Seminar in Land Use, Housing and Community Development in New York City
Professors Gerecke and Salama
Readings
Fall 2011
Set forth below are the readings for the class. One coursepack and one book (Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (1985)) should be purchased at
the Professional Bookstore. Aside from Crabgrass, the remaining course materials are either
available (1) in the coursepack to be purchased (items marked below as “CP”), (2) on
Blackboard under the “Assignments” tab (items marked below as “BB”) organized in
folders by class date, (3) where URLs are provided below, directly from the internet, or (4)
through the NYU Library website (items marked below as “NYU Lib”) at
https://getit.library.nyu.edu/. The library readings can be accessed by entering the journal
title, selecting one of the databases from the list provided and by searching within the
correct year and volume of the journal. To access articles through the NYU Library
website from off-campus computers, you will need to enter your NYU NetID and password.
8/31
WEEK 1: The Roots and Consequences of Urban Distress (one week early
for Wagner School); Introduction of all Class Members and to Class
Requirements

Last day to drop (by midnight)

Topics: New York City today (demographics and background);
Planning Visions of Moses, Jacobs and Bloomberg
State of the New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods 2010:
1. Executive Summary:
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/Executive_Summary_2010_1.pdf
2. Analysis of New York City Data:
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/NYC_Page_2010.pdf
3. The State of New Yorkers:
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/State_of_New_Yorkers_2010.pdf
Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961): 152-77. (CP)
Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1975): 850-94.
(CP)
Optional Reading:
Edward Glaeser, “What A City Needs,” The New Republic (September 4, 2009)
accessed at http://tnr.com/print/article/books-and-arts/what-city-needs
9/2
Submit Paper Topic Preference Sheet to jerry.salama@nyu.edu before noon.
9/7
WEEK 2: No Class—Legislative Monday for Labor Day
Paper Topics Assigned by E-mail; Groups to meet and start research
2
9/14
WEEK 3: The History of Urban Planning in, and the Impact of Federal
Policy on, New York City

Topics: Suburbanization; Federal Housing Policy; the development of
Community Development Corporations
Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (1985):
116-138 and 157-245. (book to be purchased by students)
Orlebeke, “The Evolution of Low-Income Housing Policy, 1949-1999,” in
Housing Policy Debate 11(2): 489-520.
http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/562251_922517573_920611457.pdf
Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (1971): 98 – 125. (CP)
Katz, Turner, Brown, Cunningham and Sawyer, “Rethinking Local Affordable
Housing Strategies: Lessons from 70 Years of Policy and Practice,” Brookings
Institute and Urban Institute (December 2003):1-36 only.
http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/knight/housingreview.pdf
Optional Reading:
Harvard University Joint Center For Housing Studies, “The State of the Nation’s
Housing 2011”: Executive Summary.
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2011/son2011_executive_s
ummary.pdf
Friday
9/16 2-3:50
WEEK 4: New York City Low-Income Housing Policies and Programs

Topics: New York City History; Program Structure; Supply/Demand;
Capital/Operating
Mahler, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Policies,
and the Battle for the Soul of a City (2005): 206-234. (CP)
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, “Housing Policy in New York
City: A Brief History,” Working Paper 06-01.
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/AHistoryofHousingPolicycombined060
1_000.pdf
Soffer, Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York, “Chapter 19: The Koch Housing
Plan (1986- 1989)” (2010): 290-304. (CP)
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, “New
3
Housing Market Plan” (2010): 2-12 only (7 to 17 by pdf numbering).
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/New-Housing-market-plan.pdf
9/19
Electronic submission of outlines to professors and TA by 5:00 pm
9/21
WEEK 5: Understanding Project Housing Finance

Topics: Project Pro Formas; Development Budgets; Income/Expenses;
and the Impact of Public Subsidies

Student Presentations of Projects

Financial Exercise is available on Blackboard (due 10/5). Please do
the exercise individually.
Miller and Geltner, Real Estate Principles for the New Economy: “Chapter 14 Cash Flow” (2005): 289-303 only. (CP)
DeGiovanni et al., Bank-Ability: A Practical Guide to Real Estate Financing for
Nonprofit Developers (1996): 11-20, 49-69. (BB)
9/28
Class Canceled for Rosh Hashanah
10/5
WEEK 6: The Impact of U.S. Housing Finance Systems on NYC

Topics: The Development of the Mortgage Finance System and
Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs); Multifamily housing
Underwriting; Overleveraging; Single-Family Mortgage Finance and
Neighborhood Impacts

Bring two printed copies of Financial Exercise answers to class for
joint review. Do not submit electronically.
New York City Housing Development Corporation:
“Financing Program Term Sheets”:
http://www.nychdc.com/developers/developer_page.htm
“Mixed-Income Program (Tax-Exempt Bonds)”:
http://www.nychdc.com/pdf/developers/Mixed%20Income%20ter
msheet.pdf
Ellen, Tye, and Willis, “Improving U.S. Housing Finance through Reform of
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Assessing the Options,” Furman Center for Real
Estate & Urban Policy (May 2010): 1-10.
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/Improving_US_Housing_Finance_Fanni
4
e_Mae_Freddie_Mac_9_8_10.pdf
Shultz, “Debt Threat: Saving Multifamily Rental Housing from Zombie
Mortgages,” Citizens Housing and Planning Council (December 2009).
http://www.chpcny.org/2009/12/debt-threat-report/ (register for free access)
Furman Center analyses of HMDA data 2009 (forthcoming)
Optional Reading:
Gerecke, "Burning Down the House," The Stamford Review (2009). (BB)
10/7
Submit Revised Outlines electronically to all faculty members by 5:00 pm
10/12
WEEK 7: Environmental and Land Use Review of Housing Projects

Topics: City Environmental Review Process; Uniform Land Use Review
Process; Zoning and Rezoning
Salama, Schill, and Springer, Reducing the Cost of New Housing Construction in
New York City, Furman Center For Real Estate & Urban Policy, “Chapter 6:
Environmental Regulation,” and “Chapter 7: Zoning Regulation and Land Use
Review Process” (2005): 49-52 and 59-65.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/reducing-constr-cost-summary.pdf
H.O.M.E.S. v. New York State Urban Development Corp., 69 A.D.2d 222 (App.
Div. 4th Dep’t 1979). (BB)
Chinese Staff and Workers Association v. City of New York, 68 N.Y.2d 359
(1986). (BB)
In re Nash Metalware Co., Inc. v. City of New York, 836 N.Y.S.2d 487
(December 21, 2006). (BB)
Chinese Staff and Workers Association, et. al.v. Amanda Burden, et. al. 2010 NY
Slip Op 50804U; 27 Misc. 3d 1219A; 910 N.Y.S.2d 761. (April 19, 2010). (BB)
Excerpts on BB:
1. Article 78, NYS Civil Practice Law and Rules
2. Outline Summarizing New York Environmental Quality Review
Procedure, Part 617, NYS General Regulations
3. Article 20, NYS General City Law
4. Outline Summarizing New York City Charter, Section 197-c
Optional Reading:
ACORN v. Bloomberg, 824 N.Y.S.2d 752 (September 19, 2006). (BB)
5
10/19
WEEK 8: Place-based Problems and Solutions

Topics: Racial Segregation; Concentrated Poverty; Gentrification;
Public and Subsidized Housing; Economic Development
Crane, Randall and Manville, Michael, “People or Place?” Lincoln Institute (July
2008). http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/crosssectoral/article-crane-manville.pdf
Wilson, “The Obama Administration’s Proposals to Address Urban Poverty,” City
& Community, Volume 9 (March 2010): 41-49. (NYU lib).
Porter, “The Comparative Advantage of the Inner City,” Harvard
Business Review, Volume 73 (May-June, 1995): 55-71. (NYU lib).
Van Meter, “CDCs in Gentrifying Neighborhoods: Giving low-income residents a
chance to bloom in a changing market” National Housing Institute.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/133/gentrify.html
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, “The Impact of Subsidized
Housing Investment on New York City’s Neighborhoods,” Working Paper 06-02.
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/Impactofsubsidizedhousingcombined06
02_001.pdf
Furman Center For Real Estate & Urban Policy, “State of NYC’s Housing and
Neighborhoods 2010: Public and Subsidized Housing in NYC.”
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/Public_and_Subsidized_housing_2010.pdf
10/26
WEEK 9: People-based Problems and Solutions

