Gotham Gazette

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Opinion

A Flushing Tragedy Underscores Acute Affordable Housing Crisis


Flushing food line

A line for food in Flushing (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


Pedro Rodriguez posted a video to Facebook of a homeless man bent over and lifeless in his cardboard shelter made up of several boxes, with one serving as the shelter’s threshold where the elderly Asian man had neatly placed his shoes. Posted this past Saturday morning, Rodriguez’s video ended with Fire Department responders lifting the man’s torso and ascertaining he had died hours earlier. Rodriguez, who works at La Jornada, Flushing’s largest food pantry, noted a growing presence of homeless people on downtown Flushing’s Prince Street due to the coronavirus pandemic-induced economic and housing crises.

Just days earlier, the chair of the New York City Planning Commission, Marisa Lago, prefaced her vote to approve the highly controversial Special Flushing Waterfront District (SFWD) by congratulating the Queens Department of City Planning team and local property owners and developers for two decades of collaboration on a waterfront redevelopment proposal that will advance Flushing’s future and help the city recover.

On Monday, the New York City Council’s zoning subcommittee held a public hearing on the developers’ SFWD proposal to waive rules regulating building heights and waterfront access to permit the development of a 29-acre, mixed-use luxury residential and commercial enclave complete with a private street network.

The Special Flushing Waterfront District applicant, FRWA LLC, is comprised of three Chinese transnational developers – F & T Group, Young Nian LLC, and United Construction – and they argue their proposed 3 million square feet of new development will not lead to residential displacement because the waterfront is largely vacant. This view, however, fails to recognize the developers’ contributions to a speculative real estate market that threatens all forms of affordable housing in downtown Flushing.

A striking example is a modest, two-family residential property on Sanford Avenue that was pitched as a “prime investment opportunity” for condominium development and sold in May 2019 for $3.4 million.

flushing property hum

Private developers are loath to concede their projects facilitate (direct or indirect) displacement but it is especially egregious when city government planners and elected officials approve a massive, market-driven real estate development in Flushing (much less without a full environmental impact study and review) that will further jeopardize the neighborhood’s diminishing affordable housing stock, putting thousands of working-class residents at risk of homelessness.

There could be no more stark relief of the human toll of Flushing’s already acute affordable housing crisis than Rodriguez’s heartbreaking video. The Department of City Planning’s study of (pre-pandemic) downtown Flushing indicated a median household income of only $34,428. Last year, more than 84,000 applications were submitted to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for a chance to secure one of the 231 affordable units in OneFlushing. Recognizing this severe housing shortage, the Municipal Art Society’s report, Much Ado About Flushing, recommended “(T)he entire SFWD should be mapped as an MIH area,” thus mandating the inclusion of significant affordable housing in any redevelopment plan.

The pandemic-induced surge of people in a quarter-mile long queue for a bag of groceries at La Jornada was covered extensively by the local media. Heeding the advice of City Council Member Peter Koo, a FRWA LLC representative reached out to La Jornada to donate turkeys for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, and to set up a GoFundMe page titled, “HELP FOOD PANTRY IN CRISIS LaJornada & SFWDistrict,” which has, as of November 10, raised $36,088 of a $50,000 goal.

As much as these donations are needed, charity is not a sufficient response to systemic inequality and risk of hunger and homelessness. Rodriguez noted in his video that he was documenting “the first homeless dead of the season.” Is it really necessary for more of Flushing’s vulnerable populations to die in order to underscore the tragedy of an acute affordable housing crisis?

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Tarry Hum is Professor and Chair of the Urban Studies Department, Queens College, City University of New York. On Twitter @TarryHum.

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Want to Fix NYCHA? Start in the Kitchen


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NYCHA CEO Greg Russ inspects a stove at Queensbridge Houses (Michael Appleton/Mayor’s Office)


NYCHA has a gas problem. 

Any public housing resident currently impacted by one of more than 50 New York City Housing Authority gas outages would surely agree. In Cypress Hills, they’ve been without gas for close to a year. That bodes poorly for the Astoria Houses, where residents will likely have to cook Thanksgiving meals on a single hot plate. 

