New rhetoric (on Crown Heights project): "50% income-targeted, 100% union-built"

For those following the 960 Franklin development in Crown Heights, consider some coverage:

• The Brooklyn Paper, 3/15/19, Green death: Proposed Franklin Ave. towers would kill half of Bklyn Botanic’s plants within a decade, expert claims
• Bklyner, 3/13/19, Spice Factory Rezoning Faces Strong Opposition From Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• The Brooklyn Eagle, 3/13/19, Crown Heights Spice Factory development pits labor vs locals
• Kings County Politics, 3/13/19, Cumbo Gives Thumbs Down To 90 Flatbush Avenue [sic] Development

Note that the developer disputes the shadow studies.

But I want to point most to a quote in Kings County Politics from a Lupe Todd-Medina, spokesperson for The Continuum Company (known as Lupe Todd when she worked for DKC on Atlantic Yards):

“As proposed, 960 Franklin Avenue is a 50% income-targeted, 100% union-built residential development. As neighbors and partners in our community’s responsible development, we continue to look forward to sitting down with the leadership of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We also look forward to working with the community, local elected officials and community stakeholders to present Crown Heights with a union-built project that will provide much-needed income-targeting housing,” added Todd-Medina.

So "income-targeted" is the new euphemism for "affordable." That's language that the developers of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park might use, since some middle-income units, while income-targeted for households earning six figures, are not exactly "affordable."

Affordability range

Interestingly enough, as noted in Bklyner, the range of affordability would be better than most:

Half of the units would be affordable under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) plan. Here’s the revised breakdown:

• 40% would accommodate families at or below 50% AMI (316 Units)
• 20% would accommodate families at or below 80% AMI (158 Units)
• 60% of all affordable units accommodating low-income families at or below 80% AMI (473 units, consistent with and exceeding the City’s MIH program options)
• 20% would accommodate families at or below 100% AMI (158 units of workforce housing)
• 20% would accommodate families at or below 120% AMI (158 units of workforce housing)

So that's 60% of affordable units, or 30% of total units, aimed at low-income households. Thing is, to get there, they have to build two 39-story towers.