Mayor’s housing plan faces big hurdles in East New York

Questions raised about whether neighborhood will attract developers

From left: Bill de Blasio and Franklin Avenue in East New York
From left: Bill de Blasio and Franklin Avenue in East New York

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to transform East New York — and thus establish a “template” for his administration’s affordable housing plan — could face some challenges.

East New York — a Brooklyn neighborhood currently plagued by high crime and poverty rates — is supposed to be a model in de Blasio’s plan to build and preserve 200,000 affordable units over the coming decade.  It’s one of 15 neighborhoods that has been targeted for the construction of affordable developments. The other 14 neighborhoods haven’t been named yet.

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Skeptics, however, are saying that the neighborhood is too weak to attract builders or support mandatory zoning. Affordable housing developer Martin Dunn told Newsday that current rents in the area don’t support the cost of new construction, which means subsidies will be needed to put up new buildings. [Newsday] — Claire Moses