NYC gives the green light to the building of apartments with a 'poor door' for tenants living in affordable housing

The City approved a proposal from Extell, a prominent NYC developer, to install a separate door for tenants living in affordable housing units to enter the building

Extell applied for the Inclusionary Housing Program, which allows developer to construct bigger properties if the property includes affordable units for less-wealthy tenants

Extell's application met with considerable backlash when it was initially proposed in August 2013

The City of New York approved a proposal by one of the largest real estate developers in the city to build in a 'poor door', or a separate door for residents living in affordable housing to enter their building.

According to a Saturday report from the New York Post, the city approved the application of Extell, one of the most prominent developers in New York, to install this separate set of doors into a high-rise located on 40 Riverside Boulevard, a location situated next to the Hudson River.

Extell's proposal allows them to force affordable housing tenants to walk through an entrance located in a back alley behind the building to enter, leaving the more prominent front entrance for tenants paying for nicer apartments.

A view of the high-rises lining Riverside Boulevard, in New York. The city approved an application by prominent developer Extell to install a 'poor door', or a separate door for tenants living in affordable housing to enter the building through

Under the Inclusionary Housing Program, for which the city approved Nextell's application, larger properties are allowed to be built as long as they include a portion of affordable housing units.

For the 40 Riverside Boulevard location, 55 units will be designated as affordable housing, all units facing the street. Another 219 units will face the river.

A spokesman for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development confirmed that the agency had approved Extell’s application for the Inclusionary Housing Program.

Despite the approval of this application, the New York Post reports that Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer vowed to reject future developments with separate entrances.

Extell applied to the Inclusionary Housing program in August 2013, which drew the ire of many critics, including Christine Quinn, who was running for Mayor at the time. Quinn called for a change of laws to force developers to provide common entrances for all occupants.

However, some developers dismiss the outcry over the 'poor door' concept.

'No one ever said that the goal was full integration of these populations,' David Von Spreckelsen, senior vice president at Toll Brothers, another developer specializing in luxury residencies, told The Real Deal in 2013. 'So now you have politicians talking about that, saying how horrible those back doors are. I think it’s unfair to expect very high-income homeowners who paid a fortune to live in their building to have to be in the same boat as low-income renters, who are very fortunate to live in a new building in a great neighborhood.'

Toll Brothers developed the high-rise at 1 Northshore Pier, a luxury building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This building purpotedly includes a 'poor door.'







