'Housing First' Plan for NYC Draws Support

Joining citywide criticism of expected New York City budget cuts, religious leaders from the five boroughs have called upon Mayor Michael Bloomberg to renew public investment in housing and support the Housing First! 10-year, $10 billion plan to help create and preserve affordable housing.Urging the mayor "to enact a visionary plan to address New York City's housing crisis," 60 members of the New York City clergy gathered at the steps of City Hall to "personally" deliver a letter of support for the plan. Housing First, a coalition of over 200 community, business, civic, labor, and religious organizations, aims to create at least 100,000 new affordable housing units and preserve another 85,000 through public funding, new land-use policies, and the removal of regulatory barriers. Attendees expressed concern about statistics showing that an "unprecedented" 36,000 New Yorkers are homeless, the vacancy rate is falling below 3%, and over half a million households will have to spend over half their income for rent. Telephone calls seeking comment from City Hall were not returned by MortgageWire's deadline.