GROUPS DEMAND NEW YORK STATE STOP PROPOSALS TO USE RECONSTRUCTION RESOURCES FOR LUXURY HOUSING IN LOWER MANHATTAN

Members to Attend Hastily Called Meeting of the State’s Housing Finance Agency

Contact: Victor Bach, Community Service Society 212.614.5492; Bettina Damiani, Good Jobs New York 212.414.9394 or 347-432-0315; Ron Shifmann, PICCED 631.749.0778 or 917.705.8935

When: Wednesday, August 7, 2002 at 10:30 (group members to hand out fliers) – Board meeting begins at 11:00 am.

Where: New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) - 641 Lexington Avenue (at 54th Street), 4th floor.

Who: Community members and housing advocates will attend board meeting and pass out fliers prior to the meeting.

What: The New York State Housing Finance Agency is proposing to finance three projects in Lower Manhattan with Federal, tax-exempt Liberty Bonds. Ninety-five percent of the units are priced at luxury market rates, while 5% of the units are targeted at "moderate-income" (for example, a family of four earning $94,2000 per year).  This 95% market and 5% non-market split is a major shift away from New York State HFA standing policy. Normally, HFA finances projects with tax-exempt bonds for multi-family projects with 80% market rate units and 20% low-income units.  Rents at the three projects range from a subsidized studio for $1,649 to a market rate three bedroom for $6,267.

Why: Community members are outraged that Liberty Bonds, whose specific purpose is to benefit the public, are being allocated to developers that would create housing out of reach for nearly three quarters of New Yorkers.

To learn more about the Liberty Bonds Housing Coalition and the three proposed projects, visit goodjobsny.org/rec_news.htm

Background:  In March, President Bush approved $8 billion worth of Private Activity Bonds, a.k.a. Liberty Bonds, for New York City after the September 11th terrorist attacks. New York State has proposed using a significant portion of its $800 million share for residential rental property (the total allocation for residential rental property is $1.6 billion, split evenly between the Governor and the Mayor) to finance three residential buildings in Lower Manhattan, two in Battery Park City and the other in the Financial District. These three projects consisting of 840 new apartments would be financed with $340 million of tax-exempt Liberty Bonds.