Thompson on Brian Lehrer on Housing

Bill Thompson at a Bronx Fair

Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson is taking Mayor Bloomberg to task for supporting development plans that he says have created too many luxury apartments and not enough affordable units. Thompson says, 'The rezonings that he (Bloomberg) has helped to lead across the city of New York have not led to more middle income housing being built. And if there is going to be a million more people who live here in 2030, those people are going to have to make huge salaries.'


Bloomberg says the citywide rezoning plans his administration has implemented will help create 165,000 new affordable housing units by 2014. Here, Thompson discusses his plans, if elected, on re-visiting Mitchell-Lama, creating more low income housing, zoning changes, and tax breaks for new housing.


'I think the public is tired of the numbers game that never occurs...talking about housing as a crisis in the city of New York and starting to build tens of thousands of units and creating the opportunity for that to occur... that's what the public wants to see. I think they're tired of false promises. They want to see real action,” Thompson says.


The full discussion between Brian Lehrer and Bill Thompson below: