New York, NY – September 10, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero delivered remarks this morning at The New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) Networking Breakfast, regarding HPD’s progress on Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan and the future course of the plan. The event which was held at the Yale Club in Manhattan was Commissioner Cestero’s first NYSAFAH meeting since returning to HPD as Commissioner earlier this year. The Bloomberg Administration’s New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP), an ambitious $7.5 billion initiative to create and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers. Michael Skrebutenas, Deputy Secretary for Economic Development of New York State, was also a guest speaker at the event.
“The way forward begins with a recognition that New York City is a city of neighborhoods and without continued investment in affordable, sustainable neighborhoods, we cannot achieve this larger vision,” said Commissioner Cestero. “To this end, the entire team at HPD and HDC are committed to applying a neighborhood lens to everything we do, connecting our work to the investments in education, transportation, public housing and health that are happening right next to us. And by doing so, putting New York forward as the model for what ‘Choice Neighborhoods’ means.”
During his address, Commissioner Cestero discussed the ambitious goals of the NHMP and stressed that the City is on track to fulfill that promise. While the economic climate in the country has changed drastically, the four tenets of the NHMP take on even greater relevance as the City continues to create and preserve affordable housing using the planks of that broad platform. Those tenets are: finding new land for affordable housing; creating incentives to develop housing for new populations; harnessing the private market to create affordable housing and preserving government-assisted affordable housing. The Commissioner also stressed that, in facing current economic realities, the City and HPD are examining every element of the plan and every new, market-driven innovation to continue to adapt and meet the goals that have been set. Building and preserving affordable housing in New York City neighborhoods is a central component of the Bloomberg Administration’s Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan to create jobs for New Yorkers today, implementing a vision for long-term economic growth while strengthening New York City’s diverse neighborhoods.
