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]
Montrose Morris wasn’t the one who pointed out that people skim the system. Montrose simply made the point that singling out people who lived in subsidized housing for that type of behavior is to overlook the even worse hypocrisy of those who skim the system and don’t even need the money.
You may not like the class struggle card, but the whole subsidized housing/welfare issue certainly does bring up the question of why are poor people in projects so often stereotyped by posters who then get their knickers in a twit when you point out that the poor are hardly the worst offenders?
People on this board get more upset over poor people getting help for housing (and not great housing at that), but not a peep over the tax breaks and subsidies that go to big corporations and businesses, and they gloss over corporate corruption that can cost the economy billions of dollars.
IMHO, it is about race- it’s far too easy to demonize a group of people who don’t look or act or believe like you do. everyone does it- but no matter how much you want to blame welfare families and rent control for the problems of NYC, it doesn’t make it true.
Montrose Morris,
True, people skim the system at all levels. But that by no means justifies it. Our discussion centered on the projects so I alluded to some of the rampant misuse of our taxes to subsidize many who don’t need subsidizing. Huge case in point; we had over one million people on welfare prior to the Guiliani administration crack down. Less than 400,000 today. Where did those 600,000 people in “need” go? The streets are not flooded with needy people from what I have seen in the last 15 years. The answer is that they went back to their off the books jobs, they got legitimate jobs, they saved, they went to live with family, they went to school, they learned a trade, etc. etc. Another statistic; we spend more on medicaid here in New York than California and Texas combined. We have less than one fifth of their population! Who’s spending all these tax dollars on suppositories and Ensure?Corporate corruption is a separate matter and it is being delt with: cases in point: Bernard Evers, Kenneth Lay (died before his prison term), Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky even Martha Stewart. So don’t start playing the “class struggle” card here. we are too smart for it. Not every citizen is on the take, there are honest, decent folk still making a go of it.
Now that Ingersoll has been emptied, I look forward to its sale – progress marches on as politicians go through the motions.
4:49, I laughed out loud on that one. Very funny.
4:47, you clarified your position well, and I have no argument with you. I certainly don’t think the police are perfect, or above some serious reproach, but do give them their deserved respect for being out there. Many on this board do not. You are not in that category.
4:51 – please. For every anecdotal tale of project dwellers with Escalades, Air Jordans, or homes in the Caribbean, I can certainly show you the 90% who don’t. I can also provide lots of colorful anecdotes, told to me, or experienced personally, tales of high priced lawyers overbilling clients, tax cheats of every kind imaginable, and rich people who sent empty boxes to friends in New Jersey while they walked out with the merchandise in New York, so as to avoid sales tax. (They got Leona Helmsley on that one) Let’s also include people walking out of work with office supplies, and people who buy expensive clothes to return after wearing once. We are a nation, hell – a world, of petty thieves, self righteous justifiers, and people getting over on the Man. To assign all of this chicanery to the lower classes is unfair, not to mention blind to what goes on all around us on every level – we should at least be honest crooks. That doesn’t make it ok or right, it’s not, but as 5:07 so eloquently said, “everyone skims the system with whatever tools they have.” That does not negate the need for subsidized housing in this city.
Just burn all the luxury condos down. This city is getting too rich it’s fucking out of control. Push the ceo’s and corporate types to nebraska and kansas. Leave the people in the projects alone.
5:23 – “rift raft”????? (Not to mention the rest of your silly post.)
We definitely need to spend more money on education here.
5:23 ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!ROTFLMAO Safer!!! what a card!! need fewer of them in the future– gasp!! gasp!! A ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
The fairy of complete idiocy got you good!! ‘scuse me- I have to wipe my eyes. In them meantime, maybe you should read a newspaper.
1:00 – the city got safer for 2 reasons. First -we have enough cops and pay them enough to keep them. BTW -we’ll need fewer of them in the future so if some quit that’s ok. Second – real estate prices have soared forcing much of the rift raft out.
Actually it does matter- I think our major point of disagreement is that NYC cops are far from being the highest paid. yet they certainly have law enforcement jobs that are far more stressful and demanding than at least those in 90% of the country. It goes with the territory. it’s NYC, it’s post 9-11, etc. I don’t think cops are above criticism- in fact I think they are and should be held to a higher standard of behavior, and corrupt cops should be punished and given even heavier sentences because of their position of trust. But I also balance what we want and need cops to do for us- putting their lives on the line is a biggie. Being in harms way is huge to me. Maybe it’s just that some jobs ask that you put more into a society than you take out and cops, firefighters, first responders are those kinds of jobs. The stats I mentioned are just part of the story of how much of a toll these jobs take on on them- from the psychological problems to heart disease (there is a direct co-relation between high levels of stress and heart disease) even to certain types of cancers)- and these stats are similar for soldiers, firefighters and other first responders). And thses problems are part and parcel of the job so while I agree that there are jobs of similar pay and less benefits that require you to have more education, they don’t ask you to put your life and your long range health on the line. Education is important because it goes directly to job performance in a job where performance has real life-or-death consequences.
It’s a real issue. When the 9-11 fund started handing out compensation packages, the highest awards went to the families at Cantor fitzgerald, Aeon, etc. They had a whole formula worked out based on projected earnings, position, etc. Without considering the extra millions that firefighter families received from other funds and millions in donations, how fair was that formula when there is no criteria for dying on the job trying to save others? Who is really more valuable to society? I can argue for both sides but in reality a police officer or a firefighter will have much more impact on my day to day life than a wall st. financier.
I wonder if there is a way to balance criteria better? I know we give the police great responsibility and demand great things of them. they are necessary for us to function- I honestly don’t believe that these types of jobs can be assessed the same way a corporate position or an academic job can.
So I do thank you for clarifying that- I thinks perhaps it is more that you look at this from a fiscal standpoint and my position is a much more emotional, anthropological one.