The soon-to-be-vacant seat of retiring Congressman Charles Rangel is going to be completed by three candidates. The congressman trashed the affordable housing plan of Mayor Bill De Blasio at a debate tonight, where many argued that majority of the new units for the housing plan would still be out of affordability of the district's constituents.
The proposed city-wide rezoning plan of the mayor at the Uptown Community Democrats candidate forum in Washington Heights, was also rejected by sitting Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, former Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, and Obama and Clinton Administration veteran Clyde Williams.
The mandatory inclusionary housing proposal of Mayor de Blasio would obligate all developers to include below-market apartments in new projects, either 25 percent for families averaging $46,000, or 30 percent for families making $62,000.
The rival Democrats pointed out that most residents of the district are making an average between $20,000 and $40,000 a year, which means that the new apartments are inaccessible to them.
"For you to tell me that they want to do rezoning, then you're going to tell me that you have to make $65,000 a year, does not make sense," said Mr. Williams. "The people who live in this community now cannot afford that. So there is no way that I would accept that and think it was good."
The de Blasio administration said that it would be prohibitively costly for developers to build housing for the very lowest income brackets, as reported by the Observer.
Peets Flip Board said the Department of City Planning analysis found extremely low car ownership rates among building residents in the area for the proposed housing plan, there are only five cars per 100 residents in areas near public transportation, and 11 cars per 100 residents in areas not easily accessible by public transportation.
Many of the residents in the area have incomes below $15,000 and don't have cars. Non-profit institutions provide the residents to assist them with their daily needs.
