Time to Get Your 160 Schermerhorn Lottery Ticket

another secret lottery.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:33 AM

too bad i make 31,500, sure wouldve been nice to cut down my rent

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:47 AM

Hardly a secret if we know about it now. I would imagine the word went out to organizations and individuals working with those eligible. Since most here don't run in those humbler circles, why would you expect to know about it?

Sterling Silver

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:48 AM

hmmm, not a very well kept secret, so maybe that is a mischaracterization

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:48 AM

Not so secret. I saw it listed in AMNY on Monday. This stuff has to be public information. There is no conspiracy only ignorance.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:50 AM

How are the other units priced? Are they rentals, or for sale? Does the fact that it is majority inhabited by lower income residents usually affect the rest of the pricing?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:50 AM

You can make more than that at mcdonalds or starbucks.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:52 AM

625 a month on 21K a month is definitely not sweet.

gross statement, actually.

625 a month is how much i paid when i was making 30K a year and i could BARELY survive.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:59 AM

sorry to put a damper on this but won't this now hurt property values in that area?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:59 AM

10:59:

no.

affordable housing is a GOOD thing.

for people who are not elitist, anyway.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:03 AM

People who make 21-29K oay virtually $0 in Taxes anyhow. So for someone paying $7500/year ($625 X 12) that isnt too bad of a deal - Roughly 25% of rent to income.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:10 AM

alot of "Low Eage Earners" live near my building Biff, and they dont seem to give a lick about taking care of their property like everyone else.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:12 AM

11:10.

your math is a little off.

no taxes?

are you out of your mind?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:16 AM

11:10, your math is way off.

If you're making 22K a year, each month after taxes you are bringing home about $1100/month. So more than half your income goes to the rent.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:24 AM

The deal may not be "sweet", but it's the most affordable studio I've seen in years, especially in such a prime location. The only alternatives are section 8, residence with grandma, or a move to Harrisburg, Pa.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:48 AM

11:24 & 11:16 - I am a tax accountant, these people are paying nothing or very little in taxes. They are getting standard deduction, personal exemtion, and earned income credits to name a few. After all of that there state and fed liability are virtually paying nothing or close to nothing in taxes.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 11:49 AM

These units will go to self employed, consultants, artists, etc. that show under 30K on paper but actually make substantially more than that.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:16 PM

When I moved here about two years ago I was right in the middle of that income bracket and paying $550 for a small, cramped sublet in Bushwick. $550 at that time was a huge chunk of my paycheck.

The only thing "sweet" about this deal is that someone in that income bracket will be living in a prime neighborhood, but trust me, the $650 rent won't come easy for them...

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:17 PM

10:47. funny, because isn't there a generally accepted standard multiplier for rental apartments 52x the monthly rent in order to be able to "afford" a place? at $625, that makes $32,500. but, i suppose those making less than 30k probably need the break just a little more...

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:23 PM

I looked at a similar building in Schermerhorn (possibly the same building)

The wanted 2,400 for a Market Rate 1 bedroom.

That's absurd for living in glorified low income housing.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:44 PM

12:44 here.

I believe it was the "Schermerhorn Court" building

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:48 PM

No Montrose, it is a reality. your tax return as self employed will say whatever you want it too. I doubt this lottery will conduct a full blown audit and hire forensic accountants to trace every dollar of cash you earn back to your tax return.

someone making 22K is not really possible unless you are literally a MCdonalds entry level employee. I dont think too many of these will be entering the lottery.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 12:51 PM

Actually, earning 22K or less is quite possible. At roughly $7/hr., a minimum-wage earner working 40 hrs/wk will bring home about $14,500/yr.

Montrose Morris, I think you are underestimating the lengths to which people will go to secure an affordable living space in NYC.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 1:31 PM

release all subsidized housing, rent stabilized, rent controlled, projects, section 8, etc. You will see how quickly rents become affordable once NYC is released from the artificial governmnet regulated housing shortages.

Yes, some people paying $0 in rent for the last 3 generations in a housing project will suffer in the short run. But in the long run, the city will be more affordible and housing will be more widely available.

