These 'Affordable' Williamsburg Apartments Need A $89K Salary

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Two new Williamsburg buildings that hit the affordable housing lottery will only go to those with a nearly six-figure salary, records show.

The 20 new apartments, 17 from 188 Humboldt St. and three found at 731 Bedford Ave., require applicants make at least 130 percent of the area's median income.

For the Humboldt Street spots, that means that "affordable" studio apartments will go to those making at least $74,606 a year, one-bedroom spots will require a $78,480 salary and two-bedroom units will need a combined $94,540 yearly pay-stub, records show.

There are four $2,176-per-month studio spots, four $2,289-per-month one-bedroom spots and nine $2,758-per-month two-bedrooms up for grabs.

Even pricier, the three Bedford Avenue units will go to those making at least $89,143 per year. All three spots up for grabs are two-bedroom apartments, which will cost $2,600 each.

The Humboldt Street building comes with a package room, fitness center, co-working space, roof deck and club room, for additional fees, while the Bedford Avenue building advertises only central heating and cooling for its amenities.

The 20 new apartments join another Williamsburg building on Metropolitan Avenue that has affordable units up for grabs.

That building — found at 141 Metropolitan Ave. between Wythe Avenue and Berry Street — comes with a dishwasher, balcony, roof access, central air conditioning and a backyard, records show.

It has three one-bedroom spots up for grabs that will go to those that make at least $75,806 per year and a maximum of $97,110 if one person is applying. If two or three people are applying, they should make no more than a combined $111,020 salary for two applicants and a combined $124,930 salary for three applicants. The apartments will cost $2,211 per month.

The deadline to apply for the Metropolitan Avenue building is Oct. 22 while the two newer buildings will give applicants until Nov. 6 to apply.

The Williamsburg apartments are not far off from "affordable" spots that spurred outrage among homeless advocates elsewhere in the borough. The neighborhood is one of several in Brooklyn that adds subsidized housing to the affordable housing lottery at prices that activists say are a "slap in the face" to homeless and low-income New Yorkers.

The most recent backlash followed a slate of Brooklyn Heights "affordable" units that required at least a $100,000 salary to apply.