Earlier this month, the New York City Planning Commission proposed rules to implement the Affordable Housing Fast Track amendments (“Fast Track”) approved to the City Charter in November 2025. Fast Track will change how certain land use applications are reviewed. A public hearing is scheduled for April 1, 2026, and written comments are due that same day.
Here is what the proposal means in practice.
The Core Idea of Fast Track
The Affordable Housing Fast Track is designed to accelerate the public review process for certain land use applications in the neighborhoods that have produced the least affordable housing over the past five years. Instead of going through the full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), qualifying applications in those neighborhoods would move through an expedited review involving the Community Board, the Borough President, and the City Planning Commission only.
To qualify, a project must be legally required to deliver affordable housing under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program and must be located in one of the 12 community districts identified as having the lowest rate of affordable housing development.
Identifying Eligible Districts
Every five years, the Director of City Planning will publish a list of the 12 community districts with the lowest rate of affordable housing development. That rate will be calculated by dividing (a) the number of new affordable dwelling units produced during the five-year cycle by (b) the total number of housing units in the district at the start of that cycle.
The “total number of housing units” will be based on the most recent Decennial Census count for each community district, then adjusted for units added or lost through new construction, alterations, and demolitions since April 1 of the census year. The source data will come from DCP’s Housing Database.
The first list will cover the period from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026 and must be published no later than October 1, 2026. Once the list is published, it will be considered final. If there are subsequent changes to the underlying data, that won’t invalidate any of the decisions made based on the “final” list.
How “New Affordable Units” Will Be Counted
When is a new affordable unit not a “new affordable unit?” When it doesn’t meet the Fast Track definition. Under Fast Track, a unit is considered a new affordable unit only if it has achieved both of the following milestones by the end of the five-year cycle:
- The project must have a “Start Date,” which is either (a) the date the unit becomes subject to a regulatory agreement or restrictive declaration or (b) the date the Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) receives a Notice of Intent to Begin Marketing.
- The project must have a Department of Buildings (DOB)-issued construction work permit.
Both milestones must be achieved within the cycle timeframe in order to be counted in that cycle. If one milestone is achieved in the first cycle and the second milestone isn’t achieved until the second cycle, the unit can be counted in the second cycle.
It’s important to note that units in existing residential buildings that receive financial assistance purely for preservation purposes are excluded from the count entirely.
Weighing in on Fast Track
The City Planning Commission is accepting public comments on Fast Track now through April 1, 2026. You can also testify in person or remotely at the April 1 hearing, held at 120 Broadway, Lower Concourse, beginning at 10:00 a.m. If you have concerns, questions or feedback about how Fast Track will work, this is a good opportunity to engage.
