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Affordable Housing at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village

Testimony last updated September 25, 2006

Testimony to the New York City Council Housing & Buildings Committee Preserving Affordable Housing: Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village

Brad Lander
Director, Pratt Center for Community Development
September 25, 2006

Chairman Dilan, Councilmember Garodnick, members of the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to present this testimony. My name is Brad Lander and I am the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. We work for a more just, equitable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers by helping communities to plan for and realize their futures. As you know, we are deeply committed to creating and preserving affordable housing for a wide range of New Yorkers.

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Living Libraries

Past Project last updated March 31, 2009

An Affordable Housing Opportunity Takes Root

New York City's branch libraries play a vital role in the life of the city, acculturating new generations of immigrants, supplementing children's education beyond school walls, and offering new media to those who would not otherwise have access to technology.

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Community Voices and the Future of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area

Report last updated September 15, 2009

Community Voices and the Future of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area Report

SPURA Matters is a yearlong initiative facilitated by nonprofit community organizations that wished to renew a community conversation about the redevelopment of the long-vacant Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA) site on the Lower East Side. Over several months in late 2008 and early 2009, the initiative consulted with local stakeholders to engage them in a dialogue about community needs and potential uses for the site.

SPURA_CommunityVoices_Sept17,09.pdf

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Community Development Zones

Testimony last updated September 28, 2006

Testimony on Intro No. 346 -- Community Development Zones Designation
New York City Council Committees on General Welfare, Health & Community Development

Rudy Bryant
Associate Director, Pratt Center for Community Development
September 28, 2006

The Pratt Center is grateful for the opportunity to present this testimony, and appreciates the committees' efforts to address these critical issues.

We acknowledge the Mayor's courage to undertake “reducing poverty” (this could define his legacy) and we welcome the Commission on Economic Opportunities report.

While we understand the Commission's desire to target action to specific populations (young children, young adults, and the working poor), we are concerned that this approach misses the critical importance of communities – in both the problems and solutions. The proposed action by the Council to amend the Charter to create the CDZ would address the critical goal of taking a community development approach to these issues.

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East Brooklyn Housing

Past Project last updated April 6, 2009

East Brooklyn's neighborhoods now face both a serious need for affordable housing, and a significant number of foreclosures. Like the rest of the New York City, East Brooklyn experienced a dramatic increase in housing prices from 2000 to 2007 -- both rental and sales -- while incomes steadily declined. In the neighborhoods of Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Broadway Junction, Cypress Hills, City Line, East New York, New Lots, Spring Creek and Starrett City, almost half the population pays more than 30% of its income on housing, and around one third of residents live in poverty.

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Willets Point Redevelopment Plan

Testimony last updated May 1, 2007

Testimony Regarding Draft Scope of Work for Environmental Impact Statement

Mercedes Narciso, R.A.
Senior Planner, Pratt Center for Community Development
May 1, 2007

Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony today. The Pratt Center for Community Development is pleased to submit comments on the Draft Scope of Work for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Willets Point Development Plan. My name is Mercedes Narciso and I am a Senior Planner with the Pratt Center for Community Development, a university-based center that works for a more just, equitable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers by helping communities to plan for and realize their future. We are also members of Queens for Affordable Housing (QFAH), a coalition of community-based organizations that was formed in 2005 to ensure that new residential development in the borough creates housing that is truly affordable to a diverse mix of Queens residents.

We believe that the Willets Point Redevelopment Plan has the potential to generate growth in an equitable manner. However, it is essential to recognize that this project -- rooted in large-scale eminent domain & the displacement of 250 businesses, estimated to provide more than 1,000 blue-collar jobs -- must have very substantial benefits for low-income, working-class, and moderate-income Queens residents. We believe the plan should incorporate the following recommendations:

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Coney Island for All

Project last updated April 6, 2009

Residents and Workers Weigh in on Rezoning

A coalition of community, labor and housing organizations concerned with the future of Coney Island has joined in support of Coney Island for All: A Platform for Equitable Development, on which the Pratt Center for Community Development served as a key advisor. As a rezoning plan for Coney Island proceeds through the city's land use process, the platform outlines measures to ensure that new development in the beloved seaside area helps meet the area's deep needs for good jobs, affordable housing, retail services, preservation and expansion of the historic amusement area, and other community benefits.

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421-a: Still Subsidizing Luxury Development

Report last updated December 8, 2006

This report highlights 54 condo buildings - built in the last few years or currently under construction - that would still be eligible for 421-a tax relief, even if they would have been built after the reforms proposed by the Speaker and the Mayor. These buildings contain more than 6,100 high-priced condominiums, far beyond the reach of average New Yorkers.

Even with the proposed reforms, New York City will be providing substantial tax subsidies to luxury developers and building owners who do no provide affordable housing, and who pay substandard wages.

PrattCenter-421a-Still_subsidizing_luxury_development.pdf

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