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Mayor's Office: City Exceeded Targets In Funding Affordable Housing In 2014

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The city financed the creation of more than 17,300 affordable housing units during 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio's office announced Thursday.

The city exceeded its projection by more than 1,300 units – with 11,185 preserved units and 6,191 new ones financed, according to the Mayor's office. The units are of a sufficient number to house almost 42,000 people, the Mayor's office said.

Affordable housing preservation – including keeping existing residents in their homes, rehabbing old apartments and buildings, and locking in long-term affordability – is a major element of the mayor's Housing New York plan for 200,000 affordable units, the Mayor's office said.

The mayor announced the affordable housing numbers on Thursday at 45-55 North Elliott Pl. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn – a low-income cooperative that houses 159 families earning less than $60,000 a year for a family of four, the Mayor's office said.

In December of last year, the de Blasio administration invested $3.1 million in capital funding, and along with another $250,000 donated by the office of Public Advocate Letitia James, the Mayor's office said. As a result, the building will remain affordable for another 30 years, the Mayor's office said.

"We came fast out of the gate with an aggressive affordable housing strategy to meet this crisis. That urgency translated into work on thousands of new units, as well as thousands of tenants that now will be able to remain in their own homes," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news release. "By ramping up new construction and preventing displacement within our neighborhoods, we're laying the foundation for a more affordable city. And in 2015, we expect even bigger and better results."

By the end of Fiscal Year 2015 – from July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 -- the city is on pace to exceed its target for affordable housing unit funding by 16,000 units, the Mayor's office said.

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