In his Own Words Vito Lopez Sponsors and Votes for Legislation to Push the Poor and Middle Class (His Own Supporters) Out

I do not need you anymore

"There's a renaissance occurring in Williamsburg," says Assembly Housing Committee Chairman Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn), a Williamsburg native who likens its gentrification to that of Park Slope. But as neighborhoods improve, he warns, poorer ethnic groups often get pushed out. " The whites and yuppies moving in have the ability to pay more for rent," Lopez says. "The Latino population could be gone in two to three years." - New York Daily News 4/20/97

Ten Years later, on the last day of the 2007 New York State Legislative Session Vito Lopez introduced legislation to increase the poor and middle class removal from New York City.

A threat to N.Y. nabes
At the eleventh hour, with virtually no public discussion, the Assembly and Senate agreed on a bill that will stop production of middle-class housing in neighborhoods across all five boroughs. Gov. Spitzer must veto the destructive, ill-conceived measure. . . Responsibility for this disaster belongs to Vito Lopez (photo), chairman of the Assembly Housing Committee who also serves as Brooklyn Democratic boss, with an assist from the Real Estate Board of New York. . . It's a wonderful idea, but it's economically impossible. Nonetheless, Lopez muscled the bill through the Democratic-controlled Assembly, and the Republican-dominated state Senate went along as a favor to the Real Estate Board, whose Manhattan-centric members wanted to delay when the law takes effect. . . Among those who recognize the travesty is Council Speaker Christine Quinn. She called Lopez's legislative whim "an outrage," adding, "I think the bill should be vetoed." And she's right. . . New York Daily News, 6/24/07