CAUTIOUSLY CELEBRATING THE LATINIZATION OF U.S. CITIES

BY STUDENT


I am a believer that one should be proud of who they are, where they come from, and that their heritage should be celebrated no matter how dark the past is or how things may look now. However, when I encountered the topic that this blog post had to be on; I wasn’t sure where to start because the word “cautiously” in front of “celebrating the Latinization of U.S cities” was not something I was fond of. It made me think why should one “cautiously” celebrate the Latinization of U.S cities when most of the things that give the city life or the history that was created were due in large part to the Latinos/Latin X communities? Then I read a quote that David Harvey included in his review, The Right to the City, by sociologist Robert Park. It states “man’s most successful attempt to remake the world he lives in more after his heart’s desire. But, if the city is the world which man created, it is the world in which he is henceforth condemned to live. Thus, indirectly, and without any clear sense of the nature of his task, in making the city man has remade himself.”


What I got from the quote is that when one tries to remake the world (the city) better or just improve it, it essentially moves away from its’ origins to match a life style that one desires or strives for while also changing oneself. It then made me think about a place where I spent most of my time and life; and where I consider home in my heart: Washington Heights. I was born there even though most of my life, I never lived there. I came to know and love it though because of the countless of hours I spent with my family and friends that did live there. I came to know the area and everything that it had to offer like the back of my hand; and as time went on, so did my love for it. With this time going on though, everyone grew up and aged; and so did the environment and everything around it. This change didn’t just happen out of nowhere or individuals agreed to it. It happened due to capitalism and urbanization which go hand in hand, and Harvey describes the relationship as constant reinvestment to the expansion of the surplus. This means that the constant cycle of placing materials, time, and resources into the surplus gave it value and only made the value go up from where it originally started. This is why the constant change of the environment that I had come to love changed before my eyes. The opening of bars, franchises, business ventures, and the improvements within the community seemed great on the surface; but brought internal pain to those that resided within these communities and sometimes even forced them out. Not only this, but as Harvey also mentioned in his review; the constant expansion of urbanizing the community and environment also brought change within the style of living as well. What was once a very family oriented community that saw most people know each other and look after one another in the area that I knew, now shows little to no trace of how things were before. Brand new faces come and go within the community and as these new faces enter and leave, so do other parts of the community. From what I can recall from my youth to now, only a little business that deals with renting apartments and interior design stood overtime watching the way I did how everything else came and went.

I have come to understand a bit now as to why we have to “cautiously” celebrate the Latinization of U.S cities. It’s in large part due to the fact that whatever is left; and whatever has stood against time and all the changes might be the next thing to go. “The freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet the most neglected of our human rights.” (Harvey, pg. 23). Change starts from the things that we desire and strive for and with that said, shapes what we want within our area and ultimately our environment. It’s nice to have certain things in the area of Washington Heights that I love, but it ultimately cost the environment and everything I once knew. What made it nice and seem like home eventually turned into a place where unfamiliar faces walked the blocks and only when I entered homes is when change from the outside faded away. Urbanization and capitalism are a huge reason for the changes that we see every day, but ultimately; it’s the desires and strives of a lifestyle that we seek that bring upon the real change on the environment.



References:

Harvey, David “The Right to the City,” New Left Review. 2008

LATINA/O/XS AND HOUSING POLICIES

BY STUDENT

It's extremely hard to find affordable housing in New York City as a Latinx individual. If one does somehow find affordable housing it’s usually an apartment for rent that’s very small, deteriorating, and in an unsafe neighborhood. Being raised in the South Bronx made me question why I was I mainly surrounded by those of the Latinx or Black communities. It was always such a drastic change just traveling to Manhattan for a few because I was never surrounded by people who didn’t look like me, but I was also confused by the skyscrapers and well kept parks and neighborhoods. I assumed then that somehow being surrounded by people who look like me was a privilege, but now that I’m aware of why there was such as difference I’ve come to the conclusion that it wasn't. 56.4% of the residence who live in The Bronx are Latinx. Some areas in The Bronx, such as, Grand Concourse, Hunts Point, and HighBridge all hold a huge concentration of Latinx people. This is because we were forced to live in these neighborhoods; the segregation of communities is why we see many Latinx people resided in The Bronx. Bender discussed how Latinx and Black people were a natural demographic target; he found that where Latinx and Black people most resided is where subprime lending rose and it was linked to neighborhood segregation. These individuals took advantage of Latinx people when it came to mortgage lending by targeting them because they were perceived as susceptible to predatory loans due to being unfamiliar with purchasing and borrowing and also language barriers. Which lead to 50 percent of Latinx people using subprime financing for their financing home purchases in 2006. So my question is, how are Latinx people being discriminated against today when it comes to housing policies and what could be the reason? 

Being raised and living in The Bronx my whole life gave me a first hand experience on the day to day things Latinx people deal with when it comes to housing policies. As I read through Tierra Y Libertad, bender mentions homes being a legacy in latinx families and  I couldn’t help but imagine the small apartment that’s been in my family for generations. The second floor of a Bronx building right above a mexican restaurant that’s been redesigned four times in the last fifty years. The apartment that holds the wall of fame; a wall filled with pictures of my grandfather, grandmother, cousins, aunts, uncles, and even me. The apartment we’ve been renting since Puerto Ricans Migrated to The Bronx in the mid 1960’s, but also the apartment in which the landlord steals the rent money and never fixes any damages. Despite, the landlord stealing from a low income family and many court visits the rent still continues to rise and letters of threats to evict us continues to pile up in the mailbox. The quality of these apartments are not equivalent to the amount of rent we are expected to pay. The walls haven’t been repainted and there are no plans on making any repairs, just another trip to the courthouse to discuss how we paid rent that month, but the landlord decides to pocket it and take advantage of individuals he thinks are far from knowledgeable. Which is a very common story for most of the individuals who live in my apartment building. 

