I have passed countless buildings on the way to school each day, that had boarded up windows and doors. It never occurred to me that these buildings weren’t boarded up because they were unlivable, but because the private owners were waiting for prices to rise in order to sell/rent the apartments. It is absolutely absurd that corporations and people could be that greedy; depriving thousands of New Yorkers of a place to call home, as Picture the Homeless has shown. I don’t know much about economics and how much saving a couple dozen apartments could profit an owner, but this practice needs to be fixed. In a way, the city is losing money because it is making shelters for the homeless and providing other such services. If owners of these boarded-up apartments would just have a little bit of compassion, it would benefit the entire city for sure. It’s not like opening up affordable housing is a complete loss (again, I am no economic guru). The rent from these newly opened spaces would provide a steady income, and the city could direct the funds used for homeless benefits to provide for other services to further improve the city.

Questions: Should there be an incentive for owners to open up their boarded up housing? If so, what possible incentives could be provided?