“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.”
Throughout the five boroughs and across the rental market, apartment prices continue to surge, according to an analysis of nearly 390,000 listings over the past three years that online marketplace StreetEasy shared with City Limits.
“The city’s unwillingness to extend the voucher program to its vulnerable, undocumented immigrants is not only a costly mistake, but down right inhumane. We need the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams to open up the CityFHEPS program for all of us.”
The New York District Council of Carpenters issued a statement opposing the plan, saying they would not receive enough work on 349-unit project proposed for The Bronx. Their stance was counter to several other influential labor leaders who have spoken in favor of the project for the jobs and new housing it will create.
During the most recent fiscal year, just 16 percent of New Yorkers approved by the city for supportive housing were actually placed with an apartment. More than half of the 7,426 eligible applicants during that time were never even referred for an interview, according to data recently published by the city’s Department of Social Services (DSS).
A six-month cap on stays and a lack of permanent housing options have combined to drive more than 1,550 families out of domestic violence shelters and directly into the Department of Homeless Services system over the past two years, records show.
“The dated, time-consuming bureaucratic system of meetings with social workers that lead to referrals, appointments and multiple screenings by various organizations must change. Homeless youth deserve timely and accurate information that gives them the best chance of locating the most suitable shelter.”
A new report from NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams details conditions he witnessed in public housing after visiting six NYCHA complexes earlier this year and speaking to tenants about mold and rodent infestations, leaks, broken fire exit doors, out-of-service elevators and heat and hot water outages. “I think folks sometimes don’t understand how bad those conditions are,” he told City Limits.
“Area Median Income plays an integral role in determining affordability. But communities across the five boroughs faced with potential affordable housing development routinely ask, ‘affordable for whom?’ as lower-income communities are held to the economic median of wealthy suburbs outside of the city.”
City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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