Increasing Real Affordability in New
York City:
An Action Plan for Mayor de Blasio’s
Second Term
September 2017
Introduction: de Blasio and the Worsening Affordability Crisis
Mayor Bill de Blasio was elected four years ago pledging to end Bloomberg’s tale of two cities
and reduce income inequality. Affordable housing has been a key focus of his administration.
But today low and moderate income households across the five boroughs face a worsening
affordability crisis.
This crisis hits our city’s lowest wage earners experience the biggest gap between incomes and
housing costs, and this crisis hits them the hardest. Between 2010 and 2017, the city’s lowest
wage earners saw a decline in real wages, while at the same time the lowest bracket of asking
rents increased by a greater percentage than any other (4.9% annually.)1 There is now an
absolute deficit of nearly 900,000 units affordable to households at 50% of AMI (around $42,000
for a family of 3) and below in the New York City metro area. 2
Given these sobering statistics, it is not surprising that the City’s homeless population is the
highest it has been since the Great Depression. 3
During de Blasio’s first term, some important steps have been taken to improve the lives of
tenants who are on the frontlines of the affordability crisis.
The City Council recently passed historic right to counsel legislation, which, if implemented in a
serious and thoughtful way, will guarantee tenants a legal representation in housing court. And
after pressure and organizing from low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers, de Blasio

StreetEasy.Com “The Rent Affordability Report.” August 2017. Available at:
https://wp.zillowstatic.com/streeteasy/2/2017-StreetEasy-Rent-Affordability-Report-467583.pdf
2
National Low Income Housing Coalition: The Gap, 2017. Available at: http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/GapReport_2017_interactive.pdf
3
Durkin, Erin. “Number of families forced to move into homeless shelters spikes, even in richer neighborhoods.”
NY Daily News. August 22, 2017. Available at http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/number-families-forcedmove-homeless-shelters-jumps-article-1.3430481
1

 has agreed to deepen the number of units financed for families at or below 50% of the City’s
median income.4
But a severe flaw of de Blasio’s Housing New York Plan has been his administration’s fixation
on preserving or creating a total of 200,000 units of affordable housing. By focusing on quantity
over quality, de Blasio misses the real need facing our city.
Despite the constant self-congratulatory press conferences announcing progress toward the
200,000 goal his plan does not include nearly enough apartments at the lower income tiers –
where the affordability crisis is most acute and most painful.
Indeed, many of the apartments City Hall touts as affordable are not actually affordable to
struggling New Yorkers. As we show below, nearly as many apartments have been built for
households making over $85,900 (100% of the median income for 3-person household) as
households that make $25,000 (30% of AMI for a 3-person household) a year or less.
De Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing policy has been presented as the most aggressive
affordable housing plan in the country, but it does not go nearly far enough to meet the needs of
the lowest income New Yorkers. The policy was rammed through the City Council after fierce
opposition from community boards across the five boroughs, who criticized the misguided
proposal as an effort sell off neighborhoods to luxury developers in exchange for mere scraps. 5
On September 12, de Blasio won the Democratic mayoral primary and he is almost certain to
win re-election. Without a dramatic overhaul of de Blasio’s housing policies in his expected
second term, many more low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers may be pushed out of
the city entirely.
What follows is an action plan for how de Blasio must reorient his housing agenda to increase
real affordability for New Yorkers who are struggling the most for basic survival in our city.

Overview: Five Key Actions to Increase Real Affordability
In his second term, de Blasio has an opportunity to create a new paradigm in affordable housing
that provides low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers a stable future in their city.
To succeed, he must pursue the following five key actions to increase real affordability:
1) Increase the number of affordable apartments developed for low-income and moderateincome New Yorkers – those who have the least opportunity to access apartments in the
private real estate market and are most vulnerable to displacement and homelessness.

