The following statement was made by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on the recent developments at Starrett City in Brooklyn.
“Starrett City is our nation’s largest federally-subsidized housing development, and has been an affordable home to thousands of hard working families for over three decades. Since the announcement earlier this year that Starrett would be sold, tenants and elected leaders have been working together in an amazing display of unity to save this community.
“In August, we defeated the first winning bid, which would have resulted in the long-term loss of nearly all of this critical housing resource.
“But despite our success, the owners of Starrett City have shown their determination to opt out of the Mitchell-Lama program and drive up rents to market rates by filing a notice of intent this week with the state. The Mitchell-Lama program has been a critical element in keeping New York a middle class city and must remain so if New Yorkers are going to be able to live in the communities they call home. We simply cannot allow these units to be lost, which is why I am strongly urging DCHR and the state’s Housing Finance Agency to reject any buyout that does not provide for maximum long-term affordability.
“We will continue to fight for the preservation of Starrett City and the many families who live in its 6,000 units. Most importantly, we will continue to work in collaboration with tenants and officials at all levels of government to assure that this development remains a haven of affordability for its current and future residents.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues.
So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
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