Affordable housing development in East New York is key to Mayor Bill de Blasio's promise to create 200,000 affordable apartments by 2024, but a major development that he promised has not made much progress, much to the dismay of its sponsors. Called Spring Creek, the development was highlighted as a case study when the mayor outlined his plan in 2014, but the Daily News reports that little has been done to move the 1,500-unit project forward. East Brooklyn Congregations, a sponsor of the development, expected work to be underway by December, but it's taking the city longer than expected to build out infrastructure on the abandoned sitethe Department of Design and Construction said that this work won't be complete until late 2017.
An official with Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, one of the construction companies on the project, is rightly pissed. They were given notice to proceed with work months ago, and they were supposed to close on financing this December. DDC says the delays are due to contamination at the site, which used to be a dump, but Grant Lindsay of Metro IAF isn't buying it: "Mayor de Blasio moved quickly to get rid of Elmo and topless woman from Times Square. Unfortunately, he wasted the last 20 months taking soil samples in Spring Creek." Ooh, burn.
· Brooklyn's Affordable Housing Development Spring Creek Faces Delays from de Blasio's Office, Project Leader Says [NYDN]
· De Blasio Unveils 10-Year, $41B Affordable Housing Plan [Curbed]
· All East New York coverage [Curbed]
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