No issue weighs more heavily on the minds of New Yorkers than affordable housing.
The average rent of a two-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side is now over $3,000. NYC has a rental vacancy rate of 0.4% (as opposed to 8.5% nationwide). This is breaking up families and driving businesses out of the city - depleting our tax-base. Lack of affordable housing is beginning to destroy the vibrant diversity that makes New York the city we love. The Lower East Side has always been a place where people of many different backgrounds mix in a fertile, dynamic environment. Downtown is in danger of losing the diverse character that makes it so unique.
As developers run rampant over our communities, New York City is losing over 50,000 units of affordable housing a year. New residents from around the world and around the country are welcome additions to our community. Indeed, the Lower East Side has been America's gateway for 200 years. But we must use the tremendous energy created by New York's growth to make this city more livable for all of us. Our
priority in housing policy must be to preserve our existing stock of
affordable housing, add new units, and foster development contextual
with neighborhood character.
But for too long, our housing policy has been written behind closed doors in Albany.
Behind those doors, the millions of dollars that developers like Bruce
Ratner give to Sheldon Silver and Joe Bruno always have the loudest
voice.
Sheldon Silver and his stalwarts of the status quo in Albany have given victory after victory to the landlords: Vacancy Decontrol, Luxury Decontrol, 421-A tax abatements, conversion of Mitchell-Lama rental units, upzoning of historic districts.
Meanwhile, New York's public housing stock has been allowed to deteriorate.
Silver has consistently under funded NYCHA's budget requests while over
400,000 New Yorkers in places like LaGuardia Houses, Hamilton Madison
and Al Smith Houses, and Seward Park Annex live with broken elevators
and front doors, inadequate security and leaking roofs. Last year, Silver allocated only $3.4 million for public housing residents.
More than 1,600 agency staffers have been laid off since 2003, and 500
more will be pink-slipped this fall, when a hiring freeze takes effect.
One quarter of the system's elevators are out of service. More than
half of the roofs leak.
While our public housing deteriorates, tax breaks given to developers to entice them to build luxury housing in the most profitable market in the country totaled over $200 million. It is time we began to fulfill our commitment to making New York's housing projects a safe and healthy place for New York families.
More than half of New Yorkers live in public and rent-regulated housing. Yet our voices are excluded from Sheldon Silver's closed door negotiations. On September 9th, Lower Manhattanites have a chance to change that.
As your Assembly member Paul Newell will fight for:
- Affordable Housing Mandates - All new market-rate and condominium development will be required to include 30% affordable housing - as a requirement for building - not in return for a tax break or a zoning bonus.
- Repeal 421-A - This is a massive corporate welfare program masquerading as an affordable housing program. 421-A gives developers years of tax breaks in return for building 1 affordable unit for every 4 luxury units they build. It encourages landlords to gentrify neighborhoods - and to tear down existing affordable units. The program divides preservationists and developers of affordable housing - splitting a coalition that could stand up to rampant development. In the most profitable real estate market in America, we do not need to subsidize developers to get a few new affordable units.
- Build Housing on the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area - Thousands of Lower East Siders were bulldozed our of their homes in SPURA decades ago. 40 year on, Sheldon Silver is still blocking any affordable housing on the site - the largest city owned plot south of Harlem. We must build affordable housing units at SPURA. Area residents should be given first priority for the new units, which should be available for people at the 30%, 50% and 80% of AMI levels.
- Protect Mitchell-Lama tenants - For decades, owners of Mitchell-Lama rental units have gladly taken state and city subsidies. As they opt out of the program, new York is losing thousands of needed affordable units. We must impose a tax on Mitchell-Lama rental buy-outs as a disincentive for owners to privatize this essential middle class housing program.
- Full Funding for NYCHA - The chronic under funding of NYCHA is an insult to the 400,000 New Yorkers who depend on public housing. We must keep our promise to public housing residents to provides a decent, safe place to raise families.
- Repeal the Urstadt Law - New York City's housing laws are currently written in Albany. While this suits Sheldon Silver's power, it works to exclude New Yorkers from the policy decisions that impact our lives. Power of New York's housing policy should be returned to City Hall and to our communities.
- End Vacancy and "Luxury" Decontrol - We are losing thousands of affordable units a year to decontrol. We must recommit to rent-regulation as a key tool in keeping New York affordable for one million New York families.
- Contextual Zoning - Developers have incentives to build luxury towers wherever we will let them. We must rezone our entire community to protect our existing character and housing stock from the wrecking crews. Any rezoning must include all of our community - so as to prevent "whack-a-mole" developers from moving on to the next vulnerable (and underrepresented) neighborhood as soon as the zoning laws take effect.
