It wasn’t a no.
Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to boost New York City business and job growth passed the City Council Thursday – with some changes.
This proposal is the second prong of Adams’ three-part signature “City of Yes For Economic Opportunity” plan that aims to address the city’s economic issues by lifting zoning regulations, many of which have barely changed since 1961.
The part of the plan the Council considered Thursday initially sought 18 zoning changes that the mayor’s office said would spur business growth.
Fourteen of the changes were revised by the Council, such as lawmakers eliminating a proposal to allow corner stores in all residential neighborhoods and a plan to protect industrial jobs.
The Council also insisted that the Department of City Planning – the agency that enforces zoning rules – add more staff positions to help with enforcement.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor, said the changes aimed to “strike the right balance” and were based on feedback from the public.
The slimmed-down legislation will still lift regulations to expand manufacturing locations and to let businesses open in areas they previously were not zoned to operate in, like inside people’s homes or on the upper floors of mixed-use buildings above apartments.
With the new laws, barber shops, pharmacies, ad agencies and other lines of work could operate out of the upper-floors of apartment buildings – provided they have separate entrances.
Landlords can also rent out empty retail space to “makers” such as bakeries or pottery studios.
The mayor’s office said the zoning changes could help resolve lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as high store vacancy rates and dwindling city foot traffic spurred by the popularity of work-from-home policies.
Empty retail space in New York City has nearly doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, recent city data showed.
But not all lawmakers were sure the proposal would fix the city’s empty storefront issue.
“I still think there is some concerns about vacancy,” Upper West Side councilwoman Gale Brewer said before voting yes.
The Council already approved the mayor’s first part of the plan to help with climate change last fall.
A third part of the plan to develop more affordable housing, including legalizing many garage and basement apartments, could be voted on by the Council later this year.
