When a multimillion-dollar check is a drop in the bucket
Joe Anuta
Erica Sherman
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams unveiled a giant cardboard check for $8.7 million last week to help fund the construction and preservation of more than 4,000 affordable apartments in Kings County. That is a lot of money. But relative to the cost of building affordable housing, Adams' contribution comes out to just $2,175 per apartment, less than 1% of average construction costs, which hover around $350,000 for a new unit.
Granted, borough presidents only have so much to give, and their contributions do serve a vital purpose by filling gaps in funding and pushing developers to offer lower rents or include extra amenities.
The real equity behind Mayor Bill de Blasio's affordable-housing push comes from banks and other lenders, who pump tens of millions of dollars into individual projects in exchange for federal tax benefits. But those incentives are under threat by GOP tax reforms. Even in the best-case scenario, banks would likely write fewer checks for affordable housing if the proposals become law. In the worst-case scenario, they would write none.
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