Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City revealed detailed plans of building and preserving about 20,000 units of affordable housing in a formal public gathering, Monday.
The mayor announced a $41.1 billion affordable housing plan of which the city would commit about $8.2 billion while the rest would be leveraged from private lenders, developers and investors.
Below is a breakdown of the plan:
- The plan calls for building 80,000 new homes and preserving 120,000 existing affordable ones over a span of 10 years.
- These housing units will serve middle to low income families, those earning about $25,150 for a family of four.
- The city will take efforts to identify neighborhoods that have the most potential for both affordable and market rate housing.
- New tools for tenant protection and to combat neglect and disrepair of affordable housing will also be formulated.
The new plan hopes to create nearly 194,000 construction jobs and about 7,100 permanent jobs.
"We have a crisis of affordability on our hands. It touches everyone from the bottom of the economic ladder, all the way up to the middle class. And so we are marshaling every corner of government and the private sector in an unprecedented response. This plan thinks big - because it has to. The changes we are setting in motion today will reach a half-million New Yorkers, in every community, and from every walk of life. They will make our families and our city stronger," de Blasio said at the public conference.
"We are linking our housing strategies with our work to spur economic development, deliver good jobs, and revitalize neighborhoods. We are committed to innovating new ways for government and the private sector to work together to realize these ambitious goals," Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for Housing and Economic Development added.
Officials also urged people to be patient about the new plan and its development as several zoning alterations and demographic studies need to be conducted before the plan commences.
In Mayor Bloomberg's tenure, about $200 million was allocated for affordable housing. But de Blasio's plan is far more ambitious as he hopes to invest more, build more and all in a lesser time frame, reports The New York Times.
However, experts are hopeful about the proposal.
"Mayor de Blasio's housing plan is a significant and ambitious step forward in the efforts to ensure that New York remains accessible to everyone. We agree that the time is right to take bold new steps to address our city's housing crisis, and we applaud Mayor de Blasio and his administration for issuing this important plan. We look forward to working with the Mayor and his team to meet these critical goals for our city." Bill Rudin, Chairman of the Association for a Better New York said, according to The New York Observer.
The city will announce more details on how it plans on collecting funds for the plan by Thursday this week. Read the full plan here.
