New York – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney joined with New Yorkers from across the city for the No HUD Cuts rally at 26 Federal Plaza. The gathered crowd was there to protest the proposed $6.2 billion budget cut to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that would negatively impact millions across the country. After the rally, she released the following statement:
“We have an affordable housing crisis in our City and for many New Yorkers the only public housing is their only affordable option. There are huge waiting lists of people to get into these apartments, and an enormous backlog of badly needed repairs that runs into the billions of dollars.
“Given these needs, the federal government should be increasing the housing budget. Instead, the President wants to cruelly cut $6.2 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This would be a disaster for New Yorkers. The New York City Housing Authority gets about 70% of its operating funds from HUD, and almost all of its funding for repairs from HUD, so these cuts would devastate NYCHA and those they serve. The President has also proposed eliminating two of the most important sources of funding for local communities, the Community Development Block Grant and the Community Development Financial Institutions.
“As a New Yorker, he should know better. He should understand that these cuts will directly harm hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. These cuts would add even more delays to already badly needed repairs, they would force NYCHA to cut back even further on critical services, and it would make it virtually impossible to build any new public housing. Washington Republicans have been cutting HUD’s budget for too many years. It has to stop, and it has to stop now.
“Developers of affordable housing are facing another significant problem: the uncertainty related to low income housing tax credits and questions about tax reform. These tax credits are an essential tool for encouraging new affordable housing but the current uncertainty over tax reform plans is negatively impacting the value of these important credits. Unfortunately, the dysfunctional Republican-controlled Congress is not going to give us any answers in the near future and that means even more uncertainty for our housing market.”
