The current crisis in New York pertaining to affordable housing is an unfortunate one in that the people, who cannot afford it, are facing higher and higher rents every year. The system has failed to benefit people on the lower end of the economy, much like it usually does. The question then becomes, how do we mold the system to fit all the needs that are present in our society, rich and poor. The articles that we read this week discuss the actions of local governments and groups, as well as Mayor Bill De Blasio, in attempting to attend to problems with current affordable housing and dealing with the creation of more housing that is affordable. One of the articles, by Ethan Corey, discusses the tactics that the Crown Heights Tenant Union has used to make an impact on the system. One of the methods that they are using is to negotiate directly with landlords and make contract agreements in order to regulate rent increases in the future, protect tenants from being evicted prematurely, and to try to ensure that landlords will take care of their units in terms of maintenance and repair. I think that this is a step in the right direction, facing the landlord’s head on with negotiations, because I think that going directly to government officials is hopeless. I think it’s hopeless to do so because government officials try to make everyone happy in a system that is unable to do so because of the very nature of capitalism. I think that direct negotiations are more likely to persuade individual landlords in neighborhoods to satiate the needs of their tenants. Also, the collectiveness of programs like these, give the people more hope in their cause.
Building more affordable housing in a city with a limited amount of open space can lead to problems. The dense population creates overcrowding of public facilities, schools and transportation. The mayors plan to build more affordable housing simply beckons the question, where? Where do we put buildings that can support the large portion of the population that needs a place to live that is affordable? New York has increased in population and is becoming one of the most overcrowded cities, with apartment buildings being stuffed with tenants, and more people looking to move in. In this sense, I think that density bonuses are a plus because it will take a certain amount of space and utilize it to a large capacity by making taller buildings. On the other hand, building these very tall developments will offset the balance in certain neighborhoods that have mostly low-rise structures.
We, as a class, can create a website that outlines the projected outcome of some of the neighborhoods that are developing more affordable housing, creating projecting pricing guides. We can also come up with ways to target certain neighborhoods with over-bearing landlords, and develop grounds on which the people in this neighborhood could potentially negotiate with these landlords.
