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To the editor:
New York has a toxic inequality problem, although it’s unlikely you’ll hear anything about this subject from Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams. The city, in terms of income and wealth, is one of the most unequal in the world. Two consequences are the crises of affordable housing and homelessness. As the sociologist William Kornblum pointed out, “Homelessness is first and foremost a consequence of a failure to produce affordable housing.”
Both the governor and the mayor cater to real estate developers and powerful landlords, who make generous contributions to their political campaigns. They opposed a “Just Cause” tenant protection bill, and supported the extension of the 421-A tax subsidy giveaway to developers who have consistently failed to build enough affordable housing. Not surprisingly, their positions are vigorously supported by the Real Estate Board of New York, a powerful lobbying group, and the landlords’ Rent Stabilization Board. Hochul and Adams’ ambitious housing proposals to build hundreds of thousands of units are focused on supply, as if this will automatically translate into building enough units that New Yorkers can afford.
There are a record 100,000 people in the city’s shelter system, and our clueless mayor has declared a “state of emergency,’ wants the court to modify the 40-year-old right-to-shelter rule and continues to blame migrants and state and federal officials for the problem. Yet at the same time he has strongly opposed City Council legislation to extend homeless eligibility for housing vouchers. This would free space in the shelter system for migrants.
Finally, the Rent Guidelines Board staff recently reported that nearly 40 percent of rent-stabilized households spend over half of their income on rent. Despite the skyrocketing cost of apartments, the rise of inflation and the end of pandemic aid for renters, the Rent Guidelines Board in the last two years approved rent stabilization increases that were the highest since 2013. Adams acts as if he has nothing to do with these increases, but he appoints members of the Rent Guidelines Board.
Howard Elterman
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