Yassky, James Opine on Rule 421-a
Brooklyn City Council Members David Yassky and Letitia James got together with Bronx City Council Member Annabel Palma to pen an op-ed piece in today’s Daily News urging more serious reform of rule 421-a. Here’s part of what they had to say: The mayor’s commission seems to think that outside Manhattan, the tax break helps…
Brooklyn City Council Members David Yassky and Letitia James got together with Bronx City Council Member Annabel Palma to pen an op-ed piece in today’s Daily News urging more serious reform of rule 421-a. Here’s part of what they had to say:
The mayor’s commission seems to think that outside Manhattan, the tax break helps to generate affordable housing. That’s wrong, for two reasons. First, developers will build regardless of the tax break. By keeping the 421-a rule, we just allow a small number of residents to escape taxes, meaning that other taxpayers have to pay more. Second, many of the apartments being built in Brooklyn and Queens, and even in parts of the Bronx, are not “affordable housing” by anyone’s definition. According to the Pratt Center for Community Development, prices of $600,000 and up are commonplace, and very few new apartments sell for under $300,000.
It is time to change the 421-a rule so that the tax break is available only to new apartments that are truly affordable to low-income or middle-income families. Assemblyman Vito Lopez already has introduced a bill to close this loophole in the state legislature, and tomorrow we will introduce City Council legislation to make the change. We hope the Council will enact it speedily.
We could be wrong, but we think the political winds are blowing against Bloomberg on this one.
End Tax Break for Owners of Pricey Condos [NY Daily News]
What's Your Take? Leave a Comment