NEW YORK CITY—In a show of support both for city residents and Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Real Estate Board of New York has stepped up to offer temporary housing for those affected by last week's gas explosion in Harlem.
REBNY, in fact, had told the Mayor it would provide 15 apartments on the Upper East Side for area residents displaced by the blast but—during the course of de Blasio's announcement of a variety of efforts being made to ensure impacted residents have safe and stable housing—the number of units more than doubled to 34, according to Crain's New York Business.
The move appears to be something of an olive branch being extended by the industry to the Mayor as the two sides have struggled to find common ground during the early month's of de Blasio's administration.
“This is the type of situation in which New Yorkers step up and help each other," says de Blasio. "REBNY's done just that."
Adds REBNY president Steven Spinola, "We will continue to work with the city to provide a longer-term solution for those who were impacted," said in a statement, "and hope that our partnership with Mayor de Blasio will help ease recovery efforts for all those affected."
REBNY says it has arranged for 15 apartments on the East Side to be available for up to three months for displaced residents, and is working with city housing agencies to seek out long-term housing arrangements. The group will be joined by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, whose members own and operate a significant number of buildings within East Harlem, and will coordinate with city agencies on both temporary and long-term housing for families affected by the tragedy
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
