"I Coulda Been an Affordable Co-op!"

In a city starved for affordable housing, two city-owned buildings in upper Manhattan that could house 26 affordable apartments remained boarded-up and vacant, according to Martin Collins of Inwood Preservation, a group dedicated to keeping uptown low-rise and affordable.

“These boarded-up apartment buildings in our community are an embarrassment,” Collins tells DNAinfo. “At a time when everyone is talking affordable housing, here are 26 units that should be fixed.”

The buildings, at 21 Arden Street in Inwood and 2110 Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, are owned by the city's department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD). An HPD spokeswoman says the agency is working with Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation as part of the agency’s cooperative loan program, and hopes to have financing within the next fiscal year. The property has been vacant for eight years – one more sign of your tax dollars doing their speedy work.