Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pick to run a key land use board, John Mangin, addressed lawmakers’ concerns at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Mangin, who currently serves as director of the Department of City Planning’s housing division, used the appearance to make up ground with the City Council after several members publicly pushed back on his nomination to lead the Board of Standards and Appeals.
Lawmakers have been vocal about taking issue with his background, including a 2014 paper he wrote in the Stanford University Law and Policy Review that included a line blaming “wealthy homeowner cartels” for blocking denser housing.
The BSA has expanded power over certain land use decisions under City Charter revisions put forward by a panel led by Mangin. Many Council members opposed the changes for diminishing their voice in land use decision-making.
Deputy Leader Chris Banks told Mangin, “I just wanted to get clarification as to the term you had used called ‘homeowner cartels.’ Normal folks would take that offensively, especially when they advocate for their community.”
Mangin said in his testimony that it was a common term from fair housing literature and not one he coined in the paper. He characterized his 2014 article as arguing that “in addition to all the other tools in our community development toolkit, we should also become forceful advocates for more housing of all types.”
Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams asked Mangin how to square his testimony on the importance of the Council’s say on land use processes with his role shaping the ballot measures, which she described as “hostile” to lawmakers. Mangin touted his nearly two-decade track record in housing and land use, telling lawmakers he aims to make the land use regulation system “fairer, more responsive and more transparent” to support affordable housing.
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Mangin pointed to his work with nonprofit groups and community boards ranging from pro-housing and anti-development positions, as well as his 12 years at the Department of City Planning working on neighborhood rezonings and citywide initiatives like Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and City of Yes, which he called “the best, most inclusive conversation about housing this city has ever had.”
Annemarie Gray, executive director of pro-housing group Open New York, testified in support of Mangin’s nomination at the hearing, saying that his leadership would help the City Council fast-track publicly-funded projects.
The Council has not yet set a date for a final vote on Mangin’s nomination, but will hold its next stated meeting on Sept. 10.
Mangin emphasized that all types of projects should be in the mix when a community is seeking to build its way out of a housing shortage. “Families in New York City have an extremely diverse range of needs and wants. Ideally, we can create a housing policy that accommodates all of them,” Mangin said.
The committee also heard testimony on the nomination of Lisa Garcia, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, for one of seven seats on the board of the city’s forthcoming land bank. Mangin’s nomination will likely be closely watched as the city continues to grapple with its housing shortage and the role of the land use board in addressing this issue.
