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On July 9th, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the launch of a pilot program called adAPT NYC. The pilot will consist of a competition to develop a building comprised of small studios on city-owned property on East 27th Street. CHPC stood alongside the Mayor as he called for better solutions to accommodate the needs of New York’s growing single population.
This exciting initiative is based on CHPC’s own Making Room project, which explores innovative ways for the public and private sectors to work together to increase housing choice in the City. With changing family demographics and a rapidly increasing population, New York’s current housing stock does not adequately meet the needs of its inhabitants. We need better housing solutions that work for all New Yorkers.
We applaud adAPT NYC, and are thrilled that the City is testing these ideas in the marketplace.
For more information about this innovative pilot program:
• Read the press release.
• Download the Request for Proposals.
• Watch the Mayor’s announcement (starts at 18:50).
We are absolutely overwhelmed at the flood of press interest on this announcement!
It got television coverage both locally on NY1 and nationally on The Today Show.
Our Executive Director Jerilyn Perine participated in an open phone segment on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show yesterday, where we were surprised at the uniformly positive response from callers.
The majority of coverage was in print, both old media like The New York Times, and new media like Gothamist.
Keep an eye on CHPC’s Facebook page for the latest developments, and check out all the press coverage at the links below.
CHPC moderated a fascinating break-out panel at the New York State Association for Affordable Housing Conference that took place at the Times Square Marriot Marquis last week.
The session, entitled “Shifting Demographics: How to House a Changing Population” was moderated by Executive Director Jerilyn Perine and began with CHPC Policy Analyst, Sarah Watson, presenting our data model that analyzes and re-categorizes New York City’s households to examine how New Yorkers are really living today. The data revealed the extraordinary prevalence of single person households in the New York City housing market, and their struggles to fit into a housing stock that is mostly designed for families.
The panel then debated many different impacts of the rise of single people in the housing market, from the elderly to new tech entrepreneurs, and how housing policy and the development industry can work to provide better solutions for this growing population.
When asked by Jerilyn Perine, if they could wave their magic housing policy wand, what one change they would make to improve the housing situation for single people, the answers were illuminating!
Matthew Blesso, Blesso Properties – Policy should focus on basic health and safety and not dictating people’s individual options for how they want to live.
Maya Brennan, Center for Housing Policy – There should be more flexible funding options for the development of housing and provision of on-site services for the single elderly population, including through Medicare and Medicaid.
Chris Cirillo, The Richman Group Development Corporation –We should get to a point in thinking about green and sustainable development where we look beyond simply meeting the requirements of LEED or other rating systems or focusing on specific green materials and building systems. We need to see providing densely-developed housing for singles and other small households in transit-rich settings as one of the best ways to build green.
Kaye Matheny, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development – new technologies have been developed for buildings to provide more options for light and air. This means that smaller housing units are now possible and we can re-think policy to support this.
Sarah Watson, CHPC – Eradicate occupancy rules from every law and code in New York. They are all worded differently, which is confusing, but basically it is not permitted for more than 3 unrelated adults to live together. This acts as handcuffs on the development and design community from providing safe and legal shared housing for single adults.
Panelists and moderator: Maya Brennan, Matthew Blesso, Jerilyn Perine, Chris Cirillo, Kaye Matheny
The rise of single person households in New York includes young professionals, working adults, and the elderly. How do we reform the current system to encourage innovation practices that meet the new housing needs of these groups?
Join CHPC on Thursday, May 17th for a breakout session at NYSAFAH’s annual conference in New York. The session, entitled “Shifting Demographics: How to House a Changing Population,” will be moderated by CHPC Executive Director Jerilyn Perine.
Panelists include:
Matthew Blesso, Blesso Properties
Maya Brennan, Center for Housing Policy
Chris Cirillo, The Richman Group Development Corporation
Kaye Matheny, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
For more information about NYSAFAH and its annual conference, click here.
The Making Room Design Showcase and Symposium was a tremendous success! Participants and attendees alike were energized by the possibilities for expanding housing types presented, and the potential for substantive change in the City’s housing regulations. Making Room is also generating a lot of attention from the press. Please visit our Facebook page for updates on the most current coverage.
Making Room is the latest phase in CHPC’s ongoing examination of the mismatch between New York’s population and its available housing stock. The design showcase brought together five highly respected architects to present their ideas for reshaping NYC’s housing stock to better meet the needs of diverse 21st century households. Their presentations were followed by discussion among leaders from NYC’s housing and real estate community, and international experts in design and architecture. Participants also included representatives from City Hall, City Planning, and Commissioners from four City agencies–Cultural Affairs, DDC, DOB, and HPD. You can view the full program for the day here.
Introduction by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Linda Gibbs
Introduction by Julie Sandorf, President of the Charles H. Revson Foundation
Introduction to Making Room by Jerilyn Perine
Shall + Shared = Green
New York City & Tokyo
By Graham Hill & Azby Brown
Stan Allen & Rafi Segal
Stan Allen Architect
Rafi Segal Architecture Urbanism
Peter Gluck
Peter Gluck and Partners Architects
Deborah Gans
Gans studio
Jonathan Kirschenfeld
Jonathan Kirschenfeld Architect PC
Balancing Population Growth & Housing Regulations: the Public Sector Challenges
Introduced by: David Bragdon, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
Moderated by: David J. Burney, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC)
Kate D. Levin, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs.
Robert LiMandri,Commissioner of the Department of Buildings
Mathew M. Wambua, Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation & Development
Thomas Wargo, Director of the Zoning Division at the Department of City Planning
Ted Smith
Smith & Others, San Diego
Wrap-up Panel
Urban Omnibus is an online project of the Architectural League of New York; CHPC partners in the upcoming Making Room Design Challenge & Showcase Event. The Omnibus features multi-media content to showcase design innovation, critical analysis and local expertise across a broad range of topics and locales, creating bridges between various communities of interest.
And this month, they have made a video all about Making Room! It features Jerilyn Perine, CHPC board member Matt Blesso and a number of other housing, architecture and community development leaders, as well as items from the CHPC Marian Sameth & Ruth Dickler Archival Library.
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