Good Old Lower East Side

ANHD's Platform for Affordable Housing (2000-2001)

Jan 08, 2001

New York City is amidst a severe housing crisis. More than 500,000 families pay more than half their income on rent, and 250,000 families live in housing with serious maintenance problems. The lack of decent, affordable housing hits low-, moderate-, and middle-income families and jeopardizes our communities. Companies are worried about where employees will live. Yet today, the City of New York spends less than half of what it spent in 1990 to build and preserve affordable housing.

NYC's community development sector stands ready to address this crisis -- more than 100 community-based, affordable housing groups with over two decades of experience developing and preserving tens of thousands of units of safe, decent, affordable housing. Working together with government and the private sector, we can meet this challenge ?… if the City provides leadership. The City of New York must implement a substantial, comprehensive, multi-year housing plan to produce new affordable housing, while preserving and improving the existing affordable housing stock. We call upon all candidates for elected office in NYC to endorse the following platform:
I. Commit to a 10-year capital investment in affordable housing in New York City of at least $1 billion per year (a total of $10 billion). The goal is to create 75,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years. Half of the total should be targeted to developing new housing, while half should be earmarked to preserve and improve the existing housing stock.

II. Produce Substantial New Affordable Housing ($500 million per year). Commit City capital funds, aggressively seek state and federal funds, and earmark permanent sources for affordable housing development, such as surpluses from Battery Park City revenues.
? Allocate the resources fairly.? A majority of resources should serve households making less than $31,000. At least 20% should be targeted at families with ?“worst case housing needs?” (e.g. extremely low income families paying over 50% of their income in rent). Resources should also be used to create opportunities for moderate- and middle-income families.
?Allocate two-thirds of funds to affordable rental programs and one-third to affordable homeownership programs.
?Create innovative new programs.
?Establish a new, City-sponsored, "Mitchell-Lama"-type program to create affordable cooperative homeownership opportunities.
?Establish a program to develop mixed-income housing.
?Cease auctioning of City-owned vacant land. Develop City-owned space only for public benefit, according to community priorities, with affordable housing construction as a key consideration.
?Reduce the cost of construction by rethinking building codes, zoning regulations, and the city bureaucracy.
III. Preserve and Improve the Existing Housing Stock ($500 million per year)
?Strengthen HPD's Code Enforcement and Housing Litigation Programs (which have been cut in half over the past decade) to ensure that owners maintain their buildings.
?Expand and improve programs to save distressed buildings.
?Expand the Third Party Transfer Program, which brings abandoned buildings back into responsible ownership. Permit and encourage tenant ownership and the participation of not-for-profit groups holding "neighborhood preservation" contracts.
?Expand the Participation Loan Program. Link PLP, Section 8 and HOME rent subsidies to affordable housing projects sponsored by not-for-profit groups.
?Help renters afford to keep their apartments.
?Provide a tax deduction for low-income renters like that available to homeowners.
?Eliminate the "supplemental adjustment" on rent stabilized apartments renting for $500 or less.
? Enhance the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and extend it to people with disabilities.
? Develop policies to prevent displacement caused by rising real estate costs.

IV. Commit to not-for-profit, community housing organizations as a primary mechanism for producing and preserving affordable housing.
? Develop core operating support programs for community development corporations (CDCs) and tenant organizing groups.
? Expand funding and the scope of HPD's Neighborhood Preservation Consultant (NPCP) and Community Consultant programs.
? Half of all City-subsidized housing projects should be developed by not-for-profits to ensure long-term affordability.

V. Rebuild the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
?Restore funding and personnel to their Fiscal Year 1990 levels.
?Structure HPD to best support housing development, anti-abandonment, and code enforcement activities.
?Provide for substantial participation by community housing organizations in the restructuring and ongoing work of HPD.