Dear friends,
Housing is one of the most immediate justice issues at the intersection of racial, economic, and climate justice. So, here I am talking about zoning again. One of our dear neighbors, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, has been engaged in what it calls the Fight for Sunlight, to prevent a zoning change that would allow a developer to build two 39‑story residential towers at 960 Franklin Ave. The plan, detailed in Continuum’s slick website, has already been scaled back to 34-stories, including 315 apartments that are ‘affordable housing’ and 474 ‘workforce housing apartments.’ I had to look up the term workforce housing apartments:
Turns out that in Continuum-speak, workforce housing apartments go to folks making 80%-120% of the area median income. So, the big sell is 315 of 1,578 rental units for folks who make 50% of the median income. Unsurprisingly, the 34-story iteration has also faced massive resistance, and is probably off the table. So here’s the pared-down 17-story proposal, which would have a total of 1,170 units. Note that here, workforce housing apartments can go to people making 130% of the area median income (AMI).
If the Community Board does not go for it, Continuum will build 518 condos in a building that conforms to current zoning rules.
Attend the Community Board 9 meeting this evening on Zoom if you would like to weigh in.
It’s clear that we should not depend on private developers to build affordable housing, nor should we be held hostage by their threats to abandon the enterprise as soon as they can’t get what they want. Instead, in the short-term, we should push for an expansion of Section 8 Housing Vouchers, which are part of a federal, needs-based rent assistance program. I was pleased to learn that Biden supports boosting Section 8 availability. At this time, Section 8 is not an entitlement, which means that there are people qualified for the aid who cannot receive it because the program, under HUD, is inadequately funded. Biden is on the record as supporting Section 8 as an entitlement.
Currently, only 1 in 5 eligible households receive assistance, with waiting times pushing two years in some places. Some 2 million households receive Section 8 vouchers, but that’s not enough to meet demand.
In addition, Axel-Lute says, reducing exclusionary zoning policies, which ban construction of multi-family homes, would expand the home selection for families with vouchers.
Biden also would push for a law that would ban discrimination against tenants who use Section 8 vouchers or receive other federal housing benefits.
Unsurprisingly, the former Administration slashed funding to HUD.
Let’s tell the president that we want to see Section 8 become an entitlement.
Some of you may recall that we petitioned the new Education Secretary to approve educational testing waivers during the pandemic due to the Covid risk of conducting such tests and the impact of testing students who are already under considerable stress. The Biden Administration announced on Monday that they would show flexibility on the timing of tests, but would not allow states to cancel the tests that are required under a federal law called ESSA.
A friend forwarded an email from the New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), a coalition of parent and teacher groups from around the state. According to the letter, there will be waivers for meeting federal benchmarks, but the Administration is still insisting that students, including the many who have not physically attended school in nearly a year, should be preparing for and taking mandated tests.
New York State parents can, and will, exercise their right to refuse to allow their children to participate in the grades 3-8 state assessments.
NYSAPE applauds the New York State Education Department (NYSED) for announcing “Regents Exams would not be required to meet graduation requirements and to cancel any Regents Exam that is not required by USDOE”.
NYSAPE now calls on the New York State Board of Regents and the New York State Education Department to take immediate action to demand any and all flexibility on ESSA regulations, and provide clear guidance to school districts that they must inform parents of their right to opt out of the state assessments and prohibit any mixed messaging to coerce parents otherwise.
NYS Education Department has been more responsive to appeals for relief from testing during the pandemic and you, as a parent, have the right to refuse to allow your child to take the State tests.
Download and print a refusal letter if you wish to opt out of testing for your child (grades 3-8).
Have a good day!
with love,
L