borough offices
11:09 are understaffed and under
11:11 resource for this important
11:13 mission.
11:13 Many small cities around the
11:15 country cities smaller than
11:17 New York City Council
11:19 districts have more planners
11:20 staff and borough offices,
11:23 for example, in the bronx,
11:24 this time with this sat skinny
11:32 with this small staff. It's
11:34 not clear if the office has
11:36 the capacity to undertake more
11:39 than one neighborhood rezoning
11:39 at a given time, there's a
11:42 clear consensus that New York
11:45 City must aggressively plan to
11:46 increase our housing supply.
11:47 Yet there is no proposed
11:49 change the current staffing
11:50 levels so that being said
11:54 commissioner does believe that
11:54 the borough officers have
11:56 sufficient resources to meet
11:57 this moment and if yes, can
12:00 you let us know why you
12:03 believe so. Sure I'll start I
12:03 tand I'll turn over over to our
12:05 chief operating officer, so I
12:06 think as you heard from my
12:09 testimony overall, while we've
12:10 had a net loss of a lot of it
12:12 was driven by a temporary
12:14 funding that a since expired
12:17 .so the organization is is in
12:19 somewhat of a steady state
12:20 with a net increase of six
12:22 heads, however, certainly I
12:23 know that we need resources t
12:25 odo the work that we're were
12:26 charged to do moving forward,
12:28 I feel confident that we wil
12:29 lbe able to carry out the work.
12:30 Obviously, I'm in my six day
12:32 and certainly still assessing
12:33 the needs across the
12:34 organization and as we go
12:35 through this budget process
12:36 will remain in conversation
12:39 with owen, but at our current
12:42 state, we within our
12:43 organization between central
12:45 office and the bureau offices
12:46 .we certainly see that we would
12:47 be confident in carrying this
12:49 work out, I'll turn over t
12:51 oour chief operating officer t
12:51 otalk a little bit more about
12:52 staffing in the borough
12:53 officers. Excuse me, could you
12:54 just move the microphones
12:56 closer to you? Sure? Thank you
13:01 . Sure? Thanks. Thanks.
13:01 Chairman Riley. This is a very
13:02 important issue for us, I
13:04 think as you've already seen.
13:07 We've also engaged staff at
13:08 our central office,
13:10 particularly in community
13:11 engagement capital planning
13:13 our policy divisions like
13:14 housing, zoning et center to
13:16 support our borough office
13:18 staff so.
13:18 We all hear you understand
13:20 the importance of the bro
13:21 staff and in grief. Do you
13:23 have a breakdown by each
13:24 borough how much staff is in
13:26 each borough office. I can get
13:29 that back to you. Okay, lou,
13:30 we shared some data with the
13:33 committee before, but we can
13:33 get that to you, okay? And I
13:36 believe you. I would not say
13:38 that even though you guys are
13:39 short staff you guys have been
13:41 working tremendously with me
13:42 in the bronx. But this is
13:43 important work that we have t
13:45 odo, I think everyone's message
13:47 has been affordability. We
13:48 have to build more. We have t
13:49 odevelop more, we know how
13:52 important are your role is I
13:52 nthis so as we're asking these