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Published at 1:37pm
Published on 9/5/08
Own This City
Video
Affordable housing doesn’t exist
If it wasn’t already, the term affordable housing became an oxymoron in NYC last month, when the Rent Guidelines Board voted for increases of 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments, the biggest hike since 1989. But activist organizations such as Housing Here and Now, a coalition of community and social-justice groups, have not given up the fight for that and other tenants’-rights issues.
Move to Catoosa County, Georgia. Otherwise, stop bitching and see below.
Spend an hour at a rally. The Met Council (metcouncil.net) protects and promotes tenants’ rights and sends news of upcoming protests, press conferences and public hearings to its members. The Real Rent Reform Campaign meets on Wednesday 23 (check metcouncil.net for time and location). Got a few more hours? Volunteer with Housing Here and Now (housinghereandnow.org) or one of its affiliated groups. For example, the Met Council needs help manning its hot line and weekly walk-in clinic for anyone with tenants’-rights questions. And the Tenants Political Action Committee (tenantspac.org), which works to get sympathetic candidates elected to public office, is always looking for door knockers, phone-bankers and fund-raisers.
If all this awareness makes you want to build a career in the housing sector, then a paid internship with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) could be a solid foundation. Yes, you’ll likely be doing some mindless admin work, but you’ll also get a shot at planning and problem solving, and a chance to weigh in on design policies (212-306-2900, nyc.gov/nycha). This and 12 other positions were open at press time.
—Aline Mendelsohn
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