Ken Fisher discussed the proposal under the Adams Administration’s City of Yes plan to create more “dorm-like housing” in the city in amNY. There are about 130 colleges in New York City, and dorm rooms are in high demand since approximately 50,000 students live off campus, with only a handful of new dorm buildings built in the last two decades. The City is promoting shared housing for permanent residents because it creates a sense of community and is more efficient to build, thanks to shared kitchens and bathrooms. However, schools are often reluctant to build their own dorms due to financial and time commitments.

Rule 51, adopted by the NYC Department of Buildings in 2005, or the “dorm rule,” states that a building permit for a dormitory not owned by a college or university can only be issued if the project is pre-leased to one, which brings its own challenges. Repealing Rule 51 would allow students to find housing more easily. If students opted to live in dorms, they would open thousands of apartments to permanent residents.

To read more, click here. This piece was referenced in an article in The Real Deal and was titled “How NYC’s 'dorm rule' exacerbates the housing shortage”, which can be found here.