Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Mayor de Blasio On Affordable Housing (from State of the City Address, 2015)


The complete text of the mayor's speech is here.  Stuy Town gets mentioned, though nothing is said about proactively maintaining whatever affordable housing remains in ST/PCV.

--------------------

....And when it comes to affordable housing, we will prove them wrong again.

In fact, we’re already doing so … already making real progress towards a more affordable New York.

Here’s how:

First, our Rent Guidelines Board passed the smallest rent increase ever last year – helping protect tenants from being squeezed by their landlords.

Second, we are following through on a plan to build and preserve affordable housing on an unprecedented scale. We’ve committed to the construction of 80,000 new units of affordable housing by 2024.

Let me put that in perspective: It means building new affordable units at twice the average annual rate of the past 25 years.

When you add that to the 120,000 units that our plan preserves, it means affordable housing for a half million New Yorkers … more than the entire population of the city of Miami. Take that, Miami!

This is what our housing plan does. It’s real. Those here … can pick up a copy. And anyone can read it online at NYC.gov.

And we’re already putting this plan into action. Our goal for 2014 was to create and preserve 16,000 units. We beat that goal — achieving 17,300 affordable units last year alone.

Third, because it’s been projected that New York City will be home to nine million people by 2040, we’re pursuing every kind of housing.

Increasing the overall supply of housing is critical to serving New Yorkers at all income levels — and to assuring we can accommodate the work force who will continue to grow our economy.

So we plan for the construction of 160,000 market rate units as well.

All told, our plan will create hundreds of thousands of construction jobs – and over 20,000 permanent jobs.

Fourth, we’re cutting red tape to speed up our progress.

To expedite the right kind of development, we must expedite the development process.

What we need, and what we will have, is fundamental reform at the Department of Buildings. This agency must better serve its customers – including thousands of small businesses that drive our economy. We’ll speed up inspections and cut bureaucracy, so that more jobs can be created and more housing can be built.

Fifth — for the first time in New York City history, we are creating a Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning requirement that will apply to all major residential rezonings.

This is a big one. Listen to this.

In every major rezoning development, we will require developers to include affordable housing. Not as an option. As a precondition.
Want to see this approach in action? Look at Astoria Cove in Queens. As a result of this 

Administration’s framework — and the City Council’s tough negotiations — 465 units of affordable housing will be created at this site alone.

That’s 465 families who no longer have to choose between living in the city they call home, or finding another city they can afford. It means that hundreds of kids will live and learn and grow in our city.

Astoria Cove is a site in which previous City rezoning policy wouldn’t have required any units of affordable housing. Zero. That was, in fact, the original plan.

So if you want to see the difference that our approach is already making – it’s the difference between 465 ... and zero … on one site alone.

And there are many more rezonings like this coming soon to neighborhoods across the five boroughs – from East New York to Long Island City; from Flushing West to East Harlem; from downtown Staten 

Island to the Jerome Avenue Corridor in the Bronx.

Each of these efforts will make our neighborhoods stronger and more affordable.

And here’s one that will be a game-changer when it comes to keeping our city affordable for thousands of New York families: Sunnyside Yards.

Right now, there are 200 acres of land in the heart of Queens, land that exists in the form of a rail yard – and only a rail yard. But the fact is, those tracks could easily exist underground – allowing us to build housing – much of it affordable — above them.

At Sunnyside Yards, we envision a plan that incorporates what diverse and dynamic neighborhoods need — access to transportation, parks, schools, retail stores, and job opportunities.

Now 200 acres is a lot of land. We know some parts of this site can easily handle larger buildings… and others can’t. So we’ll work closely with elected officials and community leaders to determine what makes sense.

Our approach is not entirely novel. Developments that prioritize affordability and livability HAVE been built before — from Starrett City to Co-op City to Stuy Town, to the Big 6 towers in Woodside, Queens.

And these developments created affordability on a grand scale.

Stuy Town, when it opened in 1947 provided our city with 11,250 affordable apartments… a community where trees and parks, and shops dotted a landscape from which residents could actually see the sky.

We’re bringing that same kind of scale — and a real sense of urgency — to Sunnyside Yards … and setting the same exact goal of 11,250 affordable units, as part of a neighborhood that anyone would be proud to call home.

And in contrast to the recent history of Stuy Town, we’re going to make sure that affordable housing at Sunnyside Yards stays that way.

