Alicia Glen, a deputy mayor of housing and economic development under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday to discuss her criticisms of a rezoning plan in Gowanus approved by the City Council last week.
In the final plan, the number of units initially proposed to be built on Ninth Avenue was reduced from 85 units to 25. The number of affordable housing units was reduced from 22 to 7.
“In the context of what’s going on with the housing crisis, we need to look for every opportunity where we can add affordable housing and, quite frankly, housing,” said Glen, now the founder of MSquared, an investment platform focused on mixed-income housing projects.
Glen also discussed her view of the tradition of member deference on the City Council — allowing the local City Council member final say on zoning proposals in their district. The local City Council member, Shahana Hanif, successfully advocated for the reduced units in the Gowanus rezoning.
“A lot of people are beginning to think now about whether or not member deference makes sense in light of the extraordinary extent of the housing crisis,” Glen said. “I hope that this is not an auger of things to come, where individual members are allowed again to put the perfect in front of the good.”