BP MARKOWITZ CONGRATULATES MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
ON REFORM OF 421-A HOUSING TAX BREAK

New law expands 421-a exclusion zones and creates further incentives to build affordable housing in Brooklyn and New York City

I commend Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Housing and Buildings Committee Chairman Erik Dilan, and the Council for recognizing that in today’s real estate climate, there is no reason Brooklyn and New York City should be forfeiting tax revenue to developers who will already profit grandly from building market rate housing in the city’s hottest neighborhoods.

Today, people are not leaving Brooklyn and New York City as they once did, seeking a better life — they are leaving because they can’t afford the good life we have here. As I stated in my testimony before the Council, as part of a larger affordable housing strategy, 421-a real estate tax provisions provide an opportunity to leverage production of more affordable housing units. 

I am thrilled to hear that the originally-proposed amount of money to be set aside for an affordable housing fund to guarantee construction of affordable units in the City’s least-affluent neighborhoods will now be increased, and that, as suggested in my testimony, this funding will be targeted to families earning less than $35 thousand dollars a year. I am also encouraged that the exclusion zones will now include more of Brooklyn.

Decent affordable housing is a basic requirement of a good life. We must bring as many tools as possible to the task of achieving the Mayor’s housing agenda.  This law is the next step towards strengthening the City’s ability to achieve a great and prosperous tomorrow with adequate housing for residents at all incomes. I stand ready to work with the Mayor, the City Council, and our colleagues in Albany, especially Assembly Member and Chair of the Assembly Housing Committee Vito Lopez, to accomplish this goal.

—— Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz