Key Questions Remain for New York City's Affordable Housing Plan

Greg David points to three numbers that—although not as compelling as the 200,000 total number of affordable units targeted by the plan—will determine how well the plan works in improving New York City's housing affordability troubles. The numbers are five (the total percentage increase in affordable housing units), seven (the targeted return on investment for housing developments), and eight (the total amount in billions of the city's planned in investment in affordable housing).

The problem with the five percent total growth in affordable housing, according to David: "So the plan may create affordable apartments for a group of New Yorkers, but it won't make the city more affordable as a whole because the housing supply won't increase enough to satisfy growing demand."

David goes on to detail the reasons the latter two figures mean that New Yorkers should temper their expectations about the overall impact of the plan.