NYHC, NHC Announce This Year’s Affordable Housing Honorees

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The New York Housing Conference (NYHC) and the National Housing Conference (NHC) will present its 35th annual awards luncheon on December 11 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City, where NYHC and NHC will honor those who continue to create and preserve affordable housing in New York and nationwide. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is slated to attend the event where he will talk about the need for affordable housing.The recipients of this year’s awards are:Atlantic Development Group, Housing Developer Award;The New York City Housing Authority, Special Recognition Award; andShaun Donovan, commissioner, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Public Service Award.“This year’s event has taken on a new significance with the precipitous downturn in the nation’s economy,” says John Kelly, New York Housing Conference co-chair and partner with Nixon Peabody LLP, and Carol Lamberg, New York Housing Conference co-chair and executive director of Settlement Housing Fund. “We have needed more affordable housing in New York City for decades. The increased foreclosure rate and the credit crisis are alarming and high-quality affordable housing is part of the solution. It is time to consider new, transparent approaches to creating and preserving affordable housing,” Kelly and Lamberg add.NHC President and CEO Conrad Egan says, “The affordable housing landscape has changed dramatically in the past year with a foreclosure crisis that is negatively impacting the future of America’s families. The availability of stable, affordable housing is unquestionably linked to the health and well being of families and their children. As a result, ‘now, more than ever’ we must be focused on meeting housing needs both in New York and nationwide.”