Whitford, Emma. “De Blasio’s Affordable Housing Plan Still Falls Short For Poorest NYers.” Gothamist. July 13,
2017. http://gothamist.com/2017/07/13/affordable_housing_nyc_de_blasio.php
5
New York Communities for Change. “Educating Espinal: How to Deepen Affordability for Thousands of
Apartments in East New York Protect Low-Income Residents.” March 31, 2016. Available at:
http://nycommunities.org/how-deepen-affordability-east-new-york
4

 2) Require that all public land be developed by not-for-profit developers who have
committed by word and by action to 100% permanently affordable housing for lowincome and moderate-income New Yorkers
3) Give homeless New Yorkers a better pathway out of the shelter system and precarious
housing conditions by streamlining the housing placement process, improving rental
assistance programs, and enforcing the source of income discrimination law.
4) Prevent tenant harassment and displacement through a real affordable housing
preservation program that uses all tools available – from code enforcement to eminent
domain – to hold negligent landlords accountable for their role in the housing crisis, and
to create a permanent pathway to housing preservation and anti-displacement.
5) Prioritize mission-driven, nonprofit affordable housing developers – who are committed
to maintaining an economically and racially diverse city – by partnering with them to
create and preserve real affordability for low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers.
Below we discuss each proposed action in more detail and offer practical guidance on how de
Blasio and his administration at City Hall can pursue and implement them most effectively.

Action 1  Increase the number of affordable apartments developed for lowincome and moderate-income New Yorkers – those who have the least opportunity
to access apartments in the private real estate market and are most vulnerable to
displacement and homelessness.
In the first four years at City Hall, the de Blasio administration developed or preserved 77,651
units of affordable housing. 6

6

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Housing New York, By the Numbers:
6/30/2017. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/housing/action/by-the-numbers.page

 Income Served, 3 Person Household

Housing New York Starts
As of July 13,2017
$103,081-$141,735
$68,721-$103,080
$42,951-$68,720
$25,771-$42,950
<$25,770
0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Percentage of Total Units Produced

But nearly 15,000 of these units (19%) are targeted to families that make over $68,000 a year for
a family of three (80% area median income).7 Just 11,000 units (14%) are designated for
households at 30% of AMI ($25,770 for a family of three) and below, despite the fact that these
households have by far the greatest need.
In many cases, the affordable housing produced by the administration’s housing plan is actually
more expensive than asking rents in the neighborhood where the housing is being developed. For
example, in East New York, de Blasio promised that 50% of the units built through the
neighborhood rezoning would be affordable. But our analysis shows that the majority of the
“affordable” units are out of reach for the surrounding neighborhood, where the median renter
income is just $30,000. 89

In fact, according to the NYU Furman Center, households at 30% of the area median income (or
$25,000 per year) can only afford 5.71% of available apartments. 10
The same data shows that families at 80% of AMI ($68,000 for a family of three) can only afford
roughly 41% of appropriately sized available apartments, and households at 120% of the area
median income can afford almost 70% of the vacant available apartments. 11

7

Ibid.
NYU Furman Center CoreData.nyc portal, Renters Median Income by Sub-Borough Area filter. Accessed
September 7th, 2017 and available on file at New York Communities for Change.
9
New York Communities for Change. “Educating Espinal: How to Deepen Affordability for Thousands of
Apartments in East New York Protect Low-Income Residents.” March 31, 2016. Available at:
http://nycommunities.org/how-deepen-affordability-east-new-york
10
NYU Furman Center. CoreData.nyc portal, Renters Affordability filter. Accessed September 5, 2017 and
available on file at New York Communities for Change.
11
Ibid
8

 The largest share of units (49%) produced by the de Blasio housing plan are in the 51% to 80%
of AMI bracket ($42,000 to $68,000 for a family of three.) 12 But in order to make a dent in the
homelessness crisis, we must increase the number of units developed for households who earn
less than $25,000 a year – households that are not served by the private market.
In his second term, de Blasio must adjust the city’s affordable housing subsidies to produce a
much more balanced affordable housing plan that serves far more working people and very low
income households. At least 30% of the housing produced under Housing New York should be
reserved for families at 30% of AMI and below; the vast majority of the housing produced
should be for low income families below 80% of AMI.

