Thursday, September 3, 2009

"Affordable housing" promise becomes even more of a joke

From the Daily News:

The final version of a state plan for developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project weakened guarantees that promised affordable housing would get necessary funding, new documents show.

Ratner has pledged to build 2,250 units of affordable housing as part of the proposed Nets arena and 16-tower project, but critics have questioned whether he'll ever come through.

A draft of the plan, obtained under the Freedom of Information Law by the blog Atlantic Yards Report, promises state and city affordable housing subsidies to fund those units.

"City actions include approval of funding . . . for affordable housing bond financing," an April 2006 draft of the General Project Plan states. "The State would also . . . provide funding for affordable housing bond financing."

Those paragraphs were deleted in later drafts. The current plan says the affordable housing is "expected" to be paid for with tax-exempt bonds from city and state housing programs.

3 comments:

Taxpayer said...

No, there will never be any "affordable housing" built.

Never was really planned.

Developer Bruce Ratner is here to maximize profits for himself, not minimize costs for others.

One cost of doing business is paying for some cheesy politicians to front for the developer.

One political skill well worth the money to purchase is the cold-blooded (sociopathic) willingness to lie for advantage to the suckers who will hope that this one time, just this once, the liar is telling the truth.

Eh? Commissar?

Anonymous said...

all these newly constructed multiple dwelling remaining basically empty and just like back in the day....signs simply posted on the older apartment houses stating apts for rent. How long before that "one month free rent" gets tacked on too ?

soon there'll be all kinds of affordable housing and probably section 8 moving in as well.

ceiling on my head lady said...

If they keep it up, they will get the "affordable housing" of the 1980s when the squatters moved into the abandoned buildings and took control.

Why are all of those finished buildings standing empty for the vandals to destroy while working people are doubling an tripling up with family?