It’s been more than four decades since they have passed the federal fair housing act in 1968. This act is suppose to prevent people from discrimination when they are renting, buying, or even seeking housing assitance. In this act it states that it’s illegal for a landlord to fail or delay performance of maintenance for any repairs needed in the apartment. It is crucial that these fair housing strategies aim to adapt to address todays patterns of discrimination and inequality against Latinx and Black individuals who are renting apartments in New York City. We still don’t see these policies being enforced and it’s actually become much worse. Landlords are ignoring the health concerns and needs of these individuals by not making necessary repairs, not turning on the heat, and being unaware of the kind of paint they are using and now more than 81 percent of inspected NYCHA apartments have potential lead paint hazard. These housing policies are separating neighborhoods and are placing high performing schools, well maintained parks, and other valuable resources out of reach from Latinx and Black communities. Today, Landlords are still trying to draw out there tenants to make room for gentrification in which will bring in new tenants who can pay the high priced rent. In this blog post I wanted to share one of the many experiences of discrimination that Latinx people deal with when it comes to housing policies. Overall, Latinx individuals are being placed in underprivileged neighborhoods with little to no resources and are treated poorly because of their socioeconomic status and race.

Bibliography: 

1. Bender, S. (2010). Tierra y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. NYU Press. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfd4p

1.  Gonen, Y. (2018, May 11). 81 percent of inspected apartments have potential lead-paint hazard: NYCHA. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2017/12/13/81-percent-of-inspected-apartments-have-lead-paint-hazard-nycha/. 

1. Race and Ethnicity by Neighborhood in New York. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/New-York/New-York/High-Bridge/Race-and-Ethnicity.  

1. Semuels, A. (2015, May 19). New York City's Public-Housing Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/new-york-citys-public-housing-crisis/393644/. 

1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Bronx County (Bronx Borough), New York. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/bronxcountybronxboroughnewyork. 

LATINA/O/XS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

BY STUDENT

The 2010 census reveals a broad sweep of racial and ethnic change that has made its greatest imprint on the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. What racial/ ethnic changes were revealed in the 2010 census and what factors do you think influenced these changes? Since the mid 20^th century immigration towards northern and metropolitan areas have been steadily increasing. More Latinx migrants have been found settling in these areas in denser quantities. In this post I intend on explaining the findings of the 2010 census, explain how these events transpired and discuss possible pull factors.

In an analysis comparing the 1990 and 2000 to the 2010 census of 100 of the largest metropolitan cities found numerous significant findings. First was, non- whites and Hispanics accounted for 98 percent of population growth in large metro areas from 2000 to 2010 (Frey, 2011). Of the 100 largest metro cities, 29 of those cities doubled their Latinx populations. Coincidentally, the same time the influx of Hispanics was happening, white flight was also occurring. From 2000 to 2010, the white populations of these cities considerably declined. These folks moved from the large inner cities to the suburbs, leaving ample amounts of space for the new city dwellers. 

The allure of the city and city life must have been too hard to pass up for migrants. The city brings a lot of opportunities along with it.  In the city public services are much more accessible and closer. Transportation is readily available. Also, jobs were abundant. Migrating to these areas wasn’t necessarily a tough choice considering that there was already an established Latinx culture present already (Davila, 2008). The migration felt more like moving from one home to another.

Bibliography:

Dávila, Arlene M. "From Barrio to Mainstream: On the Politics of Latino/a Art Museums." Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race. New York: New York UP, 2008. N. pag. Print.

Frey, Willliam H. “The New Metro Minority Map: Regional Shifts in Hispanics, Asians, and Blacks from Census 2010.” (Washington: Brookings Institution, 2011).

DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND CRIMINALIZATION

LAND OF FREE LABOR
BY STUDENT

The United States is a first world country in which 3 million of its citizens are incarcerated. This number alone is staggering but when taking a deeper look into a breakdown of this 3 million, you may be taken aback. With 56% of the prison population being comprised of Latino and African American people, incarceration disparities become evident. As the prison industry becomes heavily privatized and profitable, with laws allowing the exploitation of those imprisoned, prisoners are becoming a hot commodity. This poses the question, does America in 2019, continue to benefit off of slave labor? In my blogpost I seek to prove just why America would want to turn a blind eye to the abuse of imprisoned African American and Latino people.

(This political cartoon demonstrates the life cycle of a minority within America. We are raised with an innate fear of law enforcement and treated as criminals by the time we are old enough to walk along the streets, only to be sent to prison to work for a company which sees us as a paycheck.)

