Affordable housing available in Queens

Having a house is your dream, but the problem is, how do you afford it? Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Affordable Housing Plan, this dream can easily become reality.
Marketing for 22 one-, two-, and three-family restored houses has begun under New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and Restored Homes HDFC. Houses purchased from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will now undergo restoration.
The houses are priced from $250,000 to $650,000. Applicants for these homes are randomly selected through a lottery process, with preference being given to the following New York City residents: 50 percent of the units to current residents of the Community Board in which homes are located; 1/3 of the units to military personnel including reservists and honorably discharged veterans who served on active duty in “Operation Enduring Freedom” and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” after September 11, 2001, or their surviving spouses; and 5 percent to municipal employees.
The houses are sold based on eligibility, including the applicant’s ability to meet certain financial requirements. The applicant must then occupy the home for at least six years. Houses are not sold to applicants who already own similar residences. The income limit, which may not apply to military personnel, is under $92,170.
Among the 22 houses being restored, eight are in Queens. There are five houses in Jamaica at 114-40 158th Street; 108-05 160th Street; 111-19 168th Street; 105-27 171st Place; 132-03 178th Street. Additionally, the following are available: at 132-03 135th Avenue, South Ozone Park; 144-44 177th Street, Springfield Gardens; 122-38 Springfield Boulevard, Springfield Gardens.
Houses in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the Bronx are also available.
Bloomberg’s Housing Plan took off in 2003, with a goal to provide 500,000 New Yorkers with affordable housing. This $7.5 billion plan searches for land and financing in order to build these houses in the future. The HPD and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) started constructing and preserving over 18,472 housing units in 2007.
“Every generation of ambitious and hard-working New Yorkers deserve just what my parents struggled to achieve and what all parents want for their children: the security that only good homes in safe and stable neighborhoods can provide,” said Bloomberg. “Affordable housing is fundamental to our long-term economic prosperity.”
An informational seminar will be held from 7-9 p.m. on July 25 at the Hamilton-Madison House, City Hall Senior Center, 100 Gold Street, New York. Seminar attendance is not mandatory.
Applications can be requested by mail, and must be returned by mail no later than August 4, to the following address: Restored Homes HDFC, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 220, New York, N.Y. 10008.
There is no application fee. For more information, check out www.nyc.gov/hpd.