Action 2  Require that all public land is developed by not-for-profit developers
who have committed by word and by action to 100% permanently affordable
housing for low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers.
Make no mistake: more housing density is required to solve our city’s most entrenched
affordability crisis. City Hall has promised to rezone 15 neighborhoods to increase housing
density; in his first term, de Blasio successfully passed rezoning plans to develop income
targeted housing in East New York and Downtown Far Rockaway.
Outside of the neighborhood re-zonings, the de Blasio administration is transferring public land
to the private sector at a breathtaking pace. In the first term, City Hall issued 19 Requests for
Proposals (RFPs) that give away thousands of acres of public land, primarily to private
developers, often for a nominal purchase price of $1. (Comparatively, Bloomberg issued just 35
in 12 years.) And as the data above shows, the City has gotten little affordable housing for the
families in highest need in return for its investment.
A recent egregious example is unfolding at the Bedford Union Armory. That’s where the de
Blasio administration is pushing a plan that will give away an entire block of city-owned land for
386 units of luxury housing. Just 18 units will be affordable to the local community. In Inwood,
the administration is attempting to rezone a public library for affordable housing; two public sites
are being sold off in East Harlem on 111th Street and 125th Street; de Blasio has recently
announced plans to redevelop four other public sites: three sites in Brownsville, and a renewed
effort at the Greenpoint Hospital.

12

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Housing New York, By the Numbers:
6/30/2017. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/housing/action/by-the-numbers.page

 Case Study: Bedford Union Armory
60%

Percent

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
< 30% of AMI 30% of AMI - 50% of AMI - 70% of AMI - Over 120% of
and Formerly 49% of AMI 69% of AMI 119% of AMI
AMI
Homeless

Income Levels
CLT Model

Bedford Courts

Crown Heights Income Distribution
13

In his second term, de Blasio must stop giving away the City’s libraries, schools, parks,
hospitals, police parking lots and more to private developers without a plan for real affordability.
All public land slated for housing development should be transferred to community land trusts –
controlled by the residents and mission driven housing organizations.

Action 3  Give homeless New Yorkers a better pathway out of the shelter
system and precarious housing conditions by streamlining the housing placement
process, improving rental assistance programs, and enforcing the source of income
discrimination law.
The City’s pipeline to housing and out of the shelter system is completely broken.
New York City is facing the worst homeless crisis in recent history. Nearly 60,000 people live in
shelters across the city,14 and thousands more live on the streets, in three-quarter houses, or
doubled- and tripled-up in apartments.
In his second term, de Blasio must remove the major barriers that prevent homeless New Yorkers
from accessing the scarce housing stock that is affordable to them.
The City must streamline access to housing placement services by ensuring that people living in
Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters are swiftly and consistently connected to case
workers who can help them access HPD-financed affordable units, supportive housing, or
whatever housing is appropriate for their needs.
13

See Appendix for description of this chart.
New York City Department of Homeless Services. Daily Report, September 10, 2017.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dhs/downloads/pdf/dailyreport.pdf
14

 While de Blasio created vital rental assistance programs to tackle homelessness, the programs do
not go far enough. The available voucher programs have not kept up with rising rents across the
City and they are time-limited to just five years. de Blasio must ensure that rental assistance
programs follow the Housing and Urban Development’s fair market figures, so that voucher
values increase as rents do across the City. Additionally, he must make them permanent, so that
tenants who still meet the economic need after five years continue to have access to the support.
New York City's Human Rights Law prohibits source of income discrimination in housing. It is
unlawful for a landlord or real-estate broker to refuse to accept government-provided rental
assistance or post advertisements limiting the type of tenant they will accept. Yet the reality is
that landlords and brokers openly flout the law by refusing to accept applicants who receive
housing assistance. If de Blasio plans to tackle homelessness, then he must aggressively invest
more resources toward the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Resources
Administration’s newly created Source of Income Discrimination Unit. More housing testers,
litigators, and public education is needed to eradicate the problem. Additionally, he must direct
agencies to root out landlords who violate the law while receiving other government subsidies.

