Press Release
Statement: City and State Investment and Collaboration Critical to Saving Public Housing
David R. Jones
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Maclin
(212) 614-5538 (office)
(718) 309-2346 (cell)
jmaclin@cssny.org
Our public housing represents the largest single source of affordable housing in the state and the city. It can’t be matched for serving truly low-income New Yorkers, even by the ambitious affordable housing initiatives recently put forward by the Mayor and the Governor.
That’s why we need to think of NYCHA public housing as a landmark. It’s historically unique, it’s threatened, and it’s critically important to our city. Unlike Penn Station—which we’re now spending billions to replace—it won’t be destroyed and demolished overnight. Public housing is being destroyed through government starvation and neglect, through the accelerating deterioration of living conditions—leaking roofs, crumbling facades, failing elevators, and toxic molds.
This is a critical time for the state and the city to work collaboratively to save public housing. Not only with an additional $100 million in this year’s budget, not only by dedicating the 10-year $400 million stream of Battery Park City funds, but with a long-term commitment that parallels the Governor’s and the Mayor’s multi-billion dollar affordable housing initiatives. After decades of disinvestment, they need to invest again in NYCHA and its residents.