Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, was a supporter of the project — seeing it as a test case for his new mandatory inclusionary zoning policy, which requires developers to
insert affordable units into new developments as a precondition for construction.
The Empire State Development Corporation
inserted a clause into its lease proposal with Ratner that would allow the developer to bail on the construction of 2,250
affordable units, by claiming that such construction would be «subject to governmental authorities making available...
affordable housing subsidies,» the Brooklyn Paper reported.