Best practices book - Flipbook - Page 362
Building Confidence, Building Community.
temporary emergency shelter to those experiencing homelessness in a safe and respectful environment (https://www1.
nyc.gov/site/dhs/index.page). In addition, the New York City Human Resources Administration/Department of Social
Services (HRA/DSS) is dedicated to fighting poverty and income inequality by providing New Yorkers in need with
essential benefits such as Food Assistance and Emergency Rental Assistance (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/hra/index.
page).
Established in 1978, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) promotes the
quality and affordability of the city’s housing and the strength and diversity of its many neighborhoods. HPD works to
preserve affordable housing and protect tenants, develops new affordable housing, enforces the Housing Maintenance
Code, and engages neighborhoods in planning (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/hpd/about/about-hpd.page). Following
the release of Housing New York, the Department of City Planning (DCP), working with HPD, communities, nonprofit
housing groups, architects, developers, and other practitioners, identified a set of zoning barriers that constrain new
housing creation and add unnecessary costs, and strategies to address them (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/
plans/zqa/zoning-for-quality-and-affordability.page).
As part of its efforts to ensure code compliant development, the Department of Buildings (DOB) launched a dedicated
Affordable Housing Unit and in cooperation with the Mayor’s Office, the Department has developed a standardized
procedure in our Affordable Housing Unit at the Development Hub that handles review of construction applications
concerning officially designated Affordable Housing Projects (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/buildings/business/
affordable-housing-projects.page). DOB also has several resources available to assist tenants in renting, maintaining,
and greening their homes, including the Office of the Tenant Advocate (OTA) which serves as a resource to tenants who
are affected by construction work in occupied multiple dwellings (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/buildings/renter/tenantresources.page).
Below are some notable examples of the City’s progress in affordable housing.
The Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program requires a share of new housing in specified areas to be provided
as permanently affordable to low- and moderate-income households. It establishes no geographic applicability for
this program; rather, these provisions, in conjunction with subsequent land use actions, encourage the creation of new
housing in medium- and high-density Residence Districts.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/mih/mandatory-inclusionary-housing.page
The Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) text amendment advances numerous goals including making the
city more affordable to a wide range of New Yorkers, and fostering diverse, livable communities with buildings that
contribute to the character and quality of neighborhoods; recent zoning amendments establishes limits on the use, size,
and shape of buildings, with numerous zoning districts to reflect their varying density and character.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/zqa/zoning-for-quality-and-affordability.page
Micro-units – In 2013, New York City’s first Micro-Unit Apartment Building used Innovative Design and Modular
construction to create 55 new micro-units designed to optimize space and maximize the sense of openness, 40 percent
of the units are intended as affordable housing.
https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/032-13/mayor-bloomberg-winner-em-adapt-nyc-em-competitiondevelop-innovative-micro-unit#/0
http://narchitects.com/work/carmel-place/
Adaptive Reuse - Famed Italian Renaissance-styled former school building was developed as affordable for working
families. The building also boasts state-of-the art youth facility serving residents and 1,000 local children a year.
https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/832-16/mayor-de-blasio-city-officials-boys-girls-club-harlemmonadnock-development-and
https://www.dattner.com/portfolio/the-residences-at-ps186/
BEST PRACTICES | 353
Homelessness in the United States, How are Major Jurisdictions Dealing with This Issue?
www.iccsafe.org | page 7
