Five-Borough, Ten-year plan to Create More Affordable Housing:
- Mayor Bill de Blasio recently released a Five-Borough, Ten-year plan, which aims at creating or preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing. Now, affordable housing units could become a mandatory part of any new real estate development project that requires a zoning change or City Planning Commission approval. This new mandate would require a change in the zoning laws of New York City.
- In a statement made on Friday, September 5 at a breakfast at the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School, Carl Weisbrod, chairman of the City Planning Commission, said that developers will not be able to “build one unit unless [they] build [their] share of affordable housing.” He added, “There will be a minimum that the developer has to do without subsidy.”
- The requirements would apply to new development projects requiring zoning changes, and apartment building projects of 6 or more stories requiring City Planning Commission approval.
- The Mayor’s mission is to provide economic stability to families of varying incomes and to ensure that everyone has a “safe” and “decent” home. He would also like to preserve affordable housing in all communities, and help families to hold onto rent-regulated apartments, and allow seniors to continue living in neighborhoods where the rents are becoming too costly for them to afford.
- To read more about the mission, goals, and implementation of the new plan, click here and here. (New York Times). To see a video of the breakfast, click here.