New York Mayor Mamdani announced the launch of the “SPEED” housing administrative process reform plan on the 13th in order to accelerate the construction of affordable housing. The goal is to expedite the entire process from planning and development to construction and occupancy of affordable housing. The new reform is expected to reduce the overall development time by an average of 8 months for typical affordable housing projects, with cases involving zoning changes potentially shortened by up to two years.
“SPEED” stands for “Simplifying Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development” in English. The city government stated that this reform will target four key stages in the affordable housing development process, including environmental review and urban planning, preliminary development and financing, building permits and administrative approvals, as well as post-completion rental and occupancy procedures.
One of the focuses of this reform is significantly shortening the “pre-certification” process for projects requiring zoning changes. The city government mentioned that many projects requiring land use review often go through lengthy interdepartmental reviews and document exchanges before formal review. With the reform, the related process timeline is expected to be shortened from about two years to around six months. The city government emphasized that this reform will not alter existing discretionary approval processes and does not require separate legislation from the city council or state government.
The city government also plans to reduce the timeframe for building permits and approvals for new constructions and office-to-residential conversion projects, expecting to further shorten it by about five months.
Sideya Sherman, the Director of the New York City Planning Department (DCP), stated that shortening the pre-review process will help residential projects start construction more quickly, allowing New Yorkers to move in earlier while maintaining a fair and thorough review process. Ahmed Tigani, the Commissioner of the Department of Buildings (DOB), described the SPEED plan as a housing development program that balances efficiency and safety. He believed that the reform also sends a clear signal to the market, demonstrating New York City’s desire to be a more favorable city for residential development.
During the press conference, Mayor Mamdani mentioned that many affordable housing development projects currently face delays due to extensive redundant reviews and interdepartmental procedures, such as agencies repeating inspections of the same projects and cases waiting for responses for extended periods.
The Mayor emphasized that this reform does not involve modifying the existing land use approval system and can be implemented without legislative action by the state or city council.
The city government stated that the SPEED reform will be implemented in conjunction with other housing policies, including the previously introduced Expedited Land Use Review Process (ELURP), aiming to shorten the early development time of affordable housing by more than two years.
Deputy Mayor Bozorg stated that the reform covers a wide range, from environmental reviews, financing processes, permit approvals, to specific aspects like asbestos handling, fire alarm inspections, and more.
In the new fiscal year budget, the city plans to allocate an additional $14 million for hiring additional review and planning personnel, as well as improving technology systems and interdepartmental coordination mechanisms. The departments involved include the City Planning Department, Department of Buildings, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation, among others. Bozorg disclosed that the overall reform is expected to add approximately 96 positions to enhance permit and approval efficiency.
Mark Levine, the City Comptroller, stated that addressing the housing crisis requires reducing obstacles throughout the entire housing development process. “From issuing building permits to occupancy procedures, everything must be expedited,” he added. He believed that the various housing reform measures undertaken by New York City in recent years complement each other and contribute to enhancing overall housing supply capacity.