NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio used his second State of the City speech Tuesday to outline an ambitious plan to build hundreds of thousands of new affordable housing units in New York City.

De Blasio said his plan, which would include building 160,000 market-rate apartments and building or preserving 200,000 affordable housing units, would be a big step toward fulfilling his campaign promise to narrow the divide between New York City’s rich and poor — what he called the “tale of two cities.”

“If we do not act — and act boldly — New York risks taking on the qualities of a gated community,” de Blasio said during his speech at Baruch College. “A place defined by exclusivity, rather than opportunity. And we cannot let that happen.”

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De Blasio hopes to achieve his goal to build denser, economically diverse, affordable residential communities through rules that would require developers to include affordable housing “not as an option — as a pre-condition” in every major rezoning development.

His plan calls for transforming whole neighborhoods from Staten Island to Brooklyn.

New York City plans to invest $200 million in affordable housing, infrastructure and job initiatives for the southwest Bronx. The plans include the construction of a new public open space, roads, and remediation to spur development of up to 4,000 units of affordable housing. The design phase of the program is expected to launch in the coming fiscal year.

City officials will also work with communities in Queens to develop a new vision for the Sunnyside Yards project. De Blasio said the development provides an opportunity to build thousands of new affordable homes. A feasibility study will be launched this month to determine the costs and infrastructure needs required to redevelop the rail yards.

Mention of a Sunnyside Yards project set off an intense war of words with Governor Cuomo.

“The MTA uses Sunnyside Yards as an important facility for our transportation system, and it’s not available for any other use in the near term,” Melissa Derosa, Dir. of Communications, said.

A spokesman for the mayor pointed out that the city owns the air rights to more than two-thirds of the MTA property.

“We can put piles in the ground and build above the yards,” a spokesman said.

As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer explained, that wasn’t the only fight between the 800-lbs gorilla in Albany and New York City’s elephant in the room.

“Nothing does more to address income inequality than actually raising people’s incomes,” the mayor said.

De Blaiso wants Albany to increase the minimum wage in the city to $15 by 2019.

Gov. Cuomo said anything more than $13 was a non-starter.