Council Speaker Christine Quinn unveiled a plan today for the city to buy unsold luxury condominiums and turn them into subsidized housing for middle-income families. Speaking in her state of the city address this afternoon, Ms. Quinn said the initiative would “add thousands of new affordable homes."
The announcement comes one year after Ms. Quinn first called for the creation of a new policy tool aimed at bolstering affordable housing options for middle-income families citywide—a 21st century Mitchell-Lama. But the economic collapse humbled those ambitions, according to members of the committee she formed to tackle the issue. Instead, the committee's aim shifted to making use of existing or unfinished housing. read more »