The City Council will vote this afternoon on two major pillars of Mayor de Blasio's $41 billion affordable housing plan that aims to create and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade. And while the controversial plan has gained vital support in the last week—the Council endorsed it with some changes after a prominent group of advocates and unions issued their own formal endorsement—residents of rezoning-targeted neighborhoods from East New York to East Harlem rallied outside City Hall this morning to reiterate their opposition.
"Do not believe what you read," shouted Estevan Nembnhard of Northern Manhattan is Not For Sale. "The support is not unanimous. There is an alternative. It's called community planning, not city planning."
More than 40 nonprofit organizations representing the rights of tenants, workers and homeless New Yorkers formally denounced the Mayor's plan on Monday, among them several nonprofit groups and developers also affiliated with Real Affordability For All, the coalition that endorsed the plan last week on the promise of a future study for deeper affordability.
The first prong of the plan up for vote today, known as mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH), would require developers to include a portion of below-market-rate units in their new residential projects.
The Mayor's original plan included three options for developers—two primary and one alternate. In each of the 15 neighborhoods up for rezoning, the City would choose one or both of two primary options. The first calls for 25% of units in new developments to be set aside for New Yorkers making 60% of the Area Median Income [AMI], or $46,620 for a family of three. The second mandates 30% of units be affordable for those making 80% of the AMI, or $62,150 for a family of three.
A third option, to be applied as an alternative in some neighborhoods at the City's discretion—and on a project by project basis—calls for 30% affordability at 115% of the AMI, without government subsidies.
The City Council added a fourth option to the plan this week—20% of units affordable for New Yorkers who make 40% of the AMI, or roughly $31,000 a year.
(via Mayor's Office)
Advocates today voiced concern that the new option, which calls for deeper affordability than the primary two, will be underutilized. "I don't think the City was clear that the new 20% set-aside for New Yorkers making 40% of the AMI is an alternate, and not a stand-alone option," said an attendee who preferred anonymity because of professional constraints. "For it to be the day of the vote and have this amount of lack of clarity is pretty messed up."
Mayoral spokesman Austin Finan confirmed that any private zoning application from a developer will require City Council approval.
Even 40% of the AMI excludes many New Yorkers in the neighborhoods targeted for rezoning, protesters argued on Monday. For example, 53% of current East New York residents who make less than $35,000 a year. City-wide, more than a quarter of New York City households make less than $25,000 a year.
The Mayor's zoning for quality and affordability (ZQA) plan—which originally called for the elimination of parking requirements at new developments within a half mile of a subway stop—has also been altered to appease residents in the outer boroughs.
Alternatives to the Mayor's plan presented on Monday included the Bronx Coalition for a Community Vision's plan, which calls for strong anti-harassment protections for tenants, and another from the Coalition for Community Advancement Plan in East New York, which calls for 50% permanent affordability in new developments.
"You know what we call MIH? Missing in Harlem," said Marina Ortiz of East Harlem Preservation. "The word 'affordability' has been coopted by the government. 40% AMI means nothing to us, and I'm disappointed that some of our allies in East Harlem, good, hardworking, nonprofits, fell for the sham and supported the plan with compromises—conditions that never will be fulfilled."
Speaking at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday morning, Mayor de Blasio referred to his plan, as he has often in recent weeks, as the "most progressive affordable housing plan of any major city in the country." He added that, "Every time a rezoning is done... if a developer does not want to provide affordable housing, they will not be able to build. This is the first plan to benefit the people, and not just the real estate developers." We will update with the results of the final vote.
