This Documentary Shines a Light on NYC’s Homeless LBGTQ Youth Posted on June 9, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Fader A quarter century after Paris Is Burning swept the independent film world with its verité depiction of life in the New York ballroom scene, the docks down by Christopher Street, off Manhattan’s West Side Highway, are still home to New York’s largest popul ..Read More
Strong Rent Regulation is Needed to Address Crisis of Affordability Posted on June 9, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Observer New York City is facing an unprecedented crisis of affordability. Skyrocketing costs of living citywide threaten to price working families out of their longtime homes and communities. At the same time, thousands of affordable housing units, created as a safegu ..Read More
NY Policy Battle Pits Affordable Housing Against Tax Breaks for the Rich Posted on June 9, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Al Jazeera America Rosa Mendosa is afraid of losing her home. A grandmother and has lived in New York since 1981, she said through an interpreter, “I came to this country from Nicaragua because at the time there was a lot of war and violence in my country.” Mendosa, her son, ..Read More
Rent Soars in Parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn as Affordable Housing Drastically Dwindles: Study Posted on June 8, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in New York Daily News The rent is too damn high. Rent has gone through the roof in some neighborhoods, rising a crazy 50% to 90% in some spots, according to an analysis by the Community Service Society, a nonpartisan anti-poverty group. Rents rose 32% citywide since 2002, but in si ..Read More
Nipped in the Bud: Paying to Keep People in Their Homes Can Sometimes Save Cities Money Posted on June 6, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in The Economist Belgica explains in Spanish why she is getting kicked out of the small two-bedroom apartment she shares with her two children in the Bronx, in New York City. Her husband was sent to Rikers Island jail in February, the same month that she lost her job at a loca ..Read More
New York City is Sued Over Rule Change to Rent-Freeze Program Posted on June 3, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Times When Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation a year ago that increased the number of older New Yorkers eligible to have their rents frozen, he called it a “godsend” and an “extraordinary lifeline” for people whose incomes could not keep pace with the c ..Read More
The American Dream is Thriving — Just Not in the U.S. Posted on June 4, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in CBS MoneyWatch The American Dream is alive and well — just not on U.S. soil. Seeking to assess if the Horatio Alger, “rags to riches” narrative behind that defining metaphor remains viable, researchers measured the odds of a child born to parents in the bot ..Read More
What it Will Really Take to End Vet Homelessness by the End of the Year Posted on June 2, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in The Huffington Post Much to the fanfare of VA officials, a fourth U.S. city announced on Monday that it has ended chronic veteran homelessness. But while skeptical advocates welcome the progress, they say other cities won’t follow suit fast enough to meet the looming deadline. ..Read More
Proven Homelessness-Fighting Program Loses State Funding, Faces Uncertain Future Posted on June 3, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone in Gotham Gazette More than 60,000 people will spend the night in a New York City homeless shelter tonight. Estimates suggest roughly one-third struggle with untreated mental illness, many of whom find themselves trapped in a turbulent cycle of life including jail, psychiatric ..Read More
