Client and services
Flatbush Tenant Coalition (FTC) is an initiative of the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC), a nonprofit organization that provides an array of support services for the Flatbush community, including preserving and protecting affordable housing, business attraction and retention initiatives, immigrant family services, and youth services. It was formed in 1975 by tenants and homeowners who sought to address the physical deterioration of the neighborhood.
FTC is a coalition of tenant associations that aims to build tenant power in central and south Brooklyn. Collectively, members work to improve the lives of low- to-moderate income tenants in the community, who are subject to undesirable living conditions, displacement, and harassment from landlords. FTC supports the growth of tenant associations and the development of tenant leaders to address these needs in a variety of ways, including
• Supporting tenants in organizing their buildings
• Collaborating with tenant associations to initiate building campaigns or other initiatives to address building issues, including repairs and maintenance
• Educating tenants on their rights, housing laws, and political education, including information about local elected leaders, community boards, and local, state, and national housing agencies
• Supporting, planning, and participating in city, state, and national tenant rights campaigns
• Helping tenants secure pro bono lawyers and document success
• Conducting
To help counter these negative racial effects, there have been different movements in the borough to help concentrate the influence of communities that have traditionally lived in the area. Middle class African Americans in Brooklyn, specifically, have searched for ways to continue to help define Brooklyn in a way that isn’t resistant to change, but that helps to keep the influence of groups such as black Brooklynites inside the
To judge the success or failure of Blumberg Apartments, we must first analyze the project as it works to provide good housing. Good housing should not just be regarded as a noun, it should also encompass housing as a verb. The commodity of the house as a shelter is the noun. This commodity should provide a place for redressing. It should hold the essential necessities that make for a comfortable and complete home. A place that balances privacy and social interactions. As a verb, good housing should be a utility that works to enhance one’s life (Turner, 1972). It should be a stepping stone towards opportunity. For Blumberg Apartments in the grand scheme, both of these facets can be regarded as failures. As the housing projects suffered through massive deterioration, it failed as a commodity. Residents described how their housing had “stairwells that reeked of urine and dirty diapers, constantly breaking appliances and elevators, and the frequent sounds of gunshots” (Colaneri, 2016). Furthermore, units were found to not meet minimum size standards and
Flatbush is a neighborhood located within South-Central Brooklyn of New York City. It comprises 2.3 square miles and consists of approximately 300 square blocks. It is an extremely vibrant, ethnically diverse and heavily populated section with rich cultures and traditions from multiple racial and ethnic groups including African American, Caribbean and
There has been a tremendous change in East Harlem between class warfare and gentrification. East Harlem is one more economic factor to the city’s wealth per capita since the attack of September 11, 2000. It is Manhattan’s last remaining development and it is on the agenda of the tax revenue of our government. East Harlem has become a profit driven capitalism. Gentrification enforces capitalism, it does not separate people, it does not go against race, poor and the working class, it wages war on the poor and the working-class.
People are forced to move and find other dwellings. For example, an apartment building called the metro pole was recently sold for renovation. The people who reside in the building are the disabled, mentally ill or people difficult to place in other housing, for some reason or another. The building was built more than 30 years ago and has 230 two room affordable apartments; in a very convenient location near downtown Cincinnati, close to bus stops, and shopping. The building will be renovated to a 160 room lustrous hotel, so that upscale workers can be near their jobs.
he East Flatbush community can be described as one big melting pot. With roughly more than half the population foreign-born, about 53%, immigrants have had a huge effect on Flatbush culture and development. Due to the heavy flow of foreigners the percentage of people that speak English not well or not at all is around 8.2%, higher than city average. The school is located near numerous institutions and resources for the children. There are various libraries and places of worship around the community. Just a few blocks from the school there is a park near by that the children can visit. Near the school there are many non-profit organizations and hospitals available for the community.
