Our community has marched to City Hall and testified at recent public hearings held by the City Council on the development, but jobs and apartments for low-income residents have still not been included in the plans.
The developer of the project, Streuver Fideldo Capeilli (SFC Yonkers) has so far agreed to setting aside a 6% affordable apartments component for middle-income residents, that would require an income of $50,000-$120,000 a year to qualify.
These apartments would be too far out of reach for the residents in the neighborhood surrounding the development, where the Average Median Income (AMI) is $26,488 a year. The City Council will soon decide whether or not to approve the development and give numerous tax breaks, city land, and $159 million in tax money to the developer, (SFC Yonkers) Streuver Fidelco Cappelli.
The city wants to use $159 million dollars of our tax money for this development that is not benefiting anyone but who it is intended for – the wealthy. We need to take that tax money and use it for the things the current low-income residents of Yonkers need for their communities. It seems that Yonkers is trying to comply with the desegregation case by running us out completely. When you take all the low-income housing, you are taking low-income people of color away too. So we are here tonight fighting for our families, fighting for our communities, and fighting for ourselves. We are demanding that the city.
1) Not tear down any more public housing.
2) Include apartments that low-income residents can afford in the development.
3) And train and hire Yonkers residents for the new jobs it creates.
Over 50 community meetings have been held by the developer. We have been to these meetings, but none of the developer’s plans have changed to include what low-income families need. We’ve heard that they plan to include only 6% affordable housing. Who will these apartments be affordable to? Without a number defining what affordable is, they are telling us nothing. There has not been a genuine attempt to reach out to the community and we still do NOT have a seat at the table. If the development does not include jobs for us and housing we can afford, we are going to be pushed out of this community.
We need to know that we can trust our elected City Council members and Mayor to represent us, because low-income residents are citizens and voters too. That is why I propose that voters use their combined power to make a statement by voting the city council out of office next years election if the affordable housing is not initiated. Our tax dollars being used to kick us out of our communities is the last straw of a city council that has lost its way and it is high time the voters of yonkers fire them next year and put in office those who will work for our interests. It is either us or the devekopers, the line has been drawn and it is time to get informed and use your vote to make action. As an assemblyman for this district I will lead the charge to make this happen.
Across the state, New Yorkers are facing a serious and growing shortage of affordable housing. From the Tug Hill Plateau to the Bronx, from downtown Buffalo to the Long Island suburbs, housing costs continue to rise while incomes lag behind. Solving this crisis in the long run will require a major commitment of additional federal, state and local resources.
However, much can be done in the short run to make a real difference through the better use of existing resources. The lack of affordable housing is an economic development issue as well. According to the National Governors Association, the “availability and affordability of housing is central to the health of a state’s economy.”
Growing companies are reluctant to locate or expand in New York if workers can’t find affordable places to live. A survey of the largest employers in the New York area conducted in 1999 by the New York State Comptroller reported that 86% of respondents cited housing costs as a serious deterrent to doing business in New York. Affordable housing development is also a major source of jobs: nationwide, housing construction accounts for approximately 5% of the total economy and 27% of investment spending.
My testimony today will focus on one of our recommendations for addressing the affordable housing crisis: increasing the access to capital. Clearly, one of the most significant ways to increase access to capital for affordable housing would be the creation of a true Housing Trust Fund with a dedicated revenue stream. Affordable housing developments require long term planning and the commitment of significant pre-development expenditures. By guaranteeing an increased source of state resources, dedicated to affordable housing, a true Housing Trust Fund would not only lead to the production and preservation of more affordable housing but also enable developers to better plan developments with the certainty that sufficient state resources would be available in the future.