To paraphrase one of my former employers, it takes a village to build a neighborhood. So we look forward to partnering with Amtrak and the M.T.A. in this extraordinary effort at Sunnyside Yards.

Another transformative opportunity lies in the Lower Concourse neighborhood on the waterfront in the South Bronx, a section of our city that was for so long synonymous with urban decay.
But the South Bronx is coming back strong, and waterfront development will be a big step forward.

When we look at this project, we don’t think about what used to define the Bronx; we think about all that will define the Bronx in the future.

With a $200 million capital investment, we can stimulate the development of 4,000 new units of housing – much of it affordable — and provide the parks, schools, and commercial development that support a growing, thriving population.

We look forward to partnering with Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and our colleagues in government to make an investment that will bring hope and opportunity to a place with enormous potential.

And speaking of potential, let’s talk about the Rockaways.

Battered by years of economic distress even before Sandy’s gale force winds struck, there’s no place in our city that has persevered through more.

Our plan will jump-start the process of acquiring underutilized properties in the Rockaways – areas blighted or vacant for decades – as we look to create new, affordable housing for thousands there.

We must also remember that transportation is central to the mission of providing affordable housing and services — connecting neighborhoods in the five boroughs to New York’s largest job centers.

For years, the conventional wisdom has been that certain neighborhoods are doomed to isolation because of their geography.

Today, if you live in one of those neighborhoods – the Rockaways or Red Hook or Soundview, among others — a job in Manhattan can easily mean an hour or more of commuting, even when the skyline is visible from your home. You can actually see opportunity, but practically speaking, it’s very far away.

We are going to change that.

Today, we announce that we’re launching a new citywide ferry service to be open for business in 2017. 

New ferry rides will be priced the same as a MetroCard fare, so ferries will be as affordable to everyday New Yorkers as our subways and buses. … so residents of the Rockaways and Red Hook and Soundview will now be closer to the opportunities they need.

And beyond connecting residents to jobs in Manhattan, our new citywide ferry system will spur the development of new commercial corridors throughout the outer boroughs.

We will also expand Bus Rapid Transit – or B.R.T. – serving 400,000 New Yorkers along key thoroughfares like Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, and Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens … completing a network of 20 routes over the next four years. BRT will cut transit time on existing routes by 15-25 percent. That means New Yorkers spending less time in transit and more time living their lives.

That’s the kind of housing that we’ll build.

Let’s talk about some of the people we’re fighting to help.

First, our veterans. We commit to ending chronic veterans homelessness by the end of this year. Those who fight to protect our freedom abroad should never be left without a home.

Second, our seniors. We’re providing 10,000 units of affordable housing for – New Yorkers who have worked hard all of their lives, and deserve to retire in dignity. Women and men who live on fixed incomes have little recourse when housing costs go up. They need our help, and they will get it.
Third, artists. We know that New York is the city it is today in part because of the contributions from generations of artistic visionaries who at one point struggled to make ends meet.

So we’ll provide 1500 units of affordable live/work housing for the artists and musicians who make New York culture so vibrant …. as well as 500 dedicated affordable workspaces for the cultural community.

These folks bring joy to everyday New Yorkers; and inspire young people to pursue their natural talents in professions that often don’t promise a big paycheck. They also help make our city a mecca for tourists, and are one of the reasons why a record number of people — 56.4 million — visited New York last year.

But whether or not you’re a veteran, a senior, or an artist, you’ve likely felt the pinch of skyrocketing housing costs in our city.

That’s due in part to a phenomenon that everybody sees, everybody feels – but nobody wants to really talk about: gentrification.

Ask 8.4 million New Yorkers what they think about gentrification, and you’ll get 8.4 million opinions.
Clearly, there’s good and there’s bad.

First, the good.

After two decades of steadily declining crime, people are excited to come to New York … about investing in our city.

With that influx of people and resources comes jobs and amenities ... more activity … safer streets.

The problem comes when we reach the tipping point … when New Yorkers get priced out of their own neighborhoods.

In the past, we’ve been told: sorry – there’s nothing you can do about that. You can either have a safe and clean neighborhood – or you can have one you can afford. Not both.

Well, as my grandmother might say, that’s “una cavolata!”

We can act, and we must.

You see, New York City’s last 20 years has had its share of bad actors.

