NEW YORK, NY April 21, 2006 —Mayor Bloomberg is defending the city's plan to raise rents for more than 45,000 tenants living in public housing. He says with costs rising, and federal funding diminishing it's one of the ways the city can help preserve the program.

BLOOMBERG: We are not walking away from public housing. We are proposing to raise the rent for people who pay less then 10% of their income in rent. It's a small percentage. Someone has to pay for it.

REPORTER: Households making an average of $29,000 a year would see their rents rise by ten percent, over the next two years, from $505 to $557. Households earning more could see rents increase as much as 40 percent. The plan requires federal approval.

The Housing Authority will hold public meetings in each borough next month, and the city council will hold a hearing on the increases in June.