The Fight To Pass the Yonkers Affordable Housing Ordinance. The Obstacle: John Rubbo

CVH is dedicated to finding solutions to Westchester County's affordable housing crisis. As part of this commitment, Yonkers CVH members have been organizing and working to pass an Affordable Housing Ordinance for the last three years. However, the Yonkers City Council's failure to commit to an ordinance informed by Yonkers residents' average income and to set aside a reasonable percentage of units for affordable housing that helps to mitigate the housing crisis has made the process lengthy and tedious. Meanwhile, low-income residents are suffering the consequences; they are being priced out of their communities, forced to relocate or live in inhumane conditions because they can no longer afford the city.

CVH is dedicated to finding solutions to Westchester County's affordable housing crisis. As part of this commitment, Yonkers CVH members have been organizing and working to pass an Affordable Housing Ordinance for the last three years. However, the Yonkers City Council's failure to commit to an ordinance informed by Yonkers residents' average income and to set aside a reasonable percentage of units for affordable housing that helps to mitigate the housing crisis has made the process lengthy and tedious. Meanwhile, low-income residents are suffering the consequences; they are being priced out of their communities, forced to relocate or live in inhumane conditions because they can no longer afford the city.

Our members have been meeting with City Council members to discuss the ordinance and persuade them to vote for at least a 20% set aside for affordable housing. When we met with Councilman Rubbo, he acknowledged Yonkers' current affordable housing crisis and pledged to address it. Throughout the meeting, he insisted that the only way to solve the problem was to "Go Big Or Go Home." He promised our members, among other things, that he would write an open letter outlining his position on the ordinance, as well as the appropriate percentage set aside to truly "Go Big Or Go Home." He further said he would state his belief that the affordability of new housing developments should be based on the Yonkers average median income (AMI) rather than the Westchester AMI. Additionally, he committed to working with local, state, and federal legislatures and HUD to account for Yonkers AMI.

Councilman Rubbo did not complete any of these commitments and has broken every promise he made. CVH members attempted to contact him several times and through various channels, but they were unsuccessful. He hasn't responded to any of our emails or phone calls.