Savino and other Coney Island Elected Officials Announce $21 Million in Funding for Luna Park Mitchell-Lama

Savino and other Coney Island Elected Officials Announce $21 Million in Funding for Luna Park Mitchell-Lama

(Brooklyn) – On Monday, November 2, 2009, Senator Diane J. Savino, joined Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, and Councilman Domenic Recchia in announcing a $21 million funding commitment for critical structural repairs at the Luna Park Housing Corporation, a 48-year-old City-administered Mitchell-Lama development in Coney Island .  As a condition for receiving these much-needed funds, Luna Park ’s co-op board has agreed to maintain the development’s affordability and remain in the Mitchell-Lama program for at least 20 years.  This will ensure the preservation of 1,600 affordable housing units – with over 5,000 residents – in Brooklyn for years to come.

The funding, which includes $15 million from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the largest City grant ever given to a Mitchell-Lama, will finance major external repairs for Luna Park’s aging buildings.

“Preserving Mitchell-Lama housing is crucial to providing affordable housing opportunities for New York ,” said Savino.  “I am happy to have secured funding for much needed repairs to the Luna Park housing complex, in order to ensure that residents are living in safe conditions.”

“I am extremely pleased that Luna Park will remain in the Mitchell-Lama program for 20 years and continue to be an important bastion of affordable housing for residents in my district,” said Nadler.  “Luna Park has been an affordable place to live in Brooklyn for an impressive 50 years, and it is critical that we protect and support such resources for working and middle-class people, particularly now, as the cost of living becomes less and less reasonable for New Yorkers.  I am committed to working with co-op members, the City, and other elected officials to ensure that Luna Park can complete its critical structural repairs and improvements.”

“I am thrilled to have supported this major commitment to Luna Park, and stand with the co-op owners, tenants and our public officials to ensure it remains part of the Mitchell-Lama program and receives the critical improvements its residents deserve,” said Markowitz.  “Brooklyn is ‘proud home to everyone from everywhere’ and we must use every tool there is to ensure it stays that way—and it’s why we must continue to beat the drum and keep up the mantra of ‘affordable forever.’”

 “I am so happy to be a part of this great effort to help keep affordable housing’s presence in our community,” said Brook-Krasny.  “ Luna Park has made the right choice on all counts, and this continued partnership with New York City is going to beneficial to all of us.  We can all hope that more developments will go the way of Luna Park and continue to stay in the Mitchell-Lama program.”

“ Luna Park is a diverse, vibrant community that enriches my district,” said Recchia.  “The residents of Luna Park made an important decision when they voted to remain in the Mitchell-Lama program, because it’s imperative that we maintain affordable housing for the people who call Brooklyn home.  With the cost of living going up, we need to make commitments to affordable housing, which is why we allocated money for important upgrades at the Luna Park buildings.  People who have lived in Brooklyn their whole lives deserve to stay here, and it’s housing like Luna Park that allows that to happen.”
 
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