Bloomberg not making the grade?

Several housing groups released a report card giving Mayor Michael Bloomberg failing grades for how he is dealing with affordable housing. The report card notes that “student [Bloomberg] has shown disregard for low income, working and middle income renters trying to afford to live in New York City. When challenged about his behavior student acts as if he is not required to be accountable to anyone.” Many housing advocates say that the city should have more of a hand in influencing how the Rent Guidelines Board functions; that he should have thrown support behind Mitchell-Lama preservation bills that faltered in the Legislature; and that the mayor is overly concerned with building, rather than preserving, affordable housing. “He’s paid attention to building more affordable housing — he’s riding on that as though it’s the solution to New York City’s affordable housing problem,” said Jenny Laurie of Met Council on Housing. “But it is not. We’re losing more affordable housing than he can build.” more [Gotham Gazette]