What will newly installed Council Member Yusef Salaam do?

Harlem’s new Council Member faces his first decision that will directly impact the residents of his district - approving (or not) 99 supportive units for severely mentally ill and/or addicted New Yorkers in Timbale Terrace.

While no one in East Harlem opposes the low-income housing, amenities, and a Latin/Jazz cultural facility, the 99 units set aside for people with severe mental health issues and/or addiction were part of a cynical Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) bait-and-switch.

HPD took the community consensus from the East Harlem Visioning process - a request for supportive housing for our seniors - and instead decided to move New Yorkers with significant issues currently living in other neighborhoods, to Timbale Terrace. These 99 supportive housing units could go to East Harlem seniors. Instead, they will now house other neighborhoods’ afflicted individuals with no contractual obligation that any of those units be set aside for our East Harlem neighbors. All of this, unless Council Member Salaam says “No”.

To compare and contrast, see what HPD opened this past summer on the Upper West Side, just look at this boutique supportive senior housing for UWS seniors:

Will Council Member Salaam fight for equity, or will he acquiesce to HPD’s pattern of systemic oversaturation? The issue, as always, boils down why wealthier communities shoulder the lightest load.

What will the Council Member do?

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