Affordable Housing

Certain basement apartments in East New York will be transformed into legal and affordable homes thanks to a new law signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday. The legislation creates a three-year pilot program that helps homeowners renovate cellar and basement units to meet the new code standards, which include minimum ceiling heights, window sizes, and proper safety requirements. "There are thousands of basement apartments in our City, but too many are illegal and unsafe," de Blasio said in a statement. "This program will help New Yorkers secure safe, affordable homes and give homeowners a new legal source of income."
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Proposed project would bring 167 affordable housing units to East New York using modular construction

Rendering courtesy of Think! Architecture and Design

March 4, 2019

Proposed project would bring 167 affordable housing units to East New York using modular construction

Hoping to create affordable housing more quickly and at a lower cost, New York City is turning to cutting-edge construction methods. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced on Monday plans to develop 167 affordable housing units in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York using modular construction. The $70 million project would become the first under Mayor Bill de Blasio's Housing New York 2.0 program to use this method of building on property owned by the city. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, officials think modular construction could reduce the project's timeline by 25 to 30 percent.
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Emily Ratajkowski and millionaire hubby live rent free thanks to city’s loft law, Noho landlord says

The loft building at 49 Bleecker Street in Noho. Image: Google maps.

March 4, 2019

Emily Ratajkowski and millionaire hubby live rent free thanks to city’s loft law, Noho landlord says

There have been a lot of discussions recently about the city's lack of affordable living space causing artists to flee the city, and about the relevance of regulations like the Loft Law, created to allow artists to live in neighborhoods like Noho and Soho. The New York Post now brings us the case of millionaire movie producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, 31, and his wife, model/actress Emily Ratajkowski, 27. The pair is reportedly living rent-free in a sprawling Noho loft at 49 Bleecker Street. The pair's landlord, of course, isn't happy with the fact that Bear-McClard, who is apparently worth an estimated $12 million, has been claiming protection under the state's Loft Law since 2017, to the tune of $120,000
unfair advantage, this way

Senior housing complex at Elizabeth Street Garden site gets borough president approval

Rendering courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

February 27, 2019

Senior housing complex at Elizabeth Street Garden site gets borough president approval

Update 3/6/19: The Elizabeth Street Garden (ESG) and the garden's creator Allan Reiver filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the city and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to challenge the development of Haven Green. The plan to build an affordable senior housing development at the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita got a much-needed push forward on Tuesday after receiving approval from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. In December 2017, the city revealed plans for Haven Green, a passive house with units reserved for seniors earning between roughly $20,000 and $40,000 to be built on the site of the park. Elizabeth Street Garden advocates are fighting the city's plan to demolish the one acre of green space to make way for affordable housing and are taking legal action to save the park.
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Area median income: What it means and how it’s calculated

Photo via Flickr cc

February 26, 2019

Area median income: What it means and how it’s calculated

By Cait Etherington

If you’ve ever applied for affordable housing in New York City, you’ll know that it is all about the area median income, or the AMI. If you make too little or too much, you won’t qualify at all for affordable housing. Even if you do qualify, however, your AMI will impact your likelihood of actually acquiring a unit since most buildings have more units available in some AMI bands than others. For most New Yorkers, this is one of the most confusing aspects of affordable housing, so we've broken it down, from how AMI is calculated and what the current NYC parameters are to the many controversies surrounding the guidelines.
Everything you need to know

Plan for affordable housing and industrial space back on the table for ex-Amazon site in LIC

A rendering from 2017 depicting the proposed mixed-use site; courtesy of TF Cornerstone

February 25, 2019

Plan for affordable housing and industrial space back on the table for ex-Amazon site in LIC

The city's plan to bring a thousand residential units and a mix of industrial space to Long Island City is back on the table after Amazon last month announced it will not open a complex in the neighborhood. James Patchett, the president of the city's Economic Development Corporation, said during the Crain's New York Business breakfast on Thursday that the city will forge ahead with its original plan of bringing a mix of businesses and homes to the Queens neighborhood, Gothamist reported.
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Affordable Housing

Lottery opens for 38 affordable units in Hamilton Heights’ new Dance Theater of Harlem building

Rendering via BRP Companies

February 20, 2019

Lottery opens for 38 affordable units in Hamilton Heights’ new Dance Theater of Harlem building

This affordable housing at 847 Saint Nicholas Avenue lottery checks all the boxes. Most importantly, the units are actually affordable, available to low-income households earning 40, 50, or 60 percent of the area median income and ranging from $475/month studios to $1,166/month two-bedrooms. It's in the beautiful Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Northwest Historic District, is the new home to the Dance Theater of Harlem, and offers tenants a laundry room, fitness center, first-floor rear year, and seventh-floor terrace.
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Affordable Housing

New Crown Heights mixed-use project could bring 800 affordable apartments

Image courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning

February 19, 2019

New Crown Heights mixed-use project could bring 800 affordable apartments

A proposed mega-project from Continuum Companies and Lincoln Equities on a large, partially-vacant site at 960 Franklin Avenue would include 1,578 apartments that would be divided evenly between market-rate and affordable units, Curbed reports. The developers are seeking zoning amendments from the city for a pair of 39-story towers, each 421 feet high plus 40 feet for a mechanical bulkhead, on a 120,000-square-foot site near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Crown Heights.
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Rendering of the new development at 705 10th Avenue. Image credit: CetraRuddy