Topics: Mobility and Opportunity: Jobs, Wealth Building, Dispersal
Coalition for the Homeless, “History of Modern Homelessness in New York
City.”
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/basic-facts#FACTS
US Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Housing Choice Voucher
Program Fact Sheet.”
http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/about/fact_sheet.cfm
Turner and Popkin, “Why Housing Choice and Mobility Matter” Urban Institute
(August 17, 2010). http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/901374-why-choice.pdf
Kelly, “Staying in the ‘Hood: Community Relocation as a Centerpiece for the
6
Next Generation of Urban Revitalization” in Margery Turner et al Public
Housing and the Legacy of Segregation, The Urban Institute Press (2009): 127143. (CP)
Ellen, “Supporting Integrative Choices” (September-October 2008).
http://www.prrac.org/full_text.php?text_id=1191&item_id=11273&newsletter_id
=101&header=September/October+2008+Newsletter
Center for Economic Opportunity, “Replicating Our Results” Report (May 2011):
13-18 and 29-34 only.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/downloads/pdf/ceo_report_may_2011.pdf
10/31
Submit First Drafts of Paper (electronically)
11/1
Election Day
11/2
WEEK 10: Current Challenges in multifamily affordable housing
preservation and development

Topics: Community Benefit Agreements as part of Rezoning;
Inclusionary Zoning; Development of New Affordable Housing;
Preservation of Existing Affordable Housing (Expiring Use and Fail
Out/Opt Out)
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, “State of NYC’s Housing and
Neighborhoods 2010: the State of NYC Multifamily Rental Housing” (2010).
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/Multifamily_Rental_Housing_2010.pdf
Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy, Policy Brief, “How Have Recent
Rezonings Affected the City’s Ability to Grow?” (March 2010).
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/Rezonings_Furman_Center_Policy_Brie
f_March_2010.pdf
Vicki Been, “Community Benefits Agreements: A New Local Government Tool
or Another Variation on the Exactions Theme?” Furman Center for Real Estate &
Urban Policy, Working Paper 2010 (April 2010).
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/Community_Benefits_Agreements_Wor
king_Paper.pdf
Burchell and Galley, “Inclusionary Zoning: A Viable Solution to the Affordable
Housing Crisis?”
http://www.nhc.org/media/documents/InclusionaryZoning.pdf
Salama, Schill, and Springer, Reducing the Cost of New Housing Construction in
New York City, Furman Center For Real Estate & Urban Policy, “Chapter 4:
7
Availability and Cost of Vacant Land in New York City” (2005): 31-43.
http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/NYCHousingCost.pdf
“Subsidized Housing Information Project Report” (forthcoming)
Optional Reading:
Citizens Budget Commission, “Rent Regulation: Beyond the Rhetoric” (June
2010).
http://www.cbcny.org/sites/default/files/REPORT_RentReg_06022010.pdf
11/09
WEEK 11: Affordable Housing Case Study
Atlantic Yards
11/11
Field Trip to Brooklyn Friday 8:30 a.m.
11/16
WEEK 12: Guest Speaker and Atlantic Yards Case Study, Part B.
11/21
Papers for 11/30 presentations are due at 9 a.m. on 11/21. Submit electronically
to all faculty and students.
11/23
WEEK 13: No Class: Thanksgiving Holiday
11/28
Papers for 12/7 presentations are due at 9 a.m. on 11/28. Submit electronically to
all faculty and students.
11/30
WEEK 14: Student Presentation of Final Papers
12/7
WEEK 15: Student Presentation of Final Papers, continued