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the “largest public housing authority in the nation” (Developments, 2015). In existence since 1934 (About NYCHA: NYCHA at 70, 2015), NYCHA is a low to moderate income public housing initiative consisting of 328 developments throughout all five boroughs of New York City. More than 400,000 residents benefit from these developments through the receipt of not only apartments but additional services provided by each development and New York City overall. Over recent years the NYCHA developments have been experiencing a reduction in government funding, forcing the organization to re-evaluate strategies addressing maintenance of old buildings (About NYCHA, 2015).
Brooklyn is a “melted pot” in terms of its diversity in population and culture. In many different areas of Brooklyn there are Public Housing set-up for those who are considered “low-income families”. Public Housing in brief was originally set up for people who would temporarily live there until they could eventually afford something better. In this day and age now Public Housing have become a “safe haven” for families who are low income as well as receive benefits such as food assistance (food stamps), Section 8 ( program set up to help pay rent to families who may not be able to afford
Washington, D.C. is rapidly changing in front of the citizen’s eyes. It is becoming a victim of “The Plan,” a theoretical conspiracy plan construed by whites to take over D.C.’s real estate, physical space, and politics. Gentrification in Washington, D.C. can essentially be defined as a shift in the community to attract and accommodate newcomers at the expense of the current inhabitants. In Washington, four neighborhoods are currently in the process of gentrification: Barry Farm, Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings, Northwest One and Park Morton. These particular neighborhoods were specifically targeted by the government for their high crime rates, significant population of impoverished citizens, and inclusion of a certain economic class.
The cost of living for people who make minimum wage or below can be extremely high. Particularly, in Baltimore Maryland with the closing of steel plants and the opening of the Inner Harbor, the residents were faced with an extreme pay decrease. Due to the lost of jobs and pay cuts many residents left the city, or were not able to afford housing. This contributes to a community of homeless people and 16,000 vacant houses.
People who have low income are all willing to pay their house rent at a reasonable and affordable price, in order to accommodate public’s wishes, the New York City regulated the Rent Control law in 1947. The rent control is originally designed to against the potential increase of house rent, and also protect citizens’ personal property. This is an empirical example of the implement of the price ceiling, which is the maximum price set by the government, any price beyond this price would be considered illegal. (Microeconomics) But after the rent control was enforced, does it really help the public as it was supposed to do? The answer can be either yes or no.
The Housing Development Board wanted to improve its services in three major areas including the involvement of private developers, public outreach, and overall improved customer service (Jick & Peiperl, 2011). The change challenge for HDB and Tan included improvement to the overall operations of the organization including work processes and systems. “The goal of the public outreach was to gain greater public buy-in and support while improving focus groups, particularly grassroots organization” (Jick & Pieperl, 2011, p. 432). Thus, the Estate Administration and Property Department was expected to manage majority of the operations including housing policies, pricing, and sales to name a few. Challenges faced were work process and systems that needed modifications through clear operational strategies.
Educating. We educate elected officials, office-seekers and others about the issues so they understand the impact of laws and policies on the American public—and hold them accountable when they don’t keep their promises.
Since the early 2000s, gentrification accelerated in various New York City neighborhoods. Data shown that about 29.8 percent of New York City has been affected by gentrification in low-income communities (Governing Data 1). This is over a 20 percent increased from the previous decade in New York City alone. Gentrification is a term used to describe displacement or renewal in urban neighborhoods as a result of increasing property values and rent prices. Gentrification has existed since the 1960s but has rapidly increased since then . Gentrification has now become a common and global controversial topic in many low-income neighborhood. Although, gentrification hasn’t always been bad from increasing job opportunities to lowering crime rates. Gentrification has impacted and transformed underprivileged districts in New York City. However, at the advantage of who ? Thus, gentrification has only increased average rates of poverty and infused neighborhoods with “white privilege”.
BACS anticipates that a majority of our clients will be building owners and property management firms contracting on behalf of building owners. BACS expects that the business’ client base will consist of commercial, industrial, and residential clientele. However, we anticipate that its secondary client base will come from the residential arena (homeowners). As time progresses, BACS may engage more complicated industrial and high-end commercial and industrial installations. The first group to be targeted is the owners of homes that are 12-15 years old and the second group is those that frequent the home improvement and construction supply stores.