The vast majority of new affordable housing is located at 266 West 96th Street (Google Maps)
A recent survey executed by the office of City Council Member Gale Brewer found that while 630 new apartments have been created on the Upper West Side since 2022, only 68 are considered affordable.
Advertisement
The study also reports that more than 40% of the newly created residences are luxury condos.
“New York City needs as many new units of housing as possible,” Brewer said. “But we will never get out of the housing crisis if 90 percent are market rate and luxury.”
Brewer held a press conference earlier this week to discuss her findings outside of 211 West 84th Street, Naftali Group’s high-end condo which made several rounds in the news when a tenant refused to vacate the rental building which previously stood at the site. Also known as The Henry, sales launched at the building earlier this year and asking prices range from $2,425,000 (for a large one-bedroom) to almost $27 million (for a 6,600+ square foot penthouse).
All but one of the affordable apartments created on the UWS since 2022 are in the development at 266 West 96th Street (between Broadway and West End). The building was completed in 2023 and offers 67 affordable units consisting of studios to three-bedroom apartments with monthly rents from $1,096 to $2,690. The building has 171 total units.
The other affordable residence is at 250 West 96th Street. This building has 131 total units.
The survey looked at housing developments in District 6, which spans most of the Upper West Side and includes Central Park.
“The goal was to find out how much affordable housing is included in these new developments and the answer was not very much,” intern Erik Ghalib told Patch. “No city agencies had any sort of listings or database, and that’s something that came out of this process.”
Advertisement
A large source of affordable housing on the UWS is at 143 West 108th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam), a complex that was completed in 2022 and includes nearly 200 affordable residences. The West Side Federation for Senior & Supportive Housing, the group responsible for this development, recently filed permits to build another facility at 105 West 108th Street. This area falls in District 7 and thus was not included in the study by Brewer’s office.
Speaking to Patch, Brewer said she would support a version of Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” proposal, which would add around 20,000 new affordable housing units.
Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
Headline could read:
Zero New Affordable Housing Built Below 96 Street – All Affordable Housing at 96 Street.
Because all the old rules still apply.