When Co-op Conversions Go Bust

Nov. 20, 2015 — Some would-be apartment owners are missing the good old days of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. According to DNAinfo, a city-run affordable housing program that can transform low-income renters to apartment owners is going nowhere under Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Tenant Interim Lease (TIL) program, which was "designed to renovate city-owned buildings and train tenants to manage finances," and then offer residents the opportunity to buy their apartment, has seen a steep drop-off in successful conversions.

"In Manhattan, seven out of nearly 130 buildings in the ownership program have actually been become co-ops since 2012 … Many buildings have been in the program for decades, waiting for renovations that never come," reports DNAinfo. The biggest surge of activity came in 2011, when 18 buildings were converted. Since then, less than five buildings each year have converted, with 2013 hitting rock bottom with zero buildings converted. Tenants are frustrated, saying that "this program was geared to fail and they are succeeding." Given Mayor de Blasio's supposed efforts to increase affordable housing in New York, can you blame them?