Housing help for Harlem

Facing fierce opposition to its rezoning plan for 125th Street, the Bloomberg administration agreed today to reserve an astonishing 46 percent of new housing units in Harlem for low- and moderate-income residents.
"The amount of affordable housing that is going to be provided by this rezoning is unprecedented," declared Amanda Burden, chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, after a key City Council committee voted 9-1 to approve a revised plan for the historic thoroughfare.
City Council member Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan), who negotiated the record-setting deal, pointed out that it also included height restrictions so developers couldn't build luxury apartment towers that speed gentrification.
The limits were set at 195 feet on the north side of 125th Street and 160 feet on the south side.
"My community said it did not want housing in the core," said Dickens, "because of the possibility of high-end condos being put there, which meant that those of us who [grew up] in Harlem would no longer be able to remain there."
Officials said that 1,785 of 3,858 of the apartments planned for Harlem would be "income-targeted," with 900 set aside for those earning $46,000 or less a year for a family of four, and 200 for families earning a maximum of $30,750 a year.
Dickens had so much clout she was even able to demand that 50 percent of the affordable units had to be two bedrooms or larger to "allow young people with growing families" to remain in the community.
Activists charged that the city's original rezoning plan would have destroyed the character of the nation's pre-eminent black community.
Without Dickens' support, the administration had no chance of winning approval from the entire council, which generally follows the lead of the legislator whose district is being rezoned.
david.seifman@nypost.com 4-16-200 p18 posted by davidsradiotv2000