De Blasio housing policy could begin a path of upward mobility

“Change” is a recurring theme when we talk about community development and housing. Many who grew up in the northern and central Brooklyn communities of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights between the 1950s and 1990s have witnessed dramatic demographic changes in the past 10 to 15 years that have overshadowed the economic and cultural contributions of those neighborhoods’ low- to moderate-income African- and Caribbean-American residents.

As a son of Bedford-Stuyvesant who lived and worked in these communities, I’ve seen it, too. Massive amounts of private and global investment are flooding our neighborhoods as measured by the high volume of real estate transactions and the rapid growth of prices and market rents. Low- and moderate-income families are being forced to move, making room for residents who can afford to pay much higher rents.

In order to create a truly mixed-income city, the city of New York has a moral responsibility to undo public and private-sector policies that have contributed to high levels of economic and racial segregation in housing and public education. Public-sector intervention in the housing market needs to happen quickly because market forces are outpacing public policy and accelerating rapidly.

That is why I commend Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration for proposing a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing initiative that will promote economic equity for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers through economic integration. Housing integration is among the most sensitive issues facing our nation and city, but it holds the key to unlocking equity and reversing discrimination. MIH is one effective tool for advancing both of these objectives.

Had Mandatory Inclusionary Housing been in place during the previous Bedford-Stuyvesant re-zonings in 2007 and 2012, there would be 590 more permanently affordable housing units. Close to 2,000 residential units were built since those rezonings, of which only 130 are affordable units, and only 45 permanently affordable, with the rest subject to regulatory agreements expiring within 30 years.

Similarly, since the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill rezoning in 2007, 950 residential units have been built or are currently in construction. Of those units, only 93 are affordable, and 71 permanently affordable. Had Mandatory Inclusionary Housing been in place for these projects, 286 more units would be permanently affordable. These are just some examples from communities in north and central Brooklyn – there are dozens of other neighborhoods throughout the city where Mandatory Inclusionary Housing would have helped create a significant number of affordable units for low- and moderate-income residents.

Instead, what we’re seeing is growing economic segregation and income polarization. Residents are being displaced from low-density, brownstone housing stock and the vast majority of new units are aimed at upper-income residents. And this isn’t just impacting poor families – households with incomes between $40,000 and $90,000 are being shut out of the housing market as well. Residents who can’t afford to pay more than $1,500 per month in rent have little hope of finding an apartment priced in that range in Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant unless it’s publicly subsidized. Even for those who can afford to pay $2,300 per month, it’s extremely difficult to find a two-bedroom apartment. This means the workers who power our city, including teachers, secretaries, police officers, sanitation workers and bus drivers, can no longer afford to live in these neighborhoods.

The individual and societal costs of economic segregation are staggeringly high and difficult to reverse. In portions of Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights we are currently living with those costs. It’s simply not enough to try to transform high-poverty communities into areas where residents thrive. We also need to create options for low- and middle-income New Yorkers to live in so-called “high-opportunity” communities where strong schools, employment opportunities and social capital support upward mobility.

As our communities grow, we must make sure that there is a place for low- and middle-income residents, not just those who can afford to pay the most rent. Debates over whether very-low income residents are more deserving than low- and middle-income residents are not a compelling reason for not adopting Mandatory Inclusionary Housing promptly, especially when the historical record establishes that failure to do so means fewer affordable housing units will be provided for hard-working New Yorkers. 

Colvin Grannum is the president and CEO of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.