Can NYC Save Affordable Housing for Black and Brown Families?
By Darius Spearman (africanelements)
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In late May 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a sweeping new municipal housing strategy (thegrio.com). The initiative, titled “Block by Block: Housing for a New Era,” targets the deep housing and affordability crises in the city (bxtimes.com). This plan is bolstered by nearly five billion dollars in funding over the next two years (bxtimes.com). It also includes a historic five point six billion dollar capital investment in the New York City Housing Authority (bxtimes.com).
However, the official announcement was only the beginning of the story. Two days after releasing the plan, Mayor Mamdani attended a packed town hall-style hearing at Hostos Community College in the Bronx (bxtimes.com). The youth-led organizing group More Perfect University hosted the “Student Rental Ripoff Hearing” (news12.com). During this event, a Bronx-born college senior and tenant organizer stood up to challenge the mayor. The student demanded to know how the new municipal plan would actually empower local tenant unions instead of relying on slow, top-down city bureaucracy (news12.com).
The exchange highlighted a crucial truth about New York City. The modern struggle for housing is not a sudden, isolated emergency. It is the continuation of a decades-long history of systemic discrimination, urban disinvestment, and grassroots resistance. To understand the “Block by Block” plan, one must examine the history behind the headlines.
The Bronx Housing Crisis by the Numbers
Redlining and the Foundation of Housing Segregation
The modern housing crisis facing Black and brown families has deep roots in early twentieth-century policy (richmond.edu). During the 1930s, the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation created color-coded “residential security maps” (gettysburg.edu). These maps graded neighborhoods from A to D to assess mortgage lending risks (segregationbydesign.com). Neighborhoods with Black, Spanish, and Puerto Rican residents were routinely graded D and color-coded red, creating the practice known as redlining (richmond.edu). Consequently, banking capital and mortgages were entirely starved from these communities (rpubs.com).
Following its creation in 1934, the Federal Housing Administration systematically shut Black and brown families out of homeownership (segregationbydesign.com). The agency refused to insure mortgages in or near redlined neighborhoods (richmond.edu). Out of 120 billion dollars in new housing subsidized by the federal government between 1934 and 1962, FHA guidelines were so discriminatory that only two percent of the funding went to non-white buyers (gettysburg.edu). Simultaneously, the FHA subsidized developers to build massive, white-only suburban tract developments (rpubs.com). This policy constructed suburban wealth for white families while locking families of color into deteriorating urban rentals (roosevelt.nl).
FHA guidelines also mandated the use of racially restrictive covenants (segregationbydesign.com). These covenants legally banned Black buyers from purchasing suburban homes (gettysburg.edu). This government-sponsored exclusion created deep, intergenerational wealth disparities that persist today (roosevelt.nl). Historically, systemic economic barriers have repeatedly blocked Black advancement. In New York City, these federal policies drew the initial geographic boundaries of segregation and disinvestment (richmond.edu).
Urban Renewal and the Erasure of Communities
In the post-World War II era, massive infrastructure and planning projects further devastated municipal neighborhoods (wikipedia.org). Under the direction of master builder Robert Moses, public works programs carved directly through lower-income areas (segregationbydesign.com). The construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, which began in 1948, displaced more than 60,000 residents (wikipedia.org). This massive highway severed established communities, caused property values to plummet, and drove deep economic disinvestment throughout the Bronx (wikipedia.org).
“Urban Renewal” was a federally funded planning and redevelopment program authorized under mid-century federal housing acts (wikipedia.org). While promoted as a way to clear decay and revitalize cities, the program systematically targeted thriving Black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods for demolition (bostonreview.net). Under these housing acts, municipalities utilized eminent domain to seize land, raze neighborhoods designated as “slums,” and clear the way for highways and private high-end developments (metropolitics.org). For example, the demolition of San Juan Hill in Manhattan displaced thousands of families of color to build the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (wikipedia.org).
Rather than providing financial help or subsidies to help displaced working-class families upgrade their properties, federal funds were overwhelmingly funneled into total demolition (bostonreview.net). This massive displacement fractured Black-owned businesses, cultural networks, and social institutions (bowdoin.edu). Because of the widespread destruction, civil rights activist and author James Baldwin famously remarked during a 1963 television interview that “urban renewal… means Negro removal” (bostonreview.net). Displaced families were forced into other redlined, disinvested areas like the South Bronx (segregationbydesign.com).
