Statement of Good Jobs New York

by Bettina Damiani, Project Director

at the New York City Housing Development Corporation TEFRA Hearing

May 5, 2003

My name is Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, a joint project of the Fiscal Policy Institute with offices in Albany and New York City and Good Jobs First, based in Washington, DC. Good Jobs New York promotes accountability to taxpayers in the use of economic development subsidies. Our website (www.goodjobsny.org) contains the only publicly available database of the city's large corporate retention deals. In addition, for over a year we have tracked the funds coming into the city for rebuilding after the attacks of September 11^th 2001. This project, called Reconstruction Watch, seeks to assist grassroots groups to better understand the numerous incentive proposals being pressed during the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. The website is www.reconstructionwatch.net.

Ideally, this public hearing, which is mandated by the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, is an opportunity for the public to provide thoughtful and educated testimony regarding the proposed projects. Nothing is further from the truth. While Good Jobs New York acknowledges that HDC staff has been cordial during telephone inquiries concerning the two proposed Liberty Bond projects, the public has been left in the dark regarding aspects critical to understanding these projects, such as how much the apartments will rent for and details on the financing.

The HDC’s public hearing process stands in stark contrast to the New York State Housing Finance Agency’s policy of allowing the public access to materials concerning their Liberty Bond projects and to the newly adopted process by the City’s Industrial Development Agency regarding the allocation of commercial Liberty Bonds. We urge the HDC to follow their examples:

• The public hearing notice for these projects should be available on your website and made available electronically, instead of appearing once in a Saturday edition of the New York Post. Public hearing notices for commercial Liberty Bonds are posted on the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s website, www.newyorkbiz.com.

• Materials regarding proposed projects should be made available in advance of the hearing, mimicking the process by which the city now hold hearings and provides copies of materials on proposed commercial Liberty Bonds to the public at least six days prior to the public hearing. While HFA has been less than accommodating in terms of timely access to their documents, our staff has still seen project materials prior to hearings. 

The news that there are no affordable housing units in either of the Liberty Bond projects proposed today is quite simply, stunning.  Our colleagues in the Liberty Bond Housing Coalition will make concrete statements today on this substandard use of these unique resources and its negative affect on the future of Lower Manhattan. Good Jobs New York joins them in their anger that low and moderate income New Yorkers will be excluded from these projects. But since the public has not had access to any of the financial documentation regarding these projects, the reason why the housing needs of New York are being ignored is unclear. The immediate burden is on the HDC – not to those of us testifying today - to prove to hardworking New Yorkers and the nation’s taxpayers why resources earmarked for our city’s recovery after 9/11 will, by and large, fail to benefit the majority of New Yorkers.

GJNY does acknowledge that the HDC has, where the Governor has colossally failed, attempted to find a way to leverage Liberty Bonds to help make a dent in the affordable housing crisis. The Bloomberg Administration’s plan to implement a 3% “commitment fee” on the allocation of these Liberty Bonds generating $9 million to create 225 units of housing is refreshing. But, New Yorkers should be cautioned; the lack of transparency around the allocation of bonds by this agency is astonishing. One’s skepticism could reach new heights when cash is involved. Of immediate concern is to ensure, particularly during our fiscal crisis, that every penny of these funds creates mixed income housing. HDC must, without delay, put into place a truly crystal clear process by which New Yorker’s can contribute to the plan, participate in public hearings and be kept abreast of how HDC plans to distribute the remainder of Liberty Bonds and the funds generated by the proposed “commitment fee.” 

Thank you for your consideration of our testimony.