'Housing 2.0' plans to create and preserve affordable housing by utilizing public lots, helping nonprofits to purchase rent-stabilized apartment buildings and supporting first-time homeowners with financing strategies and loans
On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed his "Housing New York 2.0" plan, presenting the city's new strategy to build and preserve affordable homes for 300,000 New York families. The plan expands on the mayor's previous goal of creating or preserving 200,000 affordable homes by 2024; expecting to achieve that goal two years early in 2022, the city is now making a renewed commitment towards creating and preserving 300,000 units of affordable housing by 2026.
"Building on the affordable housing accomplishments of our first term, Housing New York 2.0 commits us to creating 25,000 affordable homes a year and 300,000 homes by 2026," said De Blasio in a statement. "Making New York a fairer city for today and for future generations depends on it."
The revamped plan aims to create more senior housing by utilizing public lots, and to make new and preserved housing accessible to seniors and people with disabilities. The city also plans to help nonprofits to purchase as many as 7,500 traditional rent-stabilized apartment buildings and keep them affordable to current residents to protect them from displacement.
Housing 2.0 seeks to stabilize neighborhoods and improve the quality of homes by financing the construction of coops and condos for first-time home buyers, and by offering home repair loans. Vacant lots, considered too small or uneven for traditional housing will be made available for affordable housing by utilizing technology and innovative design to expand modular building and micro-units.
Councilmember Jumaane D. Williams of the 45th District and chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings is ready to push forward with the Housing 2.0 plan.
"This expanded goal is indicative of two things. First, that the steps we are now taking in city government toward confronting this massive problem are having a meaningful positive impact. Second, that we are not content to simply applaud our own successes but to push forward aggressively working from our existing efforts and exploring and implementing new strategies to combat the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. said Williams. "We can do more, we must do more, and with this new goal, we will do more."
