Lower Manhattan losing affordable housing

Community Board 1 recently searched for affordable housing in Lower Manhattan, and said its findings were bleak. Tom Goodkind, a member of the board, found 4,600 rent-regulated units in 16 buildings below Canal Street, but rent-regulated does not necessarily mean affordable. The board’s list includes many units that are considered regulated because the yearly rent increases are capped, but the units start out with market rates. The board says the area is losing affordable units faster than they could ever be built, with affordable housing complex Independence Plaza North going market-rate, and the Southbridge Towers may be leaving the Mitchell-Lama program. And despite the current softening of the market, many housing advocates say that prices in Lower Manhattan are still much higher than the middle class can afford.