'This is just the beginning': Mayor announces affordable housing initiative in Jamaica
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Mayor Eric Adams visited his old stomping grounds Wednesday to announce major plans for affordable living in Southeast Queens. Photo via NYC Mayor/twitter
By Rachel Vick
Southeast Queens is getting more than a dozen long-term affordable homes intended to help build equity through ownership, the mayor announced from his native borough.
Mayor Eric Adams stopped by Jamaica Wednesday to announce a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and city agencies, aimed at transforming a number of neglected properties into 16 green homes that will be sold as affordable housing.
“This community represented the promise of a better life for my family, and I am going to keep that promise for generations of New Yorkers,” Adams said. “Parents and families should not have to struggle year after year not only to make sure they have a roof over their heads but to make sure their basements are not flooded year after year, storm after storm. This is just the beginning.”
The mayor promised that “Habitat Net Zero” will flip 13 homes previously owned by the New York City Housing Authority and transfer oversight to the Interboro Community Land Trust. The passive homes will be equipped with rooftop solar panels and heat-pump technology for heating and cooling to keep upkeep costs low.
Specifics are not readily available, the mayor said, but initial prices “will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams hailed the influx in investment and attention to the area as indicative of “a renaissance in Southeast Queens” led by high ranking city officials who hail from the borough.
“For too long, Southeast Queens has endured systemic disinvestment and neglect, resulting in widening disparities that persist today; residents for generations have often felt forgotten and overlooked… despite the best efforts of so many,” Adams said. “Southeast Queens, like too many other corners of our city, endured systematic disinvestment and neglect. We felt resigned to this fate as outer boroughs left behind to deal with disparities and inequities on our own for decades.”
“Affordable homeownership is an important component of increasing housing affordability, '' she added. “Our residents deserve this opportunity to own their homes and build equity.”
The lawmakers also highlighted the completion of $50 million efforts to bolster resilience in the flood prone area by replacing 9,235 feet of sanitary sewers and installing 595 feet of new sewers.
Sewage projects in the flood-prone neighborhood have been a staple in Southeast Queens for years.
William West was joined by his wife to celebrate the drainage upgrades to Baisley Boulevard. The couple lived in the neighborhood for decades, and said they have seen countless floods.
“We thank god no anxiety, no fear, no property loss as we stand here today. It could have been anxiety, fear and property loss,” he said. “Now, when the rain storms are predicted we are not worried about sludge coming up in our basement anymore.”
