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Mayor Bloomberg announced an ambitious plan to build or renovate over 100,000 homes for low- and middle-income residents. The fact that this is very similar to his political rival Fernando Ferrer's proposed affordable housing plan was not lost on Ferrer. The Mayor's plan is a change from his original 68,000-unit, $3.5 billion plan (the new plan would cost $7.5 billion) and highlights the fact that affordable housing might be the biggest issue in this year's election. Some of the areas cited for new homes as well as inclusionary zoning (developers can build their big apartment buildings if lower-income homes are included) are Hunts Point in Queens (where the Olympic Village would have been), Greenpoint and Williamsburg, western Chelsea, and the Hudson railyards, according to the NY Times. Hilarious: It's only taken the mayor years to figure this one out.
And more hilarious: Giuliani is not part of the Bloomberg campaign's spellcheck: Invitations to a breakfast with Bloomberg and former Mayors Koch and Giuliani showed Giuliani spelled "G-I-U-I-L-I-A-N-I." Heh! Of course, Ferrer's campaign jumped on this. But it could have been much worse: It could have been Gooliani.
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I am really taken aback by this idea that "affordable housing" is a good thing. It works like this.
New buildings marketed to the affluent don't have to pay property taxes for years and years and years. In exchange, the builders sell or rent to a relatively small number of less affluent people at below market prices. And yes, 65,000 or 100,000 is a relatively small group of people.
Millions of equally needy people get no help whatsover. What they do get is 20 percent higher property taxes figured into their rents, and inferior schools for their children. Note that in most of the country, developers are asked to fund infrastructure and schools in exhange for permission to build. Not here. Has there been any discussion about alternative priorities for the property taxes that will not be collected from buildings providing "affordable housing?" No.
Worse, there is a long history of "affordable" units going to those with political connections in this town. Have you read about how many judges live in Mitchell Lamas? That's because it was first come first serve, and they knew where and when the lists would open up. You're setting up a black market here.
Bottom line -- a large benefit for a small group of people in the short run trumps a small benefit for everyone over the long run -- especially if the small group of beneficiaries is better off than the average New Yorker. I'm sick of having my income redistributed upward. Bottom line -- everyone on this board, everyone in the city, should demand one of the units -- or an equivalent subsidy from an equivalent property tax break.