While it goes without saying that affordable housing is nearly impossible to find in Manhattan, especially with realty prices soaring, the development project at 40 Riverside Boulevard is offering mixed-income housing with luxury condos and affordable apartments in the same building. Among the 274 planned units of the 33-story building, 219 will be luxury condos on the upper floors facing the Hudson River while the remaining 55 units will be designated as affordable housing units with a designated separate entrance, that has become known as the controversial “poor door.” The site’s developer, Extell, has sparked a classist controversy and outrage for this plan to have income-segregated entrances. Extell plans for a mixed-income building due to the potential tax breaks it will receive through the 421a tax exemption program, yet the perceived separate-but-equal logic of the segregated entrances has produced considerable backlash against Extell.
