New York City’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio, has called himself a “pro-development progressive.” Now real estate interests who spent nearly $790,000 to get him elected are eager to find out how, exactly, that will translate into public policy.
De Blasio made a campaign promise to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing by requiring that developers set aside a portion of their projects for affordable units when new zoning is approved.
“The private sector is anxious to help the city do this, but if they’re going to do it in the red, then they’re not going to do it,” Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, tells the New York Daily News.
De Blasio has been a cheerleader for a taxpayer-subsidized sports arena in Brooklyn, Atlantic Yards, that was supposed to include 2,250 units of affordable housing — none of which has been built. Developer Forest City Ratner, which raised $73,000 for de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, has received $760 million in tax breaks on the project. Source: nydailynews.com
