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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Todd Baker, Project Manager from Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition

6:16:14

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114 sec

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Todd Baker from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition testified about the importance of community land trusts and affordable homeownership opportunities in the Bronx. He requested continued funding for community land trust initiatives and emphasized the need for preservation projects that create homeownership opportunities for low-income residents.

Requested $3 million funding for the city's community land trust initiative in the FY26 budget
Highlighted a preservation project on Davidson Avenue as an example of creating homeownership opportunities
Emphasized the need for updated term sheets for programs like Opendoor to deliver housing for extremely low and very low income levels

Todd Baker

6:16:14

Hi, good afternoon.

6:16:15

Can you hear me?

Ahmed Tigani

6:16:16

Yep.

Todd Baker

6:16:17

Excellent.

6:16:17

Well, thank you to, chairmember Sanchez and to the rest of the council as well.

6:16:23

My name is Todd Baker.

6:16:24

I'm a project manager at the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

6:16:28

We have a fifty year history of organizing tenants in The Bronx to demand accountability from their landlords, from city agencies.

6:16:35

But in the last five to ten years, we're increasingly focused on our community land trust work and promoting ownership among residents.

6:16:43

So today, I'm here.

6:16:44

We actually incorporated the Bronx Community Land Trust five years ago and are now, along with community land trust across the city, modeling a version of homeownership and of resident controlled housing that can be deeply and permanently affordable and sustainable.

6:17:00

So today, we're asking the city council to ensure the enhanced level of funding that was committed to of $3,000,000 for the city's community land trust initiative in the FY twenty six budget.

6:17:11

I'm also here to just speak about the need for preservation projects, that create homeownership opportunities, like the project that we're working on right now with the council member at Davidson Avenue.

6:17:23

These projects demonstrate that HPD needs to be funding, you know, not just the rehabilitation and preservation, but the organizing work and the other work that's necessary to convert to cooperative ownership and to create real and lasting homeownership opportunities available for residents at extremely low and very low income levels like those here in our neighborhoods in the Northwest Bronx.

6:17:46

We're also engaged in new construction, so we know understand the importance of demonstrating an updated term sheet for programs like Opendoor that are able to commit a level of capital that's actually necessary to deliver, again, housing to folks at the extremely low and very low income levels we find in our district.

6:18:04

Those are some of our biggest priorities for the day.

6:18:06

We thank you so much for giving us the time to speak.

← Previous Chapter

Testimony by Jonathan Cohen, Housing Managing Attorney at Catholic Migration Services, on Critical Funding for Housing Preservation Programs

Next Chapter →

Testimony by Christopher Leon Johnson, Member of the Public, on Community Land Trust Issues