Like almost all New York politicians, Mayor de Blasio understands that too many people in this city can’t afford a place to live. Like almost all New York politicians, too, his answer — more government — only makes the problem worse.
Take de Blasio’s intervention in the $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Domino Sugar site. On Monday, the city announced a deal. But did the mayor really need to threaten a project that found developers and community activists on the same page?
The basic arrangement is this: The developer, Two Trees Management, will put up a building with offices and luxury apartments. In exchange, he will also build a specified number of “affordable housing” units. The developer threatened to walk when the mayor demanded both more apartments and larger apartments than had earlier been agreed to by both sides.
Now the city has announced a deal that will produce 700 of the units de Blasio wants. That may be good news for those who end up in these apartments. What the mayor doesn’t seem to appreciate is that building by threats and decree only makes it more expensive for people to build housing non-millionaires can afford.
Nor does he seem to appreciate the inequality he’s encouraging: The higher the rents the market units must charge to subsidize the “affordable” units, the bigger the gap between the two classes of residents.
The mayor no doubt thinks he has a victory here. But all he’s really done is exacerbate a system in which New York rents continue to go up, the lucky get a subsidy and the rest find themselves caught in the squeeze.