Dear Partners and Friends:

Last week, the President released his budget blueprint that proposes deep cuts to many of the programs that fund the agency’s work to serve low- and moderate-income residents. The same day, I joined the Mayor and colleagues from across city government in the fight to protect the millions of New Yorkers who would be affected by these cuts.

As many of you know, HPD receives the majority of its expense funding from HUD. Any reduction in federal funding would undermine critical services New Yorkers depend on every day. The proposed elimination of Community Development Block Grants would damage our enforcement and emergency repair work, anti-harassment efforts, and ability to provide emergency shelter to families vacated from their homes. Cuts to Section 8 could have devastating impacts on the 39,000 New Yorkers who rely on our vouchers for housing; and the proposed elimination of the City’s HOME award would reduce funding for supportive housing projects and down payment assistance.

We will be doing everything we can to fight these cuts and make sure the federal government lives up to its obligations to our neighborhoods and our residents. I am going to DC next week to talk to members of Congress about how crucial our federal funding is. Many of you—our allies in affordable housing—are at the forefront of this fight, and I look forward to working together over the coming weeks and months as the budget “blueprint” comes into focus and the House and Senate put forth their own budgets for consideration.

In the meantime, the work of the agency continues apace, if with a renewed sense of urgency.

Last weekend, I joined Councilmember Donovan Richards and our many sister city agencies to release Resilient Edgemere, a groundbreaking, community-led plan that celebrates what makes Edgemere unique while putting the neighborhood on a course to grow and thrive for generations to come. Through hundreds of millions of dollars in planned investment, the city is committed to growing economic opportunity, providing affordable housing, and protecting homeowners from the threats of climate change. This plan was shaped by the community, and reflects the hopes that local residents voiced for the future of their neighborhood. We look forward to working with the community and all our partners to deliver on this vision.

HPD issued Requests for Proposals for Section 8 Project Based Vouchers (PBVs) in new construction and preservation projects that advance the goals of Housing New York, including revitalizing neighborhoods, reducing homelessness, and expanding access to opportunities for low-income families. The award of PBV units, subject to HUD regulations, is limited to 25 units or 25% of the total number of units in a project. Additional awards can be made for units that serve seniors or residents offered supportive services, or projects where all units are in a low-poverty census tract. Proposals for selection will be considered on a rolling basis. However, only project applications submitted by April 20, 2017 will be selected in time for June closing. Affordable units created and preserved through PBV will help us ensure a future stream of housing for our lowest income households.

We announced an expansion of our Housing Ambassador Program thanks to $195,000 in recent funding from New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Housing Ambassadors are community-based service providers that help New Yorkers find and apply for affordable housing. We also introduced the first video in an informative new series that walks applicants through the process of finding and applying for affordable housing. This is just the latest effort in our larger push to make sure that all New Yorkers have access to the affordable housing we are creating in record numbers.

With Enterprise Community Partners, HPD is launching a Landlord Ambassador Program to expand and formalize the unprecedented efforts underway to reach owners of small- to mid-size multifamily buildings and educate them about our affordable housing finance programs. Just last week, Enterprise issued a Request for Proposals to identify three non-profit, community-based partners to help identify and support landlords with preservation and rehab needs, and provide technical assistance to landlords at risk of losing their properties through tax lien sale or in rem foreclosure. I encourage interested organizations to review the RFP and apply before the April 13^th deadline.

And we selected the first round of development teams to build 100 percent affordable developments on five clusters of small parcels of vacant City-owned land. This is the first of three rounds of designations for developments financed through HPD’s New Infill Homeownership Opportunities Program (NIHOP) and Neighborhood Construction Program (NCP), which were designed to expand the capacity of smaller developers and local non-profits. The selected teams include four non-profit community based organizations who will lead the construction of nine buildings in the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and Bushwick sections of Brooklyn, and the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

As we survey the very real threats on the horizon, I am convinced that we face this landscape from a position of real strength. More than ever, it is critical that we come together in common cause, united by the values we share, to find workable solutions to the very real problems that we face.