Examples of zombie homes. Image Credit: HPD.
On September 30, 2022, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the New York City Law Department announced that the City’s Zombie Homes Initiative reached a significant milestone: the Initiative has officially recouped over $1 million in penalties from mortgage holders of vacant properties who failed to comply with New York State’s Zombie Property and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2016, commonly referred to as the “Zombie Law.” (more…)
Image Credit: Office of the Mayor
Mayor Adams Addresses the Issue of Affordable Housing and Works Towards Building More Affordable Housing. On June 14, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams released Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness, his administration’s plan to address New York City’s affordable housing crisis. The Blueprint discusses making the City a welcoming and homely place where people can stay and grow together as a family by creating housing that is available and affordable for people from all walks of life. The Blueprint speaks to five key housing pillars: (1) Transforming the New York City Housing Authority; (2) Addressing the Homelessness and Housing Instability; (3) Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing; (4) Improving the Health and Safety of New Yorkers; and (5) Reducing the Administrative Burden. (more…)
Image Credit: NYC EDC.
The plan calls for 100 percent affordable housing with emphasis on lowest incomes, transportation, new parks and open space. On March 4, 2020, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced Mayor Bill de Blasio’s and Amtrak’s Sunnyside Yard Master Plan. The Plan’s framework will focus on building new public transit and making all housing affordable, especially for New Yorkers earning less than $50,000 per year. Sunnyside Yard is bounded by Northern Boulevard to the north, Skillman Avenue to the south, Thomson Avenue to the west and 43rd Street to the east. Over the last fifteen years, Western Queens has experienced rapid growth, putting strains on infrastructure, transportation, and housing. The Sunnyside Yard Master Plan presents an opportunity to create nearly 115 acres of new public land by decking over Sunnyside Yard. (more…)
Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand
Plan anticipates creating or preserving 20,000 homeownership opportunities by 2026. On December 11, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced two new programs, Open Door, which aids first-time homeowners buy a condo or coop, and HomeFix, which helps New Yorkers make capital improvements to their homes. These two programs will reach at least 2,100 households in eight years. These programs are part of the Mayor’s 300,000 affordable housing plan. (more…)
Credit: Magnusson Architecture and Planning
NYCHA-proposed rezoning would facilitate development of two eight-story buildings and 16 attached duplexes on an underutilized parking lot. On August 22, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved NYCHA’s proposal to develop a 238-unit, multi-building affordable housing project in the Soundview section of the Bronx. The 155,000-square-foot project site is on the southeastern edge of a block bounded by Randall, Bronx River, Lacombe, and Rosedale Avenues. NYCHA’s 13-building Soundview Houses housing complex is north of the site, and the 205-acre Soundview Park lies to the southwest of the site. A portion of the project site is occupied by an underutilized 120-space parking lot used by the Soundview Houses.
NYCHA selected CPC Resources and Lemle & Wolff to develop the project. The project would include two eight-story apartment buildings, 16 attached two-family homes, and a total of 79 parking spaces. One eight-story building would include 85 one-bedroom units exclusively available for rent by senior citizens aged 55 and older, and one three-bedroom unit for a superintendent. A second eight-story building would provide a total of 120 rental units, and include a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. Both buildings would be marketed to persons earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. The proposed two-family duplexes would include a three-bedroom unit and a two-bedroom rental unit. NYCHA intends to make each unit available for purchase to persons earning 100 percent of the area median income. (more…)
