The following excerpt is from an Newsday article by Jonathan LaMantia that was published January 15, 2025. You can read the entire piece here.
“The survey asks Long Island developers about the size of their organizations and what percentage of their portfolio — both in terms of investment and residential units — has been built away from Long Island. It also asks respondents to identify the top obstacles to development from a list that includes taxes, government approvals, material costs, labor costs, utility costs, attracting new tenants and NIMBYism, or “Not In My Backyard,” a term describing local opposition to new developments. Respondents can also write in other barriers they think of that aren’t listed on the survey.
By polling developers, the groups are taking a “builder-centric” approach to addressing housing affordability, an effort that could benefit from other perspectives, said Richard Murdocco, an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University who teaches courses on economic development and planning. However, he acknowledged these groups are stepping in to produce data that local governments have not collected.
“If there’s a gap, and no one is sitting there advocating for a balanced approach to growth and sustainability and productivity, the industry is going to step in, and they’re going to take leadership for better or for worse,” Murdocco said.
