From the Times Ledger:Members of the United Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood presented plans for building affordable housing for seniors on the site of the current parsonage house adjacent to the church to Community Board 5’s Zoning and Land Use Review Committee Monday.
While church representatives said the affordable senior housing would fill a need in the community and help the church raise money for its services, committee members worry that the height of the proposed structure — 57 feet — would be out of character with the surrounding houses.
“Most of the structures that are over there are smaller than that. The church is taller than that, but most of the structures nearby are smaller than that,” said Gary Giordano, district manager for CB 5.
Giordano said the church’s plans are in the preliminary stages and currently call for 48 studio apartments measuring 450 square feet each. The apartments would be sold for about $225,000 each, although the church hopes to get a government subsidy to knock down the price to $165,000 per dwelling unit.
The apartment building housing these units would be built on the site of the parsonage, which would be demolished, and the project would require a variance from the city Board of Standards and Appeals.
I don't know... is $165,000 affordable to seniors on fixed incomes? Should taxpayers be subsidizing their condos?
27 comments:
if obama's health care czar berwick(appointed without advise and consent) gets his way ,their will be very few senior citizens left in America who will need any housing. this question then is moot.
Hmm...doesn't $165,000 sound a helluva lot better than the average market price for a home in that area? Sounds a lot better than paying $400k to me!
Uh, yeah but why wouldn't a senior just rent if they can't afford to buy? Most seniors here are the ones who already own homes.
I don't get it.
Anon 1:
Is what President Obama doing with midterm appointments any different than what Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Bush did under similar circumstances? Find a President who hasn't done this.
Yes, because what this area need is MORE elderly. Glendale/Ridgewood is the old-folks home of NYC.
Hey Crapper. Are you away again? The style of your commentary doesn't ring true. Is someone filling in?
@ Crapper:
What's not to get? You're right- most seniors here ARE the ones who already own homes. And there are a good number of those seniors who are no longer able to afford and/or maintain their current (larger) homes, but could live much more comfortably in a smaller environment. Why shouldn't they be able to have the opportunity to continue to OWN their own homes? Pretend for a moment that one of those seniors is your mother (or father). Would you want to see her sell her home and rent an apartment in someone else's home, be at the mercy of a landlord, and, in all likelihood, contribute to that landlord's mortgage with her rent, or instead, purchase a smaller home (apartment), that she can still call her own, and have some money in the bank?
And as far as government subsidies go, should taxpayers be subsidizing Section 8 housing? At least the seniors have worked hard all their lives, and EARNED the ability to OWN their own homes.
RE: IS WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA IS DOING....
you are correct that many executives follow this route.
the issue that you did not mention is that HEALTH CARE CZAR BERWICK is a distribution of the wealth advocate. marxist/alinsky ideology.
senior citizens ,who need health care the most, under obama care will be monitored every five years as to whether the czar will permit them to live or die.
read page 425 of the H/C/LAW . if the law cuts $500,000,000,000.00 from medicare,the seniors will cease to exist for long.
Affordable housing will be a moot point for them .
@ All the Obama/healthcare comments: Umm... relevance to the topic at hand??
the truth of what is planned for senior citizens by your gang must really disturb you?
the chickens will come home to roost. you will be next.......
I don't know any seniors that own their own home that can't afford to pay for its upkeep. The mortgage was paid off decades ago, and they get pensions, social security and every other benefit you can imagine, plus many of them get rental income. Even those that are not in the best health have their kids who come by and check on the place and take care of whatever work needs to be done on the house.
Maybe I just grew up in one of those neighborhoods where people gave a damn. Those places are becoming endangered thanks to overdevelopment and greed.
To Anon No. 10:
Yawn.
@ Queens Crapper:
Really? You don't know a SINGLE senior who may be struggling on a fixed income? You must be from Long Island then. Pensions are sometimes non existent, and Social Security is a joke. You think Social Security is enough to get by on? "Every other benefit imaginable"? Like what, for instance?
And money may not be the problem either. You mention that some have kids that come over and "check on the place and do whatever work needs to be done". You know this for certain? You think it's that easy, huh? I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "I can't keep up with this place anymore; its too much to handle". So not all seniors are as lucky as your speculative statement leads one to believe. In fact, my wife and I just heard it from our current next-door neighbors, who are over 70, are selling their home and moving into a similar senior complex for just this reason. There's no greed there.
Oh, and you're not the only one who grew up in a neighborhood where people gave a damn. In fact, it appears that this neighborhood still does, doesn't it? This sounds like a good thing to me! Seniors may have a nice place to live affordably, and a nearly 150 year old congregation gets to continue its mission. What's greedy about THAT??
Jesus Christ aren't we defensive?
