Corona resident Gladys Hernandez discussed her housing tribulations at Friday’s gathering. When she first came to New York over 30 years ago, her rent was $250 for a four-room apartment. She and her husband now pay $1,500 a month for a three-bedroom they share with another family. She has friends that live with up to 15 people in an apartment. “How in a democracy, in a free state, can people be forced to live in such conditions?” Hernandez asked. Tax Breaks Should Include More Of Queens: Residents
Delia Herrera lives in a two-bedroom basement in Corona with her husband and 10-year-old son. They share it with another family of three and have only one kitchen and one bathroom. The rent is $750 a month per family. Herrera would like to give her son better living conditions, but her husband only earns $450 a week and two bedrooms in Corona are going for $1,800 a month.
City Reformed It, But State Must Approve It
3 comments:
Let's face it, this is our situation. 22 people in a one-family house in the Bronx, and look what happened there. You could write a book about this stuff, but unlike in the 1920s, no one with money these days gives a damn.
That mysterious "Queens Congregations United for Action" which suddenly came out of nowhere and now is a major force in Queens development. Who are they you ask? Are they, as they suggest, ready to help people with affordable housing?
Are they willing to make housing more affordable by decreasing demand and closing the borders? I don't think so.
Are they willing to make housing more affordable by lowering taxes so that more hard earned money can go to support families? I don't think so.
Are they going to undertake an aggressive campaign to root out illegal conversions that endanger not only the lives of the (mostly illegal) tenants, but fireman and such who have to go into those rabbit warrens every day to fight fires. Nope, draw a blank again.
Well, how about overturning all that downzoning that not only excludes them from certain communities, but takes away a good portion of the map? Now fellows, let us get serious - you want coverage in the press don't you?
So what is their purpose?
Well, like ACORN in Brooklyn, they are there to as yet another advocacy group to create public pressure for more building (if they didn't would they be taken this seriously by the press?).
Take a look at that platform proposed for Sunnyside Yards. They are already making noises that they want a say in the action there and in doing so, already trumping the interests of those local residents who are against ever more density in their community (well except that ever curious pro-development Dutch Kills crew, but that is another story).
What an excellent idea! A block of the 'tweeded' ready to move en masse making sure that if any massive development comes to western Queens, a sizable chunk of the population will always be machine friendly.
Hey guys, peddle your wares out in northern eastern Queens, particularly in those areas whose downzoning contributes your housing problem.
Let us watch this group carefully.
There used to be a college game in the sixties called "telephone booth cramming" and let's see how many students you could pack into a vintage Volkswagen Beetle!
Are there any similarities here folks?
A new game is here now, perfect for the 21st Century....."Immigrant Cramming"!
Who'll be the first to escape in case of fire?
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