The American prison system can be characterized as harsh, oppressive, inhumane, and lucrative. For many corporations, prisoners are a product in which they are able to easily manipulate to turn quick profit. The industry is quite successful with it being worth roughly 4 billion dollars, the revenues of these private prisons are split with state and federal government for their cooperation. The idea behind private prisons is they bring relief to the government by allowing them to place their money in other sectors rather than spend it on the construction of a new prison facility. These privately-owned prisons are operated at a more cost-efficient rate due to them side stepping the mandates the public facilities face, which results in poor safety conditions. These private prisons are a money grab as they don’t place much money into the bedding, properly training guards, food, and health care to maximize their profit. This industry is built off the backs of those they demean to such horrid conditions, for pennies on the dollar, if that. These backs being those of mainly brown and black people stuck in the never-ending cycle of systematic oppression brought upon them by the judicial and prison system.

America and its capitalist ideals can be directly linked to this exploitation of black and brown people. The United States benefiting off of the detriment of others is displayed time and time again within our history, whether it be the Native Americans, Blacks, European immigrants, or Latinos. In our country we find that minorities tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to the laws set in place, it seems as though law enforcement over patrol us hoping to find us committing a crime, as we are easier to control if we are kept under their watch. This agenda is supported and pushed by corporate and federal greed, as police arrest us, the more of us become captives behind bars, resulting in tremendous profit growth. America stands to make more money with us imprisoned rather than us free to live our lives, which could explain just why we are arrested at disproportionate rates. After the countless calls for reform and change, the many lives lost to protests, and laws set in place to “protect” us, we still have legal slaves in 2019.





Bibliography

Green, Matthew. “Winners of 2017 California High School Political Cartoon Contest.” KQED, 17 Apr. 2017, www.kqed.org/lowdown/26460/winners-of-the-2017-california-high-school-political-cartoon-contest.

Morín, José Luis. “Latinas/Os and US Prisons: Trends and Challenges.” Latino Studies, vol. 6, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 11–34., doi:10.1057/lst.2008.1.

Markowitz, Eric. “Making Profits on the Captive Prison Market.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/business/currency/making-profits-on-the-captive-prison-market.

Haberman, Clyde. “For Private Prisons, Detaining Immigrants Is Big Business.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/us/prisons-immigration-detention.html.

LATINA/O/XS AND HOUSING POLICIES

BY STUDENT

Finding housing in New York seems almost impossible when factors of money and race come into play. Housing is not affordable in New York, and when your part of a more diverse community most people don’t want to sell to you. Yonkers is very diverse in the areas that they have. They have what people consider ghettos and they have a more suburban area with houses and schools. Downtown Yonkers is what people consider ghetto, however over the recent years the area close to the waterfront has been severely gentrified. The waterfront has emerging condos, high end restaurants like X2O and the Dolphin Restaurant. This area is also where a lot of high schoolers come and take their prom pictures. When coming home from Albany It’s almost shocking seeing the shift from the waterfront to the inner part of the city. I wonder how housing policies today affect Yonkers and how the Latinx community in this city is affected by it. 

Before my mom met my stepdad, we were section 8 recipients in Yonkers. Our economic status changed drastically. My stepdad owns several properties in Yonkers, that he rents to lower income people, with section 8 vouchers and my mom handles all the paperwork for him. Therefore, I have an inside view in what it’s like to need government help to pay rent and what it’s like to house people that need this help as well. I also know how difficult it is to find housing being that my mom is the one that looks for people to rent for. An apartment with 4 bedrooms and one bathroom goes for 2,200. Which I would say is pretty high.  It’s also important to note that not all landlords accept people with government help. My stepdad says that gentrification actually hurts him. Gentrification places a lot of people out of housing. With these people moving out to find more affordable areas he would have no choice but to sell his properties. 

 As mentioned in Tierra y Libertad “overcrowded housing is emerging as a battleground in the national debate over immigration”. In other words, people seem to have a problem with overcrowding due to “health and safety concerns”. I find this interesting because when my mom gets phone calls about apartments, most of the time they try to find apartments with 5 bedrooms because there is a lot of people in their household. My mom always says the biggest apartment she has is with 4 bedrooms and that she’s never seen an apartment in Yonkers with 5. It’s interesting because it’s not like the Latinx community wants to be in cluttered spaces it just happens to be the situation they are in. the apartment alone is expensive, and they cannot afford putting a mortgage on a house. With gentrification taking place as well, it’s not like they can afford those expensive condos. In conclusion gentrification affects all parties and the only people winning are big corporations and developers. 

Work cited

Bender, Steven. Tierra y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York: New York University Press, 2016.

Donelson, Dave. “Is Yonkers About To Experience A Giant Revival?” Westchester Magazine. Accessed November 27, 2019. http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/August-2014/Yonkers-Revival-Growth/.

“101 Oak St, Yonkers, NY 10701.” realtor.com®. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/101-Oak-St_Yonkers_NY_10701_M40901-25765.

CAUTIOUSLY CELEBRATING THE LATINIZATION OF CITIES

GENTRIFICATION IN HARLEM
BY STUDENT

Nowadays gentrification has been the main topic in a lot of minorities communities. My neighborhood, Harlem has unfortunately already and is still going through the process of gentrification. Gentrification is defined as “the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.” According to the Oxford dictionary. As the definition explains most people see gentrification as a positive thing and that it is bettering the neighborhood. However, I disagree, I believe gentrification has negative effects on the people already leaving there. In this blog post I will be discussing the negative affects gentrifications has on Harlem.

Harlem has always been known as a majority black populated neighborhood and the mecca for blacks. This where the Harlem renaissance occurred, civil rights groups like the Black Panthers held their meetings. Where the Apollo theatre is located and where notable black figures have lived from Madam C.J walker to Malcom X. There was a point in time in history this was the place to live for Blacks whether they were poor or rich. Growing up in Harlem, you get to see the rich history that thrives in this neighborhood. Growing up in Manhattan taking the train as a kid you would see the racial segregation as you would go home from being downtown. Taking the 2/3 train home would notice how the more you go uptown the less Whites you would see on the train till once you get 96st on the train all there would be left is Blacks and Latinos.

Gentrification was slowly happening in my neighborhood, but I did not notice until middle school. Slowly empty lots started to become new expensive buildings. Small business that have been there since forever started to be closed down and being replaced by new franchise stores instead. At first it seemed like it could be a good thing because replacing these new lots with buildings made the neighborhood safer. However, people started to move out their homes because they could afford the rising rent. Those families were replaced by young adults and families who could afford them. Today is very common to see white families and white young adults living in Harlem and not just on Sundays during their tours. People moving into Harlem see it has a cultured place full of soul food restaurants and historical churches and art. But if all those people who make up the culture are forced to leave, will there still be culture? Relators create these projects that highlight the culture already present at the same time kick out the people that created this culture. This similar to the project mentioned in Time-Squaring of El Barrio, which mentions a project being developed called Uptown N.Y Project. It is a project to be developed in the most popular area of Harlem 125 to 127 St. It is described to include a Latin- themed culture component and include a “Latino -themed city” (Davila, Arlene. 2008). It makes you think about how they don’t want Blacks and Latinos there, but they want to use us for culture but do not want us present.


Sources:
Dávila, Arlene. 2008. “The Times-Squaring of El Barrio: On Mega-Projects, Spin, and ‘Community Consent’.” Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race.

CAUTIOUSLY CELEBRATING THE LATINIZATION OF CITIES

GENTRIFICATION AND URBAN LATINIDAD IN HARLEM 

BY STUDENT

Living in Harlem has been an interesting experience in terms of the changing environment and the increasing marginalization between people. I moved into Harlem in 2009 and it looked completely different than it does today. When I first moved into Harlem, it did not have the reputation ‘Soha’ has. Harlem was stereotyped as being the place where people couldn’t walk by or live safely in. There also wasn’t a healthy eating spot in sight until 2016-2017. I would always struggle to find restaurants where I could buy a healthy, pescatarian meal when I came out of high school. Last week I searched for good pescatarian options to order from and was overwhelmed. There were about 10-15 places for me to easily choose from. There is now a Starbucks nearby also, which could not have been found for at least 10 streets down. This would make me ecstatic if the reason was to help minorities have access to better quality food at an inexpensive price, but this is not the case.

Another change I have noticed is there is now construction everywhere. Buildings are constantly being bought by either the university near me or investors. Across the street, there’s an all-crystal sleek building that has a rock-climbing wall as well as a museum. Outside it’s adorned with nice chairs and tables that allow people to sit and talk. Before that building was built, you could not find somewhere to sit and talk as well as possibly read unless you went to the Pier. This was brought to my attention because when I was waiting for a friend with my luggage in West 145^th street, I could not find anywhere to sit. I had to enter a Rite Aid to wait for my friend. And as for the rock-climbing/museum building, I have not brought myself to enter the building because I feel uncomfortable with the thought of entering. There is a divide amongst the people living in the same area. Minorities tend to stay from 125^th street and up while Caucasian people tend to linger and jog in areas where there have been new businesses built.

According to ‘Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race’ by Davila Arlene M., the Community Board 11 Task force was formed to voice their concerns and give ideas about the Uptown NY Project. It is important to note that they are not allowed to stop or disrupt the process of this project, which means that they could simply give suggestions that do not have to necessarily be heard. Arlene M. states, “This was a mega-project that left no hot buttons untouched: the prospect of commercial establishments that would squash local businesses, the environmental threat presented by higher traffic and bus emissions that would have exacerbated the area’s horrific asthma rates, and the development of more “mixed-used housing” that everyone feared would result in more affordable housing.” (p. 99) This proves that this project is meant to change and benefit one group of people instead of everyone’s lives.

Bibliography

Dávila Arlene M. (2008). Latino spin: public image and the whitewashing of race. New York: New York University Press.

LATINA/O/XS AND HOUSING POLICIES

BY STUDENT


As a kid, it was pretty easy to bat an eye at the many struggles revolving my household. Leaving them for the older generations to deal with- but that is a given. I am too young to understand poor, I am too young to understand domestic abuse, or reasons behind being potentially taken from my parents. Of course, that changes as time goes by and unfortunately now I have to deal with it all. One in particular that stood out and has become prevalent is, housing. The apartment I grew up in was a small two room apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan under NYCHA. This apartment is pretty old. My great-grandmother moved into this apartment in her late 20’s, so around the 1940's. And now that I think about it- a time where many Puerto Ricans migrate into New York City, for better opportunities like work. Rent was not an issue for her because of how low and stabilized it was, which is great. Interestingly enough, according to the NYCHA Project Statistics of September 1949 the scheduled monthly gross rent was “$34.79”[1].

