The coalition against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan has done a 180.
The group, led by Real Affordability for All, criticized the mayor’s plan, saying it was not affordable enough for lower-income New Yorkers.
But after the de Blasio administration acquiesced and said it would conduct a study to allow more affordability, the coalition threw its weight behind the plan.
“That’s why we support this stronger, more robust affordable housing plan, along with the administration’s commitment to do a study that will examine mechanisms for achieving even deeper affordability and job standards in new housing,” Maritza Silva-Farrell, campaign director of Real Affordability for All, said in a statement, DNAinfo reported.
Real Affordability for All canceled plans of protests in front of City Hall after the two sides made progress on the plan, DNAinfo reported.
The mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability plans are the two proposals currently before the City Council, which is expected to vote on them at the end of the month. MIH requires developers to set aside 25 to 30 percent of a project for affordable housing when seeking a residential rezoning while ZQA is to spur senior housing among other changes to zoning code.
There have been problems within the coalition itself, with some groups distancing themselves after a report came out last November. [DNAinfo] — Dusica Sue Malesevic