Image credit: Office of the Mayor

At the close of fiscal year 2017, the Mayor’s Administration is ahead of schedule in achieving its goal to build 200,000 affordable homes in 10 years. On July 13, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an update on the progress that has been made to achieve the goals set forth in his Housing New York plan, which seeks to build 200,000 affordable homes in 10 years. According to the announcement, the City secured 24,293 affordable homes in fiscal year 2017—the highest production of affordable homes within one year since 1989. In total, 77,651 affordable homes have been financed to date under the Housing New York plan. Included in this total are 4,014 new apartments created to house the poorest New Yorkers, who earn less than $24,000 annually.  Further, the City is in the process of creating 4,627 affordable senior housing units for low-income seniors.

“Affordability is the key to protecting New York families, stabilizing our neighborhoods and the city as a whole. By making smart investments we are stretching public funds and creating more and better homes for New Yorkers, from formerly homeless families to seniors, firefighters, police officers and teachers. We have more work to do, but this city is for New Yorkers – and we will keep it that way,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“Through the 77,651 units financed to date under Housing New York, we are delivering affordable housing on a scale that hasn’t been seen since the Koch era,” said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “More importantly, we are reaching more of the city’s lowest-income families, making good on our commitment to reach far deeper levels of affordability. While much of the emphasis is on numbers, at its heart, the housing plan is about people. Each affordable unit we finance is a home – for working families, seniors struggling on fixed incomes, and New Yorkers facing rising rents across our neighborhoods. Their individual stories and very real needs are what motivates us at HPD to do more and better, and to fight for the resources we need to shape a more affordable, inclusive city for generations to come.”

By: Jonathon Sizemore (Jonathon is the CityLaw Fellow and a New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2016).