First, there are the slumlords – the folks who refuse to make repairs … letting housing decay … making apartments uninhabitable.

Then, there are predatory landlords – the people who take advantage of a red-hot real estate market – employing ugly tactics to push out moderate-income tenants to make room for wealthier ones.

These predatory landlords harass tenants by, say, intermittently turning off the heat or hot water, or by refusing to address simple matters of safety or sanitation.

That doesn’t just violate the law; it violates our values as New Yorkers.
And we have tools to address these things.

When I was public advocate, we published the Worst Landlords Watchlist – targeting those who refused to make simple repairs to the units they controlled.

It helped spur change, with hundreds of buildings coming off the list after making needed improvements … and thousands of tenants getting the repairs they needed. I applaud Public Advocate Tish James for energetically continuing this effort.

And there’s more we can do.

Albany has responsibility for enforcing our rent laws, but too often that doesn’t happen. We need Albany to step up and enforce the laws aggressively. Now.
Every day in this city, people are losing their homes unfairly. Albany cannot wait — we need help right now.

And we need stronger rent regulations that reflect today’s New York.

To preserve our city as a place for everyone, we need to do more than ever to protect the one million rent-regulated apartments in New York. For so many, it’s the only way they make ends meet … and the only path to the middle class.

If Albany truly believes in opportunity for all, they will strengthen our rent laws in 2015.
If they cannot do that, then we call on the State to provide the funding to help tenants … help themselves – by providing free legal services to victims of landlord neglect or harassment.

And even while we’re calling on Albany to step up, the City will do its part.

So today, I’m announcing that in any of the areas in which the city rezones, if we find evidence that tenants are being harassed, we will supply those tenants with legal representation, at no cost, to take their case to Housing Court … to seek justice before a judge.

Protecting our tenants – through whatever means necessary – isn’t just the moral thing to do. It’s a critical step in making New York City a more affordable place for everyone. And we should thank the City Council for their historic support of legal services for tenants.

All of the steps on housing that I’ve spoken about today – from responsibly building UP; to placing new demands on developers; to providing affordable housing to New Yorkers who need it most; to targeting predatory landlords – it’s all part of our new rules for helping people find a home they can afford.

Today we’ve focused on the number one expense in the lives of most New Yorkers. Reducing the expense of housing is absolutely critical to addressing the tale of two cities.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think I would trust legal counsel that was tied to the city council considering the city council pro-nyu -- anti-west village / pcvst agenda and our councilpersons closeness to REBNY. There has to be a better option, a better way to help tenants protect themselves then run the risk they get a lawyer who for any of many reasons is outfoxed by a landlords lawyer.

Anonymous said...

De Blasio does seem to challenge the status quo and that is precisely what is needed if NYC is to get out from under the corrupt Albany RE chokehold -- that is if De Blasio matches his words with actions and results.

Anonymous said...

Where's this WORST LANDLORD watch list?

Anonymous said...

WTF Have we been written off? WTF

"And in contrast to the recent history of Stuy Town, we’re going to make sure that affordable housing at Sunnyside Yards stays that way."

If we are being bartered or negotiated in some sick twisted game between De Blasio and Cuomo as if we are an object and not living, human beings (not human capital as Ms glen likes to say) but human beings and as if our homes are mere house structures or financial assets then there is something diabolical with these politicians. We are human beings. These are our homes. Politicians need to stop using their offices for business and start using them for serving the people. What a bunch of sociopaths.

Anonymous said...

worse landlord list is on public advocate site, currently letitia james. you can put the property name, landlord name, llc name, etc

Anonymous said...

11:36 outfoxed by landlords lawyers or complicit with landlords / re lawyers. in this town a city council legal help program is probably tainted given the city council's RE blood in its veins.

Anonymous said...

I think the Sunnyside idea to build a Stuy Town on top is actually a really good idea. And I am not impressed with the Mayor who says he will do things but doesn't. If this Mayor could pull of saving Stuy Town, removing dorms and replacing those units with housing for returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq and their families and restore those rents pre-Roberts fraud while protecting the remaining RS units and tenants, and build another Stuy Town at Sunnyside that would be a, ...well that would be a Presidential act.

Anonymous said...

