Volunteers from the Department of Buildings have partnered with Habitat for Humanity-New York City to help with the interior construction of 16 homes that are being built as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s 165,000-unit affordable housing plan.

The project includes two, adjoining four-story buildings located at 512 and 514 Lafayette Avenue and two, four-story, individual buildings at 544 Lafayette and 118 Hart Street in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. All four buildings consist of four, multifamily two and three-bedroom condominiums each. The units will become home to 16 different families whose income is between 50%-80% of the city’s median and who have contributed at least 300 service hours per adult to help build their homes as part of Habitat-NYC’s rules for participation. Participants must also be first-time home owners.

“A new home means a new life for any family,” said Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri who joined his volunteers in installing insulation and drywall to the new homes. “That’s why this work is so important.”

Construction on the project began in July 2009 after the city’s Department of Housing Preservation sold the land to Habitat-NYC for $16,000. Completion is expected in early 2011.

 - Carolina Worrell