For most Americans, homeownership is the key to achieving financial security and their entrée to the middle class. In New York City, fewer than a third of our 8.4 million residents own the place they call home; the vast majority of New Yorkers are renters. Among Black and Brown New Yorkers, the homeownership rate is 26% and 17%, respectively.

The dream of homeownership has become more elusive in the city as purchase prices have climbed above $1 million in Manhattan and Brooklyn, $700,000 in Queens and Staten Island, and close to $600,000 in the Bronx. At the same time, apartment rents throughout the city are averaging more than $3,500 a month, making it virtually impossible for most renters to save up a down payment.

It is clear why housing affordability emerged as the central theme in this year’s city elections and will be a top priority for any incoming mayor.

In 1982, when I went to work for David Rockefeller shortly after he founded the Partnership for New York City, my job was to help realize his vision for the revival of the city and its neighborhoods through creating affordable homeownership opportunities for tens of thousands of New York........

© NY Daily News