Deborah VanAmerongen is now the commissioner of the state's Division of Housing & Community Renewal.
To see her background, click on "read more" below.
So far, she has come through for tenants:
- On March 3rd, at a Mitchell-Lama conference, she stated that preserving and building affordable housing are her priority, to maintain a diverse New York. She noted that she and Governor Spitzer want to stem the tide of Mitchell-Lama buyouts.
- She states that DHCR has the authority to define "unique or peculiar," and recommended to Governor Spitzer a policy he has accepted, barring "unique or peculiar" increases just for leaving Mitchell-Lama.
- In her capacity as a director of the Roosevelt Island Operating Committee, she has also taken a stand to keep remaining Mitchell-Lama rentals there in the program.
Commissioner Van Amerongen has met with representatives of the PIE campaign and will do so again quarterly.
Before becoming DHCR Commissioner, Ms. VanAmerongen was the Director of Multifamily Housing for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in New York City, a position she took in August, 1998.
Prior to joining HUD, she worked in the New York State Assembly as a Legislative Coordinator for the Program and Counsel Staff from 1989 to 1995. While there, she also served as Senior Analyst for the Standing Committee on Housing.
Ms. VanAmerongen received
her B.S. from Utica College of Syracuse University and her M.A. of Public Administration from Rockefeller College of the State University of New York at Albany.
As Commissioner of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, VanAmerongen's annual salary is $120,800.
