Posted on June 13, 2016 by David Howard King in Gotham Gazette Gotham Gazette, By David Howard King Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature allocated $2 billion to spend on 100,000 units of affordable and supportive housing in this year’s budget, which was agreed to on April 1. But they failed to include specifics — details of how that money would be spent — kicking those decisions down the road. Now, two months later, they have yet to sort out the details and many stakeholders are worried no deal is in sight as the major negotiating parties face off over incongruous priorities. Cuomo, a Democrat, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining how the housing money will be spent, and according to housing and homeless advocates, failure to do so by the quickly-approaching end of legislative session will mean the money remains in state coffers without benefitting homeless, low- and moderate-income New Yorkers.
