Budget cuts put Bloomberg’s affordable housing goals at risk

A proposed $285 million budget cut from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development could jeopardize the city’s goal of creating or preserving 165,000 affordable housing units by 2014. According to the Wall Street Journal, the program, one of the hallmarks of the Bloomberg administration, was slated to cost $8.5 billion after a previous cut to the city’s budget in 2009. The housing department was one of the hardest-hit agencies in the 2009 budget proposal, and that’s the case again this year, but a spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city still plans to reach its goal. (So far, 113,131 units have been created or preserved.) In the past, budget cuts have meant building fewer new affordable units and opting more for the cheaper, preservation route. In 2008, the city changed its deadline from 2013 to 2014. The City Council is expected to hold a housing-focused hearing on the Bloomberg budget today. [WSJ]