A Virtual Hearing Is A Real Hearing

Almost overnight, many aspects of our economic and civic life went virtual last spring as the city and state responded to the COVID-19 crisis. While it was late getting up and running, the city's all-important land-use review process - the way the city considers proposals intended to create affordable housing construction, space for new jobs, and infrastructure investment - joined the world of Zoom in September.

This new reality, however imperfect, has without question made the land-use process more democratic and transparent, resulting in greater turnout for hearings that used to take place for many hours on busy weeknights, often in hard-to-reach and cramped locations. Now, New Yorkers previously shut out - frail elderly, parents with childcare responsibilities, those unable to reach a meeting due to disabilities or lack of mass transit access, for example -can make their views known with the touch of a phone or laptop.