We've seen across the city, including at a beleaguered co-op here in Astoria, how a natural gas leak can steal one’s ability to cook for weeks — if not months. This only makes sense when you consider the East Harlem and Lower East Side explosions in recent years. Natural gas is as dangerous as it is unhealthy. At NYCHA, however, an abundance of caution often transforms into extreme apathy. 

Public housing residents deserve a healthier environment, access to better nutrition, and reliable appliances. Clearly natural gas is the common denominator here, which is why addressing it should be the cornerstone of a Green New Deal for Public Housing. Electric stoves, which have improved substantially over recent years, might be a small solution that goes a long way to improving residents’ quality of life. 

Because right now the status quo in which NYCHA residents rely on natural gas cannot continue. Here at the Astoria Houses, a concentrated leak was detected at a 48-unit building on September 22 — at which point gas was shut down and continues to be out. NYCHA, in a quietly released report last month on how it can shrink its carbon footprint, admitted many of its natural gas pipes are original to their buildings and will take up to $143 million to replace leak-prone ones over the next three years. 

There are real-life ramifications for these outages. Residents have made it resoundingly clear that a NYCHA-issued hot plate is no replacement for four burners. Rampant outages last fall left tenants in as many as 40 properties without their stoves on Thanksgiving. Kimberly Elliot, an Astoria Houses resident impacted by the current outage, recently raised the good point that, if this keeps happening, why not switch to electric? 

As someone who’s dedicated their career to fighting asthma, I couldn’t agree more with that assessment. For more than a decade, doctors have cautioned parents of asthmatic children to ditch the gas stove. That’s because those little blue flames emit so many toxins like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide that boiling a pot of pasta does a number on your respiratory system. Consider what that does to NYCHA residents, given asthma rates are traditionally higher in public housing. That’s at least certainly true in western Queens, where rates are driven up by public housing’s proximity to some of the state’s dirtiest fossil fuel power plants. 

Electric stoves have technologically improved in recent years to the point where they’re a viable alternative to natural gas ones. Induction cooktops use magnets to heat food arguably as quick as gas and don’t stay hot as long once you’re done cooking. Public health and climate experts agree that these are a big cure for our dependence on natural gas — more of which is now burned in the U.S. than coal. NYCHA admitted in its report last month that electric stoves have the potential to shrink carbon emissions from its 325-development portfolio. 

Of course, there is a valid concern that suddenly putting electric stoves in a bulk of NYCHA’s more than 170,000 units will only burden an already exhausted power grid. This is why a Green New Deal for NYCHA must also leverage the authority’s rooftops for solar power generation. New York City has already successfully put panels atop everything from schools to the Brooklyn Army Terminal. As we invest in NYCHA’s dangerously crumbling, mold-prone rooftops, there should be a City, State, and Federal partnerships to use them to generate renewable energy. 

A new federal partnership is incredibly necessary here, both in terms of investment and legislation. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who I’ve had the pleasure to represent the Astoria Houses with over the last seven years, has a fantastic bill before Congress right now that addresses this. If passed, it would guarantee solar generated on a NYCHA rooftop can power the building below. This is a common-sense measure that ensures a public benefit for residents, spurring our ability to electrify NYCHA.

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, many residents who already struggle to get by face an uncertain meal plan. Let’s end this inhumane practice by freeing ourselves from the many dangers of natural gas. 

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Costa Constantinides represents Astoria in the New York City Council, where he chairs the Committee on Environmental Protection. On Twitter @Costa4NY.

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New York City Needs a Public Option for Employment


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Construction workers in New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


As our city tries to address the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, we have a responsibility to ensure that no New Yorker falls through the cracks while others are on the road to recovery. Low-income, underserved communities have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s health and economic damage. For an inclusive recovery, city leadership must think both inclusively and creatively, and use the vast tools of city government in developing solutions especially focused on our most vulnerable neighbors.

