STATEMENT FROM COUNCIL MEMBER JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS,
CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING & BUILDINGS
For the past year, the City Council and the Administration have been debating Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH). In that time, significant and tangible progress was made and the council, under the leadership of Speaker Mark-Viverito, deserves credit for improving MIH.
Unfortunately, the current plan still does not require enough of a mandatory minimum amount of low-income units, and so today, I have no choice but to vote "no."
I believe firmly - and have said from the start - that working families, seniors and low income New Yorkers are depending on us to pass a plan that includes a mandatory minimum amount of affordable homes in each option. The plan, as it stands today, can allow entire neighborhoods to be rezoned without including any low income housing; that was, and still is, a nonstarter for me.
The Mayor and the Administration must be applauded for tackling the affordable housing crisis and we shouldn't understate the difficulty in creating a housing plan that meets the needs of our very diverse city. The City Council should also be celebrated for pushing even further and to a plan that, plausibly at least,touches 30% AMI.
I am proud to have been a part of a coalition of Council Members and advocates who fought hard to get the plan this far, with deeper affordability and real commitments around preservation. Given that, I understand why many will vote in favor of this plan, as we will hear many times, it is the strongest inclusionary housing policy in the entire country. Communities who choose the deep affordability option will benefit tremendously.
Still, there is an unaddressed problem. While the plan now provides real options for elected officials and communities who welcome low-income units, it ignores a fundamental issue about mandating affordability in neighborhoods that have historically resisted economic integration and are unlikely to choose deep affordability.
Without addressing that question, I cannot in good conscious vote "yes."
To be clear - I'm not saying we shouldn't also include higher income bands within the same options and the exact same neighborhoods. Rather, we should not pass a plan which allows communities to avoid including any low-income options, further segregating this city.
Nearly a third of New Yorkers earn less than $30,000 and would be unable to rent even the most "affordable" apartments built in communities who choose MIH options without deep affordability. The average single mother in NYC makes $25,000 - too little to qualify for housing above 30% AMI. The vast majority of our single person senior households also have incomes too low to qualify for the other two MIH options.
Affordability should not be an opt-in policy. We need a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan that works for all New Yorkers, in all neighborhoods, especially our most vulnerable.
It is also true that MIH was not meant to solve all of our cities housing problems and look forward to continuing to work with the administration who has proven dedication to the issues as we move forward in creating additional tools.
