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.
No comments:
Post a Comment