Opinion: Queens has a housing crisis. Here’s how the next mayor can address it
/
Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation Annetta Seecharran.
By Annetta Seecharran
As Queens knows all too well, New York City’s housing crisis has been worsening for years. Not only was Queens the epicenter of infection rates, the borough entered the pandemic with the highest number of foreclosures in New York. During it, our unemployment rate skyrocketed as high as 16.3 percent. All told we are left with a dire situation that is accelerating at breakneck speed. We need a partner in City Hall that is ready to face the emergency head-on with a bold and comprehensive plan.
At Chhaya, we see firsthand how the housing crisis has impacted low-income South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans, and other immigrants and working-class residents of the borough. For over 20 years, Chhaya has been working to address their unique housing and economic challenges. When the New York Housing Conference convened over 80 organizations representing the full spectrum of the city’s leading experts and advocates, we knew we needed to be part of the discussion to ensure that our communities got the representation they deserve. Together, we created the United for Housing: From the Ground Up report, laying out a blueprint to help the next mayor solve the city’s housing crisis across all five boroughs, including here in Queens.
The full plan outlines the investments and policy changes needed to truly make a difference. We call on the next mayor to invest $2.5 billion for affordable housing rental and homeownership opportunities and $1.5 billion for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) – a total of $4 billion annually. This investment could significantly reverse the dire housing emergency we see today.
That starts with creative solutions to the homeowner’s crisis: Queens’ supply of single-family homes is all too often inaccessible, especially for households of color. Households need expanded down payment assistance to help make homeownership more attainable. And robust foreclosure prevention programs will ensure that our neighbors do not lose the homes they’ve worked so hard to purchase.
Additionally, it is critical that expansion of funding and support for basement apartments and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) is included as a central component of this effort. Basement apartments and ADUs provide rental income to homeowners, while also delivering additional new, affordable rental housing stock to families in need. By returning city funding to an expanded basement and ADU apartments program, we can make an immediate impact not just in Queens but across the city.
Chhaya has been fighting for this common-sense solution for years because we know that it has the potential to repair years of racial inequity, investor speculation, and economic insecurity that has driven down homeownership in Queens.
Finally, prioritizing the maintenance of public housing is key, as Queens is home to 21 NYCHA developments. Almost 33,000 residents live in these developments, and 90 percent of NYCHA residents are New Yorkers of color. It is to our great shame that our neighbors live in too-long ignored homes. The $1.5 billion allocated to NYCHA each year in our U4H plan will provide critical resources needed for the capital repairs that will allow everyone in our borough to live with dignity.
Queens is one of the most diverse communities in the entire world, but it will not remain so if our housing emergency continues unabated. The pandemic made it worse, but the election is an opportunity to reverse an alarming trend. We deserve a partner in City Hall who will work to address this situation head-on with unparalleled investment. We must fight to make this happen because that is what Queens deserves.
Annetta Seecharran is the Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation.