Furthermore, generations of my family have either lived in the same house, or in the vicinity. This apartment in particular, was rent stabilized. Meaning that under the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal the rent is being regulated. With that, the landlord is only permitted to raise or change this amount to a certain degree, yearly. So, it has been roughly same my whole life. Which was pretty great. Living in an impoverished neighborhood and enduring the many systematic issues, having at least a stabilized rent helped a ton. As college orientation comes up, threats of eviction are thrown at us much more often. But why- why is it so urgent to evict us, knowing our history in this apartment and no sufficient reason to evict. Mind you, this apartment was falling apart. While we can do what we can to mend it all together from: leaking ceilings, to literally not having a kitchen sink for 3 months; there is only so much we can do. It is also not our job. They have ignored countless tickets, yet feel the need to evict us. I of course was not the only one in the area struggling to get their heat turned on or a wall replastered. A 60-year-old woman told The New York Times of her experiences in her current NYCHA Apartment, she states ““They gave a ticket, ticket, ticket, ticket, ticket,” Santana said, paging through her papers. “Over here too, ticket, ticket, ticket, ticket. They just give you tickets. But they don’t do anything.””[2]. This is a familiar case for many tenants living in these apartments. But again, why urge to evict us? I think it's an issue of gentrification. Not only was my apartment on the eleventh floor, but I also had a view of the East River. That being said, once we were finally evicted in 2019, without hesitation, a new family was living in that apartment, being changed an average of $1200 as opposed to my average $200.

Again, I think the issue lies with not only gentrification, but in general how housing institutions are run. With clearly little to no regulation, and with the intent of receiving money. This is evident in not being able to complete the simplest of tickets and continuously disregarding the health and safety of tenants. This of course is not a Puerto Rican specific issue but span throughout the Black and Brown community. While I am only mentioning the housing status of the Lower East Side, these issues are being dealt with on a daily all throughout the boroughs; in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. And you would have guessed it, these housing apartments tend to be placed in areas of lower economic status and/or minoritized communities. Why is it so easy for the state to reinvent building, “modernize’ homes, and make way for new improvement and tenants, but simultaneously fail to simply turn the heat on.







Bibliography

Ferré-sadurní, Luis. “New York City's Public Housing Is in Crisis. Will Washington Take

Control?” The New York Times. The New York Times, December 25, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/25/nyregion/nycha-hud-deblasio-carson.html.



NYCHA, “New York City Housing Authority Project Statistics”. NYCHA, September 1949.

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/pdbsept1949.pdf



NYCHA, “Public Housing 2017 Flat Rent Schedule”. NYCHA, 2017.

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/Flat-Rent-Schedule.pdf


Wang, Marian. “The Many Failures of the New York City Housing Authority.” Pacific Standard,

April 7, 2015. https://psmag.com/news/the-many-failures-of-the-new-york-city-housing-authority.



[1] https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/pdbsept1949.pdf


[2] https://psmag.com/news/the-many-failures-of-the-new-york-city-housing-authority

LATINA/O/XS AND HOUSING POLICIES

BY STUDENT

Finding an affordable place to live in New York City is hard enough as it is. It is even harder when you’re a member of the Latinx or Black community and trying to find an affordable place to live. Growing up in Astoria, Queens, I’ve been no stranger to living among individuals that are different from me. Yet, when I go into Manhattan there's a shift in the air, not only because of the soaring skyscrapers and busy streets but because of the abundance of Caucasians who reside in these areas. I will be focusing on the subtle but present segregation that exists in Manhattan when it comes to the Latinx community. According to the 2018 U.S Census, the Latinx community represents 25% of the Manhattan Borough population. However, after taking a look at the New York Times Race Map and the NYCHA 2019 map, I pinpointed that Latinos are only widespread in one specific area, the Lower East Side in which they make up 65% of that area's population. In the LES there is a cluster of twenty-one Public Housing Buildings all which are home to a majority Latinx and African-Americans community. This made me realize that if those low-income buildings were not there than we would be looking at an even smaller number. Even with the housing that is available, it is not always the most desirable or in the best neighborhood. For example, it's not rare to hear of a family of four or five being forced into a one or two bedroom apartment. Some of these old apartments building may have housing violations such as faulty pipes, heating and in some cases lead paint which is an extreme hazard to children. As if that's not bad enough your area also determines where your child will attend school. The areas where Latinx’s are more prominent are low income areas which tend to have underperforming as well as underfunded schools. The Housing Policies we see today are just the start of the dominos effect. Having a home is supposed to supply stability and safety instead of stress and economic disadvantages which lead to family issues. Families have no choice but to live in the least desirable places where they have to send their children to underperforming and under-funded schools. They are not only taking away homes from people but are also robbing the Latinx youth of a brighter future. 

However, this issue has not gone unnoticed as the city has created programs that work like lotteries for new affordable housing called Housing Connect. Thousands of people around the city apply each year, very few are chosen and the waiting process can take YEARS. In the meantime, Latinx’s are being forced into either cramped spaces with extremely high rent rates and tens of thousands are facing eviction or homelessness, even those with jobs. In a research conducted by the Community Service Society, it shows that in 2017 58% of African Americans and 31% of Latinx’s made up the homeless shelter population. Thats 89% combined. Majority are also single mothers. Single mothers are also the ones to face a higher chance of being turned down for a home, even if they meet the requirements, simply because they have children. It is clear that the housing market and city funding is purposely accommodating higher income professionals when it comes to housing. For example, the infrastructure in these new building is better, as is the security and just overall extremely better living conditions. This is a prime example of how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and push aside. This wouldn't be such a huge issue if the low income communities such as the Latinx and Black community were given proper funding to improve their living conditions. Instead they face rapid rent increases without any actual improvements to their homes. So they’re paying hundreds more for the exact same lousy, not up to date home or building. Landlords are quick to raise the rent but not improve living conditions which leaves families with no choice but to move out. Once they get a family out they do some minor improvements and bump up the price of rent. This is a huge contributor to white flight out of Manhattan and into low income areas causing gentrification. This not only harms people's living conditions but longtime small businesses in the area as their rent is also risen.

