Mayor Mamdani’s controversial pick to lead a city zoning board was grilled at a hearing on Tuesday by city councilmembers concerned he would limit their power over housing and land-use issues.
During the two-and-a-half-hour hearing, councilmembers questioned John Mangin’s prior statements about homeownership and his role in pushing ballot initiatives forward that would have taken away some of Council’s power.
“We feel like some of them were a little hostile to us, and how we see our powers,” Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams said of last year’s ballot questions Mangin oversaw as policy director for the Charter Revision Commission, adding that she felt the Council’s role in housing production wasn’t “really appreciated.”
“I believe that the Council absolutely retains its central role in housing and planning and land use in the city with a couple minor adjustments in order to make projects happen that could not happen under the previous system,” Mangin told Williams.
In June, the mayor selected Mangin, the director of the Department of City Planning’s housing division, to chair the Board of Standards and Appeals, an independent city agency that handles zoning, land use and building code disputes. Mangin needs at least half of the council’s 51 members to approve the appointment.
“If I’m confirmed, I believe I can make that system fairer, more responsive, more transparent, all while supporting affordable housing across the city,” Mangin said in his testimony.
Chief among councilmembers’ concerns was Mangin’s leading role on a Charter Revision Commission convened by ex-Mayor Adams last year. That commission advanced measures to the ballot aimed at speeding up housing production, including one that gave the BSA more authority to approve housing projects.
The Council stood firmly against those ballot proposals, arguing they took away the Council’s power over land use decisions and reduced neighborhood input.
In the weeks leading up to the hearing, Mangin has met privately with several councilmembers and Speaker Julie Menin. Critics have also pointed to a piece of Mangin’s writing where he addressed what he called “wealthy homeowner cartels” that fight new housing development in their area.
Pressed on this article, published in 2014 in the Stanford Law and Policy Review, by Councilmember Chris Banks, Mangin clarified that he’s a “huge supporter” of home ownership and that the reference to cartels is a “descriptive term from fair housing literature,” not something he himself came up with.
“He brings deep experience in housing policy and law, along with nearly two decades of working alongside communities and stakeholders across New York City,” Casey Berkovitz, a spokesperson for City Hall, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our conversations with the City Council about our shared goals for building more housing ahead of its vote on his nomination.”
Housing advocates pushed for Mangin’s confirmation during the hearing, including with a sign-on letter from the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, New York Housing Conference and the Citizens Housing and Planning Council.
“Our government must use every tool to build more affordable housing, quickly,” Annemarie Gray, Executive Director at Open New York, said in testimony. “With his deep technical expertise and exceptional experience working with communities across the city to plan for fairer and more affordable housing, John Mangin has the qualifications to do just that at BSA.”