Proposal Seeks to Ratchet Up NYC Affordable Housing

A leading New York City political figure is offering a dramatic solution to reversing the scant inventory of local affordable housing options: mandate that all new residential developments set aside half of their units as affordable housing.

The New York Daily News is reporting that City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s proposal for a 50 percent mandatory inclusionary plan for affordable housing goes far beyond the 25- to 30-percent plan from Mayor Bill de Blasio, which itself has generated controversy. Mark-Viverito even suggested that residential developments built on government-owned sites should be 100 percent affordable, with at least 20 percent of units going to households making no more than $23,310 for a family of three, and she called on the municipal government to be more responsive to the input of residents.

“Community-based city planning starts from the ground up, with residents and stakeholders coming together collaboratively to plan for the future of their neighborhood,” said Mark-Viverito, who is also advocating for commercial real estate zoning plans that would limit the size of new storefronts in order to prevent big box stores from taking up occupancy in the city’s neighborhoods.