Affordable housing out of landmarks |
Developers and social commentators have long attempted to blame the city’s housing crisis on historic preservation. But while the shortage of affordable housing in the five boroughs is undeniable, historic preservation has had nothing to do with it.
Only 4% of the properties in New York City have been selected for protection under the Landmarks Law. That means that 96% of the property in the five boroughs — 96% of all potential housing stock — is completely unaffected by the regulatory restrictions associated with historic preservation. Indeed, the notion that the designation and regulation of this relatively scant number of properties is somehow responsible for the city’s massive affordable housing crisis borders on completely absurd.
The city’s housing crisis began nearly a century ago during the Great Depression (more than 35 years before the Landmarks Law was even enacted), and has experienced a series of improvements and setbacks with the ebbs and flows of our developing and unpredictable economy. According to the April 2025 City Charter Revision Report, “New York City has been in a declared full-blown ‘Housing Emergency’ ” since 1960 — a full five years before the Landmarks Law was passed in 1965. Given this history,........