Mayor and Critics Ramp Up Campaigns on Affordable Housing

The New York City Council is expected to vote on two of Mayor de Blasio's affordable housing proposals as soon as next week. With negotiations underway, the administration is stepping up outreach for the plans, while critics sharpen their attacks against them.

One proposal, called Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, would require developers to build more affordable housing in rezoned areas.

Another, called Zoning for Quality and Affordability, would update the zoning code in order to construct more senior and affordable housing by allowing taller buildings and less parking in some areas.

In a new ad, the mayor says these things are crucial to building and preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade, enough to house half a million people. A group of labor unions and advocacy groups who support the plan paid for the ad, which is airing on cable and local news channels.

But other unions and tenant advocates who oppose the plan are fighting back with an online ad of their own. Members of the Real Affordability for All coalition say the income thresholds for the new apartments would be so high that rents wouldn’t actually be affordable for many New Yorkers, particularly residents in areas like East New York and the South Bronx that the mayor is seeking to rezone.

Under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, either 25 percent of new apartments would be for households with incomes averaging $46,625 for a family of three, or 30 percent for households with incomes averaging $62,150 for a family of three. 

Critics, including the Real Affordability for All coalition, want the apartments to target even lower-income New Yorkers. They're also calling for more protections for construction workers who'd be doing the building, and for existing residents who are at risk of being displaced from their neighborhoods as rents rise. 

Sources say city council members and the administration are negotiating over the income thresholds for the new apartments, and are expected to reach a deal before the council takes a vote this month.