That promise of more Starrett City sound and fury wasn't just talk, folks. You knew the decision by Starrett City Associates (the 14,000-unit housing project's owner) to move toward market-rate rents and away from the state's Mitchell-Lama program in an effort to speed up a sale would be met with much opposition, and indeed, the cavalry has arrived. A press release hot off the wire calls attention to a rally in East New York tonight that will be see 500 Starrett City tenants, affordable housing advocates ACORN and various clergy and elected officials yelling into bullhorns and holding up signs. It's a protest against the Mitchell-Lama move, as well as an announcement of "guidelines that they believe should be used to assess any future plans for ownership of Starrett City." We'll go ahead and predict that some of those guidelines will involve stabilized rents.
· Starrett City's Owners Rattle Market-Rent Saber [Curbed]
· Starrett City Deal Still Twisting in the Wind [Curbed]
[Starrett City photo via ntang/Flickr]