In a time when truly affordable housing is in high demand throughout NYC, there is one community that continues to create housing that is 100% affordable to its current local residents. On Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, the office of Councilmember Charles Barron held a groundbreaking at the development site located at 875 Erskine Ave., Brooklyn. The site is the location for the new Alafia Village, a development of 2,600 units of 100% affordable housing. The project comes after four years of negotiations between Councilmember Charles Barron (then Assemblymember), former Councilmember Inez Barron, and the collaborative development team of Apex Building Group, Riseboro Community Partnership, other developers and Services for the Underserved, who were chosen by the state in response to the vital Brooklyn initiative. With the sounds of live drums reverberating across the 25 acres that will serve as the site for an urban farm, fitness area, recreational space, commercial sites, affordable residential units and parking, Charles Barron explained the plan he implemented to arrive at this moment.
The “Barron Plan” of affordability is a roadmap he openly shares with his colleagues. The key seems to be a record of community involvement that pulls in the community board members and other stakeholders for feedback, as well as holding developers accountable to the affordability needs of the local population. Commissioner of NYS DHCR, RuthAnne Visnauskas, praised the project as a standard of community inclusivity that was spearheaded by the Barrons’ partnership in the process. The Alafia Village project comes on the heels of the Innovative Urban Village project approved by the city council after six years of negotiations with the Barrons to get 100% affordability for 2,000+ units and 100 condominiums. As shovels went into the ground and the dirt was thrown, the group exclaimed “Alafia,” an African word which means peace and good health. Charles Barron said, “Alafia appropriately expresses the hope and destiny for our beloved community.”