At
the PEF 2008 annual convention, a resolution was passed to help members find
affordable housing, especially in downstate areas.Delegate Luis Acosta of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) in New York City said his office is inundated with requests for help with housing issues.
At the convention, Acosta proposed PEF seek legislation to allow and provide members information on state financed housing developments with affordable rents, and state programs which could give state employees low cost/low interest home mortgages in areas where housing costs are prohibitively high.
While PEF is working on developing legislation to enable members to apply for state-funded and affordable housing opportunities, members in NYC may want to investigate a number of resources.
Martha Nadell recently made news when she won a housing lottery just by being number 40 in a list of a few hundred who applied. This associate professor of English at Brooklyn College qualified in the Fifth Avenue Committee lottery with an income cap of $96,000. Before they handed her the keys to a brownstone, the Fifth Avenue Committee made sure she could afford it.
Along with lottery information, the Brooklyn College Library offers many results for affordable housing.
For example, HCR offers an online affordable housing directory as well as other informational resources at
http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/
Local organizations also help people find affordable housing. They include:
• Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Brooklyn,(718) 686-7946 or nhnhome.org.
• The Neighborhood Housing Services of NYC at (212) 519-2500 and at nhsnyc.org.
• The NYC Affordable Housing resource Center and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development can both be reached at nyc.gov or by calling 311 for housing information.
• Nyhome is available at (212)-688-4000, and nyhomes.org.
For those who want to rent, try the Rent Stabilization Association at CUNY. The contact person is Burt Sacks at burt.sacks@mail.cuny.edu.