The Fire This Time: Planned Shrinkage and Benign Neglect
By the 1970s, decades of systematic disinvestment took a catastrophic toll on New York City neighborhoods (newarkchanging.org). Local landlords neglected properties, cut off heat, and eventually turned to arson to collect insurance payouts (versobooks.com). Instead of intervening to assist residents, the city government adopted policies of disinvestment (worldleisure.org). This approach was deeply influenced by the concept of “Benign Neglect” (nixonlibrary.gov).
“Benign Neglect” refers to a policy approach recommended in a January 1970 memorandum from Daniel Patrick Moynihan to President Richard Nixon (nixonlibrary.gov). Moynihan, then serving as Nixon’s urban and social policy advisor, suggested that the issue of race could benefit from a period of benign neglect (nixonlibrary.gov). This policy proposal provided a socio-political justification for city officials to disinvest in urban neighborhoods populated primarily by Black and brown families (newarkchanging.org). Critics argue this intellectual framework justified the systematic withdrawal of vital public services (versobooks.com).
This ideology directly influenced “Planned Shrinkage,” a municipal strategy that cut critical services like fire departments, sanitation, and emergency medical services in low-income neighborhoods (worldleisure.org). Guided by the RAND Corporation, city officials closed fire stations in the very neighborhoods experiencing the highest rates of fires (newarkchanging.org). This policy directly triggered an epidemic of building fires and abandonment in the South Bronx, destroying over 80 percent of its buildings between 1972 and 1984 (inthesetimes.com). Local residents, showing immense Black family resilience, were forced to organize their own survival networks amid the destruction (inthesetimes.com).
The High Cost of AMI Metrics
Today, the legacy of historical discrimination manifests through complex administrative metrics (citylimits.org). One of the most controversial mechanisms in New York housing policy is the Area Median Income (cssny.org). The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development calculates Area Median Income annually (citylimits.org). This metric establishes income eligibility and maximum rent limits for government-subsidized housing (builderspatch.com).
In New York housing advocacy, AMI is highly criticized because it does not reflect local city realities (cssny.org). The AMI for the New York City region includes income data from wealthy suburban counties, specifically Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam (citylimits.org). Median incomes in these suburban counties are far higher than in the five boroughs (citylimits.org). Furthermore, the federal calculation incorporates a “High Housing Cost Adjustment,” which skews the AMI even higher (cssny.org). This adjustment makes the metric diverge widely from the actual median earnings of New York City renters (citylimits.org).
Because affordable housing thresholds are mathematically tied to this inflated AMI, newly built units are often targeted at high-income bands (builderspatch.com). Some housing developments target income bands up to 165 percent of the regional AMI (citylimits.org). Consequently, newly constructed units are completely unaffordable for local neighborhood residents (cssny.org). For example, the median income in the Bronx is historically among the lowest in the nation, yet local renters must compete for housing priced using a regional AMI inflated by wealthy suburbs (citylimits.org). This dynamic systematically prices out the very Black and brown families in need of assistance (cssny.org).
Inside the Block by Block Initiative
Mayor Zohran Mamdani designed the “Block by Block: Housing for a New Era” plan to directly address these historical geographic inequalities (thegrio.com). The plan commits to building 200,000 new affordable, rent-stabilized homes over the next ten years (bxtimes.com). Additionally, the city will preserve or stabilize another 200,000 existing homes during this period (blackchronicle.com). To protect vulnerable tenants, the administration will cap rents at 25 percent of household income for extremely low-income families in city-subsidized apartments (bxtimes.com).
The “Block by Block” plan utilizes a balanced strategy of producing new rent-stabilized homes while aggressively preserving existing housing stock to prevent gentrification (blackchronicle.com). To prevent market-rate upswings from pushing out current residents, the plan launches a targeted multi-agency initiative combining the resources of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, and the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (nyc.gov). This initiative coordinates proactive housing preservation directly in high-need neighborhoods (nyc.gov). This targeted coordination helps shield local families from speculative market forces that drive displacement (nyc.gov).
Furthermore, the plan focuses heavily on neighborhood stabilization by expanding targeted code enforcement (bxtimes.com). City inspectors will tackle building repairs and correct health hazards, such as lead and mold, to keep existing tenants safely in their homes (nyc.gov). The administration also calls for citywide zoning updates that will fast-track residential development in wealthy neighborhoods (bxtimes.com). This strategy aims to reverse decades of concentrated poverty and segregation by distributing affordable housing more equitably across the city (bxtimes.com).
