Homelessness And Gentrification

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Homelessness is a very serious condition when someone does not have a home or a place to live. Homelessness exist since the beginning of time. It happens when someone cannot manage their money or there is a drastic change in the economy and people lose their jobs. Gentrification is also a big reason why homelessness exist in this city. There are many solutions to this condition but there are many reasons why it wouldn’t work. There are many organizations in the city that helps the homeless by providing a place to live, food and having workshops to help them create a resume. The government of New York also have many plans to help reduce the rent in the city. Homelessness in New York City is a very critical topic due to the increase of rent in…show more content…
People would see a homeless person every other street, in public transportation seeking for help. Many people live in New York City and not everyone has the same economical opportunities as others, therefore there are many people in the big city are seeking for help. In The institute for children, poverty and homelessness it states, “Faced with loss of income and insufficient supports in the expensive city, some families found that they could not afford basic necessities such as housing.” (New Poverty Overview) People today who do not afford housing are living on the streets, with other people or are in shelters because of the increase of rent. In the 1970’s, “The city paid for them to live in hotel rooms until they could find more permanent housing. In the late 1970s the number of families requesting assistance began to increase.” (New Poverty Overview) The City tended to help the poor by letting them stay in hotels until they find a place to live but that is was a waste of money instead of actually creating a lifelong plan of less expensive housing. But,“By 1984 there were over 3,000 homeless families in the city.” (New Poverty…show more content…
According to Homelessness & Affordable Housing NYC, its definition of gentrification is, “is when wealthier, usually white, people arrive in an existing urban neighborhood and cause changes in the community.” (Gentrification and Affordable Housing) Gentrification is a big reason why there is an increase of everything in this city. New York City’s previous mayor, Bloomberg is one of the persons to blame for the change of rent in many neighborhoods. According to Brick Underground, it says, “In 2003, the billionaire businessman described NYC as a ‘luxury product’ that should brand itself like a private company, an outlook reflected in his administration’s approach to rezoning.” (Alanna Schubach) It also said that, “The changes prohibited building taller in certain areas, most of them majority white and high-income, while encouraging it in others. Weaver notes that the Bloomberg administration ‘didn't increase development capacity all that much. What it did,’ she says, ‘was protect white, homeowner voters, while putting renter neighborhoods in the line of fire’ for being displaced.” (Alanna Schubach) These quotes are examples of what Bloomberg did to just help the rich white homeowners and not the poor people in the city. According to Homelessness & Affordable Housing NYC, it states, “The changes include an increase in median income of the neighborhood,

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