February 14, 2019

City will build over 250 affordable homes on vacant land in Hell’s Kitchen

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced Wednesday that it will build approximately 260 units of affordable housing on two vacant city-owned sites in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen section of Midtown Manhattan, one at 806 9th Avenue and another located at 705 10th Avenue. According to a press release, HPD has selected two development teams who will partner with nonprofits to bring an array of services to the surrounding community.
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Affordable Housing

Extell’s affordable Yorkville building opens lottery for 28 units, starting at $1,018/month

At the corner of Second Avenue and 92nd Street, just a few short blocks from the Second Avenue Subway, Extell Development has completed their first all-affordable housing project. Located at 1768 Second Avenue and designed by Curtis + Ginsberg, the development is comprised of two separate buildings, one 11 stories and the other six stories, for a combined 28 units of below-market-rate housing. These units are reserved for households earning 70 or 80 percent of the area median income, ranging from $1,018/month studios to $1,740/month three-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Newark mayor points to flaws in NYC program that pays homeless people to leave for cheaper cities

Photo via Wikimedia

February 7, 2019

Newark mayor points to flaws in NYC program that pays homeless people to leave for cheaper cities

In a statement this week, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka asked that New York City’s Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) Program providing homeless shelter residents with free rent for a year if they are willing to leave NYC be re-evaluated due to "serious defects." A recent investigation by WNYC confirmed that some families ended up in "illegal and uninhabitable" apartments in Newark. As CBS New York reports, Baraka cited the fact that participants were coming to Newark under the program–which pays landlords a year's worth of rent upfront–and ending up in the aforementioned conditions, then being abandoned to become homeless again when the year was up.
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In East Flatbush, a new middle-income housing lottery is throwing in ‘free rent’

Photo via CityRealty

February 5, 2019

In East Flatbush, a new middle-income housing lottery is throwing in ‘free rent’

The next culprit in a long list of the city's non-affordable "affordable" housing lotteries is an opportunity for "middle-income" New Yorkers to apply for 28 units at East Flatbush's new rental Ensemble. It's available to New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the median income, which begs the question: Is a single person earning $95,000 a year really in need of subsidized housing? But the most questionable part of this lottery is that it's offering "six months free rent on the last six months of one and two-year leases." Rental concessions like this are typically reserved for market-rate buildings that are having trouble leasing or need to attract tenants in a slow market. But since these affordable rents are minimally lower than the market-rate, maybe it's operating as such.
Is $2,600/month affordable?

Affordable Housing

February 5, 2019

City sees an unprecedented 37 percent drop in evictions

The mayor's office announced this week that New York City's residential evictions by marshals had declined by 37 percent since 2013, with approximately 18,000 evictions in 2018 compared to almost 29,000 evictions in 2013. In Manhattan, evictions are down 47 percent since 2013. What that means: Since 2013, more than 100,000 New Yorkers who might otherwise have faced evictions have been able to stay in their homes. And evictions decreased 14 percent in 2018 alone. Maps from the New York City Council show data on where the most evictions happen and allow you to search for a specific address in any borough to find out more.
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First housing lottery opens at the Bronx’s $600M affordable redevelopment of the Lambert Houses

A rendering of 988 East 180th Street, courtesy of the office of Ritchie Torres

February 4, 2019

First housing lottery opens at the Bronx’s $600M affordable redevelopment of the Lambert Houses

It's been over two years since work got underway to demolish 14 building at the Bronx's 1970s-era Lambert Houses and replace them with taller towers that will hold 1,665 affordable apartments. In addition to doubling the site's number of affordable units, the $600 million project will have a public school and three times the amount of retail space. Though the entire overhaul won't be complete for another 11-12 years, applications are now being accepted for the first new residential building (h/t Welcome2TheBronx). The 49 below-market-rate residences are reserved for those earning 60 or 100 percent of the area median income and range from $761/month studios to $1,600/month two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

City calls on architects to design innovative affordable housing on super small lots

The city hopes to develop affordable housing on this lot at 829 Freeman Street in the Bronx; via Google Street View

February 4, 2019

City calls on architects to design innovative affordable housing on super small lots

The city is calling on architects to help design innovative affordable housing on irregularly-shaped lots, the New York Times reported Monday. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will launch a design competition, along with the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, seeking ideas for housing on 23 unusually small or narrow lots across the city. The program, called Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC, was first announced by the city last year and falls under Mayor Bill de Blasio's ambitious Housing New York 2.0 plan.
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Federal government increases oversight of NYCHA

Via Wikimedia

January 31, 2019

Federal government increases oversight of NYCHA

President Donald Trump's administration announced on Thursday it will seize some control over the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), calling for an independent federal monitor to oversee the troubled agency. According to the New York Times, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NYCHA, and the city reached a deal that includes an investment of $2.2 billion over 10 years by the city in NYCHA, but does not place the agency under receivership. The monitor will be responsible for oversight of the agency's 176,000 apartments, part of the largest public housing authority in the country.
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Apply for 174 mixed-income units in the Parkchester area of the Bronx, from just $462/month