Comparably Manhattan is a modern day Levittown. Levittown is a suburb in Long Island who in 1947 was built to “only be occupied by members of the Caucasian race” as stated in clause 25 of their standard lease agreement. It was literally a town built to house and accommodate only white middle-class Americans, very much like the way Manhattan realty is set up today. Of Course there are members of other minority groups living in these skyscrapers but Caucasians make up 60% of those residents. This is a real crisis that many New Yorkers are facing today. This makes families move to disadvantaged areas or just have economic hardships trying to stay afloat. Stability is needed in everyone's life and I feel that a lot of developers and landlords are forgetting that. Without stability people fall apart, parents and children develop stress. I understand that money runs the world and its extremely essential but we also need to remember just because of our skin complexion or family size we should not be denied housing or pushed aside. Many people are still under the false illusion that New York City is this progressive stronghold when in reality it is the number ONE most segregated city in the entire country. Not only when it comes to our school systems but clearly in the areas we’re forced to live in. 

SOURCES: 

1. “Mapping Segregation.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 July 2015, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html?mtrref=www.google.com&assetType=REGIWALL.

2. “Official NYCHA Map.” NYCHA, NYCHA, 2019, www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/officialmap-2019.pdf.

3. Veiga, Christina. “How School Choice Differs for Black and White Families in New York City and Other Takeaways from a New Report.” Chalkbeat, Chalkbeat, 2 May 2018, chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2018/05/02/how-school-choice-differs-for-black-and-white-families-in-new-york-city-and-three-other-takeaways-from-a-new-report/.

4. Lambert, Bruce. “At 50, Levittown Contends With Its Legacy of Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Dec. 1997, www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/nyregion/at-50-levittown-contends-with-its-legacy-of-bias.html.

"NEW" LATINA/O/X MIGRATION

BY STUDENT

America’s metropolitan areas have been transformed. More than half of all Americans now live in suburbia, urban areas outside of what the U.S. census defines as “central cities”. The generally white suburbs have been altered with the growing suburbanization number of minorities (the Black and Latinx population). Washington D.C. being the 7th largest metropolitan concentration of immigrants in the U.S. has contributed to the ‘transformation’ of suburbs. Washington was not always a concentration for immigrants, however, in the latter decades of the twentieth century, the Washington region grew, in part due to the economic stability offered by the expansion of the federal government, international organizations and universities, all of which attracted both native and foreign-born population. One of the reasons many apart of the Black and Latino population were moving into suburbs were due to job opportunities and lower rent prices.


In areas such as Prince William County, VA the increase in suburbanization by the black and latinx population was in a way a changing point within the County themselves. William County experienced rapid population growth “the county’s total population more than doubled between 1980 and 2006, while its immigrant population swelled to more than 14 times its 1980 size. Between 2000 and 2006, Prince William’s Hispanic population tripled in size, making it one of the nation’s top counties for Latino growth”. Home prices in the Washington region soared from 2000 to 2005; job growth and decentralization made suburbs like Prince William County more affordable than those in the inner core. Thanks to its real estate market, “the median home price in Washington, D.C. is half a million, compared to $374,800 in Prince William County”. Further emphasizing that a huge factor in the migration to the suburbs by the Latinx population was more affordable housing with possible job opportunity.


Due to the increase number of immigrants coming into the U.S. and the start of immigration into the suburbs the United States began a national debate over the role of immigrants in the economy and society. Resulting in a few outcomes, one of those being that Latin American immigrants are increasingly becoming targets of local legislation designed to restrict access to services or make them feel unwelcome. This has become a growing issue for people of color including Latinos within suburban communities. Which brings me to the book, Magical Urbanism by Davis Mike, he gives a few examples of Latin American immigrants being targeted and the rise of the concept “the third border”. In addition to the primary border and the secondary border (INS checkpoints) Davis describes a third border which polices daily intercourse between two citizen communities. So, while the Latino population continues to assimilate into their environment and strive in their community they are being targeted by their neighboring town/city solely on ethnic and class tensions. In a way they are being gated within their community by their surrounding neighbors. You would feel that after the Latinx population has moved into the suburbs they would be more diverse, geographic wise and not be compacted into a barrio. In many cases due to the surrounding areas, the migrating population is shifted into one suburb changing it into a barrio. Not only expressing the fact that this ‘new’ migration did not truly change their style of living and surrounding borders but did help ease certain life expenses.






Singer, Audrey. “Immigrants, Politics, and Local Response in Suburban Washington.” brookings.edu. Brookings, February 2009. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0225_immigration_singer.pdf


Singer, Audrey. “Latin American Immigrants in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.” Wilsoncenter.org. The Brookings Instituation, November 1, 2007. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/SingerFINALbackgroundpaper.pdf.

