Sarah Freeman (Urban Pathways) calls for 60,000 deeply affordable units over five years
Freeman urges the city to commit to 12,000 deeply affordable units per year for homeless and extremely low-income households, noting that 73% of extremely low-income households are severely rent-burdened and that current affordable housing units often target households earning 130% AMI.
Thank you, Chair Sanchez and members of the Housing and Buildings Committee for the opportunity to speak.
My name is Sarah Freeman, and I'm a policy analyst at Urban Pathways.
Urban Pathways is a nonprofit homeless services and supportive housing provider for single adults.
Last year, we served over 3,000 individuals through a full continuum of services.
Today, I urge the city to prioritize the construction of deeply affordable housing units for New Yorkers who are struggling to get by.
While we acknowledge the city's efforts to incentivize affordable housing development through tax expenditure programs like 421A, unfortunately, we're still failing to meet the needs of our low-income neighbors.
Deeply affordable housing is intended for extremely low-income households who earn 0 to 30% of the area median income.
However, in recent years, we've seen developers allot a majority of their mandated affordable housing units to households earning 130% of the area median income.
To put this number into perspective, a single parent with two children would need to earn approximately $189,000 a year to be eligible to rent the unit.
People who need truly affordable housing are not making $189,000 a year.
I think we can all agree on that.
Extended stay residents at Urban Pathways frequently express desire to live independently, but they are limited by the lack of truly affordable housing.
With 73% of extremely low-income households already severely rent-burdened in New York,
New York City, it is time to take decisive action.
Deeply affordable housing is a key component of getting people out of the shelter system and into stable living situations.
The city must commit to creating 12,000 units of deeply affordable housing per year over the next five years, resulting in a total of 60,000 units available only to homeless and extremely low-income households.
Thank you for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to testify today.