Harlem cuts ribbon on new affordable housing development

HARLEM (WABC) -- A new affordable housing development officially opened in Harlem Friday. And so in demand were the apartments that they had a lottery for them.

More than 48,000 people entered for a chance at one of 98 affordable units. The odds are not good, with more than 400 applicants per apartment.

A three bedroom apartment goes for $1,588 a month and comes with access to a children's museum, a pre-K and a childcare center.

Finding affordable housing in New York City is like finding a unicorn, so when close to 100 rent-controlled apartments became available in the newly finished Sugar Hill development, the management was inundated with applicants.

Broadway Housing Communities is behind the new development, and they celebrated the new building with a ribbon cutting while families like Helen Lugo's were moving in. Her family of four was sharing a one-bedroom apartment in another area of Harlem.

Now, the family has double the space for close to the same price.

"I felt like I want to cry because I can't believe (it)," she said. "When they see the bedrooms, they screamed like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to have my own bedroom.'"

The units have a decent size kitchen, a large living room, up to three bedrooms and as many as two bathrooms.

"It was a favorite day for us at BHC when families saw their apartments for the first time," executive director Ellen Baxter said. "The lowest rent is $360-some dollars a month for a studio apartment."

Gorgiette Morgan-Thomas, with Community Board 9, says the fact that so many people applied who had to be turned down shows that city officials are not doing enough.

"It was a signal and a message to HPD and our city administration of the great need for more affordable housing in this community," she said.