The City Planning Commission and the Department of City Planning on Proposed Rules on ELURP and AHAB

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The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is the City's leading real estate trade association representing commercial, residential, and institutional property owners, builders, managers, investors, brokers, salespeople, and other organizations and individuals active in New York City real estate. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments to the City Planning Commission and the Department of City Planning on the proposed rules to implement the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) and the Affordable Housing Appeals Board (AHAB) as established by the City Charter changes in 2025.

New York City is in the throes of a housing crisis marked by a severe lack of new housing production and an absence of sufficient affordable housing needed to meet the city's diverse socioeconomic needs. New York City's affordability crisis will persist without tools that allow supply to better match demand. Unfortunately, recent positive efforts such as the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity do not change the fact that the New York City development process remains significantly longer and more costly than in other parts of the country.

REBNY supported the City Charter changes approved by voters in November 2025, which established the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) and Affordable Housing Appeals Board (AHAB). These changes provide important new tools to streamline the land use process for certain housing and infrastructure projects and to strengthen the City's ability to advance affordable housing.

The proposed rules implement these Charter changes by establishing the procedures, minimum standards, certification requirements, and eligibility criteria for ELURP, as well as procedures and standards for the administration of AHAB and determining which applications are eligible for review. ELURP provides a 90-day public review process for qualifying land use actions, while AHAB provides a mechanism to review certain City Council actions that directly facilitate the development of affordable housing.

REBNY supports the proposed rules and appreciates the City Planning Commission and Department of City Planning's efforts to implement these important Charter changes. These new tools have the potential to meaningfully improve the City's land use process and facilitate the development of much-needed housing and affordable housing.