As a direct result of these construction priorities, developers are planning to build 18,000 new units over the next few years. In the Nov. 1, 2006, "Queens West Issue Brief," the Pratt Center points out that, under the current proposals, over 95 percent of this housing would be priced at the so-called "market-rate." Only 3 percent (600) are planned to be moderate-to-middle income units, and only 1 percent (240) will be low-income units.

This article might be interesting to socialists and communists but otherwise it's just dumb. The city could build more affordable housing with a few simple strokes:

1) rezone much of the remaining city industrial land to residential

2) push for more non-union labor

3) lower taxes

4) bring NYC building code in line with US standards

5) eliminate mortgage recording taxes (only city in the country with them, I believe)

6) allow for full vacancy decontrol of all rent stabilized or rent controlled apartments

7) streamline land use and approval processes

Those are 7 easy suggestions (some of which have been partially implemented by Bloomberg) that could be exacted and would go a long way to make housing more affordable.  Housing is subject to supply/demand mechanisms, and demand is high in NYC because there are jobs/money here.  But supply has been woefully inadequate for the better part of 30 years, primarily because of dumb city policies. 

BTW if life is so good in Cuba why do every year hundreds, if not thousands, flee in rafts and row boats across shark infested waters in an attempt to get to the US?  So they can leave the wonderful homes and economy of Cuba to live on the streets of America?  Just a stupid article written by an uninformed moron.

A post to an article advocating socialist policies on Queens West?  Am I in the bizarro world?  How can anyone take that seriously?

Great response Chris.

Sometmes I think those articles are actually written by developers to make the opposition look silly.