When Destiny Armstead moved into 1561 Walton Ave. with her son Destin, 6, last December they were both excited.

“We couldn’t even sleep the first night because everything was new and beautiful.  It’s like a dream come true for me,” said Armstead.

Mayor Bill de Blasio came to Armstead’s building in Mt. Eden to see an example of how his initiative to provide 300,000 affordable apartments by 2026 is progressing.  After taking a tour of Armstead’s $509 per month two-bedroom apartment, led mostly by Destin, the mayor announced that the city financed more than 32,000 affordable homes in the 2018 fiscal year ending June 30.

The mayor also announced the creation of a Tenant Anti-Harassment Protection Unit within the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) office.  The unit is a response to the increased amount of harassment complaints against developers.  “Most landlords follow the law but there’s an unscrupulous few who do a huge amount of damage,” the mayor said shortly after the tour.

Investigations from the new unit will allow the city to bring civil charges against landlords found harassing their tenants and forcing them to leave.  The mayor also said that fines to landlords will range from “tens of thousands of dollars to start if they have done the wrong thing, easily going up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties.”

Armstead, works at Whole Foods and spent two years looking for an affordable apartment.  “I wanted to stay in this neighborhood,” said Armstead.  “I’m here to stay.  I’m not going anywhere.  I love my neighborhood.”