The Aging of Harlem
By HHR | May 28th, 2009 | Category: Brandon Brice, Featured | 4 commentsBy Brandon Brice
For the past year I have observed as a community activist in Harlem, the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community of aging seniors suffer, many whom were alive in Harlem during the days of the Cotton Club, the great poets of the Harlem Renaissance era Langston Hughes and James Baldwin and the late days of Malcolm X. However, Harlem has transitioned into an area of new commercialism, new developments and a rising percentage of newcomers from mid-town and downtown moving to uptown.
Unfortunately the rise of new residents and the influx of money for new rental properties have raised the standard of living, which many seniors are not able to afford. As a recent board member to the Manhattan Community Board-9, I witnessed firsthand the lack of senior assistance in Harlem, resulting in a lack of emphasis on better housing and better health related services for low income seniors whose annual income is approximately $28,000.00.
More imperative, I gained an insight into the issues behind senior issues, housing, tax concerns, health and the lack of transportation for many over the age of 60+, which made me ask the question, “what about the aging. Through my interactions with senior residents, many have already experienced homeless shelters, because of the inability to stay afloat of the heavy burden of rent instability for commercial properties.
In recent news the New York City Planning Commission was expected to bring forth the 125th rezoning project to innovate and create opportunities for residents. The average income for prospective residents was $59,000.00, but the average income of senior residents in Harlem is $28,000 which posed a problem.
In West Harlem, Columbia University is posing to expand throughout upper Manhattan, claiming eminent domain, but not considering the devastating economic effects this project will have on senior housing and older adults fixed incomes. Harlem must consider its aging population as it moves towards a new generation of development, because we all one day may be that same population.
Brandon Brice is a graduate of Howard University and is a former fellow of the New Jersey Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. As a long time member of Republicans for Black Empowerment, Brandon is an active contributor to HipHopRepublicans.com. Brandon Brice has worked as a policy intern for the former House Speaker Honorable J. Dennis Hastert and has served as a fellow at the United Nations. He has been featured on C-SPAN’s Road to the White House, BET’s What’s At Stake and Hot97 with Lisa Evers. Brandon is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, and attends the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church.
Bre’s Walking Tour of Harlem
Bre, a lifelong resident of Harlem and Ford model, gives a tour of her neighborhood and the places most important to her. Please visit http://www.fordmodels.tv for more great videos
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Now Gentrification, that is something you can call a “Republican Value”.
Here you have Brice trying to save Harlem, while the Republican value of putting capital over people is destroying it.
But Brice would never get in the way of his Corporate masters from exploiting Harlem, making it so the living expense is so high that the residents of Harlem can no longer afford to live there any longer.
The effects of Gentrification on the seniors of Harlem is a good representation of true Republican values and the exploitation of black and latino communities at the hands of the free market corporate world that controls your party and the Democrats through lobbyist and special interest groups, the corporate versions of the Spanish and Conquistadors.
Whoa, wait a minute JC. You are not getting away with that. Gentrification is worst in areas historically governed by Democrats. “Affordable Housing” forces low income people into ghettos. Environmental regulations, infilling & high taxes push up the cost of land. See here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004181704_eicher14.html
I care about the environment, blights & the social safety net, too. But Republicans acknowledge that WE are paying to address these problems. Neither party has effectively addressed the problem of gentrification. At least Republicans are standing up against inflation. You call that “putting capital over people”. It’s the people’s capital.
Regrettably Republican have been able to sidestep the issue by moving to exurbs. Upside of the bubble breaking is that we’ll see middle class Republicans move back to cities. Perhaps urban policies will be more realistic. Would like to see Republicans address this issue. Democrats are doing a terrible job.
It’s clear you have no idea what Gentrification is.
“Affordable Housing” forces low income people into ghettos. Environmental regulations, infilling & high taxes push up the cost of land.”
What are you talking about?
I was raised in ghettos from Watts to East Oakland and beyond. The only affordable housing is in the ghetto or low income area’s. Ghettos just don’t pop up out of nowhere as a result of “Environmental regulations, infilling & high taxes”, thats just insane.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. You posted an article that isn’t even about Gentrification.
“It’s the people’s capital”
Isn’t that evil socialism? You’re showing your true colors commie.
Democrats and Republicans are both controlled by special interest, the corporate and industrial world. The Republicans are at the highest degree. Most of what I read on this very site is the product of pro corporate propaganda coming from special interest groups, lobbyist firms and think tanks. Just like this site. This site isn’t a movement, it is just a strategy to pull in minority votes, to put more republicans into office so they can serve their special interest masters just like the Democrats. We as a country will never move forward until we see this. But of course republicans refuse to see this in their own party and the same with democrats.
Stop being a puppet for a political party and think and be independent. You just parrot talking points and ideology’s that come from corporate funded special interest groups and think tanks. Just like your anti universal health care stance. Everything you say against UHC was strategized by Republican think tanks funded by the insurance industry and have been proven to be out right lies. The Democrats act and talk like they are for UHC but most of them are in the health care industry. They’ll never be a public option or UHC.
“Just like your anti universal health care stance. Everything you say against UHC was strategized by Republican think tanks funded by the insurance industry”.
And to back up that comment….
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM116_luntz.html
One day we’ll wake up and see that it is both the left and the right that are doing a terrible job, selling us out to the corporate world, lying to us. Then new parties will arise and we’ll have more the two choices, new parties that will gain power and influence, new parties that will be took over by special interest and lobbyist, so we’ll be getting screwed by two different parties.
And Ronald Reagan is proof of how damaging republican economics are to low income communities. Before him living in a low income area was not that bad, since Reagan the hood was never the same. Stay out of Urban America, you republicans have done enough to us as is.
You both are correct it is precisely because of supply and demand, that most “affordable” places are often where there is the least demand relative to supply. Where the supply of available housing is less than the demand, low- and moderate-income households often struggle to obtain housing that is affordable.
It is also true that government regulations often interfere with market forces (often making a small problem huge). It is kind of like trying to blow out a candle with gasoline.
These include:
1) Exclusionary zoning
2) Ordinances
3) Impact fees on construction
4) Excessive property taxes
5) Rent control,
6) Strong restrictive building codes
If you rent in NYC, the average rent is about 1,200 dollars. If you go down south, it is about 600 for a much larger space. What is the difference “locality”. The “demand” to live NYC increases the overall cost of the “supply” of housing.