Trump’s budget would exacerbate New York’s affordable housing crisis. Rents would spike and public housing would suffer under cuts prompted by GOP’s tax giveaway. Read Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY14) and NYHC Executive Director Rachel Fee’s joint op-ed in Crain’s New York Business condemning the Trump budget here or review the text below.
“Our city is facing an affordable-housing crisis.
Families who have called the Bronx or Queens their home for decades are finding it harder—if not impossible—to stay in their neighborhoods. Priced out by spiking rents that no middle-class family can afford, they are forced to move farther and farther from their jobs. It’s robbing Queens and the Bronx of the character and uniqueness that made places like Woodside and Parkchester, respectively, staples of our communities.
The budget rolled out by President Donald Trump, and the one passed by congressional Republicans, will only make this crisis worse.
The president’s most recent proposal would all but eliminate federal funding for affordable housing in New York City. If signed into law, 200,000 of New York’s poorest families will pay nearly $1,500 more in rent per year. Such a drastic rent hike would force families to choose between keeping a roof over their heads and putting food on the table—a decision no parent should ever have to make.
It gets worse. Trump’s budget would also cut federal funding for New York’s housing programs by $1 billion, leaving public housing in disrepair and families in unsafe living conditions.
These budget cuts are some of the most severe we’ve seen in decades. They would fundamentally and dramatically change Queens and the Bronx from bedroom communities.
The president’s proposal would take an existing crisis and turn it into a disaster. It is a concerted effort to punish our most vulnerable citizens and a setback our communities don’t need. The reason Trump needs to so dramatically scale back on programs that help our neighbors is that he’s spent far too much money bolstering the 1%. The GOP tax bill cost $1.5 trillion—with the vast majority of the benefits going to corporations and the superwealthy. Republicans made a choice, and it wasn’t for working families in Queens and the Bronx.
We’ve been fighting for increased access to affordable housing—to ensure families can afford to make the right choices about their budgets, their children and their homes. Because safe, affordable housing is a right, not a luxury.
Our vision is to invest in our neighborhoods and the working men and women who live here by dramatically expanding access to affordable housing. This is a basic step we can take to ensure financial security for those who do the most to build and grow our country.
By allowing New York City’s public housing to languish, the president would not only threaten the lives of thousands of working families but also inflict serious damage on our local economy. Each year the development and preservation of affordable housing in our state creates more than 65,000 jobs and generates almost $11 billion in local income. If Trump were serious about jobs, he would include funding for affordable-housing programs in the budget, his infrastructure plan and any possible opportunity to strengthen a critical resource and economic driver.
Sadly, the only thing serious about this budget proposal is the pain it would inflict on New York City.
Rachel Fee is the executive director for the New York Housing Conference. Rep. Joseph Crowley represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes portions of Queens and the Bronx, and is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.”