Of the 165,000 affordable units attributed to Mr. Bloomberg's housing strategies, more than 100,000 were preserved using such incentives, officials from his administration said. Still, the city continues to lose more affordable units than it creates. The share of regulated apartments is now less than half — 47 percent — compared with 53 percent in 2002, 54 percent in 1991 and 61 percent in 1981, Furman Center research shows. "It is a constant pressure on New Yorkers and on the city government to address that issue," said Marc Jahr, president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation, which finances affordable housing. Mr. Jahr said there was a net loss of 60,000 rent-regulated apartments during Mr. Bloomberg's tenure. But he said that looking at only numbers overlooks how whole neighborhoods have been revitalized with the city's investment in affordable housing. Mr. de Blasio is well aware of the challenge created by the attrition of affordable housing. "We are in many ways treading water," he told the Association for a Better New York in October. To make truly transformative changes in the supply of affordable housing, Mr. de Blasio would most likely need to find a way to change the state law covering rent increases and apartment regulation. He has told tenant groups that he will go to Albany with them to fight to repeal the statute that gave the state control over rent regulation in the city. "If you made it more difficult for private landlords to remove units," said Alex Schwartz, a professor of urban policy at the New School, "that'd be a great improvement."
A rhetorical dodge of the Bloomberg administration that always rankled me was the "created or preserved" combination always used in discussions of affordable housing units.
It was plainly obvious that few units were being created and regardless of how many were touted as "preserved" many more units were being deregulated. The reporting on the issue over the last twelve years left a lot to be desired.
The gutting of rent stabilization in 2003 under Pataki was a historical injustice, and we have a lot of lost time to make up for.
Of the 165,000 affordable units attributed to Mr. Bloomberg's housing strategies, more than 100,000 were preserved using such incentives, officials from his administration said. Still, the city continues to lose more affordable units than it creates. The share of regulated apartments is now less than half — 47 percent — compared with 53 percent in 2002, 54 percent in 1991 and 61 percent in 1981, Furman Center research shows. "It is a constant pressure on New Yorkers and on the city government to address that issue," said Marc Jahr, president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation, which finances affordable housing. Mr. Jahr said there was a net loss of 60,000 rent-regulated apartments during Mr. Bloomberg's tenure. But he said that looking at only numbers overlooks how whole neighborhoods have been revitalized with the city's investment in affordable housing. Mr. de Blasio is well aware of the challenge created by the attrition of affordable housing. "We are in many ways treading water," he told the Association for a Better New York in October. To make truly transformative changes in the supply of affordable housing, Mr. de Blasio would most likely need to find a way to change the state law covering rent increases and apartment regulation. He has told tenant groups that he will go to Albany with them to fight to repeal the statute that gave the state control over rent regulation in the city. "If you made it more difficult for private landlords to remove units," said Alex Schwartz, a professor of urban policy at the New School, "that'd be a great improvement."
Indeed.
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