"NEW" LATINA/O/X MIGRATION

LATINA/OS MIGRATING TO UPSTATE NY

BY STUDENT


The Latinx population have migrated all throughout the U.S., mainly to major cities such as New York City. Many Latino’s leave their homelands in search of a better life, where they can have access to jobs for economic security. We saw this when considering the history of Puerto Ricans and Mexicans settling to NYC and Los Angeles. We still see it occurring today with Central Americans migrating to the U.S. to escape poverty and violence in their home countries. Yet things aren’t the same as when Latino’s first started migrating into these cities. Rent has skyrocketed in these cities making it hard to find a place to live. New York City has undergone through huge gentrification, affecting rent prices in every borough. So, where are Latinx migrating to now and why are they choosing these new areas for settlement?


Latinx families are now migrating to the north into more suburban areas. “The region’s 2010 Hispanic population is 35,103 or 77.49 percent more than the 19,777 in 2000,” (Crowe 2011). This is an immense increase, showing us the migration of Latinos to upper NY throughout the years. In Albany county, specifically we see a 64.30% increase from the year 2000 to 2010 (Crowe 2011). As a UAlbany student I wanted to investigate the growth of latinx’s in the Albany area. When I first arrived to Albany, I didn’t think that I would find many Lantix locals. Nor did I think I’d find Mexican restaurants or at least one that serves authentic Mexican food. To my surprise I found Oaxaquena Triqui an authentic Mexican restaurant with owners from Oaxaqua, Mexico. Like them many other Latinx families migrated to Albany for the high demand of workers. They also saw the lack of Latinx based own business and thought it would be a great investment to open their own restaurant. Not only are Latino’s adding to our economy but they are changing politics in regions like these. “Some commentators have pointed out that racial homogeneity may reinforce residents sense of community, leading to higher rates of participation in local organizations and politics,” (Correa 2006, 185).


According to Kendall, “Bose (2006) argues that in New York State, in cities such as Albany and Rochester, managerial and government jobs are currently attracting educated and highly skilled Latinos such as Cubans, Central, and South Americans.” It makes sense that one would migrate to a place where there are higher employment opportunities. Trying to look for work in cities like NYC can be tough due to its high population which creates a lot of competition. Another factor to this migration would also be the living cost affordability. One can rent a 3-bedroom apartment in Downtown Albany for $1,200 while in the city you will be paying the lowest $2,500 depending on the borough and neighborhood. Suburban areas are becoming a better option for many Latinx populations in search for affordable housing and job opportunities.



Work Cited

Correa, Michael J. The New Suburban History: Reshaping the American Dream. University of Chicago Pess, 2006.



Crowe, Kenneth C. “Hispanic Growth Rate Here Outpaces Nation.” Times Union, 25 March 2011,

https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Hispanic-growth-rate-here-outpaces-nation-1297855.p

Hp. Accessed 17 Nov. 2019.



Kendall, Richard. “Latino Migration within New York State: Motivations and Settlement Experiences.” NYLARNet, Summer 2009. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lina_Rincon3/publication/239574277_Latino_Migration_within_New_York_State_Motivations_and_Settlement_Experiences/links/574db8a508ae8bc5d15bf423.pdf

LATINA/O/XS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

BY STUDENT


Why are Latinos choosing to live in the suburbs over the city? When studying or talking about the migration of Latinos to the United States we mainly talk about how Latinos have moved to cities and “Latinized” cities. The Latino population in the United States continues to increase exponentially for multiple reasons. The struggle for space, gentrification of U.S cities and the increase in Latino population, power and wealth are key factors in the Latinization of suburbs. In step 2 of the Young Lords 13 point program they state “Our Latin Brothers and Sisters, inside and outside the united states, are oppressed by amerikkkan business. The Chicano people built the Southwest, and we support their right to control their lives and their land”. The Young Lords are emphasizing the want for self autonomy and to not be oppressed by capitalism. They want to be free and build and prosper as a Latino community. In this blog I'll mainly be focusing on the Latinization of suburbs and how and why it has happened.

The United States has been a country with the reputation of new starts, better lives and the “Amrican Dream”; with this kind of reputation it has attracted many Latino immigrants coming to the United States to escape poverty and violence. Throughout the 20th century Latinos were discriminated against and had to fight for their rights and freedom in the United States. The Young Lords and Chicano Park are examples of Latinos making their presence known in the United States. The increase of Latino’s living in the United States slowly leads to Latino’s gaining power and wealth. During the 20th century most Latinos typically lived in ghettos or in poor areas of US cities; but the factors of Latinos being priced out is a huge reason why many Latinos live in suburban areas now. Gentrification is one of the biggest reasons why Latinos are moving out of U.S cities, A study of Latino population shift states that “Latinos are living farther from transport hubs and amenities, where housing is more affordable. Secondly, a large number of Latinos are migrating into new areas where jobs are available and rents are more affordable”. Gentrification is leading to less jobs and more expensive housing in cities which leads to Latinos looking for jobs and affordable housing wherever they can find one, which normally is in the suburbs.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html

