Let’s make “affordable housing” mean something

To the editor,

Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor largely on a platform of “affordability,” particularly in housing. But two urgent questions remain: What does affordability mean, and how can it be achieved?

Affordability varies drastically across communities. What’s affordable in parts of Riverdale is not in the South Bronx. Yet successive city administrations have ignored this simple reality. So too with the federal Area Median Income, or AMI, metric, which inflates New York City’s average by including data from affluent suburbs like Scarsdale and Great Neck. This skews rent qualifications and excludes many low- and middle-income households from housing they need. That manipulation must end.

Mr. Mamdani takes office at a critical moment. NYCHA, long a safety net for the city’s poorest, has deteriorated under neglect and mismanagement. Proposals to privatize or “federalize” it offer no real fix. Meanwhile, programs like Mitchell-Lama, which once supported middle- and low-income families through cooperatives and subsidized rentals, are underfunded and fading. The 421-a tax abatement expired in 2022 after years of abuse, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development remains under-resourced.

One of the few bright spots is the city’s Housing Development Corporation, HDC, a lean and effectively managed agency modeled on private financial institutions. HDC’s bond issuance authority has enabled the creation of what may be the largest stock of publicly aided affordable housing in the country. If it were granted new tools — such as revised tax abatements and targeted waivers for burdensome building codes — it could drive serious progress.

A case in point: Some years ago, then-UFT President Randi Weingarten helped launch a project in Melrose, South Bronx, to attract teachers by building affordable housing tied to school service. HDC helped finance it through pension-backed bonds. The housing helped schools, families, and neighborhoods. It worked — and it should be replicated.

Land acquisition remains a challenge. In the past, developments relied on city-owned lots abandoned in the 1960s and ’70s. That inventory is gone. But many underused or vacant government properties remain, withheld for dubious reasons. Reclaiming these for housing — along with rethinking obsolete “manufacturing zones” — requires political will, not just plans. Condemnation powers and careful study must be used in the public interest.

We also need reform. A unified code enforcement agency could replace the current fragmented system prone to corruption. And the City Planning process, riddled with delays and politics, badly needs overhaul.

Private-sector expertise and investment will also be vital. Developers must receive fair returns, backed by government guarantees or insurance, as HDC’s mortgage programs demonstrate. But we must remove costly regulatory bottlenecks and inefficiencies that drive up prices and breed mistrust.

These are just first steps. As someone who has grown skeptical of campaign promises, I hope Mr. Mamdani proves the cynics wrong. For centuries, this city has given people more than shelter — it has offered opportunity. That promise must be renewed.

Charles G. Moerdler