BY Sherry Mazzocchi
“If the city really wanted to provide affordable housing, they could do it,” argued Congressman Adriano Espaillat.
In a sweeping presentation to a packed auditorium, Congressman Adriano Espaillat reiterated support for “truly affordable housing” in Inwood.
Espaillat convened the town hall on Mon., Mar. 12th at the Washington Heights Academy.
The Congressman, who is from Washington Heights, said, “If the city really wanted to provide affordable housing, they could do it.”
He was referring to the city’s plan to rezone Inwood and build thousands of units of market rate housing with a smaller component of affordable apartments. Rezoning and building market rate housing would create a domino effect on the area’s rents, he said.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which has led the city’s redevelopment process in Inwood to date, was represented by Government and Community Relations Associate Charlie Samboy at the meeting, who insisted that the agency has continued to listen to and respond to community concerns.
Espaillat said his constituents’ number-one concern is, “Housing, housing, housing.”
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Espaillat has no veto power over the city’s decisions. “But I can organize,” he said.
Read more: Revisiting the Inwood rezoning | Manhattan Times
Related:
Op-Led: Democracy Meets Dominicans
From Undocumented to Congress: Adriano Espaillat Needles Trump at DNC | Observer
We invite you to subscribe to the weekly Uptown Love newsletter, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter & Instagram or e-mail us at [email protected].
Mister Sterling
March 14, 2018 at 2:46 pmI suspect that the re-zoning plan would be opposed even if the city came back with 80% or more affordable housing. This is NIMBY-ism, plain and simple. Inwood cannot stay the same while East New York has completed its rezoning process. Inwood is not some far away neighborhood in Brooklyn. It is Manhattan. It is time to re-zone, an the current plan is it.