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Q&A
Addressing housing needs for middle-income earners through affordable homeownership
1:04:45
ยท
3 min
Commissioner Leah Goodridge discusses potential solutions for addressing the housing needs of middle-income earners in New York City, focusing on promoting affordable homeownership opportunities.
- Suggestion to increase affordable homeownership programs similar to past initiatives like Mitchell-Lama and Nehemiah houses
- Discussion of the declining availability of affordable homeownership opportunities in recent years
- Reference to an op-ed by city council members pushing for more homeownership programs
- Mention of successful models like Parkchester and Co-Op City as examples of affordable homeownership communities
Keith Powers
1:04:45
That that example around the middle income, a hundred and 30,000 studio example, for though for that person who you take away if if if the adjustment here is to take away MIH and to not allow them to be part of the MIH program and and also we're not allowing for new housing to be built in various different places around the city, which was what City of was getting at.
1:05:20
What do we do with that $130,000 that person is making 130 ks a year, who is working a job, maybe working for the city, and doesn't have a place here because it feels like that is also a group of people that are losing their path here in the city.
1:05:37
And it can go higher than 130 k, I think, to even get there.
1:05:40
I'm not saying it should be priority number one or priority number two, but I certainly think that is a there's a fossil people are, I think, are saying that also that, like, there's a deep feeling like that sort of middle portion is really losing their path to affording Manhattan, Brooklyn, many other parts of the city right now, especially as they change over rapidly.
1:06:00
What do we do about those?
1:06:03
Earnest question.
1:06:05
Just asking, what do we do about that if we take away like MIH and other programs for them?
Leah Goodridge
1:06:10
Well I think one of one of the things as a city that we should look at moving forward is how do we build more affordable homeownership.
1:06:20
I am a product of growing up in a Michalama in Brooklyn, in Brownsville, and when I was growing up, you know, people had options of getting Nehemiah house, other types of affordable home ownership.
1:06:34
I was having a conversation recently with a fellow commissioner about the fact that these opportunities are just not as ample as they were years ago because it's just is not a priority.
1:06:46
There was an op ed in City and State by three city council members explicitly specifically about this issue and pushing for more homeownership, affordable homeownership.
1:06:57
We look at Parkchester for example, there are ways to collaborate with private developers and not have it the the end result just be like I described, thousand dollar studios, we can have affordable home ownership.
1:07:10
So we have communities like Parkchester, Co Op City, many communities that are co ops and other types of homes for middle income New Yorkers because everyone I mean I'm a tenants rights advocate, I'm unapologetic about that, I'm a tenant myself, I was on the rent guidelines board for four years, so this is something that I'm extremely passionate about.
1:07:36
I also grew up in New York City, not with a silver spoon in my mouth, so this this is something that is not it relates to me
Keith Powers
1:07:44
personally.
1:07:44
So
Leah Goodridge
1:07:46
I think you know for people who want to move out of tenancy and want home want to be able to buy a home, that opportunity is few and far between today and that's a direction that I think that the city should move towards.
1:08:04
I was hoping that when we talked about a housing plan that that would be part of it.