Politicians Can't Back Sell-The-Projects Idea
Unsurprisingly, a group of legislators has a serious bone to pick with HUD regional director Sean Moss over his recent comments that selling some public housing developments might help solve New York’s affordable housing crisis. A letter addressed to HUD secretary Alphonso Jackson that was signed by 14 assemblymembers (including Joan Millman and Hakeem Jeffries)…
Unsurprisingly, a group of legislators has a serious bone to pick with HUD regional director Sean Moss over his recent comments that selling some public housing developments might help solve New York’s affordable housing crisis. A letter addressed to HUD secretary Alphonso Jackson that was signed by 14 assemblymembers (including Joan Millman and Hakeem Jeffries) makes the case that selling public housing is in no way a long-term solution for the city’s housing crisis:
At issue is the assertion that mass displacement of residents in one neighborhood, would benefit residents of another. At the very least, this assertion is misguided. The existing NYCHA developments are of much more value, to both the number of individuals which they provide shelter to as well as the diverse communities they help foster, than a short term budget windfall. Likewise, any purchase and/or development of affordable housing, short of new construction of full scale NYCHA developments, would be comparatively wasteful of the suggested sales proceeds and could by no means accommodate the same numbers of residents currently served by existing developments. In short, a sale of NYCHA properties would be a ‘one-shot’ deal, and would offer very few benefits for those in need of public housing extending past the year of the sale.
Full text of the letter on the jump.
HUD Official Speaks the Unspeakable: Selling The Projects [Brownstoner]
10.35 – social security…if you want to split hairs
Lots of trolls – or maybe just one out this morning
Thanks for those facts. So, 14% of those in public housing are on welfare. The rest are not.
More facts:
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) currently has a Working Family Preference in place. From the NYCHA Web site:
… 50%, one out of every two new vacancies in public housing, will go to a working family, putting the working family on an equal footing with the non-working family in obtaining affordable housing.
A working family, like all public housing residents, is a low-income family. The one- person family maximum annual income is $39,700, the ten-person family maximum is $83,900.
More:
Applicants are not required to have a minimum income but the individual applicant or a family member who will reside with him/her must have some type of income.
Rent is based on 30% of the family’s adjusted gross income.
Why would we house poor people in $2M apartments – Who on this board thinks that’s a good idea? The idea behind subsidized housing (originally anyway) was to give people a TEMPORARY place to stay while they got back on their feet. The current turnover rate in the projects is 3% (and if you exclude people moving out because they die – the real turnover rate that is people who move out of their own accord is less than 1%) – ARE YOU KIDDING ME – how is this helping anyone – it’s ruining generations. Projects have now created multigenerational poverty. Kicking people out of these “Coffins in the SKY” will be the best possible thing we can do for them.
Sell these buildings off and use the money to build scatter-sight housing throughout the outer boroughs. AND these new units should only be for people who can’t take care of themselves. If a government provides housing for some middle class people it must provide housing for all middle class people. It’s just not fair otherwise.
9.51 AM;
You are so full of it, you should consider running for office to join the band of idiots who wrote this letter.
Tell me: where do the “few” rookie cops you know live? How is it that someone who lives in midtown hi-rise know a few rookie cops. You are such a BS artist, and the fact that you speak in broad generalizations proves it.
Here are the facts:
Average family income in Conventional Public Housing is $21,520
Working families account for 44.3% of NYCHA families
14.0% of NYCHA families receive public assistance (“welfare”)
Social Security, SSI, a pension, Veteran’s benefits, etc., support 41.7% of the families
“… I am sick of seeing some kid with an inheritance coming to New York and demanding, everything should be laid out for them. What have they done for themselves besides spending Grandma’s money.”
What a ridiculous over generalization. New York is full of people who have made it on their own. Nobody helped my husband and me buy our apartment.
Not everyone who lives in the projects is on welfare. I know of a few rookie COPS who live in the projects because it is all they can afford rather than be a 30 year old shacking up with mom.
If you want to get rid of the projects fine, but build affordable housing for THEM in the form of town houses or something of the sort. Don’t put a up some ugly glass condo so some nyu/wall street yuppie can say he lives in the reformed hood.
Many of the people from the projects are your delivery men, customer service reps, maintenance people, security guards, sales people etc.
Let’s see how fast you will check out in Macy’s when you only have one cashier because the other cashiers have a 2 hour commute.
P.S. Before anyone says I must be a resident of the proj., I am not. I live in a midtown condo high rise but I am sick of seeing some kid with an inheritance coming to New York and demanding, everything should be laid out for them. What have they done for themselves besides spending Grandma’s money.