New law requiring massive disclosures on affordable housing passes City Council

The City Council has approved a controversial new law requiring more transparency for affordable housing projects for which developers receive subsidies, Crain’s reported. The statute will require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the city agency responsible for the creation and financing of affordable housing, to disclose detailed information on how developers are selected for affordable housing projects. HPD will even have to disclose the wages earned by any worker employed on an affordable housing project, according to Crain’s. Builders have said the new law could cost them millions.

“[This legislation] is a win for affordable housing and a win for conscientious developers who adhere to worker safety mandates and the state’s labor laws,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said in a statement provided to Crain’s.

HPD was less enthusiastic about the sweeping new law. “The council has included provisions in this bill that do nothing to further transparency or protect the public interest,” HPD commissioner Mathew Wambua, said in a statement to Crain’s. [Crain’s] — Guelda Voien