Consider us very lucky that the new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie who replaced Sheldon Silver is from the Bronx. Had the new Speaker been from upstate, most political analysts predicted that DeBlasio's whole agenda fo affordable housing would be dead in the water.

Real estate law is controlled by Albany and DeBlalsio cannot address the Tale of 2 Cities issues all by himself, the power is in Albany, and having a Speaker who is from the city will help immensely. Heastie formerly worked in the city's comptrollers office, so he is close to City Hall and understands the issues facing the city and not just the Bronx.

That being said, the Bronx is now a much more likely place for future affordable development --not that Silver did anything for affordable housing on the LES with all the condos, buyouts, and the StuyTown debacle, but then we had to survive 32 years of pro-landlord mayors to get to where we are now.

Finally we have a mayor who is standing up for affordable housing, no other mayor has ever spoken these kinds of words before. Voters need to support this agenda and do whatever they can to make it happen.

Anonymous said...

Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village aka Stuy Town getting mentioned in the State of the City should lead to Stuy Town getting featured in the State of the Country as yet again the poster child for RE / Wall Street corruption wiping out the middle working class of America.

Anonymous said...

A lot of words that are either followed with no action or contradicted by his actions. The elitist list DNC leaders is contrary to the representative picture of NYC here. Would have been better to include both portrayals in the list and in the speech. The DNC should not come to NYC - I agree with earlier comments compounded with this latest Washington Post article.

The DNC should not be held in the current highly corrupt state of NY at the Russian Oligarch owned Barclay's center in Brooklyn. A state that is flaunting its "money and moneyed" as the reason it is the best. Wrong message for the DNC to give the country. Wrong strategy for NY to have chosen. All around wrong and out of touch.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/02/02/democratic-convention-should-go-to-philadelphia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Prokhorov

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norilsk_Nickel

Anonymous said...

This fucking dump should be on a worst landlord watch list. We have no heat in bedroom and living room and this is nothing short of harassment. The City is backed up with complaints about sty town.

Stuy Town Reporter said...

>>WTF Have we been written off?<<

That's what it seems like. Like, "Sorry we screwed up on Stuy Town, but we will do it right on the Sunnyside Yards."

Can't read it any other way.

Anonymous said...

So De Blasio gave away the remaining 6000 RS apartments in PCVST to Meredith Kane and Dan Garodnick's REBNY scheme?

Anonymous said...

8:30pm last night, I saw ST workers in a small snow removal vehicle emptying garbage from the trash cans from each of the locations around the outside of the buildings. Why are they doing this? Because all of these STUDENTS and LOW-LIVES are dumping their GARBAGE in these bins. These cans were meant for small article trash items. See what is happening here? They are packing them in like sardines and NOBODY, I repeat NOBODY cares about the quality of life around here anymore. And you know what, I once did, but not anymore.

Anonymous said...

Oh hell. That sucks STR at 11:25. I know Garodnick is a really really little fish and Preet Bharara has his hands full with the corrupt big fish on his plate. But maybe because the numbers of victims is so large Preet can assign one or two people to get the little fish so we can keep our homes.

Anonymous said...

11 36 - wdym gave away ? I did not think this at all. Please E l a b o r a t e

Anonymous said...

Stuytown is screwed and we all know it. Start packing folks.

Anonymous said...

If that is so then the names of those who achieved this, from the city and the state, private and public, lawyers and bankers and RE, and those in REBNY photos, all get credit for orchestrating the demise of 25,000+ middle class people. Congratulations assholes. You will have made Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village the example for the country of what to do if you want to wipe out and rid of the middle class. A middle class community with a population the size of a city in itself. NYC and NYS wiped out a middle class city in a city. That is a lot of lives ruined by a very bad governing body who is building 80% housing for 1% of the population with 20% housing for the poorest of 99% of the population and 0 housing for the majority of the population who is also most of the white collar work force. With no white collar workforce housing, the city might as well stop building commercial office buildings or corporate headquarters. Cuomo/BloomBlasio/Spinola/Bank are building a wealthy playground/tourist haven-trap with hotel like condos for the wealthy on their visits during the Trump golf classics or Barclay Center Russian Oligarch basketball games. The only tourists to NY will be ticket holders for cheesy commercial events and conventions in over commercialized spaces. Oh and the hookers they bus in like in the Republican convention event of 2004

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/8/17/are_sex_workers_coming_to_new

Anonymous said...

