BEDFORD STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing off a major campaign promise on affordable housing as the city faces a multi-billion dollar budget gap.<\/p>\n
He is now appealing a court order that would force the city to expand its rent voucher program – an expensive plan meant to help low-income New Yorkers pay for housing.<\/p>\n
However, Mamdani did announce a new “Neighborhood Builders Fast Track” program to speed up affordable housing construction on city-owned land.<\/p>\n
The mayor made the announcement at a city-owned lot in Bed-Stuy. It’s one of three he has identified for fast-tracked affordable housing – the other two sites are in the Bronx and Queens.<\/p>\n
“New Yorkers cannot afford to wait any longer,” Mamdani said. “We are creating a pre-qualified roster of developers. We are cutting down on the time it takes to build affordable housing in this city by up to two and a half years.”<\/p>\n
In Bed-Stuy, the median rent increased 90% from 2006 to 2023, pricing many locals out.<\/p>\n
“I’m seeing a lot of buildings that are coming up in this neighborhood that are not for the people in the neighborhood, and that’s a concern for me,” said resident Robert Motion.<\/p>\n
And affordable housing is top of mind and relative.<\/p>\n
“I like the idea that he’s going to fast-track the affordable housing as long as they are affordable, because there are so many of us that cannot afford this ‘affordable’ that they’re talking about,” said resident Kathleen Snyder.<\/p>\n
Despite the announcement on Wednesday, Mamdani has come under fire for continuing to fight against a popular housing voucher program the City Council voted to expand.<\/p>\n
The court challenge was started by Mayor Eric Adams, with both mayors saying it’s too expensive.<\/p>\n
“We are speaking about an expansion that would then cost over $4 billion in the next few years alone. I am deeply committed to ending the homelessness crisis in the city,” Mamdani said. “And also, I’m committed to doing so in a manner that is sustainable for both the medium and the long term.”<\/p>\n
Jordan Christopher came all the way from the Bronx to hear the mayor’s plan.<\/p>\n
“I came to see about if there was going to be any changes in terms of rent,” Christopher said. “So that things would be more affordable for everyday working people.”<\/p>\n
The mayor says conversations about the voucher program are ongoing, but after working to cut the city’s $12 billion deficit he says he inherited down to $5.4 billion, the city is still in the red and he is trying not to raise property taxes.<\/p>\n
“The property tax has always been something that we did not want to pursue,” Mamdani said. “We laid it clearly that this was a last resort.”<\/p>\n
Some are asking if Mamdani is scaling back on a key campaign pledge by not expanding the voucher program, but others say these are the difficult fiscal choices of a mayor who may have run on idealism, but is now coming up against the reality of the city budget and deficit.<\/p>\n
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