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EAST END YIMBY — A Track Record That Moves the Needle

Senior Advisor Michael Daly found East End YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) in 2017 as a counterpoint to local opposition to housing development, and has spent the years since turning grassroots advocacy into funded, on-the-ground results (YouTube – Dan’s Talks; AIA Peconic):

1. Passed the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Fund referendum (2022). Michael played a leading role in the campaign that won voter approval in East Hampton, Southampton, Southold, and Shelter Island, adding a 0.5% real estate transfer tax dedicated to community housing — a measure projected to raise over $650 million for East End housing initiatives (Suffolk Times; AIA Peconic). At the time, he said: “The Community Housing Fund provides a new and important tool to provide new housing opportunities. We look forward to working with the towns to implement this through their housing plans” (Suffolk Times (new tab)).
2. Built the implementation roadmap. Following the vote, Michael co-authored East End YIMBY’s plan for town-level Community Housing Fund Advisory Boards, zoning reform (accessory apartments, smaller lots, multifamily housing, “as-of-right” affordable housing), and new local chapters across Southampton, East Hampton, and Southold (East End Beacon).
3. Tracked and reported real results. In a July 2026 update, Michael reported that the companion Community Housing Fund had raised over $88 million in its first three years, and proposed rebalancing the transfer tax more evenly between conservation and housing to accelerate production (YouTube – Keeping It Real).
4. Shaped the public conversation. From a National Low Income Housing Coalition webinar on ballot-measure victories (NLIHC) to a Newsday guest essay backing the Liberty Gardens workforce/veteran housing development (Newsday), Michael has been a consistent, credible voice warning that without zoning reform the East End risks losing the “human infrastructure” — teachers, firefighters, healthcare workers, farmers, fishers, and tourism workers — that keeps the region running (Dan’s Papers).

This work earned East End YIMBY the New York Housing Conference’s 2022 Public Service Award for New York’s YIMBY Movement, shared with Open New York and the Welcome Home Westchester campaign in recognition of grassroots pro-housing advocacy (New York Housing Conference).