Well written article from our UWS neighbors. The Mayor should have thrown more punches.

http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2015/feb/05/what-mayor-didnt-say/

Anonymous said...

It does seem the Mayor calls affordability at Stuyvesant Town a thing of the past. Not even spin from the Berlin Rosen Dan TA PR machine can slap a new affordability moniker to cover up the REBNY Paul Weiss fait accomplis assault. The Mayor of NYC declaration also brings the demise of Stuyvesant Town onto the national arena as yet again the poster child for predatory RE and their pols.

Anonymous said...

Partnering with Brookfield is the same as Partnering with Rob Speyer.

Brookfield partnered, invested with Tishman Speyer in 2006 -- buying into the Rob Speyer scheme to destroy and evict the people living in PCVST and the land they live on.

"Brookfield was one of 13 junior lenders in the 2006 deal that lost a total of $1.4 billion. It has worked closely in the past with CW Capital."

When Tishman decided to voluntarily stop making mortgage payments even though they could afford to continue, one of the junior lenders, Brookfield, devised a scheme to continue the Tishman Speyer vision and take over all while having the PCVST tenants pay for the $5.4 billion Tishman no longer watned to pay -- by increasing the rent roll with mci, deregulation, dorms, fraudulent reno work, etc and then finish paying the $5.4 billion in a so called "tenant" purchase. MetLife sold PCVST for $5.4billion and Tishman, Brookfield et al devised a scheme to get tenants to pay the entire price of the purchase. Duly noted in the NYTimes Brookfield and CW have history working together. They, Brookfield and CW continued working together as we all saw with the Roberts undoing, the construction, the evictions.

In 2011, Dan, REBNY and the STPCV TAboard basically partnered with Rob Speyers partner in crime, Brookfield, an original invester in the 2006 Tishman BlackRock scheme making it look like Robbie stepped away or behind the scenes, and continued the Tishman scheme, dormification, deregulation, mass eviction around 90% to churn the apartments, overcharges, etc.

"The association and Brookfield have not worked out the details of a proposal, but several people involved in the discussions said that an unspecified number of apartments, perhaps 10 percent, would permanently remain as rentals."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/nyregion/stuyvesant-town-and-peter-cooper-tenants-hope-to-buy-apartments.html?_r=0

Anonymous said...

From wikipedia - Brookfield Asset Management - jump to Controversies

A History of brazen self dealing and collusion


Kerzner lawsuit

In the lawsuit, the hedge funds alleged that Brookfield engaged in "brazen self-dealing" and collusion with junior lender PCCP and servicer Wells Fargo to complete the deal in violation of the loan agreement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookfield_Asset_Management

Brookfield, REBNY (Rob) and Dan brazenly devised a way for the Tishman deal to continue. This "tenant bid" is merely a disguised way of getting the working class to foot the bill of Rob and Brookfield's 2006 purchase.

Anonymous said...

From PCV STOwnerLP to PCVST-DIL LLC ST-DIL LLC

http://www.cbre.us/o/beverlyhills/AssetLibrary/TIAA-CREF%204%20Property%20Portfolio%20Page%206.pdf


Post the Game

Brookfield Asset Management
November 9, 2012

Commercial Mortgage
ALERT
Brookfield Aims to Refinance SF Tower
Brookfield Asset Management is seeking a $175 million loan to refinance debt on an office condominium at 333 Bush Street
in San Francisco.
The fund manager prefers a floating-rate mortgage with a
five-year term. It is shopping the assignment to a range of lenders — debt funds, banks and insurance companies — via East-dil Secured.
The loan-to-value ratio would be 65-70%, putting the condo’s value north of $250 million. Toronto-based Brookfield tried to sell the 543,000-square-foot block of space a few months ago. The condo was expected to attract bids of up to $500/sf, or $272 million. However, the company evidently didn’t see offers it liked and ended up opting to hold the property for now and refinance.
The office space takes up 31 of the tower’s 42 floors. Separately owned residential condos are on the other floors.

