Housing crisis: a never-ending story in New York City

Keywords: Housing, crisis, gentrification, racial capitalism, New York City
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

New York City and the housing crisis could be synonyms. For decades, the lack of (decent) housing has been under discussion in the global capital. The situation was especially acute after the 2008 crash and the subprime crisis, which impacted mainly low-income, majority Black and Latinx neighborhoods. These communities, usually racially segregated and heavily policed, have also suffered from narratives pointing to their inability to pay rent or unwillingness to work. However, mainstream discourses less often focus on landlords’ practices such as “warehousing” and jacking up rents or on corporate, private (sometimes foreign) investors acquiring apartments across the city. The increasing financialization of the NYC housing market has been coupled with the progressive reduction of the rent-stabilized program and the defunding of public housing. In that scenario, the Covid-19 pandemic and the present inflation crises have worsened the conditions for many New Yorkers. The current context shows evictions on the rise, and so does homelessness, while the Adams administration is criminalizing those who do not have anything but the street to live on. Simultaneously, the city strategy relies on developers building affordable housing and privatizing NYCHA estates, arguing that investors will guarantee the needed repairs. Through qualitative and qualitative research, the presentation focuses on how working-class communities in central neighborhoods of Brooklyn navigate the city’s permanent housing crisis. The housing injustice in NYC has triggered grassroots organizations in recent years but has not yet translated into more radical housing futures, which will also be discussed.