Westbeth appoints affordable housing expert, art enthusiast as new director

By Max Parrott
AMNY
Posted on June 21, 2023

For Peter Madden, taking the role of executive director of Westbeth, the storied artists housing community in the West Village, came from his appreciation for art as much as his housing industry experience.Madden joins Westbeth with more than 20 years of experience in the housing industry. But when asked about what drew him to the only affordable housing complex devoted exclusively to artists, he cited one of his first jobs in New York City working at the Knitting Factory, a beloved indie music venue.

“Being in New York and being an artist can really be at odds with each other because of the cost of living here,” Madden said. “The core mission of Westbeth combines two things I feel very passionately about, which is keeping housing affordable, but also this affinity among all the residents, that they all are all artists, which provides a really amazing value to the city.”

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Rents for 2 Million New Yorkers to Rise Again

By Mihir Zaveri and Olivia Bensimon
New York Times
June 21, 2023

Peter Madden, the executive director of Westbeth Artists Housing, which has about 383 apartments in the West Village, the vast majority of which are rent stabilized, acknowledged the pressures facing property owners.But he also said rent stabilization was the “largest, best affordable housing program the city has.”

At Westbeth, which also receives some subsidies from the city, rents on stabilized homes range from less than $1,000 to $2,300 for a three-bedroom.

“If not for rent stabilization, I don’t know how folks would do it,” Mr. Madden said.

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