Housing in New York City has become less affordable since 2000 as the median apartment rent rose by 75% while real incomes declined, according to research and analysis presented in "The Growing Gap: New York City's Housing Affordability Challenge,"
In his April 23 report, which he called a snapshot of the state of the city's housing ecology. Stringer called for policymakers to invest in the stability and preservation of the New York City Housing Authority.
"The intensity of the city's low-income housing situation reinforces the essential role played by NYCHA, as well as the need for greater investment in public housing by every level of government," Stringer said in a statement.
The cost of rehabilitating a single NYCHA unit is estimated at less than one-third the cost of constructing a new unit, according to Stringer.
According to a report last month by the think tank Center for an Urban Future, NYCHA's significant state-of-good-repair needs total $15.5 billion. State of good repair is a federal gauge for the condition of capital assets. Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposed budget would include $52 million of payments for policing, to free up the agency to tackle its repair backlog.
Stringer's other recommended areas of focus include alleviate the affordability squeeze on low-income working families, adopt a mix of policies to reverse the increase in homelessness, repair the rent regulation system and address special housing needs of elderly and disabled persons.
Moody's Investors Service rates the city's general obligation bonds Aa2. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate them AA.
