Advocates Rally to Fill Vacant Lots with Affordable Housing

1338 Stebbins Avenue in the Bronx is a vacant property, taking up almost three quarters of a city block. Picture the Homeless and other advocacy groups rallied outside the government owned property on Thursday, and said this vacant lot would be best used as housing for lower income New Yorkers. They're pushing a package of bills called the Housing not Warehousing Act, which would identify vacant lots across the city that are suitable for affordable housing. The bill passed the City Council and is awaiting Mayor Bill de Blasio's approval. Scott Hutchins said he was evicted from his apartment in 2012 and has been living in the city's shelters ever since.

"It'll be five years I've been homeless May 25," said Hutchins. "And I don't see anyway to get out of homelessness in the current situation unless they start housing people can afford, with what jobs are currently paying now."

The vacant lot on Stebbins Avenue can fit around one hundred units, according to Picture the Homeless.