Open New York
Transforming the housing narrative across the city and state
The Challenge
New York is in the midst of a decades-long, dire housing crisis, with rents continuing to climb every year. Elected officials continue to fall short in addressing the issue, failing to change a process that has long been controlled by a vocal minority of NIMBYs who oppose any and all new housing development and too often drown out the voices of regular New Yorkers who understand that prices won’t go down until we build more housing. Open New York is a nonprofit working to advance common-sense solutions to address the severe housing-affordability crisis —and make sure that New York is affordable for everyone.
The Strategy
Make regular people’s voices heard. From constantly briefing reporters on everything from individual rezoning projects to state budget fights, we were able to get Open New York’s pro-housing development perspective into the media, both locally and nationally, and counterbalance the NIMBY opposition. Open New York was instrumental in bringing pro-housing stances and rhetoric into the consensus media and political conversation.
Slingshot established Open New York Executive Director Annemarie Gray as a leading voice on housing in the lead-up to the annual Albany budget fight. Annemarie appeared as a panelist at marquee housing events, and we got Open New York cited in the media more than 50 times, including in interviews, television, op-eds, and quotes in straight-news pieces. This helped open public debate to a new conversation, especially in the suburbs.
We shifted the public narrative so much that the governor and legislative leaders were debating versions of Open New York’s policies when it came time to hash out the details. We successfully established that a pro-housing agenda is politically popular, and now elected officials are beginning to treat this issue with the urgency it deserves.
The Result
Media Impact
City & State New York
Q&A: Building YIMBY support for affordable housing in New York City
Bloomberg
New York State Joins the YIMBY Fray
StreetsBlog NYC
YES IN OUR BACKYARD: New Yorkers Widely Support Parking Reform, Density Near Transit
Politico
Group pushing more housing production backs ‘good cause’ eviction
Gothamist
Empty NYC-owned apartments could help solve housing crisis, policy group says
Slate
New York Has a YIMBY Governor
Daily News
Veteran housing adviser to Mayor Adams leaving for advocacy job amid NYC affordability crisis