Council Subcommittee Tweaks Affordable Housing Plan

By MICHAEL ODMARK
Tweaks to the country’s “most aggressive mandatory affordable housing plan” were nearly unanimously approved by the City Council’s Subcommittee for Zoning and Franchises at City Hall on Thursday.

The two amendments, zoning for quality and affordability and mandatory inclusionary housing, were relayed to the City Council by the City Planning Commission in early February as part of an initiative called Housing New York, which hopes to preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years, including housing for old people.

The plan will require developments in some communities to allocate a portion of their units for affordable housing. The City Council amended the specific requirements of the law, but ultimately reinforced the proposed mandate, which would require new developments to allocate between 20 and 30 percent of their floor space to permanent affordable housing.

“We cannot please everyone,” said Councilman Donovan Richards, and indeed there was one vote against the proposal. Councilman Jumaane Williams opposed the amendment because, though it required a percentage of new developments to allocate a percentage for affordable housing, he said it not require such allocations in communities that have not historically welcomed low income residents.

“We have to break up the segregated communities in this city,” said Williams.

Still, Richards proclaimed it a “historic day in New York City,” and said that the ambitious plan will soon be a model for other cities across the country.

“If you were to retire tomorrow, you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you negotiated the best mandatory inclusion scheme that this country has ever seen,” said councilman Ritchie Torres before voting yes to both amendments.

One detail not mentioned at the meeting was the recent expiration of a tax break known as 421-a, which is integral to the economic structure of the plan. The tax exemption was in place when talks around the initiative started, and without it the city may need to spend more to subsidize affordable housing.
The first amendment, regarding mandatory inclusionary housing, was voted in with a five to one vote, and the second, regarding zoning for quality and affordability, was voted in unanimously.