There’s an old saying that success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan. As City Hall finds itself embroiled in scandals, it’d be easy to assume that the work of government is at risk of being orphaned — particularly a high-profile proposal like the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. But that assumption about these timely and critical zoning reforms would be incorrect. The City of Yes is not the invention of an individual but rather the culmination of decades of research and experience with zoning and housing. Building on lessons learned by housing providers, advocates, and other experts inside and outside government, it is the most significant initiative in memory to address our acute housing shortage. Until two years ago, I was an official with the City Planning Department. I worked with colleagues under four mayors to better meet the housing needs of New Yorkers through neighborhood planning and zoning reforms. Today, I lead the nonprofit research organization Citizens Housing and Planning Council, which has advocated for innovative policies for more than 85 years. The City of Yes, before the City Council today, doesn’t include everything I might like it to. But it’s the boldest approach that New York has put forth to escape our housing shortage, and it builds upon what we’ve learned about what works and what doesn’t. For instance, for decades, the city has made use of “inclusionary zoning” — mechanisms that allow buildings to be bigger if they contain affordable housing — to support affordable housing. Still, the inclusionary zoning programs created over the years only apply in a handful of areas. The City of Yes aims to simplify and expand this approach to all medium- and high-density districts. This would pull together zoning policies and programs created over generations so that buildings participating in qualifying city, state and federal affordability programs all get a leg up on buildings that don’t. The proposal also builds on change that began at the grassroots. When Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood was rezoned nearly a decade ago, community and elected leaders urged that basement apartments be legalized. There are thousands of people living in units that lack legal status today, without the rights other tenants have or the ability for homeowners to make important safety improvements. The de Blasio administration agreed to launch a pilot program to legalize basement apartments in East New York, though this proved nearly impossible because of overly restrictive regulations. The City of Yes would remove the zoning barriers that frustrated the community’s pilot program. Fair housing — dismantling exclusionary practices that perpetuate racial segregation and hinder economic opportunity for Black New Yorkers and other communities of color — is a cause that traces back to the Civil Rights era. During the last administration, the city’s housing team created Where We Live NYC, a groundbreaking, citywide fair housing plan that is now embedded in law. Speaker Adrienne Adams’s Fair Housing Framework, a signature legislative accomplishment, built on this to further cement the city’s commitment to fair housing. City of Yes is another step in this progression, aligning zoning with the premise that every neighborhood has a role to play in meeting the city’s diverse housing needs. A generational shift is underway. The Yes to Housing coalition, comprised of more than 140 housing organizations from across New York, has come together to support the City of Yes changes. AARP has encouraged New York to advance “accessory dwelling unit” reforms that have been embraced in other cities. And a new generation of political leaders has stepped up to embrace this broad vision, with four of five borough presidents expressing their support. While the efforts of politicians are essential, the appeal of City of Yes doesn’t originate in their charisma. New Yorkers support these changes because they resonate with the serious housing challenges we see all around us. A new poll of registered New York City voters shows that a whopping 71% support the changes, with only 22% opposed. As the public review process draws to its conclusion, there will, of course, be a lot of noise from people interested in derailing the proposal, and they may use politics and personalities as a distraction. But we can’t let this divert us from substantive discussions about sharpening or augmenting these changes. We need to seize this unique opportunity for the millions of New Yorkers counting on the city to address a housing shortage. City of Yes is a big tent. Now it’s time to turn it into permanent homes. Slatkin is executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council.