Scott Stringer (Getty, NYC Comptroller, iStock/Illustration by Alexis Manrodt for The Real Deal)
Mayoral hopeful Scott Stringer wants to require all residential projects to include affordable housing but some developers say his numbers don’t add up.
The city comptroller released a 47-page housing plan Thursday including details on the “universal affordable housing” program he announced last year. Under it, developers would have to make at least 25 percent of apartments deeply affordable in projects with 10 or more units.
The low-rent units would be affordable to households earning, on average, 60 percent of the area median income significantly less than in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing plan. Developers would get subsidies and tax exemptions to build in neighborhoods where residents earn below 60 percent of AMI.
arrow City Comptroller Scott Stringer speaking in October at a press conference in front of a NYCHA housing development. City Comptroller Scott Stringer / Flickr
As city comptroller, Scott Stringer frequently delivered harsh condemnations of Mayor Bill de Blasio s housing policies. He has accused de Blasio of deepening the affordable housing crisis by failing to create sufficient units for very low-income New Yorkers, labeled his rezonings as developer giveaways, and blamed him for mismanaging the public housing system.
Now, as one of the top mayoral candidates, Stringer has laid out a detailed 27-point compendium of progressive housing goals that amount to a rebuttal of the former administration s approach.
Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
When the state Legislature passed the Emergency Eviction Act at the end of last year, nearly all eviction proceedings were paused for 60 days.
That pause ends on Friday, Feb. 26.
After Feb. 26, pending eviction cases can start moving forward again in court and new cases can be filed unless a tenant submits a hardship declaration form to either the court or the landlord.
That means any tenants facing eviction who haven’t filled out this hardship declaration could start hearing from the courts and landlords can start new cases against tenants behind on rent who haven’t filed a declaration.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)
The state has tweaked its proposal for the conversion of offices and hotels to housing, limiting which buildings would be eligible. But some feel that the measure still doesn’t go far enough in creating new affordable housing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s initial budget bill offered a temporary window for owners to override local zoning rules to turn vacant and struggling office properties into housing. Now, a series of amendments provides that only certain old office buildings and new ones in financial distress could be converted.
Specifically, the measure applies to office properties that either had a certificate of occupancy as of Jan. 1, 1980, or had one as of Dec. 31, 2020, and are also bankrupt or under receivership.
The number one housing complaint in New York City during the winter months is a lack of heat. Tenants who want to force their landlords to provide adequate