To address high unemployment, New York City should implement a Public Option for Employment, capturing a population of New Yorkers who have historically been shut out from the private sector or stuck in low-wage jobs and placing them on a pathway towards a good job and long-term economic security.

A Public Option for Employment means, simply, that New York City will have a job for everyone who is ready, able, and willing to work when the private sector is not fulfilling our city’s economic needs. This was the underlying concept behind FDR’s New Deal, which was the lynchpin of lifting our nation out of the Great Depression almost a century ago. We have extensive work to do to improve our city, and we have people desperately in need of work. It only makes sense to connect people ready to work with jobs that need doing.

In the Bronx, particularly in neighborhoods of the 15th City Council District like West Farms and East Tremont, many of our residents work in low-wage occupations, and unemployment is as high as 30% in parts of these communities. New York City is on track to lose 500,000 to 600,000 jobs this year, with severe declines in front-facing industries — hotels and food services, administrative services, arts and entertainment, transportation, and retail. The Bronx has been hit the hardest due to the high concentration of workers employed in these job sectors. The coronavirus has disrupted careers and opportunities and forced many Bronxites out of work and into poverty. While losses are widespread, a recovery divide continues to grow between high-income neighborhoods and those that have suffered from generational poverty and disinvestment.

As we look to recover from covid’s devastation, a Public Option for Employment is a unique opportunity to rebuild our economy differently. We must create pathways for unemployed workers, particularly those stigmatized by race, gender identity, or former incarceration status. We must seize upon this moment to make sizable and overdue investments in our infrastructure. Investing in our people will grow the number of construction and engineering workers to fulfill our infrastructure needs, strengthen our storm resiliency, expand mass transit, fix public housing, and improve public utilities and broadband.

As we look at the vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic, we can develop programs for health services, childcare, and eldercare. And we must look toward the future and consider our resilience through careers in sanitation, parks and recreation, and other projects designed to move toward a green, emission-free city. We have to ensure that we not only foster but also protect human capital. We must have an inspiring vision of what our city workforce can look like if we tap into the many talents that New Yorkers possess by helping them build skills for a new career path.

A Public Option for Employment is a bold strategy to reverse our shrinking workforce, address labor discrimination, combat low wages and reduced work hours, and bring more money into our communities to sustain our local businesses. We must invest in people to restore our collective humanity and elevate everyday New Yorkers out of poverty. A Public Option for Employment can begin as a part-time, work-based, learning apprenticeship program and lead into full-time positions. The apprenticeship portion should come with a guarantee of at least 25 hours a week and should pay no less than $18 an hour.

We know many industries need rapid growth, and much of that is reliant on New Yorkers who do the heavy lifting. For our industries to blossom, our economy to stabilize, and our communities to prosper, our focus has to be on job creation and job training. Any public employment option must include training programs, apprenticeship opportunities, and professional development. Labor unions must be brought to the table, and we must ensure that we provide all the best elements that unionized labor promotes, such as health care coverage, family leave options, and a secure pension. Unemployment offices and workforce development centers should become recruitment centers for a Public Option for Employment program.

You’re probably wondering how we can afford to make such an investment in our workforce in a time when federal dollars seem scarce and austerity looms over our city and state budgets. A program like a Public Option for Employment does not have to launch in one fell swoop. We can phase in implementation, starting by targeting neighborhoods with the highest unemployment rates, and improving our economy, public health, and city infrastructure.

The city’s budget office should immediately begin identifying $1 billion in savings across city agencies to fund the initial rollout of the program. We can look at cancelling the allocation of $11 billion to build four new borough-based jails and reinvest those savings. More importantly, we can and should push our state representatives to create new revenue by taxing the ultra-rich.

With a little political will we can implement big bold ideas that will change peoples lives in New York City. The psychological and social benefits that come with a job can have a transformative effect on the overall health of our city’s residents, both physical and mental, and even reduce poverty-related crime.

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Elisa Crespo is a candidate for City Council in the 15th City Council District in the Bronx. On Twitter @elisacresponyc.

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