Some potential solutions to New York City’s housing shortage may be readily apparent, according to architect and planning expert Vishaan Chakrabarti. 

In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, Chakrabarti wrote that the city could accommodate an additional half-million homes without altering neighborhood characteristics. 

He and his team have already identified various possibilities, such as constructing apartments atop grocery stores or on specific single-family lots. 

Chakrabarti, known for his redevelopment project transforming the former Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, shared his perspective on “Mornings On 1” Tuesday, saying, “New Yorkers are spending half their paycheck, sometimes, on their rent. All these homeless folks and migrants. We think that it's an insurmountable problem that the city is full.” 

“We set out to prove that, no, you could actually build a tremendous amount of homes in neighborhoods without ruining their character,” he said of his team’s mission. 

According to Chakrabarti, the identified locations are near public transit and are anticipated to be small-scale projects managed by community developers, which has garnered positive feedback from communities. 

“We actually get a lot of emails from even neighborhood groups saying, ‘We like this, we'd like to learn more.’ Which, I've been doing this for a long time, I haven't had a lot of that—so I think that's a good sign,” Chakrabarti said. 

He added that he has seen an increasing favorability among New Yorkers toward housing development, particularly as many young adults struggle to afford housing in their communities.