Homelessness

The attitude towards the homeless is despicable. They receive inhuman treatment by society and are seen as a hindrance to the city. They are blamed for their poverty. Many of us think that they’re homeless because they couldn’t save money when they had a job, spent it on addictions or luxury items, or they’re too lazy to find a job. No one really takes the time to understand and listen to their story. They are targeted by the police, who arrest or ticket them for “disorderly conduct.” In other words, they aren’t allowed to sleep in public places, like the subway or a bus terminal station. There are about 62,435 homeless people in New York City.  The primary cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Unfortunately, the majority of homeless people suffer from mental illnesses as well as other severe health problems. Sure, there are shelters available but even then people would rather sleep in the streets. The shelters are infested with bed bugs, rats, and roaches. There is a lack of privacy and a lot of thievery that takes place there. In in an effort to correct this problem, Mayor De Blasio devised an affordable housing plan to end poverty. But, does it really work? Will it actually help reduce homelessness in New York City? Let’s take a look.

What is Mayor De Blasio’s “Affordable Housing Plan ?”

The goal is to create 200,000 housing units over the next ten years in all five boroughs. De Blasio wants 60% of the units to be preservations of existing buildings and 40% be new constructions. The total cost of his plan will be 41 billion dollars. The units will be built in areas that are considered “low-income neighborhoods.”

 

The plan incorporates a “Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Act.” This requires  the developers to set aside a percentage of the housing units to be permanently affordable to families who earn a certain income. The people who will benefit from this plan are those who earn an annual low income, which ranges from $42,000 to $67,000. About 58% of the housing units will cater to families of 4, who earn a low income. Those who earn an “extremely low income,” which is anything below $25,000 per year, will have 8% of the housing units reserved for them. Yet those who earn $67,000 to $138,000 annually, (which is considered middle class), will have 22% of the housing units reserved for them. Yet, this will only be incorporated in “neighborhoods that are upzoned for bigger buildings and higher densities” (Warerkar).

Another portion of the plan embeds the idea of “Zoning for Quality and Affordability.” This determines the limits for the use, size and shape of the buildings that are to be created. It also focuses on increasing affordable housing specifically for seniors. For example, in medium and high density areas that provide affordable housing, can add one or two more stories, to increase the height of the building. The quality portion focuses on the aesthetics of the unit. It determines the implementation of courtyards, gardens, etc. As a result, the construction itself, is designed to create 194,000 construction jobs and about 7,100 permanent jobs. It’s meant to hire local members of the communities and those who are actively integrated with the City’s workforce.

Moreover, the affordable housing plan includes protection to the tenants against landlord harassment, while maintaining a rent-regulated home.  De Blasio will develop programs to allow landlords, located in changing neighborhoods,to make the affordability of the housing permanent even though the area around it becomes more expensive. In addition, a subsidy program will be implemented to target the buildings at risk of losing their “affordability” status in exchange for commitments from the landlords.

In conclusion, De Blasio’s goals is to prevent an influx of homelessness within this city. By creating 200,000 affordable units, he believes that families will be accommodated and set up for success. His plan will create “economically diverse” neighborhoods as well as the upzoning of neighborhoods.

 

Analysis of De Blasio’s Work: Will it Work? 

 

 

            The Affordable Housing Plan advertises a step towards preventing homelessness. It definitely gets an A for bringing awareness to the issue and making an effort to move forward, but it simply won’t work. New York City’s has about 3 million apartments that are labeled as “affordable housing;” meaning that they have rents limited by the government and receive a public subsidy such as cash, tax breaks or zoning allowances. Furthermore, ironically the rent increased faster than the wages between 2000 and 2013. It is proven that in order to maintain an average priced apartment, a minimum wage employee had to work at least 138 hours per week.Technically, De Blasio says that his plan “will create an opportunity for so many people who are currently being priced out of our city,” yet his plan mostly relies on the Area Median Income. This is the governments calculation based on incomes, rents, and construction costs which include the wealthy suburbs. This is a grand flaw of the plan. The AMI is higher than the actual average income of New Yorkers. His plan isn’t affordable at all.

In addition to this, his plan is gentrification in disguise. Rezoning neighborhoods and changing the aesthetics of the community actually promotes an influx of wealthy, mostly the white population, to enter. Rezoning itself increases the value of the land. He may be able to maintain a rent-regulated homes, but he cannot control what happens outside of them. Businesses can close, the prices of the products they need can rise, and soon enough they can’t afford to live in the area and are forced to move out. For example, Astoria -which was once a diverse neighborhood- is gentrifying. Diane Brown says, “They are moving out because they almost can’t afford the area anymore. The supermarkets are going up. Everything is changing.”  De Blasio, also believes that the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) portion of the plan is a great way to provide housing for those in need- but what he doesn’t know, is that it’s essentially a failure. The MIH doesn’t help those who fall into the extremely low income range, which is less than $25,000 per year. Therefore, they will still have a high risk of displacement. Even if their wages were to increase by $15 the hour, they still wouldn’t be able to afford De Blasio’s MIH “affordable” housing apartment. This is the reason why many community boards are against the development of these units within their area.

An example of those who are constantly displaced is Fitzroy Christian. He is a former retiree, who resides in the South Bronx and had to return to work to give his children an education and meet the rising rent. He makes $10,000 dollars above the estimated Average Median Income, yet he won’t be able to qualify for De Blasio’s Housing units. There is a report that shows that, East New York (which is the first to be rezoned according to De Blasio’s plan), will have 85% of its residents unable to afford the the market rate housing units and about 55% of the residents will be unable to afford the “affordable” housing units. But what about the jobs this plan will create? The proposal does not set job standards for the works participating in the plan, therefore it allows the developers to make them work under dreadful conditions.Since there is not a focus on job quality, it actually shows that the recent evidence that $15 dollars the hour isn’t enough to maintain a home, is not even being considered in his plan. These people will be left behind.

In conclusion, De Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary and Zoning program will accelerate gentrification. The idea of creating a diverse neighborhood is essentially out the window. His plan will most likely attract white and wealthy individuals; hence whitening communities will rise (like East New York and South Bronx). Based on the actual income levels, minorities will not have access to these units unless their wages are increased. De Blasio, should set high standards for developers and actually make units affordable to those with a really low income. If he does not revise his plan, New York will kick out working families and replace them with privileged rich white individuals. In all, De Blasio is actually promoting inequality amongst the economic classes.