I know some of you English Lit majors wont understand the concept of artificial supply shortages and govenment regulations affecting housing prices, but it is a reality that this is what is really behind the lack of affordable housing in NYC.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 1:45 PM

1:45 is right. get over the liberal guilt (remember where that got us in the 70's/80's?), and stop making excuses for an ill-advised project that annoys lots of people who have paid alot of money for their homes in that area. and stop criticizing people for voicing dismay about it, claiming they should be "happy" about NEW low income housing in their neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 2:51 PM

11:49 tax accountant: No taxes?? What about SSI/Medicare?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:01 PM

According to the government, Social Security is not a tax. As far as medicare, it is a very small fraction of a low wage earner - Somewhere around 3-4%. I therefore stand behind by statement that these people are paying virtually nothing in taxes.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:06 PM

1:45 seems to have missed the part of the economics course where they discuss supply, demand and monopoly pricing.

Rent regulation in NYC does not apply to new construction, so eliminating it would not increase supply at all. The supply shortage is not caused by rent regulation but by the simple fact that middle class incomes aren't big enough to pay for new construction in NYC.

The impact of rent regulation on the price of existing housing is unclear. Outside of the prime areas, it probably just creates some short term stability, but has little long term affect at all. In the prime areas, it probably raises the prices (and therefore quantity) of new construction and deregulated housing somewhat. Eliminating it might well cut demand (and therefore prices, and construction) because it would instantly make the center city unaffordable to many of the people who make it interesting to live in.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:15 PM

Not sure what part of the government thinks social security is voluntary. If you don't pay it, you will be prosecuted for failure to pay your taxes.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:17 PM

For 2:51, who wants to live in a place where there are no low-income people. We have places like that. They are called suburbs, most of which use government regulation and subsidization to exclude the people you don't want. The thing that makes the city distinctive is that we have many types of people, doing different things, earning or not earning different incomes, living together. If you don't want to live in a city, there are plenty of other places for you.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:20 PM

3:20: this is exactly the crap i'm talking about. i've lived in the city for over 30 years. so can the "move to the suburbs" garbage. i'm well aware of what makes the city "distinctive" as well as the elements that make a neighborhood safe. this is not a term paper. it's reality, and sticking new low-income housing in the middle of neighborhoods in which people have paid through the nose for their homes is both unfortunate and symptomatic of larger societal problems, foremost among them a "limousine liberal" tendency to condescend to and deify the poor and demonize the more fortunate. get over yourself.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:30 PM

NYC has the highest rate of low income and below the poverty line people in the country. We subsidize them to be here, if we didnt, they would go someplace else.

An no, all of you bleeding hearters, I am not talking about terachers and firefighters and artists, I am talking about people who raise familys of 8+ with multiple fathers and mothers in projects with little or no income and then pass them on to the next generation perpetuating an ever-growing and ever dependant population of poor.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:30 PM

Ah 3:17 - I never said it was voluntary, I just said it was not a tax. You are obviously one of the clever few who realizes that the government calls it "Withholding" as if they are putting it in a bank account for you to use later on, but in reality they treat it as tax revenues by borrowing against it and apppropriating funds to non-social security related tasks.

However, if we look at what the governemnt purports it to be, it is not a tax, it is a "Deferred Benefit"

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:36 PM

3:30 -- I doubt many people with 8+ will be living in studio apartments in the new Schermerhorn St housing.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:40 PM

The Social Security administration calls it a tax. http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=215&p_created=956064531&p_sid=1I1t6ZZi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MjcsMjcmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PTEuNyZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1.

This is because it is a tax.

Your original statement, that people earning 25k / year don't pay taxes is just propaganda. The social security, medicare and sales taxes are all regressive taxes that weigh more heavily on lower paid workers. They are paid by anyone who earns income or, in the case of sales taxes, spends it. Landlords are able to charge tenants rents that reflect the real estate taxes they pay, so anyone who lives in housing is paying real estate taxes. Etc.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:47 PM

Seems highly likely that studio apartments for people with incomes below 30k will mostly go to senior citizens living on social security that they receive because current employees pay social security taxes.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:50 PM

Schermerhorn is not "projects". This is private development by a market-driven for-profit developer.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:50 PM

If the liberal limousines are hanging out in downtown Brooklyn now, where are the conservative ones? What's the matter, they don't like the Fulton Mall?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 3:53 PM

Montrose Morris - self-appointed conscience of the neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:00 PM

Montrose - when you're done picking your jaw off the floor, take your head out of your rear as well. thanks for the clarification about poverty and crime. glad you're not sanctimonious. no, poverty does not EQUAL crime, but the two tend to congregate. it's a fact, regardless of what your imagination tells you. it's not mean-spirited, it's reality, and life is tough.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:06 PM

This rent is the equivalent of buying at 400/sq. ft. Is that a good price for the back door to the Fulton Mall?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:08 PM

a family of eight senior citizen actor/artist muggers living in a 266 sf studio apt behind Macy's and the detention center -- Forget Atlantic Yards. Forget the What and the credit crash. This is really the end of the neighborhood. I'm out of here. Keys to my house on Remsen St are under the doormat. Take it over if you dare!

