Mayor Touts Record on Affordable Housing

Mayor de Blasio says his administration is setting records for affordable housing, producing the most affordable homes in a three-year streak in the city's history. 

"This is how we keep New York New York," de Blasio said Thursday. "This is how you keep the greatest city in the world what it is and what it was always meant to be, a place for everyone."

The mayor says the city has already preserved 52,000 homes, and another 25,000 are under construction since he took office in 2014. He says the administration is on target to meet his goal of building or preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing by 2024, and has spent $2.8 billion to subsidize the housing program so far.

But critics consistently say the mayor's affordable housing is not affordable enough for New Yorkers who need it the most.

"What we continue to see is that families can’t find apartments within this system," said Jonathan Westin, director of New York Communities for Change. "So instead of actually being able to be housed in the administration’s plan they’re ending up homeless and in the shelter system." His group has called on the city to partner with non-profits instead of for-profit developers in order to target the lowest-income families.

But administration officials say that out of 24,000 homes either built or renovated with city subsidies, 40 percent were for families making under $43,000 a year. More than 4,000 went to families of three earning less than $26,000 a year. And the number of units specifically set aside for seniors and the homeless is increasing.

The mayor touted the totals at a press conference at an affordable housing development in Central Harlem, where Diane Crencher and her husband recently won an apartment through a city lottery. The building, Strivers Plaza, provides housing for individuals making $27,000 a year and families of three earning $35,000.

"It's a dream come true," Crencher said. "Because of this affordable housing program, we're able to make ends meet and not struggle to pay the rent or make a choice between paying the light bill or having food."