East Harlem residents are protesting the mayor's affordable housing plan.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the plan, dubbed "Housing New York", will help fix the city's affordable housing "crisis" by adding or preserving 200,000 affordable units over the next decade.
The city's plan requires residential builders to provide mixed-income housing and has stricter rules to help protect tenants living in rent-regulated housing.
However, some residents of the East Harlem neighborhood nicknamed "El Barrio" say the plan serves luxury housing developers and buyers.
"We're a simple, humble, low-income community. We wish to preserve East Harlem for what it is," said Juan Haro of Movement for Justice in El Barrio. "This plan will impose a culture of money. We will continue to fight until we put a complete halt to this plan."
"People have every right to fear displacement. They've seen too many of their family members and neighbors displaced," de Blasio said. "East Harlem has the highest concentration of public housing anywhere in the city, and it's going to be protected."
Critics say de Blasio needs to make changes, like lowering the income requirements for new affordable housing developments.
De Blasio announced the plan last year. It is expected to cost $41 billion.