A Brookfield fund took control of the office condo three years ago when a partnership between developer Hines of Houston and Sterling Equities of New York defaulted on its debt. The Hines team had bought the space from Prudential Real Estate Investors
at the top of the market in 2007 for $281 million, or $517/sf. It financed the purchase with a $224 million debt package. Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund 1, which held a junior piece of debt, converted that position into equity ownership.
The amount of current debt on 333 Bush Street is unclear, but sources estimate it is about $100 million.
Hines and Sterling saw their investment take a hit in 2008 when law firm Heller Ehrman filed for bankruptcy and vacated 14 floors. By the next year, the partnership stopped making loan payments and handed the property over to Brookfield.
Since then, Brookfield has signed new leases or renewals totaling 370,000 sf. Tenants include law firm Sedgwick (89,000 sf until 2021), the U.S. National Park Service (59,000 sf until 2021) and
AOL (31,000 sf until 2017

And when we go bankrupt from the mci charges, the egregioously high maintenance fees on top of mortgage payments, the crumbling infrastructure, the toxic soil, and whatever else comes our way from the toxicity, recently REBNY honored Brookfield will kick us all out and refinance to their liking.

Anonymous said...

cont'd from 2012 Kerzner comment where Brookfield took control of a property as part of a debt restructuring,partnering with the owner Kerzner....

In 2014 Brookfield gave their partner Kerzner the boot

"Brookfield, which took control of Atlantis from Mr. Kerzner as part of a 2012 debt restructuring, is also removing Kerzner International as manager of the resort. Starting in September, the Atlantis will be run by a newly created Brookfield hotel-management company, ending Mr. Kerzner and his company's association with the groundbreaking resort he created.

A Kerzner spokesman declined to comment."

You think the same won't happen to us after we pay a few hundred more million of the Tishman / Brookfield 2006 purchase debt? PCVST will never be tenant owned, tenant run. If Brookfield / REBNY Rob / Paul Weiss Dan get their way - prediction - a Brookfield management company would take over with a politician who went from the public to private sector who would get a cushy office next to a smaller cushy office for his cohorts.

Brookfield was in on the scheme with Robbie from the beginning in 2006.

Anonymous said...

de blasio blames the poor condition of housing on "the laws" but doesn't call for better laws; for stopping the lawmakers from writing laws that hurt people in the name of profit for wall street and real estate; if laws are the problem then fix the laws! deblasio trying to fix the problem with social programs and welfare programs perpetuates the problem. write laws so seniors stay in their homes instead of being priced out or removed by goldman sachs personnel holding city office jobs. seniors should stay in their homes, in familiar surroundings, in safety and sanctity of their homes. write that law!

Anonymous said...

Whichever side one is on, all should agree the City has to do a better job keeping our NYPD safe and empower them to do their jobs keeping people safe, protecting the interests of our neighborhoods and communities.

Lynch DEMANDED the City do something they should have done long ago, been doing all along, and not answered the call for with "lip service" of its in the 2015 budget.
Action not words.
Demanding what we need and deserve not begging for scraps.

Finally the City took an action after Lynch hand delivered a DEMAND letter.

Two weeks ago, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association hand-delivered a letter to City Hall demanding de Blasio buy the vests without delay.


De Blasio rushes to purchase 13,000 bullet-resistant vests for NYPD cops


Good for Lynch - he got the politicians to move as fast for the NYPD as they do for REBNY.

Anonymous said...

The link to my comment above.

Its about time they did something on this.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-rushes-purchase-13-000-vests-nypd-cops-article-1.2106467

Anonymous said...

Inspections are rampant now. WHY?????

Anonymous said...

Mayor de Blasio Turns 'Jekyll and Hyde' on City's Low-Income Families

Denise M. Miranda, Managing Director, Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center

"Mayor de Blasio often talks about A Tale of Two Cities. But, during his State of the City address, I was reminded of another title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

As Mayor de Blasio shared his vision for expanding New York City's affordable housing stock, many of us who have been involved in advocating for better housing conditions for the poor wondered, "affordable for whom?"

Approximately two thirds of the 300,000 families facing eviction in New York City are low-income and working families earning less than $25,000 a year. Ninety percent of these families have no choice but to navigate the harrowing process of eviction without the benefit of an attorney. Not surprisingly, the number one cause of homelessness is eviction. "

Affordability for whom?

The Mayor's "affordable" housing plan is intentionally deeply flawed. I say intentionally as Mr De Blasio is a smart man, not at all stupid or inept. So his actions and policies are with intention. I put "affordable" in quotes because the people of New York are smart too. As smart. The word "affordable" is being used vaguely - to deceive the people. To create hope - that is if we were stupid enough not to push back, question, demand clarity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denise-m-miranda/de-blasio-affordable-housing_b_6623152.html

Anonymous said...

