Public Advocate Jumaane Williams wants New York City to require a “racial impact study” for all proposed rezoning plans to stem gentrification, even though he acknowledged an income report would accomplish the same goal.
“The issue absolutely is affordability. The issue absolutely is income,” Williams said at a Manhattan press conference Wednesday when asked by a reporter why he wasn’t framing the legislation as an economic issue rather than a racial one.
“That is usually interconnected with race so whenever you’re discussing income and low income, unfortunately the preponderance of that is going to be black and Latino,” he said.
The public advocate’s stance on the issue is at odds with his opposition to the mayor’s plan to eliminate the city’s single-test admissions system for elite public high schools.
Earlier this month, Williams called City Hall’s plan to scrap the test needlessly polarizing. The complaint is that too few blacks and Latinos are admitted.
“It’s not leadership. It’s politics at its worst,” he told a state education committee May 10.
On Wednesday, he said the mayor’s rezoning efforts — which are supposed to create more affordable housing — actually target “low-income areas of color” and open them up to “rampant speculation.”
Alex Fennell, director of Churches United for Fair Housing, added that the city predicted rezoning of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, would displace about 2,500 residents.
Instead it pushed out 13,000 Latinos, she said.
Williams also said he hasn’t consulted with anyone in the real estate industry or received the support of City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
Williams and Council Member Rafael Salamanca (D-Bronx), who chairs the land use committee, will introduce a bill about the study Wednesday afternoon.
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