NEW YORK CITY-A recent report released by the Real Estate Board of New York that linked landmarking of properties with a shortage of affordable housing in the city was slammed by a coalition of preservation groups.
The preservationists gathered outside of REBNY's midtown headquarters on Monday to criticize the report.
"This is a red herring," Andrew Berman, of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said of the REBNY report. "This is not why New York is faces challenges to affordability." Berman went on to say that, "The biggest cause of New York's affordability (problem) is the loss of existing affordable units," noting that landmarking helps preserve the affordable units from being destroyed, according to Crain's New York Business.
Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, defended the report. "The data and facts clearly show that only five affordable units have been built over the last 10 years in landmark districts in Manhattan, and less than 2% of all the housing built in Manhattan was in landmark districts," he stated. "Creating large, poor-quality historic districts covering hundreds of blocks clearly takes away the opportunity to build housing." See story in Crain's New York Business.
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