Tuesday, December 9, 2014

NYCHA is partially privatizing

From the Daily News:

New York City’s cash-strapped public housing authority is nearing a deal to sell a 50% stake in close to 900 apartments to a pair of private developers, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed.

Real estate giant L+M Development Partners and BFC Partners are expected to pay $150 million for the half-interest in the units, plus another $100 million for much-needed renovations in the six housing complexes, which are in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

“This is a creative way to preserve and maintain public housing for the future and to bring in much needed money for repairs,” a Housing Authority spokeswoman said. “(The city) is leveraging the value of its properties and tapping into new capital.”

The cash infusion would raise $100 million over the next two years and another $100 million through 2029, the city says.

The deal comes as the Housing Authority has been facing yearly deficits and a backlog of over $10 billion in overdue repairs.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an outrage! The poor have a HUMAN RIGHT to live in New York City no matter how expensive it gets!

Anonymous said...

You know that their goal will be to kick everyone out and convert the buildings into "luxury condos."

They'll forgo any maintenance and the buildings will be condemned and knocked down.

Why can't the city employ responsible adults and do its job properly?

Once something is outsourced it results in nothing but shitty minimum-wage jobs with no benefits (and de Blasio and MMV know this)!

And then the developers will get tax-breaks from the city to rebuild!!!!

Why not save the tenants a lot of agony and just kick them out onto the streets for Xmas?

Anonymous said...

Alfred E Smith houses is the most valuable development in the ciry by far. Maybe the Chelsea 24thst or Fulton houses 18th st might be up there as well.

Anonymous said...

Why can't the city employ responsible adults and do its job properly?

Taking money from people who aren't lucky enough to secure subsidized housing and EARN LESS to give it to people who EARN MORE who did get housing because they got in the door first should not be the city's, or ANYONE'S job.

The privatization of the buildings ultimate dissolution of NYCHA can't come fast enough!

JQ said...

so now being a poor person renting an apartment is a commodity to be hedged.

I don't know how the money the state got from the HSBC terrorist funding settlement didn't go straight to NYCHA first.Also,it may be late and naive to say this,but our supposed liberal mayor should have focused his attention to the affordable housing we had all this time instead of the affordable housing he and his landowner,developers and city planners want to have.

Anonymous said...

BFC is also buying into a Staten Island complex, last I heard. You may recognize the name from the Mall/Wheel development... while the Arlington apartments desperately need help, one can't help but wonder about pay-back, eh?

Anonymous said...

I heard about this from my black cable install guy who says that this kind of scheme has been going on for at least two years and has resulted in many people from the projects becoming homeless. Unless the "right to housing" amendment is removed from the NYS constitution, which Bloomberg tried to do but failed, we are going to pay even more for the homeless hotels than for the projects.

Anonymous said...

so now being a poor person renting an apartment is a commodity to be hedged.

Yep! The residents themselves have been scamming for years:





http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nycha-100-year-old-granny-article-1.1541167#ixzz2mytavpwY

http://www.aoausa.com/magazine/?p=466

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203370604577261523545132182

http://nypost.com/2011/03/06/queens-woman-lands-99-a-week-upper-west-side-apartment/

http://nypost.com/2012/03/18/soho-seniors-spend-as-little-as-55-a-month-for-rent-controlled-apartments/

http://nypost.com/2014/11/08/landlord-brings-tenant-to-court-over-10-a-month-swindle/





This isn't a benefit like a tax that you can make progressive or change your consumption to avoid - it's taking a scarce resource that can only go "all or none" to those who got in first, not who's the poorest. If you can't afford NYC, then leave - there's over 3 million square miles of this country to live in, 99.99% of it cheaper than NYC. FUCK subsidized housing.

Anonymous said...

Half of the tax subsidized rents will be given to these private developers. Take a 2 bedroom apt over-valued at 2500/month. The tenant pays $350/month. The taxpayers pay $2150/month. The developer gets $1250/month. Out of that $1250, $1075 dollars came from our taxes.
$1075 x $900 = $967,500 per month. That's 11.6 MILLION dollars of OUR tax dollars each YEAR to a private developer. Maybe they will make improvements and then charge the taxpayers $5000/ month for these subsidized apartments. Yet, we do nothing. Me included.

Anonymous said...

You have to wonder. Why is that there are thousands of large apartment complexes in nyc, but only nycha buildings need constant police presence?

Anonymous said...

Who wants to live in a building that smells like urine?