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:13 PM

Society and government keeps people poor. Subsidys, regulation, welfare, etc. makes sure droves are locked into the system. If you were gauranteed a place to live, free food, free health care, and free child care, what incentive would you have to work hard and educate your children. Poverty breeds poverty because we allow it to and nurture it.

Call it liberal guilt, or some secret racist agenda,or whatever, but the more we spend on welfare and housing projects and subsidys, the more poor people we get.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:15 PM

no one's saying the neighborhood is finished, but keep it up with the hyperbole - it's amusing to listen to you people squirm rather than accept facts that don't look good on the bumper of your hybrid car.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:17 PM

amen 4:15. wanna split 4:13's pad with me?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:18 PM

Interesting idea, 4:15. So since the US spends less than any other developed country on welfare, public housing, public health care, free public and higher education, and since its governmental subsidies are overwhelmingly directed to the rich (with sloppy seconds to the middle class in the form of mortgage subsidies and cheap gas), we should have the least poverty, right? Odd that it doesn't show up in the statistics, though.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:22 PM

4:22 - So you deny that handing out free everything to people people leads to an ever expanding class of people dependant on the system? Just wondering because I fail to see how paying people not to work, not to educate themselves, and to have as many children as biologically possible leads to less poverty.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:27 PM

"neighborhoods in which people have paid through the nose for their homes" Speak for yourself. I paid $25,000 for my five story brownstone on State Street, and I've been living off it for years. And I don't pay Social Security taxes either.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:29 PM

The only people in this country who get free everything are the CEOs of Tyco and the like. The rest of us work pretty hard -- much harder than in the welfare havens of the EU, where state-funded child care is a right, college is free, life expectancies are longer, and middle class people get two months of vacation every year.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:33 PM

4:27 - The US is the largest and wealthiest economy in the world. Are you are saying we should be more like France or Spain? Have you seen truly poor people in Spain?

Also, you should talk to my friend in Madrid, he graduated from college 3 years ago and cant get a job until someone dies. He's OK though, he just suckles from the warm tete of the government being as unproductive as possible.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:33 PM

see, 4:22 and montrose? there are lots of people who work hard, make money, raise families and advance in life, and don't feel guilty about it. they also don't blame others for their problems and or shy away from facts. you should try it!

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:37 PM

Hey -- on a per square foot basis, this one is only a little more expensive. But, it isn't facing Macy's butt or the warm tete of the government (aka House of Detention), so probably it isn't worth it. 31 Monroe Place.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/11586-townhouse-31-monroe-place-brooklyn-heights-brooklyn

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:46 PM

The French schools teach spelling. Teat. Tit will do, too. Tete? That's a different part of the anatomy altogether.

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:48 PM

The French Schools teach kids to hate Americans and Muslims also...

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 4:53 PM

isin't the area around 160 schermerhorn skechy at night or am I wrong?

Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 5:20 PM

No poverty in Europe? Have you ever been to the suburbs of Paris or Amsterdam? How about the East End or South of London? Take a walk around Naples or Palermo. Then tell me how good the Europeans have it.

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 8:04 AM

BTW
Anyone earning 21K to 29K doesn't have the internet. They can't afford it.

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 8:39 AM

BTW
Anyone earning 21K to 29K doesn't have the internet. They can't afford it.

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 8:47 AM

BTW anyone earning 21K to 29K can afford it because verizon has special programs for low income people that can cost as little as $6.95.

Just like coned and other utilities. Not to mention the plethera of city and state social agencies that provide incredible free services, food stamps, healthcare, subsidies, etc.

I know you cant imagine it, but the poor in this country live much, much better than anywhere else in the world. Including the European Socialist Paradise.

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 9:13 AM

OMG: $625 a month to someone earning only $21K?! That's a fortune! I assume that amount does NOT include a monthly maintenance charge. Do your math, Brownstoner!

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 12:52 PM