A coalition of tenant advocates plan to call for the end of a major tax abatement program that is both coveted by developers and seen as an important piece of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan.
The groups do not want the program, known as 421-a, to be renewed after its expiration in June because they believe it is an old and inefficient way to provide affordable housing. It made sense when it was created in the 1970s, the groups said, because New York City’s population was shrinking and needed all the new construction that could be mustered. Today, they claim, it’s just a perk for moguls building apartments for millionaires and billionaires.
“This luxury housing produced through 421-a fuels gentrification and displacement,” the groups say in an attack piece that will be circulated next week. “It inflates real-estate prices and creates market pressure that leads to higher rents and pushes out residents in neighborhoods like downtown Brooklyn, western Queens and Harlem, where many new luxury condos have been built.”
2 comments:
421-a loophole = Tax breaks for the wealthy while the rest get to eat cake !
A couple of blocks of two-family brick houses was newly built near my house in Queens. I found out that they were for sale at $995K. We called it Millionaire's row-- and believe me, it looks like CRAP. And these homes all come with a 10-year tax abatement! Meanwhile my taxes go up every year. How does that work?
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