"P.S. 90 is a completely different situation," argued Warnke. "P.S. 186 is in much worse condition than P.S. 90 was when they started rehab. There's no roof on P.S. 186, so it's been completely exposed to the elements for years. " According to Warnke, work on P.S. 90 began before the city's new building code was enacted—a building code that would make the rehabilitation of P.S. 186 more difficult with stricter rules on entrances, exits and passageways.
Warnke said that all 90 units of rental housing in the proposed development will be affordable to families who make no more than 60 percent of area median income, or AMI—a regional measure calculated by the federal government. The 2009-2010 New York City AMI is $77,400. Sixty-percent of $77,400 is $46,440. As in all affordable housing projects that involve federal tax credits and are based on AMI, there are concerns that the income levels are not reflective of the needs of the area.
"AMI includes communities that are far away from this one. My concern is that any definition of affordable for this project must mean that it is affordable to the people who live in this community. Now, 60 percent of AMI is a maximum. I want to know the minimum. That's important to know," said Perkins.
Warnke is planning for a July 2011 groundbreaking for the development. Demolition would be complete before then and the hope is that a fully functioning development would be ready by 2013. According to Warnke, none of the proposed plan will trigger the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
