New York is a difficult place to acclimate to, but once you’re here, you don’t want to leave. You want to live in this spectacular city. But chances are, you can’t afford to. The major problem with this city is its increasing rent and cost of living. Stores that were seemingly popular and busy, such as Toys ‘R’ Us in Times Square, are closing down due to the high cost of rent. High rent prices and apartments worth over a million dollars are forcing city dwellers outside the city to settle for the suburban environment. As the city places improvements in transportation, creates new cultural centers, and expands upwards, the cost of properties increases. For example, DeBlasio proposed a Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar to serve both the poor and wealthy as a means of transportation. It seems like a good idea until you realize how the city plans on paying for it: “It would increase the property values along its route, and the increase in property taxes over time would amount to $4 billion” (Jim Dwyer of NY Times). As if taxes aren’t high enough as they are. Yet we need these improvements for the betterment of our city. So, is there a middle ground?
It seems like the city is only affordable for the rich and wealthy. How would this impact low-income families in the future? We need our nitty-gritty workers- the workers who are willing to work in the low-paying jobs that provide the backbone for the city. But how do we prevent another Boss Tweed from taking advantage of the poor and making millions from corruptive practices?
Before the appearance of high-rise apartments and the rise of suburban life, New Yorkers lived in tenements. In the tenement museum, the living conditions were absolutely atrocious. With very small rooms, a large volume of people, and lack of clean water and electricity, one would wonder how these people were able to stand these conditions. We no longer face these sanitation issues, but we do face the problem of paying rent and saving enough money for groceries and personal needs. So, should we cramp ourselves into small apartments for the sake of saving money? It looks like it has to come down to that. Immigrants hoping for a new life and low-income residents face these issues. They settle for anything, which unfortunately impacts their living health conditions. In fact, micro-apartments have recently become popular. A room basically the size of a one-car garage costs $950 a month. Is it me or does that sound insane?
According to the Times, about 57% of apartments, co-ops, and condos are empty for 10 out of 12 months of the year. Some of these apartments are so insanely expensive, with an estimate cost of $500,000,000, that only a few billionaires can afford it. It is not the lack of apartments that is the problem here, but the prices. My question is, why construct these luxury condos if no one is going to live in them? Strip these apartments of their gold plated toilet seats and diamond doorknobs for something cheap and affordable. Some millionaires actually buy apartments in NYC for their children. Even before they’re born.
We need to work on these housing issues and the cost of living in New York. New York has been able to adapt to changing environments and recover from (some) economic and social crises, yet housing was and still is a major issue in New York City. So the question is, can you spare $2 million for an apartment?
