Mayor of New York City Promises to Build 1,500 Affordable Homes for Artists

It’s no secret that New York City is one of the most expensive places in the world, and much of the rhetoric from the Bloomberg legacy was that the city has become a place ’for the rich, by the rich.’ Rent prices can attest to that; neighborhoods once renowned for their artistic community have been swiftly occupied by industry-types, “creatives” and brokers seeking weekday crash pads. Part of Bill de Blasio’s campaign found him touted as the Mr. Met to Bloomberg’s Yankee, a candidate that might, for once, look out for the working and creative class that laid the cultural groundwork for a ”Big Apple” that Taylor Swift now uh, represents. It seems as if Mr. Mayor is taking increased action to live up to his original precedence, promising in his latest State of the City address to designate 1,500 affordable units to artists living and working in New York. As one might expect, living costs for artists is a conundrum of sorts: not having enough space to create the work that you pay rent with is a tricky reality for many living in the city. In the same address, de Blasio also promised affordable homes to the growing contingency of senior citizens and veterans, yet another population problem that has been egregiously overlooked in the past. Peep some choice words from de Blasio below and be sure to comments with your thoughts.

We know that New York is the city it is today in part because of the contributions from generations of artistic visionaries who at one point struggled to make ends meet. So we’ll provide 1,500 units of affordable live/work housing for the artists and musicians who make New York culture so vibrant … as well as 500 dedicated affordable work spaces for the cultural community.