On Thursday, April 17, AAFE resident leaders and staff joined the Association for Neighborhood Housing and Development (ANHD) and its members to rally for mandatory inclusionary zoning (MIZ), a policy that would allow NYC developers to receive benefits such as tax breaks and increased building heights in exchange for making a certain percentage of housing constructed permanently affordable. ANHD is a membership organization of New York City non-profit neighborhood housing groups whose mission is to ensure flourishing neighborhoods and decent, affordable housing for all New Yorkers.
In the past ten years, over 180,000 new residential housing units were built and over 40% of the City was rezoned, totaling almost $8 billion in value for real estate developers but yielding a scant 2,800 new affordable units from private real estate development. Tenants and advocates marched from an East Side luxury development site to hold a rally in front of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the lobbying organization for big real estate interests. Advocates asked REBNY to sign-on to a letter in support of an MIZ policy that establishes a legally binding requirement that requires all large- and medium- density residential developments set aside a share of their units for permanently affordable housing without accessing subsidies.
Thank you to all who joined ANHD and AAFE in rallying for this important cause!
