An Action Alert from Stephanie Kelemen
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The City’s Manhattan Plan survey asks the public where 100,000 new housing units should go. But here’s the problem: It assumes that more development is automatically the solution to the housing crisis, and it doesn’t say anything about whether those units will be affordable.
That’s why we’re urging our community to answer “Central Park” as a protest. It’s a clear way to say: The issue isn’t where we build—it’s what we build, and for whom.
In Tribeca, we’re already seeing this issue hit close to home. Real estate developer Vornado is pushing a 900+ foot luxury tower on Greenwich Street that paves the way for more glass towers for the wealthy—with no guarantee of affordability for working families.
How to Take Action (1 minute):
- Go to the survey here
- When asked where you want to see more housing on the map, click into Central Park
- Paste this text into the comment box and click submit: “I object to the Manhattan Plan and the premise of this question. Asking where to put 100,000 units in Manhattan assumes that the city should build more housing at all costs. Nowhere in this proposal does it say that those units will be AFFORDABLE. What Manhattan doesn’t need is another wave of glass towers for billionaires, while working families get pushed out. Adding luxury supply doesn’t trickle down to affordability—it just turbocharges speculation, raises land values, and accelerates displacement. If the plan is really intended to address the housing crisis, start by guaranteeing deeply affordable units, not by handing developers another blank check to build whatever they want.”
This is our chance to tell City Planning that New Yorkers demand real affordable housing—not more luxury towers.
If we all take the survey now, we can together make a real impact.
In solidarity,
Stephanie Kelemen
President, Community First Development Coalition
P.S. If you have another minute and want to do more, click here to join our friends at Village Preservation in contacting our elected officials.