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 Testimony to the New York State Housing Finance Agency

From Margaret Hughes, Executive Director, Good Old Lower East Side

Good Old Lower East Side has worked on the Lower East Side for 25 years. We have worked with tenants to stabilize the community they live in and to fight for better housing Now that the community is stabilized, we are fighting to allow long-term low-income community members to stay in this community. The gentrification and displacement that the so-called "Liberty Bonds" will create in our community is immense. Instead of following the HFA's mission of a public purpose, these liberty  bonds are shams and giveaways to private developers to create luxury housing and to make outrageous profits. The 5% non-luxury does not qualify as a public benefit because it is for households that make one and a half times the NYC Area Median Income (about $94,200 a year).

In a recent review of census data, Pratt Institute (PICCED) determined that 75% of low-income residents are at the most desperate for housing. We ask that-the Liberty Bonds provide housing for 75% low-income and 25% market rate. We believe this is a more equitable use of public subsidies.

Otherwise the low-income communities of Lower East Side and Chinatown will find themselves under attack. They will be pushed out of these historically immigrant and low-income communities.

525 East 6th Street, New York, N.Y. 10009  (212) 533-2541  Fax: (212) 533-8126    info@goles.org