A NEIGHBORhood Housing Corporation

The mission of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation is to improve our Bronx neighborhood by providing community run housing that is safe, sound and affordable.

Aiming to Make Housing First!

by John Reilly

New York City's housing crisis is receiving some much needed attention in this very political year. Much of this attention is coming as the result of several unique and unified efforts to get affordable housing back on the agenda when government priorities are established. Two of the most prominent efforts have been launched by ANHD (Association for Neighborhood and HousingDevelopment-www.anhd.org) and a new coalition called Housing First! (www.housingfirst.net). Both groups have called for a new 10 year, $ 10 billion capital investment by local government to meet a variety of issues being faced in neighborhoods all around New York City.

Both efforts are designed to provide elected officials and interested candidates with a very specific approach to dealing with the City's housing needs. HousingFirst! will seek to bring media attention to the problem and involve the City's business community. ANHD has sponsored a series of neighborhood tours with government officials, businesses, community organizations and area residents designed to point out housing programs that have worked in the past and the work that remains to be done.

The City's current housing crisis is a very real one which affects the city's econmic future as well as the quality of life of hundreds of thousands households. This crisis of affordability and housing maintenance has been well documented but does not have the same visibility as the crisis of the 1970s and 80s when thousands of apartment buildings became vacant and many neighborhoods literally emptied out. A number of successful programs and efforts rebuilt those communities through a multi-billion dollar public/private/community partnership that lasted 10 years.

Today's issues are in some ways connected to these successes. Government support for housing began to drop as the visible problem disappeared and city government unburdened itself of more and more residential property previously taken over for unpaid taxes. The demand for housing increased as the City's population rose dramatically and its economy boomed.

In the Northwest Bronx we have witnessed renovation of empty buildings and construction on vacant land. We've also seen rising rents in existing buildings as the number of people looking for housing increases faster than the number of units coming on line. Higher rents do not always lead to better housing conditions. The City's enforcement efforts have been reduced allowing speculative landlords to neglect housing conditions while benefiting from the strong demand.

High rents and poor housing leave community residents with less to spend on day to day necessities and little recourse when landlords don't provide even the most basic services. The City's economy will also suffer from the lack of sound, convenient and affordable housing as we compete with other parts of the country to attract and keep qualified workers.

Those fighting to improve to improve the City's housing are aware that public safety and education are other issues that merit ongoing attention. Housing, however, has been allowed to drop off the radar screen in recent years ands its need to get back in the picture. You should not have to be a millionaire to live in the city where you work. A new, long term commitment to housing is vital to our city's future.

Aiming to Make Housing First!

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