From the Times Ledger:If you looked at the median income of Astorians, you'd wonder how people of such modest means can afford the high cost of living here.
The answer to this riddle, I believe, is twofold. First, it should be obvious that not everybody who has money is making it honestly and reporting it. The other part is the trend toward "dormification," where large numbers of unrelated people are splitting the prohibitively high rents two, four, and even six different ways.
The end result is that what was once a charming community of small businesses and stable families is becoming a high-priced shantytown.
If the local politicians weren't profiting from all this, they would do something about it.
John Borrillo
Astoria
16 comments:
Community board 1, the community board from hell.
You make a campaign donation (in the old days its was called what it is, a bribe), and the politician will turn over the peasants to you so you can have you way with them.
"dormification," where large numbers of unrelated people are splitting the prohibitively high rents two, four, and even six different ways.
How else can a person who owns a $550K house get a mortgage for that sum in this country for 5 doesn't know a spit of English and works (not owns) in a Chinese take out place?
My theory: rule #1 upon closing on the house, dormify it or dormification. rule # You did not actually close on the mortgage - how can you save minimum 10% in 5 years? Be a proxy for the individual who brought you here. In essense you were brought here by sponsors (servitude) you must pay off as cheap labor. You need to be housed and are an uneducated, scared slave - you do as your sponsor say to do. Where did that money come from? Not paying taxes nor salaries from the take out place requires the cash to be laundered, thus the 10% and under the name of the new immigrant slave. The real owners live somewhere grand and continually build wealth through very cheap labor. Thus Astoria and other areas are fast filling with SRO's and dormification methods that are driving their long time resident's nuts or are leaving for good.
You must remember that it was and still is the yuppie/hipster types that are driving up the prices and the demand to build. The majority of construction is luxury condos, since they have much higher profit margins than rentals, marketed towards yuppies, who produce higher profits as opposed to illegals/poor people, at ridiculous prices. No poor immigrant can afford these and I have yet to see immigrants settin up dorms in condos. Yuppies are the problem, they started it all.
I forgot to mention that census data from 2000 is now useless as a result of the demographic changes, the median income has risen significantly since the yuppie / hipster types have whitecollar jobs which bring in more than most blue collar jobs. I can't wait for the next census, only then will we be able to asess the true extent of what the speculative real estate development boom driven by the yuppie invasion has done to our community.
"Is becoming"?
I think it's more like....
HAS ALREADY BECOME !
There should be a huge sign
placed above the eastbound exit
of the Triboro Bridge
(to be sponsored, of course,
jointly by CB#1 and the Steinway St, BID) .
"WELCOME TO ASS-TORIA" .
How about it Mr. Delis ?
Northeast Queens gets "Mc Mansion-ized".
Western Queens gets "dormi-fied" !
In "the end".....
both are sodomized!
The majority of construction is luxury condos, I have yet to see immigrants settin up dorms in condos.
Single family houses - the great majority of house is this built in the last 60-70 years are being snapped up,royally being reconfigued illegally to house 12-14 people. The majority of construction is lots in-fill 3 and up units specifically marketed at groups whom are investing to rent not live there themselfs. Define new luxury construction in Queens - the developers are marketing puffery - words that folks fall for. You pay for a view I guess in certain places, but essentially are buying an over priced place with shoddy construction with small spaces in gritty "HOT" areas. The rest of the condos out there are the same but marketed directly to and only Chinese clients. See if the agent speaks English if you call. They don't want you as a client, They rip off their own!
I think this is right on point. The real estate types have been hyping this as a yuppie haven for years, but the real lack of evidence in tastes, styles and texture of that community render them as a side show. You cannot build a community on 'Mediterrian-style' (whatever the hell that is) restaurants/clubs, etc. and call it 'yuppie.'
Instead, Astoria (even the area north of the GCP) has taken a dramatic uptick as becoming an immigrant community of Mexicans, Brazilians, Equidorian, even Tibetians as the older Greeks, Italians and Coatians fade away.
As the stain of absentee landlords and illegal immigrants eats its way throught the community, it will merge into Corona and Elmhurst to the east.
If Con Ed is doing a poor job, why do they add to the power grid with all this new development?
If Con Ed is doing such a poor job, why do they let all the cafes take their walls off and cool the outdoors?
All those coops and condos and hotels will soon fail, and be written off.
Then the same owners will come back with some hot money from overseas and convert them into human warehouses.
Eric and Peter and Michael will be long gone by then.
hey at least the immigrants are doin a nice job at keeping the yuppsters from taking over completely like in harlem and williamsburg
Community board 1 - the community board from hell - how appropriate. Does anyone know how these community boad members are allowed to stay board members for life? Thirty something years of Donanto and Delis is enough. Most board members don't even live in Astoria but own businesses there, so the rights and wants of business owners supercede the general welfare of the people who live there. And Vallone, just as corrupt as his father. Jr. just as Sr. did appoints these individuals to the board and the Queens Borough Pres. office just rubber stamps them. Thanks to the corrupt political machine of Community Board and Precinct Community Councils, there is no longer ANY quality of life in Astoria.
I have sec8 housing and i'm not rich I as appoved for a three bed house and they wanted a 1300.00 dep and would not work with me. what the hell like someone on housing can up with that kind of money!! and now I'm camping out in fall with my kids. I can't even put them in school. So I'm home schooling and looking for work homeless.
Post a Comment