People who save while working generally have money when they retire. It's called a retirement fund. Don't know anyone without one. Also don't know anyone without retirement benefits.
I do know that NYC is becoming ridiculous with taxes, and those that retire generally move to Florida or someplace else with a lower cost of living so they can have someplace to live and spend their retirement money enjoying it.
"What's greedy about THAT??"
We're paying for it, that's what. We shouldn't be subsidizing a NYC lifestyle. It's just another tweeding program. When you're a senior, you're already living off the government dole in so many ways.
Defensive? Not really; just questioning ignorant statements that make no sense, that's all. You live a pretty sheltered life, don't you, Crapper? You seem to have all the answers, and have it all figured out. It's not always as simple as you think, my friend. Do you really think that "retirement funds" and retirement benefits cut it for seniors nowadays? When you work for a living, your income MAY steadily increase with the cost of living, but "retirement funds" do not, nor do the retirement benefits that you mention (whatever they may be) except for small cost of living increases in Social Security (which is not enough to live on BTW).
You're right--it IS becoming ridiculously expensive to live here. The cost of living has increased exponentially over the past 10-20 years, and people still in the work force can barely keep up, some with TWO incomes. How do you expect retirees to keep up? Their source(s) of income are limited, and neither they, nor their retirement benefits increase to meet the cost of living.
Hmm...Just curious: How are seniors "living off the government dole in so many ways"?
And as far as I know, I don't know anyone without some type of retirement benefits either, at least personally, but you can't deny that they exist. Being from the area, I've seen them at the food pantry that this church provides as outreach to the community. So they do exist, even though you and I may not know them personally.
Anyway, we are digressing from the subject matter of your post, and the article you are referring to in the Times Newsweekly which you seem to have selectively copied and pasted here, conveniently omitting a good portion of it. This church is doing some very good things in this community, and has served the community for almost 150 years, and in recent years, has fallen on some very hard times. The project is NOT about greed and over-development, as you think. It will allow seniors to have affordable housing, which despite what you think is a much-needed resource in the area, and it would provide a source of income for the church, which BTW is NOT out to make a profit, but is in need of income to continue it mission to God and to the community. There is no profit to be made, thus there is no greed. Tweeding? Think what you want. Would you rather see the church sold and/or the congregation dissolved, and have a TRULY greedy developer come in and demolish a beautiful church and build God know what on the site? What then?
Apologies to all for the multiple posts. Not sure why that happened, but I was unable to remove the duplicates. Sorry about that.
How about separation of church and state? Why should the government pay to keep this religious institution afloat?
"Just curious: How are seniors "living off the government dole in so many ways"?"
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Senior Programs and now subsidized housing.
Anonymous said:
"Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Senior Programs and now subsidized housing"
ALL of which they have paid INTO, like you and I, for their entire working life.
Sorry, they haven't paid into those programs 1/4 of the amount they are taking out.
@ Queens Crapper
Have it your way. You want to talk about tweeding? Let the church close its doors. Watch what happens then. Think long and hard about that one before you reply. LOL
Plenty of churches have closed their doors. Somehow the republic has survived. Many have been converted into other community purposes, like performance spaces.
"Sorry, they haven't paid into those programs 1/4 of the amount they are taking out."
If that's true, then some day when it's YOUR turn to "take out", neither will you. But you will still do it, won't you?
Haven't you heard? It won't be there when I get to that age. The baby boomers will have sucked it all up. Which just shows that they don't pay into it what they take out. Considering it was put in place when life expectancy was 65, it will probably be completely drained within the next few years.
"Plenty of churches have closed their doors. Somehow the republic has survived. Many have been converted into other community purposes, like performance spaces."
OK. We'll see. Good luck with that.
@ Queens Crapper
What will you do then?
i accept your comments 99.9% of the time ,because YOU BE THE BOSS......Q.CRAPPY !!
i appreciate you enabling us senior citizens to join the debate. we will not be here for ever to challenge the "all knowing youth".
when we seniors began working ,the federal government forcedred us to contribute a portion of our wages to social security and eventually to medicare premium healthcare benefits.
some contributors died before collecting S.S.I at age 65. it is a gamble (risk),the same as a life insurance policy. the beneficiaries get some of your insurance.
the many non-contributing workers in America(off the books) has hurt the program,as well as those who have been able scam with aid of questionable government legislation.(illegal aliens,anchor babies etc.).
the S.S.I yearly C.O.L.I. was stopped last year and it appears that the clculation method is being fixed so that it will be stopped in 2010.
the N.Y.State senior property tax exemption has also been stopped. the cost of living is increasing,especilly for those on fixed incomes.
my computer will not allow me to edit,sorry for the typo's.
ce. .
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