[Op-Ed] City of Yes and Property Taxes

The latest op-ed by OANA discusses how NYC’s push to expand housing supply is rooted in a simple idea: empower everyday homeowners to be part of the solution. With Zohran Mamdani unveiling new tools and financing to support accessory dwelling units (which you can read about here), the “City of Yes” initiative signals a shift toward small-scale, neighborhood-based growth that could meaningfully address the city’s housing shortage.

But as the op-ed makes clear, policy ambition alone is not enough. Beneath the surface lies a structural barrier that threatens to undermine the entire effort: a property tax system that penalizes the very kind of incremental development the city is trying to encourage. If New York is serious about unlocking new housing, it must confront the financial realities facing homeowners and fix the system that is holding them back.

Read the op-ed here.

Also published in Qns.