Despite Congratulations, Completed Affordable Housing Falls Short Of Need

As public officials in New York tout their own work to build affordable housing, housing advocates are filing lawsuits against them arguing that they have fallen way short of the amount of units their cities need.

1 minute read

November 6, 2007, 8:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg

"In New Rochelle, where 25 new single-family town houses have been completed, Andrew J. Spano, the county executive, said he was 'proud that Westchester County helped make this happen.' County Legislator Vito Pinto, whose district includes parts of New Rochelle, used the word 'delighted' to express his feelings."

"Similarly, Mount Vernon officials hailed construction of 16 affordable two-family homes, a project to which the county also contributed money."

"But critics say they see self-congratulation as misplaced, given that the county has built only about half the affordable housing it determined was needed in the early 1990s."

"In mid-July a federal judge, apparently persuaded by the critics' arguments, refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed early in the year in which the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York Inc., a civil rights group, claims that the failure to build affordable housing effectively keeps Westchester's municipalities racially segregated."

FULL STORY: The Affordability Problem

Sunday, November 4, 2007 in The New York Times

Government / Politics Housing New York

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