Mapping the Future
NYC Housing Calendar, Sept. 22-29
Jeanmarie Evelly |
City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.
Housing and Homelessness
The NYPD Now Decides What Homeless Encampments Get Swept
David Brand |
The new, formalized procedure essentially codifies what has become a de facto sweeps policy under Mayor Eric Adams, and replaces a 2020 directive that removed the NYPD from most street homeless outreach and clean-ups in the wake of an uprising for police accountability and reform spurred by the murder of George Floyd.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: America’s Public Housing, As Told By Those Who Live There
Lisa Lee |
“The story of public housing has been engulfed by stereotypes and misconceptions. Facts have been distorted. Nuance has been lost. Residents’ real-life accounts have been reduced to tropes of exceptionalism or tragedy—or forgotten altogether.”
A Family Affair: Parents, Children and NYC's Homelessness Crisis
VIDEO: Homeless Families Are Waiting Longer in NYC Shelters. Here Are Their Stories
Clara-Sophia Daly and Bahar Ostadan |
Dirty bath water and a slew of apartment rejections test the faith of three single moms trying to get out of the city’s homeless shelter system. After 14 months, Johanna Garcia finally found an apartment for her and her children—but the journey wasn’t easy, and the average length of stay in shelter for families like hers is only getting longer, new data shows.
Politics & Government
What Would NYC Look Like Without Right to Shelter? Bleak, Say the People Who’ve Needed It
David Brand |
The city’s ‘right to shelter’ provides a basic safety net not seen anywhere else in the country, allowing anyone who wants a shelter bed to get one (at least temporarily). But that right appears to be under siege as the city struggles to meet shelter demand amid a surge in homelessness.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: NYC’s Aging Water Infrastructure Needs a Climate-Change Upgrade
Shahana Hanif |
“Water main breaks have caused outages across my community and contamination from old pipes have left homes with rust colored water for days…The people of New York City deserve functioning infrastructure and real investments are the only way to get us there.”
Housing and Homelessness
Arsenic Alarm Still A Drain on Riis Residents’ Routines and Resources
David Brand |
For tenants who have spoken with City Limits in recent days, the impact of the tainted tap warning still lingers, invading their routines and spurring them to spend money on water they used to confidently get for free from the faucet.
Housing and Homelessness
Hundreds of Harlem Tenants Can Proceed with Class Action Suit Over Rent Fraud Claims, Judge Rules
David Brand |
A state judge granted class certification to past and present tenants in 11 buildings who have sued their landlord for “systemic evasion of the rent regulations” in a case that attorneys say could set a precedent for future actions.
A Family Affair: Parents, Children and NYC's Homelessness Crisis
Bill to Require Mental Health Staff at Family Shelters Spurs Worry Over ‘Unintended Effects’
Jeanmarie Evelly |
Supporters of the legislation, which would require the city to fund the placement of mental health professionals on-site at all homeless shelters with children, say it would increase access to care for families experiencing the crisis of housing insecurity. But some advocates worry it could inadvertently ensnare more low-income families in the child welfare system.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Opinion: To Lower Housing Production Costs, Put People Before Parking
James Lloyd |
“There is a real solution: end the off-street parking requirements mandated by archaic zoning laws enacted when gas was cheap and full of lead, elevated trains were being torn down, and flying cars were the future. With climate change now posing an existential threat, it is time to move on.”