What was their plan?? Pull of some sort of REBNY is-a-good-guy scheme saving poor-perpetual-PCVST-working-middle-class-victims coup with REBNY revelers Kane, Garodnick, Rudin- Brookfield, Speyer, De Blasio Steinberg Marsh Berlin Rosen et al giving themselves awards at the next Liars Ball while tenants pay for Rudin and Robbie's 2006 debt? No wonder we are paying for old mci's and new ones, the rent roll up by a hundred million and the purchase price doubled. What do you care - tenants are paying for it. You may have duped us with this plan to buy at first but no more.

Sure. REBNY are the good guys. The evidence of that is everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Oh and the Liar's Ball would be complete with awards you give to each other for saving the perpetual victims. Be wary of those who receive awards from REBNY and more wary those who receive awards from REBNY politicians.

Anonymous said...

What's in it for the TA to partner with Brookfield, Dan Garodnick and the rest of the predators? Do the Board members expect to get insider prices for their apartments? Kickbacks from the RE machine? They would have more (or I should say some) credibility with me if they cut Garodnick loose and focused on representing tenants against this monstrous landlord and the predators circling the property. If they did that, then they would probably have stronger membership and support.
I think Garodnick is poison. Absolute poison.

Anonymous said...

I highly doubt that DG is worried about getting or not getting his apartment. Seriously some of you are becoming unhinged. He'll move soon. Wait for it.

Anonymous said...

De Blasio will make a lot of noises to placate the middle class, but when it comes to actions, he will obey his owners, REBNY. After all, they bought him (and most of the politicians in New York City and New York State - maybe the most expensive of their purchases being Cuomo), so they are not going to walk away without getting their money's worth from their investments.

Anonymous said...

I highly doubt that DG is worried about getting or not getting his apartment. Seriously some of you are becoming unhinged. He'll move soon. Wait for it.

He already stated publicly that he will buy his apartment and most likely help family members purchase theirs. That's a ridiculous statement.

Anonymous said...

Mayor De Blasio is ruining our neighborhoods with loud club and beverage promotion marketing event for Sparkling ICE sugar-y flavored beverages in which residents have no choice or say. We don't want to go to a Kanye West concert but Mayor De Blasio is forcing us to have it in our living rooms, bedrooms, all throughout our otherwise peaceful quiet home we come to after a hard days work. To those who say they like these concerts the city is forcing upon us I assume you are one of those who gets to chose whether or not to attend and does not have it thrust upon you blasting into your home. The noise and all other stuff the night club brings to this neighborhood is bad enough. To tear apart our public space for this club and beverage commercial promotion for the Mayor's temporary wealthy friends (bff's while in office) ROC Nation Jay-Z is a gross assault on our neighborhood. If Kanye West is considered A-List this country, the fans and the entertainment industry, needs to redefine what it takes to be considered A-List. No doubt there will be empty Sparkling ICE bottles littering our otherwise clean, safe quiet Flatiron neighborhood in NYC. Anyone following Durant knows he just lost his Gatorade endorsement contract after a twitter feud with Dwayne Wade (although Gatorade denies the distancing from Durant has to do with social media fighting). Durant and his peeps pursued a new beverage contract endorsement. Our residential neighborhood and homes are being exploited for a commercial marketing promotional event making millions of dollars and pushing sugar-y water beverages on our kids.
We don't want it.
We are not a concert venue.
We are a neighborhood of families.
We want our sports to be real - without our athletes pretending to like products in exchange for multi-million dollar contracts to get our kids drinking sugar-y stuff.
We want our sports to be real.
We want our concerts at concert venues.
We want the quality of life in homes out from under assault by the City with these concerts.
PCVST, the Flatiron shares your Oval concert pain.

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/10/kanyes-nba-all-star-concert-has-flatiron-residents-fuming/

Sparkling ICE and Kevin Durant Bring “Bold Taste. Bold Moves.” Campaign to New York City
Press Release Posted February 9, 2015 at 12:42 pm

http://www.bevnet.com/news/2015/sparkling-ice-and-kevin-durant-bring-bold-taste-bold-moves-campaign-to-new-york-city