STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Although we might be the least populated borough in New York City, we nonetheless made the biggest splash at Mayor Eric Adams’ recent “State of the City 2024″ address at Hostos College in the Bronx.
In fact, Port Richmond resident Jennifer DeCosta was called out by name by the mayor as he introduced the city’s new Affordable Housing Plan.
Adams described DeCosta’s struggles during Hurricane Ida, when water filled her basement apartment and destroyed all that she owned.
“But the city was there for her, helping her find a new apartment in Castleton Housing,” he said to a crowd of hundreds of city leaders and reporters.
Adams lauded Project Hospitality’s recently opened affordable and supportive housing in Port Richmond as an example of a solution to the city’s historic housing crisis.
DeCosta, who grew up in Huguenot and moved to Port Richmond in 2021, was assisted after the storm by Project Hospitality’s HELP Center and the Staten Island Long Term Recovery Organization to find funding to repair $5,000 in damages and address mold issues caused when the waters of Hurricane Ida receded.
Even so, she longed to leave the below-ground apartment where she’d experienced such loss.
She applied for and won the lottery for an affordable studio apartment at Castleton Houses, Project Hospitality’s brand new, 48-unit affordable and supportive housing building, located at the corner of Port Richmond and Castleton Avenues on the former site of Northfield Savings Bank.
She received assistance with her application from the Project Hospitality’s Community Help Center, located in the…
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