NYC apt seekers: wake up and smell the Starbucks! (homes, schools)

[jcoltrane]

Originally Posted by NYer75

Sorry...but Flatbush Gardens is a project.

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Really?

What city agency is responsible for it? It isn't NYCHA, so then who?

[Chichappens]

there isn't any affordable housing in NYC

[SobroGuy]

There is plenty of affordable housing in NYC so stop the nonsense.

[Chichappens]

Originally Posted by SobroGuy

There is plenty of affordable housing in NYC so stop the nonsense.

well then be so kind an post it so people can claim it.... and let it be affordable housing that ANYONE regarless of income can rent not just low or middle income brackets... Have a SWEET DAY

[SobroGuy]

Umm...who esle besides low and middle income need affordable housing? The rich? They can afford whatever they want. The poor? They have a plethora of government programs to pay all or most of their rent. Affordable housing MEANS low/middle income by definition, and ALL the city affordable housing programs and developments out there, and there are alot, are specifically for this group, which is why there are income max and mins!!!!!

Go to to nyc.gov website and see all currently available affordable housing for rent AND sale throughout NYC. Not enough for you there? Then move to the Bronx, which is by far the most affordable borough in the city, and the place for the new working/middle class?

[Chichappens]

Moderator cut: Personal attack... an the site you gave does not give ENOUGH housing for the LOADS of middle to low income people that are in NYC or the burroughs...fyi the bronx is also apart of NYC as is Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and the city itself...most of those ads are by lottery or waiting list so what do people do in the mean time while they are on a waiting list or with dreams of winning a lottery?????????

[winknod]

I agree whole heartedly with the original poster.
I have lived in Harlem for the past 8+ years and as a single woman who works late hours and walks home alone at all hours of the night Harlem is the safest area I have lived in so far.
Before moving up there I lived in Chelsea and then Midtown. Both neighborhoods I had problems with strange men following me late at night and being harassed by drunk guys coming out of bars, etc.

My neighborhood in Harlem is a real neighborhood. Sure there are gangs of kids hanging out on the corners late at night, but they are always the same kids. Everyone on my block knows everyone and we all look out for each other.
Granted, not every block in Harlem is as nice and friendly as mine, but over all the area has a relatively low population density (compared to areas downtown) which leads to a more neighborly feel. Also there tends to be less turn over, a lot of my older neighbors have lived there their whole lives!

[SobroGuy]

Chi...there is no guarantees in life. Living in NYC means you have to make sacrifices...and that includes almost everyone. Bloomberg has made an unparalleled commitment to create or maintain over 165,000 affordable housing units. Much of those units are by application and housing..why? So that the city can be sure the housing goes ONLY for the working/middle class...this process is not a bad thing..it is a good thing. If you don't want to wait, there are a number of affordable housing options throughout the Bronx right now! However, the reality is there are alot of affordable units in NYC, but many people choose not to live in them for one reason or another. People want there cake and eat it too..and that's not life in NYC.

So yes I will agree with the original poster on this one...there are affordable housing options in NYC, but the culture of fear (oftentimes false), keep many of them from moving to an affordable community in NYC.

[Chichappens]

okay so there is affordable housing but VERY little to accommodate ALL the NY'ers who need it desperately

[bluedog2]

Originally Posted by Chichappens

okay so there is affordable housing but VERY little to accommodate ALL the NY'ers who need it desperately

There is never going to be enough for ALL Ny'ers who need or want it but I have to agree with SobroGuy that there is a lot more than most people will admit and that the bigger problem is people are being way too unrealistic and too choosey.They not only want their affordable housing but they want it in Manhattan or within a 20 min subway ride of midtown.That is just totally unrealistic.

There are perfectly nice neighborhoods in The Bronx(and other boroughs) where open market coops and condos in very nice buildings are actually selling for less than most of the city sponsored "affordable housing" apartments.Even the HPD rentals are renting for just slightly less than the market rates in the same neighborhoods. I know this for a fact because I went through an exhaustive search myself just a few years ago.I wound up buying a very large(almost 1,000sq ft) renovated 1br( jr 4) apt in a great building in a very convenient neighborhood( Pelham Parkway) for substantially under $200,000 and my monthly payments(loan plus maint) are now only 1,000/mo. I looked at HPD sponsored "affordable housing" units that were closer to $300,000 and had ridiculously low "high income limits that made no sense to me and there is an HPD sponsored building in my neighborhood where the rentals on a smaller 1 br are 1,100/mo.

People just need to get out and look around.... especially in The Bronx.And if you really want or need "affordable housing" you are going to have to get out of your zone a bit.It's not generally in the more trendy neighborhoods.