(Photo: C Ceres Merry)
The Future of ’80/20′ Affordable Housing Hangs in the Balance: Can 421-A Be Fixed?
421a
Hoping to Revive Affordable Housing Incentive, Cuomo Appeals to Developers
Affordable housing advocates protesting Brooklyn Real Estate Summit last fall, 421-a was among their many greivances (Photo: Nicole Disser)
After a week of “secret talks” with leadership from one of the state’s most powerful interest groups, details are emerging regarding Governor Cuomo’s first major steps toward reviving 421-a. The New York Times broke the news yesterday evening about the first sign of a turning point for the controversial billion-dollar, affordable-housing tax abatement that was allowed to expire in January.
Rent-Stabilized Apartments Back on the Market After Crackdown on 421-a Non-Compliance
A protestor at a rally at the Great Hall at Cooper Union in June 2015. (Photo by Sam Gillette)
City and state government officials are cracking down on landlords who collect tax benefits for affordable housing incentives but don’t follow through on their obligations. This practice was one of the major criticisms of the 421-a tax incentive leveled by activists and city leaders in favor of repealing the rent laws that governed the incentive when they were up for renewal over the summer.
Bushwickers and Local Activists Rally Against Controversial Apartment Building
Colony 1209, a rather, um, insensitively named luxury development in Bushwick featuring a doorman, ping pong tables, a “speakeasy,” and a gym, has caused quite a stir since it opened up its 127 units inviting “bohemians” to become “settlers” in “Brooklyn’s vibrant new frontier.” Last summer, Bushwick Daily dubbed Colony 1209 the neighborhood’s “most controversial new building,” which judging by the apartment’s website copy, is something the developers might just have been aiming for. But in a neighborhood where there’s an acute and visible housing crisis happening (see: tenant harassment, demographic shifts, skyrocketing rent, etc.)  it was a matter of time before people got really angry.