'Affordable' Prospect Lefferts Gardens Apartments Ask $3K Per Month

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — Central Brooklyn "affordable" housing units sitting on the city's lottery system are anything but, asking up to $3,500 a month in rent and requiring a significant annual income.

At 333 Linden Blvd., 13 one- and two-bedroom "affordable" apartments require residents to make 130 percent of the area median income — at least $104,880 for between one and five residents.

The one-bedrooms are going for $3,059 a month and the two bedrooms $3,599. The pricey building included amenities like parking, bike storage, electric car charging, shared laundry facilities, a shared gym and a rooftop terrace.

At 375 Lefferts Ave, all 13 open units in the lottery are also asking residents to make 130 percent area median income — or $98,915 minimum.

The three studio apartments available go for $2,885 and the 10 one-bedrooms for $2,950 — a price that was seemingly sweetened with a three month rent reduction, according to NYC Housing Connect.

The discount would bring the prices down to $2,163 and $2,6550.

Both buildings participated in the now-defunct 421-a tax exemption program, which offers tax cuts for developments that offer stabilized and affordable units.

The program has faced criticism for being inequitable and failing to actually incentivize affordable building, according to NYC Comptroller Brad Lander.

Between 2017 and 2020, over 60 percent of the income-restricted units under 421-a were build for families earning 130 percent of the area median income — making the units "unaffordable to nearly 75 percent of New Yorkers," according to a 2022 report from Lander.