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I wanted to give a little more info to see what developments you would recommend.
My Mother watches my kids while I work. My Mother and my Aunt live in the 2 bedroom apartment I grew up in in Italian Harlem. The area has drastically changed, but they are living in a rent control apartment and don't have the money to move. I need to live somewhere that is easily accessible by public transportation in order to drop off and pick up my kids at my Mom's. As far as school goes, my kids are enrolled in Catholic School. I receive tuition assistance through my job for them to attend. Realistically, I probably could not live in SI or outer Queens, or even parts of Brooklyn and be able to logistically get everyone where they need to be, and be at my job in Midtown by 8:30. I even considered trying to rent by my Mom and Aunt, but even that is looking like it will be too expensive.
Looking for a new job is not something I am considering right now. While I don't make a large salary, I have excellent benefits and have been told there is a lot of room for growth for me if I stay there.
Italian Harlem is present day East Harlem, right?
That's not too bad of a place to live depending on the block, and the Southernmost portion is gentrifying.
The apartment will be maintained by the city, so if there's a roach issue, they're required to fix the situation. But honestly I doubt an empty apartment will be delivered to you with these issues. They have to be inspected before handed off.
Yes, safer projects have the longest waiting lists. And anything in Manhattan generally has a longer waiting list, because it's Manhattan. But I would at least consider other areas, because you will get in earlier, and, honestly, all projects have some normal, middle class people, and less desirable folks. There is no project that is "only good folks" or "only bad folks" so check out your options and see what feels comfortable.
You could wait for a long time, or not. It depends. If you are from a certain protected group (domestic violence survivor, for example) you get put on the top of the list.
NYCHA is heavily scrutinized by the city and by federal civil rights monitors, so I doubt the agency itself is doing any funny stuff regarding putting certain groups in certain areas. Probably certain ethnic groups prefer certain locations, and are willing to wait it out (like the Hasidics in Williamsburg).
There's some unusual clustering that you might not expect, though. East Harlem projects are fast becoming Chinese, which is a new thing over the past few years. I guess the Lower East Side projects are impossible to get into, so they are all choosing East Harlem. There are still lots of white ethnics in some of the South Brooklyn projects.
But, overall, people are people. I wouldn't get hung up on ethnic backgrounds, as neighbors can be jerks or nice regardless of race. I assume most NYCHA tenants are black or Hispanic (esp. Puerto Rican or Dominican) but NYCHA has surprisingly large white and Asian populations compared to other public housing authorities. Every complex will have some trashy people and some good people.
All NYCHA has decreased in the past 10 years with quality-of-life issues. The good ones are getting worse and the bad ones are staying the same. Unless you're getting into Forest Hills Co-Ops (which is not happening unless you're white), they're all the same.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
All NYCHA has decreased in the past 10 years with quality-of-life issues. The good ones are getting worse and the bad ones are staying the same. Unless you're getting into Forest Hills Co-Ops (which is not happening unless you're white), they're all the same.
I am Italian, so I am white. I am curious as to why you say you need to be white to get into this co-op? Isn't that housing discrimination?
Carver Houses in East Harlem isn't too bad. I have a relative there but she lives at 99th street right across from Mt Sinai hospital so there's always people in that area.
Carver Houses in East Harlem isn't too bad. I have a relative there but she lives at 99th street right across from Mt Sinai hospital so there's always people in that area.
Those lower East Harlem projects are all very close to fully gentrified UES territory, so for that I wouldn't mind living there too much.
I was doing a job in the upper west side of Manhattan right behind Lincoln center and I saw these buildings and asked the owner how much those co-ops go for?!? He looked at me and said....thats NYCHA! I couldn't believe how nice they were kept! I'm pretty sure like most have said here the wait period is ridiculously long for housing there.
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what about monroe houses?
