On April 6th 2009 Governor David Patterson announced a statewide $253 million dollar housing project funded on a federal level by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This plan is the first housing initiative to be granted any funding through the ARRA, and will focus on preservation and the construction of new units. New York’s use of its stimulus money is expected to focus primarily on those neighborhoods around the state which most desperately need affordable housing and have been hit the hardest during these difficult economic times. Paterson’s plan will also restore many units of Mitchell-Lama housing through construction projects.
According to a press release from the Governor, the first 9 projects will be the preservation of 80 units of affordable housing in Albany, 388 Mitchell-Lama apartments is Syracuse, along with “20 three-bedroom homes in Rochester, and a YWCA Residence for Women in Westchester County.” Through the ARRA, Patterson will look to use New York’s $253 million share of the more than 2 billion dollar of the Tax Credit Assistance Program to spark the construction of low and middle income buildings and could push state agencies to speed up the process. The first 9 projects are expected to create or preserve 1,400 units of low income housing. In Harlem, the new program will be used to build the Erbograph Apartments, which will be an 8-story building providing 64 affordable units for some of the lowest income apartments along with those for the extremely frail and elderly. One of the earliest supporters of this measure is Charles Rangel who touted the housing plan for not only creating new units of affordable housing but also potentially revitalizing the economies of some of the city’s poorest communities throughout the state. So far many in Albany have put their support behind the plan. Along with Rangel, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer have also put their weight behind the project, both of whom praised the governor’s bill for restocking affordable housing across the state.
Unlike Mayor Bloomberg’s housing plan, Patterson’s does not rely on a market-based system and because this is a community investment program, the production and preservation of affordable housing units will not be open to profit-based abuses, such as landlords opting out of rent regulated programs, which are plaguing New York’s current housing structure. And unlike the Mayor’s plan, Patterson is looking to restore buildings to the Mitchell-Lama program. Two such projects under DHCR received funding June of last year. Current economic conditions have put a halt to these projects but the ability to use New York’s stimulus money should restart the construction. Such a move to restore these rent regulated programs shows that the Governor has an eye on not only building new affordable units or preserving old ones but also is looking to help save much-needed programs like Mitchell-Lama which both the Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn fail to mention in their plans.
Patterson’s plan should not be seen as an end-all and be-all, however. The fact remains that New York City will continue to struggle with the lose of affordable housing until our local officials have the full authority to pass meaningful laws that will put an end to the quickening erosion of the rent stabilized housing along with the structural problems that continue to undermine the efforts of housing advocates.
Until next time…
http://www.examiner.com/x-6452-NY-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m5d4-Governor-David-Patersons-afforadable-housing-plan
