Inwood Library Plan a Trojan Horse for Uptown
Press Release
As the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and New York Public Library (NYPL) announce they have selected a developer for the Inwood Library Project uptown, Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) calls on the City Administration to halt the project.
"The Inwood Library plan is a Trojan Horse for Uptown," said Rep. Espaillat. "New York City has a housing crisis. Market prices continue to rise with families being pushed out from our neighborhoods because they can no longer afford their rent. The 2010 Census indicated the exodus of over 14,000 residents from that neighborhood, second only to Buffalo, New York. As we brace for the 2020 Census data, we cannot allow the City to push through a rezoning of our community without first demonstrating how they will guarantee they will preserve affordable housing and create at least 5,000 new units," he added.
The Inwood Library is the first of 33 projected and 40 potential development sites identified in the Inwood rezoning plan, which is currently being considered under the City Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). In order to advance the project, the City has selected a joint venture between the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), Ranger Properties, Alembic, and the Children's Village. Although the plan offers affordable units, Rep. Espaillat insists that what the City has offered is far from enough.
"The fact is that if this rezoning goes through as is, there will be a direct and indirect displacement of thousands of residents," said Rep. Espaillat. "Washington Heights and Inwood have one of the highest concentrations of rent-stabilized housing vs. market rate in the City. In Community Board 12 alone, 86.8% of the housing units are stabilized vs. 47.2% for the City as a whole, with a large portion of that accounting for preferential rents which would be lost without additional protections. In order for Washington Heights and Inwood to keep their character as a home for working-class New Yorkers, we need to protect the units we have and guarantee additional units of affordable housing," he added.
According to a 2017 Pro Publica study, there are 3,033 apartments with preferential rents in the 10034 zip code. That's 29% of all the rent-stabilized units, which accounts for over 10,000 housing units in that zip code. In zip 10040, there are 3,266 apartments with preferential rents, which accounts for 30.1% of occupied rent-stabilized units in this zip code. Between 20-30% of these residents live below the poverty line. The current Inwood rezoning proposal would only create 1,300 affordable units, but by utilizing vacant lots and available sites throughout the designated Inwood area, the plan comes nowhere close to bridging the gap for the units that will be lost. A projected 6,299 preferential rent families would potentially be bought out or pushed out once their 2-year leases expire. This could amount to the greatest displacement of any community since the Robert Moses construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway.
"At a time when our City spends $2.8 billion yearly to house the homeless, according to new figures by the Office of Management and Budget, I urge Mayor de Blasio to ensure residents of Washington Heights and Inwood receive a fair share of the 300,000 units of affordable housing he has promised, starting with the creation of 5,000 new apartments Uptown, with at least 1,000 of those apartments set aside for senior citizens. I further recommend that the development be confined to the Sherman Creek area east of 10th Avenue, excluding the commercial corridors of 207th Street and Dyckman Street. Our goal can only be accomplished by including not for profit, City and private development in the Washington Heights/ Inwood neighborhood. This commitment must happen before any rezoning proposal is adopted," Rep. Espaillat concluded.
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