Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday, "Affordable Housing Day," that his administration has achieved the preservation and construction of 100,000 affordable housing units since 2003.
He said that his ambitious New Housing Marketplace Plan is on track to create or preserve 165,000 affordable housing units by 2014.
The City marked the milestone today with groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings on new affordable housing developments in each of the five boroughs. The Mayor made the announcement at a groundbreaking for Via Verde (Green Way), a $99 million mixed-income rental and homeownership development in the Bronxchester neighborhood of the South Bronx. The Mayor was joined at the announcement by Congressman Jose E. Serrano, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., NYC Housing Development Corporation President Marc Jahr, City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden and the project developers, Jonathan Rose Companies President Jonathan F. P. Rose and Phipps Houses President and CEO Adam Weinstein.
"By achieving 100,000 affordable housing units, we are helping 100,000 New York City families live in - and contribute to - the greatest city in the world," said Mayor Bloomberg, adding that "Since the start of the national recession, we have financed more affordable units - nearly 17,000 - than any other U.S. city or state."
The City's New Housing Marketplace Plan, launched by the Bloomberg Administration in 2003, was first envisioned as a five-year plan to finance the construction or preservation of 65,000 affordable homes for New Yorkers with a range of incomes and diverse needs. In early 2006 the plan - already the nation's largest - was expanded to enable the creation or preservation of 165,000 affordable units by 2014. Since October 2008, during a period of historic economic turmoil, the City succeeded in securing the public and private funding necessary to begin work on nearly 17,000 additional units, exceeding all other U.S. cities and states and helping to reach the 100,000-unit milestone. To build or preserve 100,000 units, New York City has invested $4.5 billion, and the Housing Development Corporation has issued $5 billion in bonds. Of the more than 100,000 units financed to date, 33 percent were in Manhattan, the vast majority of which were in East and Central Harlem; 32 percent were in the Bronx, 23 percent were in Brooklyn, 11 percent were in Queens and a little more than one percent were on Staten Island. Of the total, 68 percent were rental units and 32 percent were homeownership units.
The $99 million Via Verde development in the South Bronx - a joint venture among the City, Jonathan Rose Companies and Phipps Housing Services - will supply 150 units of low-income rental housing and 71 affordable co-op units with retail, community and outdoor recreational space. At the heart of the project are a series of gardens that begin in the courtyard then spiral up through a series of green roofs. The project will be built on a vacant 1.5-acre site at East 156th Street and Brook Avenue, in walking distance of the 'Hub,' the South Bronx's main commercial and transportation center.
The complex, designed by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw Architects, includes three distinct building types: a 20-story tower at the north end of the site, six-to-12 story mid-rise buildings in the middle, and three-to-four story townhouses to the South. Rental units will be located in the tower and midrise buildings. They will be targeted to households with earnings of up to $46,080, $55,440 and $63,360.
To mark the 100,000-unit milestone, the City broke ground or cut the ribbon on affordable development sites in each of the five boroughs.
He said that his ambitious New Housing Marketplace Plan is on track to create or preserve 165,000 affordable housing units by 2014.
The City marked the milestone today with groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings on new affordable housing developments in each of the five boroughs. The Mayor made the announcement at a groundbreaking for Via Verde (Green Way), a $99 million mixed-income rental and homeownership development in the Bronxchester neighborhood of the South Bronx. The Mayor was joined at the announcement by Congressman Jose E. Serrano, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., NYC Housing Development Corporation President Marc Jahr, City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden and the project developers, Jonathan Rose Companies President Jonathan F. P. Rose and Phipps Houses President and CEO Adam Weinstein.
"By achieving 100,000 affordable housing units, we are helping 100,000 New York City families live in - and contribute to - the greatest city in the world," said Mayor Bloomberg, adding that "Since the start of the national recession, we have financed more affordable units - nearly 17,000 - than any other U.S. city or state."
The City's New Housing Marketplace Plan, launched by the Bloomberg Administration in 2003, was first envisioned as a five-year plan to finance the construction or preservation of 65,000 affordable homes for New Yorkers with a range of incomes and diverse needs. In early 2006 the plan - already the nation's largest - was expanded to enable the creation or preservation of 165,000 affordable units by 2014. Since October 2008, during a period of historic economic turmoil, the City succeeded in securing the public and private funding necessary to begin work on nearly 17,000 additional units, exceeding all other U.S. cities and states and helping to reach the 100,000-unit milestone. To build or preserve 100,000 units, New York City has invested $4.5 billion, and the Housing Development Corporation has issued $5 billion in bonds. Of the more than 100,000 units financed to date, 33 percent were in Manhattan, the vast majority of which were in East and Central Harlem; 32 percent were in the Bronx, 23 percent were in Brooklyn, 11 percent were in Queens and a little more than one percent were on Staten Island. Of the total, 68 percent were rental units and 32 percent were homeownership units.
The $99 million Via Verde development in the South Bronx - a joint venture among the City, Jonathan Rose Companies and Phipps Housing Services - will supply 150 units of low-income rental housing and 71 affordable co-op units with retail, community and outdoor recreational space. At the heart of the project are a series of gardens that begin in the courtyard then spiral up through a series of green roofs. The project will be built on a vacant 1.5-acre site at East 156th Street and Brook Avenue, in walking distance of the 'Hub,' the South Bronx's main commercial and transportation center.
The complex, designed by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw Architects, includes three distinct building types: a 20-story tower at the north end of the site, six-to-12 story mid-rise buildings in the middle, and three-to-four story townhouses to the South. Rental units will be located in the tower and midrise buildings. They will be targeted to households with earnings of up to $46,080, $55,440 and $63,360.
To mark the 100,000-unit milestone, the City broke ground or cut the ribbon on affordable development sites in each of the five boroughs.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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