City Council Approves Mamdani’s Nominee for Key Housing Post, Despite ‘Reservations’
The City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s nominee for a key housing post, despite concerns from some who criticized the appointee as too dismissive to local residents’ concerns about new development.
John Mangin, a Department of City Planning official, will take the helm at the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), an oft-overlooked, five-person board charged with interpreting the city’s zoning rules and, in certain cases, whether to grant exceptions to developers whose projects don’t conform to them.
Mangin also helped draft several housing-related ballot measures, passed by city voters last year, aimed at speeding up the approval process for new housing (including a new “fast track” option for publicly financed affordable projects, to be voted on by the BSA). The Council opposed those changes, which they said diminished their role—and in turn, the voices of their constituents—in certain development decisions.
But Mangin is backed by a bevy of housing advocacy groups who praised his resume and expertise, and appeared to have won over several initial skeptics on the Council.
