In Brooklyn and the Bronx today, Mayor de Blasio is unveiling his long-awaited affordable housing initiative, which he calls the pillar of his plan to narrow the divide between the rich and poor in New York City.
You can read the 10-year proposal here. It’s already being dissected by housing activists and property owners across the city, including here on the Lower East Side, a center of New York’s affordable housing battles.
In short, the $41 billion plan would build or preserve 200,000 apartments, creating 80,000 new units; it would implement mandatory inclusionary housing, requiring affordable units within new developments; and it would emphasize strengthened tenant protections in rent regulated buildings.  The city would pay more than $8 billion in support of the program; state, federal and private financial support would theoretically make up the rest.
