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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Contact:
April 29, 2008 Sarah Thomason: office: 914-751-2641 cell: 914-519-8588
Low-income Residents Speak Out Against $159 Million in Tax Money Spent on Development of Luxury Housing
Call on City Council to Push Developer to Include Housing and Jobs for Low-Income Residents
Yonkers, NY – On Tuesday, April 29th low-income residents of Yonkers that are members of Community Voices Heard spoke out against City Hall’s plan to use millions of city tax dollars to subsidize the development of high end apartments and stores. At a public hearing held by the City Council on the Streuver Fidelco Capelli (SFC) development planned for Getty Square, CVH members asked City Council Members to include housing and jobs for low-income residents in the plan, so that they will not be displaced.
“You are spending our tax money to help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We cannot afford the rent in the apartments planned for the development,” said CVH member Phyllis Harrison and long-time Yonkers resident. Streuver Fidelco Capelli is seeking financial assistance and subsidies from the city, including the turning over of city-owned land, tax exemption from the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, and $159 million to pay for parking and infrastructure improvements needed for the development.
Some in Yonkers believe the City Council needs to rethink these policies. “We need to take that tax money and use it for the things the current low-income residents of Yonkers need,” said Valerie Pearson, a CVH member.
As Southwest Yonkers is being rapidly developed, rents in the city are rising dramatically and becoming unaffordable for low-income people. 36.1% of families that live near Getty’s Square live below the poverty line and new apartments that are being built along the waterfront start between $2,250 and $2,500 for a two bedroom apartment, a price far out of reach most families who live in the area. Testifying before City Council, CVH members said that including apartments for low-income residents in the SFC development could help keep Yonkers affordable and allow residents to remain in their homes. “If the development includes housing for low-income families, it could be a positive thing for us,” explained CVH member Owen Hill.
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Although SFC has held over 50 community meetings on several projects in the works for the Getty Sqaure area, they have failed to respond to the concerns of low-income Yonkers’ residents. No apartments have been included in the developer’s plan that would be affordable to low-income residents.
At the public hearing, CVH members invited City Council members to a community forum they will hold in June to obtain concrete answers on how the city will ensure that economic development plans benefit low-income residents, instead of forcing them to relocate.
Community Voices Heard is a grassroots membership organization composed over 2,000 low-income families in Yonkers and 15,000 statewide. During the fall 2007 election, CVH mobilized hundreds of low-income Yonkers residents to vote. In February, CVH members marched to City Hall to bring demand that low-income apartments and jobs for Yonkers residents be included in the development plans for Getty Square.
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