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And to be honest, if you are applying as a single person you get screwed. So much is geared towards two-3-4 family households, whether that is a married couple without kids, a married couple with a kid or two kids, or a single person with one kid or two kids. Eh, it is what it is. Single people without kids are always going to be up shart's creek when it comes to stuff like this.
quote:
P.S. My poor brother in Arizona was going broke trying to support one of my nieces in NYC (she was earning about $60k/year). Now he is going broke trying to support her in Los Angeles <sigh>.
Just saw that. Sorry, that sounds like someone with a drug problem or some other major issue. or someone wanting to live way way way way above their means in the prime areas of manhattan or brooklyn. (even then, how does someone go broke subsidizing someone who is already making 60K?) that's shady and has nothing to do with the affordable housing crisis in NYC.
The bolded part is what happened. You go broke when you live in a place like this on $60k/year (without roommates):
I couldn't believe the rents (I live in a middle of the road COL part of the US).
FWIW - my brother "going broke" was probably a bit of an exaggeration. But it's still a heck of a lot of money - and is interfering with his ability to do things like save for his retirement. And it's worse now - because my niece is back in school getting her MBA - in Los Angeles - not a low COL area either (at least this is her last year of school - and my brother and his wife have said this is the last year of subsidies).
The part that NYer23 mentioned - about your income being compared to those of your immediate neighbors - was interesting. Do people with relatively but not super high incomes ever try to "game the system" by moving into expensive neighborhoods and then applying for "affordable housing"?
And - to TT942 - some people are in fact "voting with their feet". The area where I live is being inundated with people moving from high COL/high tax areas. Like the NYC metro area (among others). The result is they're driving up prices here. Changing the character of the area too (e.g., we're a lot more crowded - have more traffic - than we used to have). I'm not opposed to growth/change - but we've been seeing too much/too fast. So I hope NYC solves its affordable housing problem soon (although I'm not holding my breath). Robyn
The part that NYer23 mentioned - about your income being compared to those of your immediate neighbors - was interesting. Do people with relatively but not super high incomes ever try to "game the system" by moving into expensive neighborhoods and then applying for "affordable housing"?
First off, NYer23 is not correct in his or her definition of AMI. The Area Median Income for NYC is calculated using the incomes of residents in the five boroughs, along with Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties. So it's NOT based on the income of your immediate neighbors. The AMI for Carnegie Hill is the same as the AMI for Brownsville. Here's a link with more info:
If you are referring to the 80/20 lotteries that make up most of affordable housing these days, there are safeguards to prevent gaming the system.
If you get called for an 80/20 lottery, your finances get scrutinized pretty carefully.
You have to hand in two prior years' tax forms. If your annual income on those is higher than the allowed amount, you will be disqualified. Even if you're currently making less money now.
That weeds out people earning a good living who opt to make less money in order to qualify.
Past income (tax forms), present income (current pay stubs), and future income (possible raises) are all taken into account. Any one of the three by itself is cause for rejection.
Last edited by macnyc2003; 09-30-2016 at 08:33 AM..
Affordable housing is a public policy joke to those pushing the initiative but a disaster for working-class people who have no "affordable housing" option. A remnant of the Bloomberg years, the only ones who make out well are the property owners who pay little to no taxes. What's going on in NYC is not sustainable for poor and working class people. The politicians who are supposed to represent the people are still lying in bed with the wealthy who are parking their money into real estate and property owners who absolutely gouging people. Funny how New Yorkers (and the American public in general) or silent on these absurd housing prices but will raise sand if Saudi Arabia and OPEC raise oil prices.
As for these housing lotteries, I know at least 5 people - all of whom are director-level high-earners working for city agencies - who somehow qualified to purchase so-called affordable units. Maybe they were able to somehow show how indigent they were...maybe not? But these housing lotteries, in my opinion, are nothing more than a fireworks display for City Hall to show that they care for the poor. As one of my professors in grad school said, "public policy is made for the poor and working-class, not the well-to-do and rich denizens of our democracy."
macnyc2003 - Your explanation of AMI makes sense to me.
And TallBull - your critique makes sense to me too. Moreover - the net effect of everything that's going on is to squeeze out (upper) middle class working people. And drive them (and their employers) to other parts of the US. Note that this is true of other parts of the NE as well best I can tell.
Coming from a state like Florida (I moved here in the early 70's from the Philadelphia metro area) - it all seems seriously weird to me (our property taxes do vary somewhat from county to county - we have 67 of them - but the residents who own expensive houses don't get any unusual tax breaks - just the same $50k homestead exemption everyone else gets).
BTW - is it true that New York City is no longer accepting section 8 housing applications?
As for these housing lotteries, I know at least 5 people - all of whom are director-level high-earners working for city agencies - who somehow qualified to purchase so-called affordable units. Maybe they were able to somehow show how indigent they were...maybe not?
What units are you talking about? I haven't heard of affordable housing lotteries for purchasing apartments, only renting.
Maybe you are talking about Mitchell Lama? In any case, please provide a link to lotteries for purchasing affordable housing. I'd be interested in seeing the info.
...another Asst Commissioner in Fort Greene who previously rented in the area is now owning (I believe their household income is somewhere in the Mitt Romney band of "middle class")
... and here's an article discussing the potential conversion of Stuy-town from rental to co-op, a potential reality in the current real estate climate (this same director discussed internal conversations regarding such a conversion). This is very interesting indeed.
Housing lotteries for purchase have been running rampant in Harlem for over a decade. Believe me, I tried to jump in and grab a unit, but I made too much money as perhaps most people who make the median income do.
Mitchell Lama is perhaps the only government program unscathed by well-to-do New Yorkers looking to snatch affordable units from people who actually need them. And there's been discussion going on since the Bloomberg years of "assisting" the phasing out Mitchell Lama since many of those affordable units are in prime real estate areas like 101st and Manhattan Ave. You will see from the below link, right before the article jumps into the #1 of the seven worries that, "...the City Council also bears responsibility for the lack of oversight of the Mitchell-Lama program...". These politicians have gone to bed with the developers and real estate professionals. I think it's a total disgrace. C'est la vie, I guess :-(
The co-op or condo conversion of Stuy Town is dead in the water for now. That article you posted is from 2010.
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