Six 'Affordable' Units Are Up for Grabs in Ocean Hill, Starting at $2,050 a Month

An affordable housing lottery has opened for six units across two under construction four-story buildings at 1543 and 1547 East New York Avenue in Ocean Hill.

Of the affordable apartments, there’s a single one-bedroom apartment and a pair of two-bedrooms in the first building, and a trio of three-bedrooms in the second. Monthly rents start at $2,050 a month and top out at $2,300.

The lottery is set at an area median income range of 130 percent. Eligible incomes range between $70,286 and $168,220 for households of one to seven people.

These apartments fall under the 421-a affordable housing program, whose latest iteration, passed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2017, sets the area median income at 130 percent, which is far more than low-income New Yorkers can afford.

The developer is Yidel Kohn, who is also behind two four-story residential buildings at 141 Utica Avenue and 1184 St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights. He purchased the property for $972,854 in 2016 as part of a “corporate wind down,” according to sale documents.

Michael Avramides is the architect of record. He also designed a seven-story residential building at 830 Flatbush Avenue, which launched an affordable lottery in August 2018.

There are a total of 16 units across the two buildings. The only amenity in both is a card-operated laundry room in the cellar. They are seven blocks from the Rockaway Avenue A and C train, and six blocks from the East New York LIRR station.

It was formerly the site of Liberty Nursing Home, which was demolished in 2008. The nursing home was once the site of controversy—according to a 1973 article in the New York Times, the State Welfare Inspector “described patients as crowded six and seven to a small room; unpalatable meals averaging 30 cents apiece for food last year; nonambulatory patients tied to chairs; blind patients illegally on a second floor without elevators; a call‐bell system unworkable; toilet facilities inadequate; no baths for week or more and ‘inadequate medical services.’”

Another article published a few days later, reported that all the patients were moved to another nursing home in Coney Island.

Applications for the affordable housing lottery must be submitted by March 11. Apply for the lotteries through NYC Housing Connect (for the first, click here; the second can be found here). To learn more about how to apply for affordable housing, read Brownstoner’s guide.

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• Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for 23 Units in Brooklyn Heights, Starting at $596 a Month

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