Mar
12
Blog Post #6 Nicholas Lee
March 12, 2015 | Leave a Comment
All my life, I have lived in Brooklyn in a modest house that my family has occupied for over 60 years (and owned for the last 30). Over the years, my family has seen people come and go from the neighborhood as well as seen the surroundings around them dramatically change. In the City-Wide Analysis that we read for class, the data presented in the analysis further supports the zoning and housing changes my have witnessed (or at least heard about) but also surprised me in other ways like the rate that the rent is rising here in New York City as well as the rising burden in rent expenses by households across the city.
It is no surprise that the rents in New York City are expensive and have been rising in recent years. As the economic and commerce center of the East Coast, New York has one of the most expensive real estate in the United States. In my own area, long time residents of the neighborhood who come into our family store, are constantly telling us how their landlord is raising their rent as gentrification continues to take hold in our neighborhood. However, what was interesting to me in this article, was not the rate at which the rents are rising, (which is faster than what I expected), but the fact that the rent levels are increasing faster than the income level of it’s residents.
According to the article, the rents throughout boroughs like Brooklyn and Manhattan had increased significantly from 12% and 19% respectively since 2005. Meanwhile, the median household income of renters rose by only two percent since 2005. In Manhattan, that leaves, 17% unaccounted for, which is forcing residents to pay a greater share of their income solely on rent and less on other essentials like food, transportation and medical supplies. What I want to know is the reason behind the rising of these rents if it is really an economic issue or if it is just the greed of the landlords trying to exploit the situation. With rents rising and income level of it’s residents remaining stagnant, it is no wonder that lower income residents are being pushed out and others are struggling to make ends meet.
What this article also mentioned that I thought was interesting was how the city keeps designating more and more land to becoming historic districts and landmarks. In recent years, the amount of landmarks/ historic districts that the city has designated has been increasing from about 150-300 a year in 2000-2005 to over 1200 in the year 2013 alone. While this may be the “will” of some people to try to preserve our city’s rich and diverse history, what this also means is that these properties are unable to be developed on, decreasing the amount of land that can be built upon in a time where more low-medium income housing is in dire need.
The income gap in New York as well as rising rents is increasing, becoming a major issue in our city. As the already expensive rents are increasing and workers wage has remained relatively stagnant, more and more people are being squeezed for every penny they have to make ends meet and stay in their homes. As seen in our previous readings, the creation of low-income housing like the ones with separate entrances for renters is the “upper class'” solution to this issue but it can’t be the only one. The problem of a lack of low income housing is just another side effect and symptom of the increasing income gap here in New York in my opinion. The real question is not who will solve this issue or how we can fix this issue but when.
