New York Times - On a recent Tuesday, thick ropes of rain slashed at the concrete and dripped off car tires in the parking lot of Harborview Terrace, a two-building public housing project on West 55th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. There was little indication that the forlorn lot, and the basketball court next to it, might be the site of a real estate battle.
But so it is. The dispute began with a city plan under which a private developer, Atlantic Development Group, would pay the city a minimum of roughly $10 million to erect two buildings comprising 324 apartments. One hundred and twenty-two apartments would be rented out at market rates, and 220 would be restricted to families with incomes between $32,300 and $126,700.
The project is meant to fulfill a promise for affordable housing that the city made to the City Council in return for its support of the Hudson Yards rezoning in early 2005. But local officials and activists have objected strongly to the amount of market-rate housing in the Harborview proposal.
“What you’ve given us is laughable!” someone called from the audience during an occasionally raucous meeting of Community Board 4 on May 14, when the city and the developer presented their plans. “We want 100 percent affordable housing!”
Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who had voted in favor of the Hudson Yards rezoning, declared at the meeting that she would not support the Harborview project in its current guise in the City Council, where it requires approval.
But Seth Donlin, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, defended the proposed number of market-rate apartments. “In developing strong neighborhoods in the city, you’re not looking to segregate areas by income,” he said. “Mixed-income communities and buildings are actually a positive.”
City officials also point out that the project is expensive, requiring Atlantic to build over Amtrak rail tunnels, and that the New York City Housing Authority, which is facing a budget shortfall of $195 million, requires a substantial return from Atlantic.
Besides objecting to the amount of market-rate housing, local residents also…
