Federal stimulus money is paving the way for new jobs and affordable housing in Harlem, city officials have announced. The first two of three East Harlem housing developments financed by the Tax Credit Assistance Program – Hobbs Court on East 102nd Street and The Ciena on East 100th Street – are under construction and expected to provide jobs for the neighborhood’s unemployed workers.
“Hobbs Court and The Ciena will create hundreds of new, permanently affordable apartments for lower- and middle-income New Yorkers, as well as hundreds of new jobs,” said Councilman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents East Harlem.
Lawmakers hope the projects will help mitigate employment woes in an area where the Nielsen Company estimates that unemployment rates run twice the city average.
“This is more than creating 340 units of affordable housing,” said John B. Rhea, chairman of the New York City Housing Authority. “It is an opportunity to create much-needed jobs for this community to build that housing.”
According to the Department of Labor, 659,000 construction jobs have been lost in the U.S. between September 2008 and September 2009. Nationwide construction unemployment has risen to 18.4 percent, nearly 10 percent higher than last year.
“Construction has already started,” said Jennifer Colman, director of marketing for Phipps Houses, one of the developers. “Hirings have already taken place or will take place as the project moves along.”
Approximately half of East Harlem is Hispanic, according to census data. The Bureau of Labor reported this month that Hispanics have been hit particularly hard during the recession, with 12.3 percent unemployed. The national unemployment rate is 9.8 percent.
It is unclear, however, whether Hispanics in particular will gain jobs due to the new development projects.
“We don’t do any discriminatory hiring, so I can’t tell you anything about hiring specific groups, such as Hispanics,” Colman said. “We don’t have any quotas to fill.”
Hispanic construction workers in Harlem have some of the lowest employment odds in the country. City officials said their goal is to use stimulus money to help such beleaguered groups.
The Tax Credit Assistance Program “is significantly boosting our efforts to put the American people back to work, right here in New York City,” Shaun Donovan, secretary of housing and urban development, said in a press statement. To that end, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office recently released a plan to create and retain 400,000 jobs over the next six years.
Hobbs Court and The Ciena are expected to be completed in November 2011.
