Chuck Schumer: Without Swift Federal Action, NYC Will Lose One Of Its Last Affordable Housing Options

CHELSEA, NYC — Sen. Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to ask it to act urgently to ensure that the Penn South co-op in the Chelsea — "one of the last remaining middle class urban oases" — secures refinancing and remains affordable for New Yorkers.

The Penn South co-op, which provides housing for low- and middle-income New Yorkers, spans from 23rd to 29th streets between Eighth and Ninth avenues.

The 10-building development was built more than 50 years ago in 1962 and includes 2,820 units of affordable housing...for now.

"If these units were no longer kept affordable and were to dramatically increase," Schumer wrote in his letter to Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB, "families would face significant financial hardship, and the stitches that bind that community would begin to unravel."

In just the past few decades, the senator's office wrote in a press release, "New York City has lost over 250,000 affordable apartments," while the demand for affordable housing has only continued to grow.

Now that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the lender, has worked out an agreement with the co-op and the city, Schumer says that OMB needs to act with "a sense of urgency" to "work out and approve the refinancing of this loan." The loan will secure the affordable housing for the next 22 years, according to the senator's office.

For more Chelsea news click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.

Why the urgency? A source told The New York Daily News that Schumer is urging OMB to act fast because "it will be easier to do now than when President-elect Donald Trump takes over."

"We simply cannot run the risk of failing to guarantee" this housing, Schumer said. "The Penn South community has shown how essential this development is to the fabric of New York City."

Image via Google Maps