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Williamsburg, NY - City Cuts $500G from Pledged $2M Fund to Protect Waterfront Renters |
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Williamsburg, NY - The city is backing off a pledge to spend $2 million to battle tenant displacement along the Brooklyn waterfront.
The Bloomberg administration committed to creating the fund in an agreement that was key to gaining community support - and City Council approval - for a 2005 rezoning. That rezoning allowed for high-rise residential development on the Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfront.
Now the funding, intended to protect longtime tenants as rents in the neighborhood rise, will be slashed by $550,000.
"You're going to see a lot more low-income people being forced out," said Marty Needelman, director of Brooklyn Legal Services. "You're going to see an increase in harassment and neglect to get these people out because there will be no enforcement, nobody there to help them."
The North Brooklyn Tenant Anti-Displacement Collaborative is losing $300,000 of its $1.3 million grant. Director Rich Mazur said the group will have to lay off staff that provides legal representation to tenants facing eviction or harassment.
The group also aids families in securing Section 8 vouchers and applying for affordable housing units in new developments like Williamsburg's The Edge.
"It's crazy," he said, adding that low-income tenants are already "on the verge of being out on the street."
A city study at the time predicted that 2500 people could be displaced by the rezoning, which sent waterfront property values soaring.
"I understand that we're in a real fiscal bind so we've got to cut services that are important, but this was a promise," said Councilman David Yassky.
Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff pledged to create the $2 million fund in a letter to the City Council on the eve of its vote to approve the rezoning. The agreement also said that 33% of units built in the area would be affordable housing.
Seth Donlin, a spokesman for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said the agency got stuck footing the bill after plans to pay for the fund by selling air rights over an MTA bus lot were delayed.
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Read Comments (3) — Post Yours »
1
Nov 30, 2008 at 03:07 PM murray Says:
What a shock! a politician broke a promise, like thats never happened before.
All things in NYC can be well afforded, it just depends on how many new taxes, and how many tickets they want to give out.
2
Nov 30, 2008 at 09:20 PM Anonymous Says:
After he'll get tp keep the $400 checks, and collect the 6 cents per plastic bag, maybe then he'll release that money.
What a clown he is.
3
Dec 01, 2008 at 04:22 PM Learned the hard way Says:
“ What a shock! a politician broke a promise, like thats never happened before.
All things in NYC can be well afforded, it just depends on how many new taxes, and how many tickets they want to give out. ”
Tickets won't help him either, because once someone gets a ticket, they become more careful. A blitz of tickets only works once, as those bitten become extra careful.