COUNCILMEMBER
ALAN JAY GERSON APPLAUDS BOARD’S DECISION TO POSTPONE VOTE ON STATE LIBERTY
BOND PROJECTS
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August 15, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Michael Kadish (212) 788-7722 Michael.Kadish@council.nyc.ny.us |
New York City—Council Member Alan Jay Gerson applauded yesterday’s decision by the State Public Authorities Control Board to shelve two of three Liberty bond projects brought before it by the New York State Housing Finance Agency. “Downtown’s revitalization should include housing,” said Gerson, “and that housing must provide a substantial number of units that are affordable to middle and lower income New Yorkers.”
Gerson praised the leadership of Assembly Speaker Silver. “Thankfully the Speaker was able to put a halt to these projects so that the community’s input can be heard. These projects have been fast tracked and little information has been made available to the public. I believe the Speaker is correct to demand more financial information and time to assess if this is how Liberty bonds can best contribute to Lower Manhattan’s housing needs.”
Gerson also said, “The amount of affordable housing proposed in these developments (5%) is paltry. It is incumbent on the Housing Finance Agency to show why it cannot at least adhere to the 20% affordability standard of its own programs. In addition, we should study how these bonds could be used to preserve downtown’s scarce affordable housing before we allocate more bonds to building luxury projects.”