Action 4  Prevent tenant harassment and displacement through a real
affordable housing preservation program that uses all tools available – from
code enforcement to eminent domain – to hold negligent landlords
accountable for the housing crisis and to create a permanent pathway to
housing preservation.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has a wide array of
preservation tools that it has not used effectively enough to guard against the gentrification that
is sweeping through nearly every inch of the city.
Every year, more affordable housing units are lost as buildings expire from use agreements that
guarantee affordability, or more rent-stabilized apartments become unregulated, because of
landlord-friendly provisions in the current rent laws.
A 2016 analysis from the NYU Furman Center shows that many of the properties whose use
agreements will expire by 2030 are concentrated in Central Harlem, Brownsville, and Crown
Heights: neighborhoods that are home to low-income New Yorkers and facing gentrification
pressure.15
The de Blasio administration must use all tools available to stem the loss of rent-stabilized and
affordable apartments. From code enforcement to low cost loan programs, the city has
preservation tools that are meant to help maintain existing affordable housing stock while
protecting low income and moderate income New Yorkers.

NYU Furman Center, The Location of New York City’s Expiring Use Affordable Housing. December 8, 2016.
Available at: http://furmancenter.org/thestoop/entry/coredata-visualization-mapping-expiring-affordable-housing-innew-york-city
15

 Unfortunately, the city has not used its preservation tools effectively enough to combat tenant
harassment, maintain standardized minimum housing quality conditions and retain rent stabilized
apartments. For example, de Blasio is in the process of transitioning away from the notorious
cluster site shelter program, which has been characterized by unsafe living conditions. 16
These units must be converted to permanently affordable, rent stabilized housing. But in at least
300 cases, the city is simply converting the buildings to homeless shelters and rewarding the
negligent and abusive owners with lucrative shelter contracts. 17
The de Blasio administration must not allow private landlords to remove units from the rent
stabilized system by using these same limited resources to house homeless families at 60% more
than the cost of a permanent rental voucher, and he must drive a much harder bargain to preserve
affordable housing.
Code enforcement should be used proactively to levy heavy fines against negligent landlords. If
these fines are not paid the City should convert them to tax liens -- putting the City in a position
to leverage outstanding fines for affordable housing. In extreme cases, the City should pursue
eminent domain actions to take the over the buildings owned and managed by persistent bad
actors, and convert them to affordable housing. Finally, the de Blasio administration should
explore a landlord licensing program that would prevent known bad landlords from participating
in the marketplace.

Action 5  Give mission-driven, nonprofit developers – who are committed to
maintaining an economically and racially diverse city -- a bigger role in
creating and preserving real affordability for low-income and moderateincome New Yorkers.
Over the last forty years, the not-for-profit development community has worked in partnership
with the city to solve some of the most entrenched housing crises – often in neighborhoods that
private banks and developers deemed too risky for investment.
Now, as the city’s housing crisis forces moderate and higher income New Yorkers into
historically lower income neighborhoods, de Blasio is funding a private sector building frenzy in
partnership with the for-profit development community. Much of the housing produced by the
for-profit sector is not affordable to local neighborhoods. For-profit developers are capitalizing
on the city’s housing crisis while the non-profit community development corporation (CDC)
sector is being pushed out of the market. 18
Chung, Jen. “Rats, Locked Exits And More: City Investigation Finds ‘Perilous Conditions’ at NYC Shelters.”
Gothamist. March 12, 2015. Available at:
http://gothamist.com/2015/03/12/rats_locked_exits_and_more_city_inv.php#photo-1
17
Whitford, Emma. “Bad Landlords Poised To Profit On De Blasio Plan To Turn Rent-Stabilized Buildings Into
Long-Term Homeless Shelters.” Gothamist. August 29, 2017. Available at:
http://gothamist.com/2017/08/29/landlords_rent_cluster_sites.php
18
New York Communities for Change. “Goldman Sachs in City Hall.” May 2, 2017. Available at:
http://nycommunities.org/goldman-sachs-city-hall-how-alicia-glens-development-partners-are-cashing-bill-deblasios-new-york
16