The Struggle for space and Gentrification are two huge factors in the latinization of U.S suburb; many Latinos move to suburbs that are in the metropolitan area of a city such as the surrounding areas of Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Chicago and Houston. All of these areas have at least two million Latinos living in its metropolitan area. Some examples of Latinization of suburbs are In Chicago “from 2000 to 2004, the number of Latinos in the suburbs increased by a third, to 862,000”. Many areas surrounding New York City like Union City, Paterson, Spring Valley, and Yonkers have big Latino population. The big influx of Latinos to suburbs has some positives and some negatives; a study from Notre Dame talking about the Latinization of Chicago suburbs states “On one hand, Latino-owned businesses have helped revitalize broken business strips in towns such as Waukegan, Cicero and Melrose Park. And Latino homeowners account for nearly half of a recent surge of 89,000 suburban house sales since 2000, according to the study. On the other hand, communities unprepared for the rapid growth in low-income Latino immigrants may face problems such as overcrowded housing, stretched school resources, insufficient health care and challenges in getting people to jobs”. Gentrification, struggle for space and the increase in Latino wealth and population are the main reasons for the Latinization of U.S suburbs. One question about suburbs that is being brought up is the debate whether suburbs are staying suburban like or becoming more urban because of the increase in minority population. In my opinion, only a select few suburbs will become more city like but they will never reach global city status. The Latinization of U.S suburbs in 2019 is just the beginning of Latinos in suburbs; with gentrification continuing and the Latino population rising exponentially the Latinization of suburbs will continue to grow.





Olivo, Antonio, and Oscar Avila. “Latinos Choosing Suburbs over City.” Notre Dame News, 31 Oct. 2005, https://news.nd.edu/news/latinos-choosing-suburbs-over-city/.

“Mapping Segregation.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 July 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html.

13 Point Program and Platform of the Young Lords Party, http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/Young_Lords_platform.html.

Ramirez, Amelie. “Research: Latino Rural Migration Led to Housing, Transportation Inequities.” Salud America, 14 May 2019, https://salud-america.org/research-latino-rural-migration-led-to-housing-transportation-inequities/.

LATINA/O/XS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

THE EFFECTS OF LATINX IMMIGRATION TO MIAMI, FLORIDA

BY STUDENT


Maimi, Florida has a larger Latinx population than any other large city in the United States. The cultural dominance of the city has taken place in many different aspects of life, making changes to ethnic composition, language, and the economy. Early Cuban immigrants in the 1980’s were the beginning of the huge wave of immigration from other Latin-American countries. By 2000, two-thirds of Miami’s population was Hispanic, and more than half of them were Cuban or of Cuban descent. 75.2% of adults in Miami speak a language other than English at home. That is significantly higher than 55.7% in Los Angeles and 47.6% in New York. The high amount of Cuban immigrants also affected the economy of southern Florida.

The “Cuban Takeover” had several economic effects on Miami. Cubans fled to Miami from the regime of Fidel Castro in the 1960s which caused a huge spurt in economic growth for the city. This made Miami an “international economic dynamo” Expansion in international trade and investment was an effect of Cuban immigrants not being able to send money home to their loved ones so that could join them in the U.S. International tourism also became a huge economic factor now that there were so many new people, which made the U.S. a lot more money. With all these new people, came new business ideas as well. "The city was transformed because of so many Cuban entrepreneurs,”

Although Cubans were the beginning of a wave of immigration and economic growth for Miami. Cubans were not the only Latinx group that changed the economic status if Miami. “A key part of this development was the expansion of Miami’s economic ties with Latin America. Brazilians, Argentines, Chileans, Colombians, and Venezuelans flooded into Miami, bringing their money with them. By 1993, some $25.6 billion in international trade, mostly involving Latin America, moved through the city.“ Some say that Cubans and only Cubans built modern Miami when in reality, it was a group effort of all the immigrants flooding in from other countries.


Bibliography

Huntington, Samuel P. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy, 28 Oct. 2009, foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/28/the-hispanic-challenge/.

“Not Just Cubans: Many Latinos Now Call Miami Home.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 11 June 2015, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/not-just-cubans-many-latinos-now-call-miami-home-n37241.

LATINA/O/XS TAKE CENTER STAGE: CENSUS 2000

BY STUDENT

It is clear to see that immigration has influenced the United States in many ways. America is represented as a melting pot because of the vast cultures, traditions and populations we hold from numerous backgrounds. Economic opportunity has made the United States a beneficial alternative for a home in the 18th and 19th century. With this being said, we have always been surrounded by different cultures and their distinct languages. In this blog post I argue that education should teach bilingual practices in the 20th century. 

The Latinx community is continuing to grow in the US as well as their Spanish speaking languages. “The Hispanic Challenge,” written by Samuel Huntington states that, “Dual-language programs, which go one step beyond bilingual education, have become increasingly popular” (2004). This idea that was discussed in his article could potentially have a great impact on our evolving world. I find this to be a great implementation in the education system for personal and general knowledge everyone can learn from. In today’s political climate it is important to respect other cultures; by utilizing dual language programs early on in schools can be a great way of doing that. 

This concept can help students understand diverse cultures by contrasting similarities and differences of their own practices. By learning a second language you are simply diversifying society and yourself. Being able to build relationships and friendships with people from around the world can give you greater insight on their culture and their practices. This would definitely give you more job opportunities. I even feel that today if you are bilingual, employers are more likely to hire you for communication purposes. If we apply these lesson plans in the classroom today, I am curious as to how this would affect future generations. If I had the chance to take a second language at any earlier age, I would surely take that opportunity.

Huntington, Samuel P. "The hispanic challenge." (2004): 30-45.