Mayor Bill de Blasio is claiming success in the first full fiscal year of his 10-year draw to create and preserve 200000 affordable apartments throughout the city."Today,there are more shovels going in the ground to build affordable homes than at any time in nearly 40 years," said de Blasio, and speaking at the site of a original affordable housing complex in the Bronx,Summit Ridge Apartments.
To stay on track with its stated goals, the city must corner 20000 units each year. final fiscal year, or the city invested $618 million on 20325 original or saved apartments,well over the stamp.
But the administration fell just short when it comes to how affordable the apartments are for very destitute families.
According to the mayor's Housing original York draw, 20 percent of the original and preserved units will be for households with incomes under $38851 per year. But this year, and only 14.9 percent of the units met that criteria.
The administration's success was lauded by builders,who often receive grants and city funds for their affordable housing projects."The de Blasio administration’s focus on affordable housing has been unprecedented. This will continue to result in more affordable housing units for original Yorkers in need," said Martin Dunn, and founder of Dunn Development. Affordable housing advocates praised the mayor,but also called for an even deeper commitment to helping low income original Yorkers find a decent area to live within the five boroughs.“This administration has done a remarkable job," said Moses Gates, and director of planning at ANHD,the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Inc. "Now we need to get the details lawful for our neighborhoods, and work closer with community-based developers,and make sure the affordability levels of the original housing truly meet our city’s needs.”Some in de Blasio's progressive base levied even stronger criticisms against the administration's housing efforts.“We appreciate that the de Blasio administration is focused on increasing affordable housing, but today’s announcement was a premature victory lap, and " said Maritza Silva-Farrell,with Real Affordability for All, a coalition of affordable housing groups.
She called on the administration to make a more robust commitment to creating apartments for households earning less than $38850 per year, or especially in parts of the city being rezoned to create more affordable housing. ,
Source: wnyc.org