My Housing Platform

Structural racism and the unyielding inequities it manifests have for too long circumscribed enormous swaths of our nation to wholesale penury. Those restrictions are placed on New Yorkers — and Americans everywhere — who are unable to reside in the best zip codes, send their kids to the best schools, or gain access to the best jobs without excessive commutes that pulls them away from being near their families.

But how can we begin to reconcile this national moment of reckoning around race and inequality with existing policies that have exacerbated them?

As the movement branches into economic justice, federal, state, and city housing policies must be at the forefront of public discourse. Through well-established, evidence-based remedies, we can begin to reverse patterns of discrimination and support local and regional progress towards fair housing goals.

Fixing our affordable housing crisis will benefit all New Yorkers, not just people of color. My proposed reforms offer a pathway toward not only allowing our city to fully realize our unofficial motto as the “melting pot of America,” but to also head off the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

While some of my recommendations require federal and state action, many can be dealt with here, at the city level.

In the latest budget, the City Council was able to secure $637,500 towards funding the Community Land Trust Initiative. That’s not nearly enough. Community Land Trusts need to be supported at a $5 million per year rate to successfully create and fully fund non-profit organizations seeking to maintain and expand affordability and create long-lasting access to community services.

Twenty-six percent.

Repealing the Faircloth Amendment and fully funding current public housing operations and maintenance for existing housing authority residents is desperately needed as we face an economic calamity. With the unemployment rate soaring, many will need housing options that are restricted by current polices like the Faircloth Amendment.

Further, the concentration of MIH affordable housing in the lowest socioeconomic areas makes the program more expensive for taxpayers while also limiting the development of more affordable housing units.

“Where high rents make additional density valuable, there is capacity to cross-subsidize new affordable units without direct subsidy…”

Streamline the Review Process: New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is a lengthy review procedure that can be shortened by 40–50% when involving affordable housing projects. At times, ULURP can act as a barrier in some of the wealthiest and unwelcoming neighborhoods to diversity and inclusion by restricting the development of these necessary projects that have an immediate positive impact on the community.

This program was a success for working and middle-class families looking to live and grow their families in New York. But now, millennials are left struggling to meet their rent demands or have to move farther and farther away from the city because they can’t afford to live here. The dream of starting a family in the city they love is beyond their reach.

— Increasing education debt has reduced millennials’ likelihood of owning a home, as debt increases their debt-to-income ratios and lowers their remaining income to save for a down payment

— High rental costs make it difficult for millennials to save for a down payment

— Obtaining a mortgage has become more challenging since the housing market crisis because of an unstable labor market and tightening credit standards

— The supply of affordable housing has declined over the past decade, especially in areas where millennials prefer living

Establishing a new Mitchell-Lama for this generation of middle-class Americans, who are more educated than any generation before them, will enhance the possibilities for the future of New York City. The program can establish new and exciting co-op developments that provide an economic opportunity to generate wealth and income mobility for a generation that’s been battered by the Financial Crisis and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

Create a Housing Voucher Program to Increase Social Mobility: Housing vouchers, also known as Section 8, have helped numerous families keep a roof over their heads. The program has also led to many families facing difficulties in attaining housing in high opportunity areas, because landlords hold an inordinate amount of power over who can live within their developments.

The first part created a Family Facing Service that included:

— Opportunity area education to increase families’ knowledge and interest in opportunity areas.

— Rental application coaching to increase families’ competitiveness for private market rental units by working to understand and mitigate rental barriers.

— Housing search assistance to expand and improve families’ housing search process and leasing outcomes.

— Flexible financial assistance to defray housing search and lease-up expenses, such as application fees and security deposits.

The second part created a Landlord Facing Intervention program that included:

— Landlord engagement to make outreach to property owners and leasing agents in designated opportunity areas and promote the benefits of CMTO (and the voucher program) to encourage them to lease to CMTO families.

— Expedite lease-up processes to ensure fast processing times and minimize delays in leasing up due to PHA requirements.

— Damage mitigation insurance to incentivize property owners and landlords to participate in CMTO.

These policies will create a fairer and more prosperous New York City. We can meet this extraordinary moment and implement long-lasting and positive change that defines a new generation of commonality and purpose. The work will be difficult, and we will be opposed by organized groups who resist the diversification and inclusion of the wealthiest parts of this city. They will use coded language like “affordable housing will drive down our property values” and will back and fund candidates to thwart progress.

But I’ve never been more hopeful and inspired by a movement. Wholesale change to a governmental and political structure that’s resisted progress for so many is coming.

And we will win.

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