City Council Speaker Christine Quinn today in her State of the City address vowed to construct 40,000 affordable housing units for the middle class over the next 10 years, DNAinfo reported. “We face an affordability crisis in our city,” Quinn said. “We need to make sure that the people who want to stay in our great city can afford to stay.” Quinn’s definition of “middle class,” at least when it comes to housing development, is unclear. According to her Middle Class Squeeze report, issued today, it lies “between 100 percent and 300 percent of area median income.”
The financing would come through borrowing — Quinn made mention of low interest rates — as well as through government efficiencies and a more efficient use of the capital budget.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in our middle class,” said Quinn, who is one of the more closely watched candidates to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In addition, the Observer said, Quinn pushed forward the Permanent Affordability Act, driven to convince city landlords to convert a portion of their properties for affordable use in exchange for property tax caps. [DNAinfo] and [NYO] —Zachary Kussin