Several crises weigh on the shoulders of New York City that are increasing as the months go by: the terrible and historic shortage of affordable housing, the epidemic of mental health pathologies, the few child care options, access to education and quality health services for the poorest…and a long etcetera. Absolutely everything, for the current leadership of the Municipal Council, goes through the filter of a far from simple solution: preserve, guarantee and build more housing units, in the midst of a frightening trend of evictions and more homeless people.
“This crisis is destroying the working class and communities of color. The vast majority of New Yorkers are just surviving. 10% of the population has been pushed to leave our city,” stated the leader of the Municipal Chamber, Adrienne Adams in her 2024 State of the City speech delivered this Wednesday.
In this speech the priority lines of this legislative body for the future of the Big Apple, which in summary is based on preventing More poor and middle class families continue to move to other regions seeking a better future.
The bulk of Adams’ proposals, which must be turned into local laws in the coming months and years, focus on build more homes in spaces, which in some cases, are already identified.
In addition, the door opens to build homes on land where the current zoning, It only allows commercial and industrial activities.
Clearly, it was announced that the land of the current Aqueduct Racetrack in Queensin a couple of years, they will be available to use 200 acres for new housing solutions.
“It is one of the largest vacant lots in the Big Apple and is immediately adjacent to a train station. A Subway train in the 10th district of Queens”, the municipal leader specified.
After the enactment of the Fair Housing law, the Council intends to expedite amendments to the municipal zoning texts, to “updating decades of old regulations that have maintained racial segregation and prevented the creation of housing in vast areas of the city”. This includes pushing permits and incentives to convert office buildings into affordable apartments.
Further housing vouchers
The other angle of the chamber’s housing emergency plan is to optimize the CityFHEPS vouchers, whose reforms passed in the spring of 2023, to remove barriers for all New Yorkers to access this housing voucher program.
This new scheme, Adams stressed, has not yet been implemented by the Human Resources Administration (HRA), despite having entered into force in January 2024.
“These reforms are crucial to keeping low-income New Yorkers at risk of eviction in their homes. And provide a way out of homeless shelters. “We will insist on providing this urgent relief to New Yorkers experiencing housing insecurity,” he added.
Mental health as a priority
The Democratic leader recalled that in the Big Apple, one in six children suffers from a mental health condition. And suicide is the second cause of death.
Given this devastating number, he indicated that the municipality is ready to support more investment in mental health programs in schools, where students spend most of their time.
The proposed formula is aimed at a solid infrastructure that prioritizes prevention, care and treatment, because the current approach “is costly, dehumanizing and ineffective. In too many cases it has been fatal.”
From another point of view of this ten-headed monster, the legislator recalled that the half of people in prisons have a mental health diagnosis. For this reason, once again, it makes all its political energy available to promote more programs to care for the vulnerable population and close as planned the largest prison in New York, located on Rikers Island, in Queens.
The challenge of child care
For the Democratic majority on the Council, preserving investment in public education and creating new ways to help families with child care, It is another of the “legs of the table” to sustain the city’s economy.
“Raising a child is a full-time job. But more than 80 percent of families can’t afford to do it all. This has been devastating to our economy, resulting in $23 billion in lost economic activity in 2022.”was highlighted in the State of the City 2024 address.
With a lack of affordable child care options and a weakened 3-K system, the speaker of the local legislative chamber noted that middle class families have no choice but to leave this city to provide a better life for their children. The specific proposal is do not allow any budget cuts and on the contrary strengthen these programs.
A “tragedy” in numbers:
- 200,000 new housing units built in NYC between 2010 and 2020, while gaining 630,000 new residents.
- 1.4% is the vacancy rate in the Big Apple, the lowest level since 1968.
- NYC family income grew 20% ($100,000 on average per year)while black and Latino incomes have stagnated below $55,000 per year.
2024-03-13 21:27:52
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