Homelessness in the Big Apple

For John, BLUF:  While Homelessness is not a major issue in Lowell, it is a problem.  Just not the big problem it is out on the Coast, in major cities, or along the Eastern Seaboard, from Boston to DC.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NYC's homeless are suffering amid de Blasio mismanagement, critics say

From Fox New, by Reporter Emily DeCiccio, 20 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus eight:

New York City’s homeless shelters are overloaded as an estimated 80,000 people sleep in shelters or on the streets, but Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has failed in its attempts to solve the problem -- and other cities are suffering from the Democrat’s policy, according to critics.

In 2017, the city’s Human Resources Administration implemented the Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) program in attempts to take a bite out of the Big Apple’s homelessness crisis.  Kathryn Kliff, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project, told Fox News that SOTA was meant to be used as one of many tools for New York City to help homeless people and families get out of shelters and find permanent housing -- often outside the city.

“SOTA is a program that gives families that have a future ability to pay rent, a year's worth of rent upfront to help them get settled,” Kliff said.  “It was created with the idea that once the program ends, they'll take over the rental payments because they have some designated source of income.”

Arianna Fishman, a spokesperson for New York City’s Department of Homelessness (DHS), explained to Fox News that SOTA “provides the extra help needed to get back on the path to permanency and stability through one-time assistance for those households with income that have identified housing, both within and beyond the five boroughs of New York City.”

Kliff added that SOTA has been used for families who may not qualify for other housing vouchers, and is meant to help them move out of shelters because housing in New York City has been so expensive.

The cost of living in Manhattan reportedly was 148 percent higher than the average cost for major U.S. cities in 2019.  The average rent in Manhattan for the month of December 2019 increased by 0.29 percent, from $4,108.24 in November to $4,120.20, according to M.N.S. Real Estate NYC.

David Salvatore, a member of the Providence City Council in Rhode Island, explained that while the concept of SOTA was positive, the implementation was lacking.

“I heard about it through various news outlets,” Salvatore, a Democrat, said.  “It was news to many of us that new residents would be moving in who received a one-year rent subsidy from New York City.”

Fishman noted that the de Blasio administration was in contact with other jurisdictions, but did not indicate whether local governments previously had received a heads-up regarding SOTA.

So, New York City has a major homeless problem.  In fact, their homeless problem is almost the size of Lowell (well, about 75% of Lowell).  And they are dealing with it, in part, by exporting the problem.  They are giving people money to live elsewhere.  Elsewhere, as in not New York City.

The New York City homeless solution is abusive of other political entities and fails to consider the various reasons for homelessness.  Not everyone is homeless because their rent went up but their income didn't.  (And some of that is due to short sighted actions by local governments in the area of zoning and use of incentives to housing builders.)  Some are homeless due to addiction.  Some are homeless due to untreated mental illness.  Some suffer from both.  Some lack the socialization that allows them to be productive members of society.  Some just want the freedom of not being tied down by a home.  There is no one size fits all solution.

On the other hand, there is this about New York City:

Why Manhattan’s Skyscrapers Are Empty

Here is the sub-headline:

Approximately half of the luxury-condo units that have come onto the market in the past five years are still unsold.

From The Atlantic (via Apple News), by Reporter Derek Thompson, 16 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus six:

In Manhattan, the homeless shelters are full, and the luxury skyscrapers are vacant.

Such is the tale of two cities within America’s largest metro. Even as 80,000 people sleep in New York City’s shelters or on its streets, Manhattan residents have watched skinny condominium skyscrapers rise across the island.  These colossal stalagmites initially transformed not only the city’s skyline but also the real-estate market for new homes.  From 2011 to 2019, the average price of a newly listed condo in New York soared from $1.15 million to $3.77 million.

But the bust is upon us.  Today, nearly half of the Manhattan luxury-condo units that have come onto the market in the past five years are still unsold, according to The New York Times.

What happened? While real estate might seem like the world’s most local industry, these luxury condos weren’t exclusively built for locals.  They were also made for foreigners with tens of millions of dollars to spare.  Developers bet huge on foreign plutocrats—Russian oligarchs, Chinese moguls, Saudi royalty—looking to buy second (or seventh) homes.

But the Chinese economy slowed, while declining oil prices dampened the demand for pieds-à-terre among Russian and Middle Eastern zillionaires.  It didn’t help that the Treasury Department cracked down on attempts to launder money through fancy real estate. Despite pressure from nervous lenders, developers have been reluctant to slash prices too suddenly or dramatically, lest the market suddenly clear and they leave millions on the table.

The confluence of cosmopolitan capital and terrible timing has done the impossible:  It’s created a vacancy problem in a city where thousands of people are desperate to find places to live.

From any rational perspective, what New York needs isn’t glistening three-bedroom units, but more simple one- and two-bedroom apartments for New York’s many singles, roommates, and small families.  Mayor Bill De Blasio made affordable housing a centerpiece of his administration.  But progress here has been stalled by onerous zoning regulations, limited federal subsidies, construction delays, and blocked pro-tenant bills.

We have a social problem.  And we have a moral problem.  This is a local problem, to be solved locally.  When we get Federal money to solve this problem we are just taking money from one region to help another region.  That is a shifting of burden.  Fixing this problem will involve more than Federal Government (Department of Housing and Urban Development) "Housing First" program.  Mental Health support is needed, as well as help with addiction.  Perhaps of equal importance is helping people change their cultural approach to work, housing and family life.  A problem is that today not everyone sees work as a human good.

In the mean time, all of us need to be supportive of our local government and any non-governmental organization involved in helping the homeless.  Volunteer somewhere.  Attend meetings of your local Hunger and Homeless Commission.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff