De Blasio announces largest affordable-housing production since Ed Koch

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has released new figures showing that 2016 has had the second highest production of affordable housing units in New York City history and the most since the Ed Koch years.

On Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio announced that during fiscal 2016, his administration secured 23,284 affordable apartments and homes, bringing the mayor’s plan for increasing affordable units in the city to 52,936 units so far, enough for 130,000 New Yorkers.

“The biggest and most progressive affordable housing plan in the nation is on-budget and ahead of schedule,” de Blasio said. “Financing enough affordable homes for 130,000 people in just two and a half years is an extraordinary accomplishment.”

New Yorkers who earn the least — less than $24,000 per year — saw an additional 3,500 new affordable apartments become available, according to the mayor’s office. More than 4,000 affordable homes for low-income seniors were also in development.

“The gains we have made to date represent tangible progress for New Yorkers struggling to find and stay in affordable housing,” saidHousing Development Corporation President Gary Rodney. “Our robust toolbox of financing programs have allowed us to spur groundbreaking new developments and preserve the quality and affordability of existing housing for people at all income levels that is so essential to thriving, diverse neighborhoods.”

Evictions have declined 24 percent in two years, and the Rent Guidelines Board’s second consecutive rent freeze affected 2.5 million tenants, according to the mayor’s office.

“This year’s numbers prove that this focus on affordable housing is bearing fruit,”Director of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning CommissionCarl Weisbrod stated. “Neighborhood planning initiatives, like the East New York Community Plan, will increase capacity to ensure future housing opportunities and create thriving neighborhoods with investments to support growth.”

Since 2014, 25 percent of all affordable housing in the city reached New Yorkers making less $31,000 individually or $40,800 for a family of three, the mayor’s office stated. Fifty percent of those units targeted the lowest-income families, those making less than $19,050 individually or $24,500 for a family of three.