New York State Senator Pushing for New Affordable, Mitchell-Lama Housing

Oct. 28, 2014 — Ask any middle-class or working class New Yorker, and they'll tell you that limited-equity Mitchell-Lama co-ops such as Manhattan's Penn South, The Bronx's Co-op City and Brooklyn's Cadman Towers are miracles that allow them to keep living and working in an increasingly expensive city. But the problem, as BrickUnderground.com writes, is that there are only 45,400 Mitchell-Lama co-op and rental apartments left, in 98 buildings, down from the 105,000 apartments in 269 buildings constructed under the program beginning in 1955. So when we hear that New York State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein (D - 34th District) proposed in December that $750 million be funneled into revitalizing the program over five years, well, a lot of people raised their glasses in toast to State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred Lama for creating the program in the first place. Of course, we being middle- or working-class, we're toasting with an inexpensive sparkling wine rather than Champagne. But what the hey ... l'chaim! Oh, and write your representatives to encourage them.