The Parkchester Oval, via Wiki Commons

January 31, 2019

Apply for 174 mixed-income units in the Parkchester area of the Bronx, from just $462/month

Last week, it was announced that the Parkchester section of the Bronx, served only by the 6 train, would be receiving a new Metro-North station, connecting it to Penn Station. And for those New Yorkers who qualify for the city's newest affordable housing lottery--earning 40, 60, or 100 percent of the area median income--there's a chance to get into the neighborhood on the heels of this news. There are 174 mixed-income apartments up for grabs at the new, two-building development Westchester Mews, and they range from $462/month studios to $1,888/month three-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

23 chances to live in Brooklyn Heights’ new luxury rental, starting at $596/month

Rendering courtesy of The Pierrepont

January 24, 2019

23 chances to live in Brooklyn Heights’ new luxury rental, starting at $596/month

When it comes to the city's affordable housing lotteries, many of the same neighborhoods seem to pop up over and over again, so it's always refreshing to see a new area come online, like this opportunity for 23 units in Brooklyn Heights. Available to New Yorkers earning 40, 60, or 130 percent of the area median income, the apartments are located at The Pierrepont, a recently completed luxury rental designed by local favorite Marvel Architects. The affordable units range from $596/month studios to $2,993/month two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Thousands of NYCHA residents had no heat or hot water on dangerously cold day

Over 2,800 residents at the Bushwick Houses in Brooklyn lost heat and/or hot water on Monday; via Flickr

January 22, 2019

Thousands of NYCHA residents had no heat or hot water on dangerously cold day

In what has become an all-too-familiar story, thousands of public housing residents in New York City were without heat and hot water on Monday, when temperatures dropped to single digits. On the coldest day of the year, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) reported nearly 12,000 residents were experiencing heat and hot-water outages. A similar service disruption occurred roughly one year ago; during two weeks of brutal cold and a major snowstorm, the city had received 22,000 heat and hot water complaints, with a majority of those from NYCHA developments.
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NYC will lose $500M monthly if government shutdown continues

Via Michael Appleton/ Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

January 18, 2019

NYC will lose $500M monthly if government shutdown continues

If the federal government shutdown continues into March, the city will lose $500 million monthly, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Thursday. Without funding for federally funded government programs, more than two million New Yorkers could lose access to vital benefits, including food stamps, Section 8 vouchers, and public school lunch. The shutdown, now the longest in history, began last month after Congress failed to reach an appropriations deal and as President Donald Trump refuses to withdraw his request for a $5.6 billion border wall.
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Rendering of 126th Street facing north; image courtesy of NYCEDC

January 18, 2019

City’s plans for Willets Point include a soccer stadium and affordable housing

City officials have released long-awaited plans to develop the blighted Willets Point section of Corona, Queens. As 6sqft previously reported, the economic development site within the industrial neighborhood east of Citi Field known as the Iron Triangle was at one point slated for a cleanup of its toxic soil and the creation of affordable and senior housing that would replace a jumble of auto shops and industrial businesses. Finally surfacing almost four months after a task force submitted suggestions to the Econonmic Development Corp. (EDC), the plans contain two development scenarios including a soccer stadium and mixed-use scenario that includes residential development, retail and a school.
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NYC added a record-breaking 34,160 affordable homes in 2018

Via CC

January 16, 2019

NYC added a record-breaking 34,160 affordable homes in 2018

The city created and preserved 34,160 affordable homes in 2018 alone, 40 percent more than the record set last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday. And, according to the mayor, 10,099 new homes were financed last year, another record for new construction in the city. The additional homes fall under de Blasio's Housing New York 2.0, which aims to create and preserve 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. To date, the housing plan has helped finance nearly 122,000 affordable apartments since 2014.
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Affordable housing wait list opens at the iconic Manhattan Plaza Mitchell-Lama apartments

Manhattan Plaza (photo via LIHC Investment Group)

January 14, 2019

Affordable housing wait list opens at the iconic Manhattan Plaza Mitchell-Lama apartments

A lottery to snag a waiting list spot for Mitchell-Lama rental apartments in Manhattan Plaza at 400 West 43rd Street–where, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Alicia Keys was born and Samuel L. Jackson was the first security guard–has just opened (h/t CityRealty). Senior citizens and residents of all ages in Community Board 4 are eligible to apply for studio to one-bedroom apartments. Rents aren't listed, but you can expect a significant discount from the neighborhood median of $3,000/month for studios and $3,600/month for one-bedrooms. There are four lists (community studio list, community studio elderly list, community one-bedroom list, community elderly one-bedroom list) with 500 spots available on each. The deadline to apply for all is January 31, 2019.
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Affordable Housing

Odds of winning an affordable housing lottery in NYC are better than you think

Via public domain

January 11, 2019

Odds of winning an affordable housing lottery in NYC are better than you think