The Rise of Tenant Unions in NYC
The Mayor’s appearance at Hostos Community College put a spotlight on the growing power of tenant unions (bxtimes.com). Hostos itself is a monument to grassroots struggle, founded in 1968 after intense community organizing by South Bronx residents (cuny.edu). Modern African American students continue this legacy of activism in the face of ongoing displacement (news12.com). During the hearing, a student organizer challenged the mayor on how the city would support these self-organized groups (bxtimes.com).
A tenant union is a collective advocacy organization of renters who organize to build bargaining power and collectively negotiate with their shared landlord (lpeproject.org). Unlike traditional labor unions, which organize workers as producers selling their labor, tenant unions organize renters as consumers purchasing housing (inthesetimes.com). They operate on the same foundational premise that renters have vastly more bargaining power when negotiating collectively rather than individually (lpeproject.org). Tenant unions function across different scales, ranging from single-building associations to citywide or statewide networks (inthesetimes.com). Common tactics utilized by tenant unions include collective bargaining, coordinating rent strikes, filing joint legal actions, and lobbying for broader housing justice policies (utalbany.org).
In response to the student’s challenge, Mayor Mamdani proposed a highly progressive and controversial mechanism (bxtimes.com). Under this proposed framework, when a tenant union reaches a majority membership in a building and formally reports systemic code violations, the city will deploy coordinated, multi-agency enforcement actions (bxtimes.com). This approach utilizes organized tenant power as a legal force multiplier, allowing tenant unions to trigger direct municipal intervention (news12.com).
City Enforcement: Single Tenant vs. Tenant Union
Single Tenant Action
Tenant files individual 311 complaints. Landlord pays minimal nominal fines. Violations persist while building continues to deteriorate.
Organized Tenant Union
Union files coordinated majority action. Multi-agency enforcement triggered. Proactive repair orders legally enforced.
Legal Protections and Risks for Tenant Organizers
Under New York State law, tenants are protected when organizing into tenant unions, but they still face significant legal risks (rocketlawyer.com). New York Real Property Law Section 230 explicitly grants tenants the right to form and participate in tenant organizations without landlord interference (justia.com). Furthermore, Real Property Law Section 223-b outlaws landlord retaliation, such as eviction, lease non-renewal, or rent increases, against organizing tenants (glnylaw.com). This protection is crucial for maintaining housing stability during active organizing campaigns (thehabitatgroup.com).
The law establishes a “rebuttable presumption” of retaliation if a landlord attempts to evict a tenant or change lease terms within one year of the tenant participating in a tenant union (glnylaw.com). This mechanism shifts the burden of proof to the landlord, who must demonstrate a non-retaliatory reason for their actions (justia.com). Despite these statutory protections, organizing tenants still face steep legal risks (rocketlawyer.com). Landlords frequently attempt to bypass retaliation laws by fabricating non-retaliatory reasons for eviction, such as alleging property damage or lease violations (thehabitatgroup.com).
Furthermore, tenants can face aggressive landlord “union-busting” tactics and immediate eviction proceedings if they participate in a rent strike (lpeproject.org). Withholding rent without strict adherence to legal procedures and representation can lead to rapid eviction for non-payment (rocketlawyer.com). Consequently, housing advocates emphasize that while Real Property Law protects the right to organize, tenants must navigate these efforts with careful legal guidance (utalbany.org).
Conclusion: The Continuity of Struggle
The encounter between the student and the mayor at Hostos Community College represents a historical full circle (bxtimes.com). When the South Bronx was burning in 1974, municipal services failed to protect local residents (newarkchanging.org). It was not the government that saved the borough, but the collective power of community organizing (inthesetimes.com). Grassroots groups like the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition formed to fight back against landlord abandonment and municipal neglect (utalbany.org).
Over fifty years later, the modern housing struggle continues across the same geographic boundaries (thegrio.com). While the “Block by Block” initiative is an ambitious and progressive municipal housing effort, paper policies are only as strong as the community power backing them (news12.com). For Black and brown families in New York City, protecting their neighborhoods from displacement remains a constant fight (thegrio.com). Ultimately, the preservation of affordable housing must still be won, block by block (news12.com).
About the Author
Darius Spearman is a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College, where he has been teaching for over 20 years. He is the founder of African Elements, a media platform dedicated to providing educational resources on the history and culture of the African diaspora. Through his work, Spearman aims to empower and educate by bringing historical context to contemporary issues affecting the Black community.
