As the city faces one of its most severe public health and economic crises in history, affordable housing leaders and advocates are working tirelessly to ensure that New Yorkers have a safe and affordable place to call home.
However, the drastic cuts to housing proposed by Mayor de Blasio in the latest capital budget for New York City will cost hardworking New Yorkers the affordable housing they deserve.
The cuts threaten projects in the existing pipeline and inject uncertainty into the future of numerous other planned projects.
While our City’s
leaders must make difficult decisions over a strained municipal budget, it is crucial
that they fully restore funding for housing in order to protect the full
pipeline of projects that are central to combatting our city’s affordable
housing crisis.
Prior to
the start of COVID-19, New York City was facing a crippling housing situation
with more than 1.6 million residents living below the federal
poverty line. With nearly a quarter of the city’s renters failing to
make rent last month due to heightened levels of unemployment and economic
hardships, the continued development and preservation of affordable housing is
more important than ever before.
These cuts
are dangerous and will only exacerbate a real emergency. The Department of
Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) faces a budget reduction of 40
percent over the next two years which would slow the production and
preservation of much-needed affordable housing throughout the city. If enacted,
the cuts would result in a loss of up to 21,000 units of affordable housing
over the course of the next two years, according to a recent study conducted by the New York Housing
Conference (NHC) and Council Members Brad Lander and Vanessa Gibson.
Those cuts
would have an immediate impact on available financing for projects in-progress as
well as those expected to be closed within the next two years.
Consider a
development from Arker Companies at the site of the former Peninsula Hospital
in Rockaway. The project plans to bring nearly 2,000 affordable apartments to
the neighborhood. But the project is now in jeopardy due to the proposed budget
cuts – and it is hardworking Queens families who will pay the price.
Another
example is a development by Breaking Ground in the Bronx that would create 175
affordable units. This project is currently paused in its early stages of
development because of a lack of available financing. Again, the families
depending on the competition of those homes are paying the price.
The good
news is that this is all preventable. If City Hall reverses these drastic cuts,
these projects – and countless others across the five boroughs – can
proceed as planned.
The New
York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) was proud to join 161
other organizations and over a dozen elected officials in signing a letter urging Mayor de Blasio to change course.
We will continue to fight for the housing that New York needs now more than ever.
It is time for our leaders to take action and protect the projects that are vital to combating our City’s affordable housing crisis. That begins by fully restoring the capital spending plan for housing.
