Starrett City To Remain Affordable...For Now
Clipper Equity has taken more rejection than the wallflower at the prom. [Starrett City]the nations largest federally subsidized housing complexhas been spared for the second time, as the federal housing authority [once again](http://www.newyorkpress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=99623728&day=2&startmonth=3&startyear=2007) denied [Clipper Equitys bid](http://www.nysun.com/article/58141) to buy it yesterday.
Sen. Charles Schumer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn) all got in on the fight to save the affordable housing complex, urging the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to [void Clipper Equitys proposal] based on the impression that in order for a $1.3 million investment to be worthwhile, the company would have to evict thousands of tenants leading to new market-rate rents. In March, HUD announced that the deal did not pass federal security guidelines, but implied that it [could still go through](http://www.newyorkpress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=17192490&day=2&startmonth=3&startyear=2007) if Clipper were able to provide more information on its credit standing and address critics objections.
HUD has now said that it does not believe [Clipper has the financial capacity] to keep the [complex affordable](http://www.1010wins.com/pages/663537.php?contentType=4&contentId=675608). The [Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/10/2007-07-10_respite_for_starrett_city_as_feds_ax_13b.html) reports that HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson called the complex an essential affordable housing resource for the City of New York, and Sen. Schumer said, Lets all go back to the drawing board to craft a plan that ... ensures that Starrett City remains a middle-class oasis well into the 21st century.