NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio said Comptroller Scott Stringer was being "disingenuous" and "grandstanding" when he criticized the mayor's affordable housing and rezoning plans.
Stringer on Thursday laid out an economic vision for the city that proposed using 1,100 vacant city-owned plots of land to create a land bank to allow for the creation of 57,000 units of permanently affordable housing.
He added that de Blasio has not worked with enough urgency to address the scope of the affordable housing and homelessness crises in the city.
"Our housing crisis demands more urgency and new ideas right now," Stringer said during a speech at the Association for a Better New York.
De Blasio, speaking on "The Brian Lehrer Show" on WNYC Friday, said Stringer was wrong.
"It's breathtaking how little the comptroller understands about this issue," de Blasio said. "We've made clear that there's a very substantial number of publicly owned lots that are being developed for affordable housing. There's others that physically can't be because of health and safety issues, because of logistical issues."
De Blasio touted his plan to build 80,000 new units of affordable housing and preserve 120,000 others as the city's most ambitious affordable plan ever and one of the most quickly implemented.
City officials have said they are ahead of schedule with more than 40,000 affordable units built or preserved during the first two years of de Blasio's term, according to the mayor's office.
"The comptroller is being disingenuous. If he read any of the reports, and wasn't grandstanding, it would be quite clear that this is something we are already addressing," de Blasio said.
Stringer, in his speech, said de Blasio was not moving fast enough and that City Hall was not "engaged" enough to address the issue of inequality.
De Blasio made the "Tale of Two Cities" his campaign theme during the 2013 race but has moved to a "one city" theme as he has rolled out efforts such as universal pre-K and a higher minimum wage for government workers as his solution to the problem.
Stringer also suggested tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit as a way to lift more people out of poverty. De Blasio said that was a good idea but also a very "costly" one as the city's revenues begin to show signs of slowing down.
"This is something we'd have to be very very careful about because we wouldn't want to offer it and then take it back. Philosophically, yes, a very good idea. Practically, specifically, only if the resources were there," said de Blasio.
Stringer is often mentioned as a mayoral contender in the upcoming 2017 elections. The comptroller sounded like a candidate to many on Thursday as he laid out plans and criticized the de Blasio administration.
On Twitter, Stringer's spokesman Tyrone Stevens, shot back at de Blasio's response to Stringer's proposals in real time.
Personal attacks by Mayor & his “agents of the city” can't cover up need for new bold ideas on poverty housing & edu https://t.co/PlwQff65Jz
— Tyrone Stevens (@Tyronecstevens) September 23, 2016
Later Friday, Stringer also responded to de Blasio's criticisms.
“What’s breathtaking is the mayor’s haplessness in solving major problems facing our city. While he makes petty personal attacks, I will continue to put forth new ideas and common sense solutions," said Stringer.
