NYC council pushes back at Mayor Eric Adams’ ‘City of Yes’ zoning overhaul amid ongoing federal probe

It’s looking more like the City of Maybe.

Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious “City of Yes” citywide rezoning initiative is getting serious pushback from city lawmakers, who are looking to stall the plan while a federal corruption probe of City Hall plays out.

The mayor’s pitch for the massive zoning overhaul, a major part of his political agenda, cleared another hurdle Wednesday with approval from the city Planning Commission but still needs for the City Council to sign off — and that may be too much to ask.

In a statement, Councilman Robert Holden called on the city to “step back, delay this proposal and put it up for a vote as either a ballot proposal or an election topic for next year’s municipal elections.”

“The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is a slap in the face to New Yorkers, especially in the outer boroughs,” Holden said.

“With no infrastructure upgrade plans—such as aging electric grids, deteriorating roads, overwhelmed sewer systems, and under-resourced schools—and recent storms killing people in basement apartments, the last thing we should be doing is pushing forward a rushed plan that most community boards and countless civic associations oppose,” he said.

Hidden in the rhetoric is growing concern among many city pols that an ongoing federal corruption probe enveloping the Adams administration may spell the end of the mayor’s term at City Hall — one way or another.

The federal investigation has already rattled the administration, with schools Chancellor David Banks announcing he will step down this week, following resignations by other top Adams staffers, among them Chief Counsel Lisa Zomberg and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.

Caban’s replacement, interim police Commissioner Thomas Donlon, a former high-ranking FBI again, acknowledged that the feds raided his home last week as well.

While the probe has made some in the city uneasy about moving ahead on City of Yes, city planning officials contend the overhaul is long overdue and badly needed.

The plan would represent the first major change to the city’s zoning since 1961.

Officially titled “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity,” it would provide a “bonus” to developers to build 20% higher, if the additional space is dedicated to lower-than-market rate apartments.

It would allow more apartment construction around transit hubs and above buildings in commercial strips and permit homeowners to create apartments up to 800 square feet in basements, garages and attics, and would make it easier to convert office towers into apartments.

“We’re moving forward,” city Planning Director Dan Garodnick told The Post on Wednesday. “The plan is moving forward. The formally-defined process here just passed the City Planning Commission.

“The Council will have it in a number of days,” he said. “They have 50 days to consider it, two extra weeks if they decide to make modifications, which I expect they will do. We’re going to have a vote here.” 

Adams’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post on Wednesday, but the mayor addressed the plan in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday.

“People need housing, and everyone is going to have to, you know, vote with their conscience,” he said. “People need housing, and that doesn’t change. And we all know what the vacancy rate is because we say it over and over again.

“We need housing in this city, and this is a very aggressive plan to do that, to get the housing,” he added. “And I’m hoping that all the Council people will look at that.”

Some critics, including in the outer boroughs, said the one-size-fits-all approach just wouldn’t work.

“The Staten Island delegation has requested specific changes and unless our unique situation is addressed, we will take a hard pass,” Councilman Joseph Borelli said.

“We pretty much all moved here from Brooklyn at some point,” he said. “We don’t want to be it.”