Dear Editor:
After reading the letter to the Editor about Jersey City’s contradictory housing policy in the last issue, I am prompted to ask about affordable housing in all of the new residential towers and low-rise housing developments. Was there not some affordable housing mandated along with the tax abatements? I believe that I would qualify, but I have called all over Jersey City government and was told that there are some, but “you have to go there in person, and ask”. But no one could even tell me which buildings have such apartments. How many units of affordable housing were created in the past 25 years, and where are they?
In the interest of transparency and honesty I think that there should be an on-line database of all tax abatements, and what the terms were. Any apartments at affordable rates in those buildings should be in a separate database with income requirements and an on-line application. New York City has this. Over the years I have read about some abatement which had some affordable units as part of the deal, but what happened to them? I never had a chance to get one.
Did they go to cronies, or friends of friends, or what? I do not qualify for Section 8 housing, but after 36 years in Jersey City, I am priced out of middle-income housing since landlords can ask for as much as they can get. It is literally an apartment auction where those who can pay the most get to stay in Jersey City.
Sincerely,
Laird Ehlert
