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Finding a place to live that doesn’t require three jobs and five roommates for you to be able to afford it is a big issue in New York City. There are many solutions that have been implemented over the years, but the problem continues to grow. At his recent State of the City speech, the mayor stepped up and said that this is one of the biggest problems that our city is facing and that he’s dedicated to fixing it.

His plan? Build more than 160,000 “normal” priced apartments while at the same time making 200,000 affordable places available. He’d also be linking up previously separated areas of the city via a new ferry. And, the icing on the cake, he wants to turn a rail yard in Queens into an entirely new neighborhood, complete with cheap places to live.

Naturally, the mayor has his fair share of detractors. This is the biggest housing proposal in the city’s history and some think that it’s simply impractical. They’re also objecting to a proposed requirement that all future housing developments must include affordable units in order to be approved. Will de Blasio’s plan go through? If it does, it’s going to be one long battle to get there.

Photo courtesy of Joel Raskin via Wikicommons