De Blasio's State of the City focuses on affordability crisis

From the start of his State of the City address at Harlem’s Apollo Theater Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised it would not include the “bells and whistles” of years past, with expensive project proposals such as developing the Sunnyside Yards or building a street car connecting Queens with Brooklyn. Instead the mayor concentrated on the city’s affordable housing crisis.

“This affordability crisis threatens who we are, threatens the very soul of this city,” de Blasio said. “I say to any New Yorker who is struggling to pay the bills, anyone fighting to stay in their own neighborhood, anyone who is just starting their retirement and are not sure if they are going to have enough to keep going, I say again, very simply, this is your city, and we are here for you.”

The mayor said he was proud to have the biggest affordable housing plan in the history of the city, but said job creation “will be the new front line in the battle to keep New York City affordable.” He said from 1990 to 2014 the average rent in New York City increased 22 percent, while real wages went up only one percent.

“That’s why people are struggling,” de Blasio said. “And we have to respond to that kind of profound crisis with even stronger solutions. We have to drive up incomes, and that means actually helping people get the kinds of jobs that allow you to afford to live in New York City.”

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