Housing
Internet resources for what you need to know on NYC Housing
Favorite Sites For Beginners

The Topic
Housing refers to all dwellings in NYC - from luxury condos with views of the Park to battered in-rem apartments in the South Bronx - and the laws and policy disputes that they produce.
The Context
The percentage of vacant and available housing stock in NYC has never exceeded 4.01%. This extraordinary housing scarcity makes for the highest rents in the US. Unlike citizens of most big American cities, where slightly over half of units are owner-occupied, more than two-thirds of New Yorkers are renters. And - bucking the national trend again - more than two-thirds of New York apartments are rent-regulated in some way. The housing crunch shows no sign of easing up, as new construction is impeded by the highest building costs in the nation. Of the little new construction that does occur in NYC, the vast majority takes advantage of some government subsidy or exemption. Also to note: the city within a city that is New York's 170,000 units of public housing - by far the largest amount of public housing anywhere in America.
The Reporter
Rebecca Webber is a journalist who has covered housing issues for Gotham Gazette since July 2000.

by Rebecca Webber

Housing Works and Harlem; Also: Bribery Scandal. New Buildings Commissioner

On one side, there is Housing Works, which wants to house HIV-positive former drug addicts in three renovated brownstones along West 130th Street. On the other side are the residents and officials of Harlem, who object to the project, and have gone to court to try to stop it.

Housing Works, whose mission is to provide housing for the AIDS-infected homeless, says this is nothing new. "In general, communities always raise concerns when we are trying to develop projects," said Andrew Coamey, the organization's vice president in charge of housing.

But the people of Harlem also say this is nothing new. "We found out they had gone to the state to get funds and submitted an application to create homeless facilities for people who are on drugs, or mentally ill -- the same population we have been fighting off for years," said Regina Smith, president of the West 130th Street Homeowners and Property Owners Association. "They wanted to bring that exact same community to the block."

Over the past 15 years, the residents have been burned twice by other not-for-profit organizations whose projects for at-risk populations failed. The consequences included an influx of drug dealers and users, vacated buildings populated by squatters, even a fire, intentionally set.

"The homeowners and property owners, after experiencing this type of de-stabilization in the past, are not prepared to go back," said Smith. "It's mind-boggling to us that both the state and HUD believe that a facility of this type will prove to be an asset to our block, where anywhere else it would be a liability."

Housing Work defends itself against this opposition with their track record, which includes two housing projects in the East Village and one in East New York, Brooklyn, as well as a stand-alone service center in the meatpacking district.

"We try to recognize [the community's] concerns and point out we have some experience doing this," Coamey said. "We have worked with the community in other projects and proven we are a good neighbor."

Housing Works currently owns and operates 68 apartments, and has placed more than 2,500 people in new homes, often through referrals. They have provided services such as medical care, job training, case management, advocacy, and HIV prevention, counseling and testing for 5,000 more. Their efforts are dwarfed by the size of the problem. More than 30,000 New Yorkers with AIDS and HIV currently live in homeless shelters, on the streets, or in severely inadequate housing.

The Harlem residents say that their objections to the proposed project are specific to their beleaguered block, and even suggested other nearby sites. Those would not work, said Coamey, because of their inclusion in other city programs, or their costs.

The residents won a temporary restraining order blocking the use of the state's $2.4 million grant from the New York State Homeless Housing Assistance Program for the project. The two parties head back to court in April for a hearing in which the judge will either uphold the injunction or dismiss the case.

"It's going to be a struggle, because Housing Works is a multi-million dollar organization that has many friends in high places," said Smith, of the residents' coalition. "We feel we're in a David and Goliath situation, and we're David. But David won."

Meanwhile, many of those represented by this "Goliath," the homeless HIV-positive people slated for a spot in the Harlem facility, will remain, for now, in the city's homeless shelters, which are reaching ludicrous heights of overcrowding. City Limits magazine reports in its March issue that the city has been dealing with the glut of homeless by paying up to $3000 per month to place them in apartments in neighborhoods where the going rents are far less.

SCANDAL

Eighteen New York City property tax assessors were indicted for accepting bribes from building owners and lowering their taxes in return. Residential buildings were among those for which taxes were fraudulently underestimated. The fraud has been going on for about 35 years and has cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, while enriching the tax assessors by tens of millions, the FBI said. The assessors were charged with racketeering, bribery and fraud.

NEW BUILDINGS COMMISSIONER

The Bloomberg administration appointed Patricia Lancaster, an architect and engineer, as commissioner of the Department of Buildings, which enforces the city's building code and licenses tradespeople. The agency has long been plagued by corruption and inefficiency, (for more on that, see a recent Gotham Gazette Issue of the Week.) Lancaster said she would work to staunch corruption and improve the agency's service to builders. She is the first woman to head the agency, which had been without a commissioner since 1999.


Sites For Beginners:


Other Recommendations:

  • The Rent Guidelines Board - Comprehensive apartment-hunting guide for beginners or old hands. Great links to research and data on NYC housing, including the 1996 Housing and Vacancy Survey.
  • City Limits - Investigative reporting about housing and other issues facing New York's low-income communities for 22 years. Archives available to 1996.
  • The Cooperator - Free online magazine for co-op and condo dwellers. Articles on current news affecting co-ops and condos, such as utilities deregulation or indictments of corrupt management companies, change monthly. Includes helpful Q&A sections in which tenant questions are answered by lawyers and accountants, and a reference library of detailed advice on topics such as building finance or selling your unit.
  • NYU Law School Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy - A detailed summary of the NYU Law School Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy's report "Reducing the Cost of New Housing Construction in New York City." Also features links to other research and the Center's programs and events.
  • Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve - HUD and the Urban Institute's new survey of homeless people and the service providers who work with them every day provides an intimate portrait of homelessness across America. Those surveyed revealed that more than 40% of homeless people work at least part time, 39% struggle with mental illness, and about a third of the homeless are now or were once child runaways. Only 8% are panhandlers.
  • Mr. Landlord - The Internet Resource for Landlords and Landladies. This comprehensive site offers a wealth of resources and free advice on do-it-yourself rental property management. Visitors can find help with setting up a webpage for their own rental ads or locating sample rent agreement forms. Its services also include a Q&A interactive discussion among fellow landlords; tax, mortgage and rent calculators; and a free weekly e-newsletter on management techniques.
  • Realty Times - This archive of free articles from the Realty Times, a realtors' professional publication, offers advice on issues of concern to apartment dwellers. Articles cover many legal concerns such as how to rent with roommates and tenants' rights to minor repairs, plus simple ideas on interior dicor or what to do if neighbors are noisy. The main page, http://realtimes.com, contains links on other residential real estate topics of interest to consumers, including mortgages and "The Truth About Condo Living."

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