NYC Promotes Luxury $2,300 a Month 1 Bedroom in the South Bronx as ‘Affordable’

PORT MORRIS—While there are many affordable housing developments and apartments promoted via New York City’s Housing Connect that are truly affordable, a recent listing in Port Morris is anything but.

101 Bruckner, a brand new 7 story, 55 unit residential development, is a luxury rental property with 17 units set aside as ‘affordable’, however upon further inspection, the minimum income requirements are more than twice the district’s median of $25,074 as per Census data.

In order to qualify for the ‘cheapest’ apartment, a studio renting for $1,850, prospective applicants need to make 130% of the inflated Area Median Income which is a minimum of $63,429.

If you want a 1 bedroom apartment, the minimum required income is $78,858 effectively putting it at over three times the true area median income.

How is this affordable and it always comes back to the question, affordable for whom?

We know gentrification is rapidly changing the landscape of the South Bronx, especially in the Port Morris and Mott Haven neighborhoods, as developers continue to erect luxury high rise after high rise with thousands of new high-end apartments unaffordable to the overwhelming majority of residents.

But when the city is fueling this gentrification and eventual displacement, under the guise of affordable housing, it becomes a more nefarious problem.

Why are incomes of 130% of an already artificially inflated AMI being allowed in what is the poorest congressional district of America?

Just half a mile away, we have Park Haven, a new development where the rents and income requirements are truly affordable and more reflective of median incomes.

An equitable affordable housing program should be affordable for all and not just for the few.