 De Blasio gives lip-service to the non-profit development community.
In July, HPD released a plan to invest $2 million in the Community Land Trusts across the
City.19 But investing piecemeal in this model is not sufficient when, at the same time, the
administration is rezoning whole neighborhoods and transferring acres and acres of public land
to luxury developers for private profit.
We call on de Blasio to adjust HPD’s RFP process and the city’s qualified allocation plan to give
a weighted preference to community land trust models and qualified nonprofit groups in
applications for development opportunities on public land, including NYCHA land, and cityowned sites.
All public land in New York City should be designated for development by the non-profit,
community-controlled development community.
***

CONCLUSION
In his second term, de Blasio and his team at City Hall must act more decisively to harness their
full power to preserve and create real affordable housing.
Tenants across New York City are being displaced as rents rise, wages stay stagnant, and new
housing is constructed for high-income earners in low income neighborhoods slated for rezoning.
In response, de Blasio must develop an aggressive anti-displacement and anti-gentrification
program focused on people, neighborhoods, and communities.
New housing that is built should serve the neediest families, and provide a pathway out of
homelessness. The administrative and legislative path must provide effective tools to identify,
regulate, and prosecute bad actors. There must be zero tolerance for harassment of low- and
moderate-income residents who are seen by speculators, developers, and predatory equity
companies as pawns in the gentrification and commodification of our neighborhoods.
To overhaul his housing agenda for the second term, de Blasio must make some major staffing
changes at City Hall. Personnel is policy, especially when it comes to affordable housing.
Based on her actions over the past four years, it is clear that Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen is never
going to prioritize real affordability for the lowest income New Yorkers.
De Blasio’s blind spot when it comes to Alicia Glen has been his biggest obstacle to tackling the
affordability crisis in New York. The journalist Juan Gonzalez, who recently published a book
New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. “Enterprise Awards New York City $1.65
Million To Support The Formation And Expansion of Community Land Trusts.” July 19, 2017.
http://www1.nyc.gov/site/hpd/about/press-releases/2017/07/07-19b-17.page
19

 on de Blasio’s attempts to reduce income inequality, recounts having told the Mayor several
times that he must fire Alicia Glen: “You need to get rid of her…And until you do, you’re not
going to really reshape your housing policies.” 2021
Alicia Glen has put the financial interests of a handful of developers she worked with closely at
Goldman Sachs far ahead of what struggling New Yorkers.
So long as Glen oversees de Blasio’s housing plan, it will not succeed at increasing real
affordability for low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers.
Simply put, it’s time for her to go.
Indeed, Glen should resign and de Blasio should appoint a new Deputy Mayor or several new
senior-level aides who can help overhaul and improve his housing agenda for the second term.

Robbins, Christopher. “Juan Gonzalez On De Blasio’s NY: The Mayor Has Not Confronted The Affordable
Housing Crisis.” Gothamist. September 7, 2017. http://gothamist.com/2017/09/07/juan_gonzalez_de_blasio.php
21
Paybarah, Azi. “Playbook New York interview: Juan Gonzalez.” Gothamist. August 11, 2017.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/playbook-new-york-interview-juan-gonzalez-241514
20

 Appendix: Bedford Union Armory Case Study
Here we attempt to show how the Bedford Armory proposed plan (available by area median
income) corresponds to the income distribution in Crown Heights (available in the American
Community Survey). These categories do not correspond exactly and how we use them in the
chart is explained below.
American Community Survey
Household Income Distribution
Categories

Bedford Union
Armory: Case Study
Labels

Area Median Income Brackets, New York City
2017

$20,000 or less

< 30% of AMI and
Formerly Homeless

$25,770 or less

$20,000 - $40,000

30% of AMI - 49% of
AMI

$25,770 - $42,950

$40,000 - $60,000
$60,000 - $100,000
$100,000 - $250,000
Over $250,000

50% of AMI - 69% of
AMI
70% of AMI – 119% of
AMI
Over 120% of AMI

$42,950 - $60,130
$60,130 - $103,080
Over $103,080