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De Blasio Celebrates New Trickle Of Affordable Housing
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 13, 2015
Modified Jul 13, 2015
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Mayor's Flickr
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 13, 2015
Modified Jul 13, 2015
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Earlier today Mayor de Blasio triumphantly announced the creation and preservation of 20,325 affordable housing units towards his goal of 200,000 over ten years. That initial figure is roughly 70,000 shy of the 93,000 New Yorkers who recently applied to live in 925 affordable apartments in Queens.
According to a press release from the Mayor's Office, the 8,483 units currently being constructed and the 11,842 being preserved in FY 2015 as part of de Blasio's Housing NYC plan represents housing for 50,000 New Yorkers, the most affordable housing the City has cultivated since 1989. Most of the 25,432 affordable units created that year by the Koch administration were preserved (22,898), not built.
Mayor de Blasio made the announcement at a construction site near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
"You see behind me the work going on to create the Summit Ridge Apartments, which, when completed, will contain 58 units of affordable housing," the mayor said. "That’s something to clap for right there—58 units of affordable housing."
Of course, "affordable" is relative. Here's the breakdown so far for the de Blasio administration:
It's worth noting that around 36.3% of New York households make less than $35,000 a year [PDF]; 47.8% make less than $50,000.
Asked if the City was truly doing enough for low-income New Yorkers, mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell wrote in an email that "we are using significant City resources to reach lower incomes whenever possible."
"This is just the first full fiscal year under our housing plan, and so far we’ve tripled the apartments secured for the very lowest-income New Yorkers. That represents a major investment in both dollars and energy," Norvell said. "Our goal is ultimately to reach a quadrupling of apartments for these families over the 10-year plan."
The release also states that in September, the administration will announce the percentage of permanently affordable units developers will need to build under the City's mandatory's inclusionary zoning program; under Bloomberg, the percentage was around 20%, and it was voluntary.
According to the Alliance for Tenant Power, New York City could lose as many as 100,000 affordable units over the next four years thanks to inaction on the part of the state legislature last month.
Tagged
affordable housing
affordable housing crisis
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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