Testimony regarding the allocation of Liberty Bonds for

90 Washington Street and 95 Maiden Lane

Monday May 5, 2003

NYC Housing Development Corporation, Public Hearing

Comments provided by: Katie Taylor, Senior Planner

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the proposed allocation of $295 million in liberty Bonds for a development at 90 Washington Street, a 26-story development with 386 units plus penthouse sponsored by JDM Washington LLC, and 95 Maiden Lane on Gold Street, a 50-story building with 650 units sponsored by Rockrose Development Corporation.

My name is Katie Taylor. I’m a Senior Planner at the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED) in Brooklyn. PICCED is a university-based public interest community development, urban planning and architectural office serving the New York Metropolitan area.

Since September 11, PICCED has joined forces with several civic, labor and community groups in a variety of different coalitions focused on the aftermath of this unprecedented disaster and the rebuilding of our great city. This has included the Civic Alliance to Rebuild New York, the Labor and Community Advocacy Network (LCAN), Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot) and Imagine New York. Through all of these initiatives we have worked in collaboration with other groups to focus on the issues of social, economic, and environmental justice, and the short- and long-term impacts of the events of September 11^th and the recession on low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

First of all, we applaud the City’s plan to create a $9 million fund for affordable housing from fees attached to the City’s $400 million in Liberty Bonds. We also applaud the quality of the proposed two developments and their integration into the fabric of Lower Manhattan. However, it is of great concern to us that there are no affordable units within the current development proposals before the Housing Development Corporation for the use of the tax-exempt Liberty Bonds. It is also of great concern to us that the Mayor’s plan calls for all of the $9 million to be directed outside of Lower Manhattan. This is in violation of the spirit of the Mayor’s vision that calls for a 20% inclusion of affordable housing in Lower Manhattan. Given that diversity is the strength and backbone of our great city, it is critical that we fully maximize our limited resources and ensure that they are utilized to engender integration and diversity in all areas.

New York has recently been ranked the third most segregated metropolitan area between Blacks and whites in the country, worse than Chicago and Newark, according to a study by the Lewis Mumford Center. Even more dramatically, New York ranks number one in the country for both segregation between Hispanics and whites as well as between Asians and whites. With the Liberty Bonds and other resources for rebuilding, we have the opportunity to address this issue and to bring more diversity and integration into Lower Manhattan. However, by not including affordable units within the developments approved with Liberty Bonds, the City is effectively increasing the already dramatic divides of segregation in New York City.

In Lower Manhattan, there has already been a steady out-migration of Blacks and Hispanics. The Black and Hispanic populations have declined by 13.7% and 11% respectively since 1990 (2000 Census). In 2000, the area bounded by Community Districts 1, 2 and 3 was nearly 50% white and 6% Black with a significant but isolated concentration of Asians located in Chinatown.

New York City prizes itself for its diversity, yet the economic disparities between rich and poor are dramatic and rising with increasing unemployment, pending layoffs and the city’s policy of market-driven housing development. In fact, this situation is worse now than ever as the gap between the highest and the lowest incomes in New York City is one of the greatest in the country.

Lower Manhattan is one example of this trend. In each of the three Lower Manhattan Community Districts, the top fifth of the population have incomes more than 6 times the lowest fifth. The top fifth of the households in Lower Manhattan in 2000 earned on average approximately $140,000 while the bottom fifth earned on average under $20,000. This is the gap between the average financial sector worker and the average service worker.

As it stands today, more often than not these extremes are living in separate quarters either in the large number of luxury developments in Battery Park City and the Financial District or in subsidized developments sprinkled throughout Lower Manhattan. To make matters worse, the little diversity preserved through subsidized developments is in danger of disappearing permanently as subsidies protecting more than 11,000 units below 14^th Street face expiration within the next few years.

The Mayor has demonstrated a commitment to begin to tackle the affordable housing crisis and his vision for Lower Manhattan committed the city to the principle of economic diversity. However he will need more resources to make a dent in the problem and even more resolve to persevere in attaining this objective. To do this he needs the support of the Governor and LMDC, which has failed to respond to a request for funds to provide for affordable units of housing in Lower Manhattan. The City’s lack of resolve on this issue and the Governor’s cavalier attitude toward the people of this city and to the principle of diversity are indeed sources of concern. We believe it is tragic that those people the Governor hailed as heroes after the devastating attacks of 9.11—EMS, Fire, Police, teachers, municipal workers – can’t afford to live in his vision of Lower Manhattan.