The New York Housing Conference testified at this week’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee hearing on the Innovation Queens project. The mixed-use project in Astoria, Queens would include 1,100 affordable apartments – with more than 500 at extremely low income, roughly for households earning $36,000 per year.

This one project could add almost three times as much deeply affordable housing to the district than was added in total during the last 8 years.

Communities and their elected officials should push for as much affordable housing, and deeply affordable housing, as they can get in these projects, within reasonable limitations of housing finance. But negotiations should always be with the goal of getting to β€œyes”. The need is too great to let opportunities with affordable housing pass by.

You can read the testimony here.