In New York, Metro IAF Blazes a Trail in Fight for Affordable, Clean & Safe Housing

On Monday, October 9th, 6,000 Metro IAF New Yorkers, from NYCHA residents to senior citizens, church congregants and more, rallied in the pouring rain, packing the sidewalks at City Hall in demand of decent, affordable housing for their communities. For residents, Mayor de Blasio's pledge to make housing affordable has come too little, too late for the many who now find themselves being displaced at an alarming rate. Metro IAF leaders joined together to challenge the Mayor to support their own plan of prioritizing city rent subsidies for those residents making between $20,000 to $35,000 a year, building 15,000 senior housing units on vacant NYCHA land that would free up existing NYCHA units for younger families and rehabbing these same public housing developments from top to bottom. City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and several other elected leaders attended the rally in support of Metro IAF's plan.

METRO IAF NY’S DEMANDS:

Demand #1: Clean Up NYCHA Housing & Deplorable Living Conditions
Thousands of housing code violations, like suffocating mold and leaks, have been documented in NYCHA properties. Metro IAF NY demands $17 billion be spent to fix the decrepit conditions of NYCHA housing from top to bottom.
Demand #2: Build 15,000 Apartments for Seniors on Vacant NYCHA Land
Metro IAF NY looks to build 15,000 units of affordable senior housing on NYCHA-owned vacant lots across New York City. These new senior housing units can free up space for as many as 50,000 people to move into NYCHA and will be modeled after the Redwood Senior Living development in Brooklyn built by Metro IAF affiliate, East Brooklyn Congregations.
Demand #3: Reprioritize the Rent Subsidies
City rent subsidies should be reprioritized for those residents making between $20,000 to $35,000 a year.
Demand #4: Hold Landlords That Destabilize Neighborhoods Accountable
The Mayor, District Attorney and Police Commissioner should work more aggressively against those landlords who destabilize our neighborhoods with impunity and who do not worry about accountability. Today, a subset of landlords have a business model built on buying buildings with rent-stabilized rents and then waging a campaign of eviction, disrepair and even threats to get people out. Some will have to go to jail, and others will have to give up their property.

PRESS LINKS: