New York City Acts to Ensure New Housing at Lower Cost

The New York Times reports:

The New York City Council yesterday approved the first major overhaul of the most popular tax break for apartment building developers, adopting a plan intended to induce them to build tens of thousands of apartments for people other than the well-heeled.

The changes, which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supported and which would go into effect in 2008, increase significantly the areas of the city in which developers who want the tax break must make one out of every five apartments they build affordable to lower-income people.

For the first time in the 35-year history of the program, known as 421-a, those lower-priced apartments would have to be included in each building and could not be built elsewhere in the city. There would be a cap on the tax break given for market-rate apartments, to limit the degree to which the program might be said to subsidize gentrification.

Still no word yet from New York City Council Council on getting rid of rent control.