Do We Tell Them To Move?

Economic self-sufficiency, according to the Executive Summary of The Self Sufficiency Standard for New York City 2010 report is “… a detailed measure of what it takes to make ends meet in New York City without public or private assistance. The Self-Sufficiency Standard is calculated based on the costs of six basic needs for working families: housing, child care, food, health care, transportation, and miscellaneous items as well as the cost of taxes and the impact of tax credits.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful? If everyone was able to carry their own weight what a wonderful world it would be. No need for food stamps, Section #8, ACS Child Care Vouchers or Medicaid. Everyone would be “self-sufficient” economically and benefit from eligible tax credits just like the corporations. Right?

According to the Self-Sufficiency Standard report for New York City, released June 2010, the wage standard for the community that Strycker’s Bay services is 21.85- $37.16 dollars an hour or $46,141 - $78,476  per year. Well, that certainly leaves every employee of Strycker’s Bay Neighborhood Council out of that category as well as many hard working West Siders who are Janitors, Home Health Aides, Executive Secretaries and Office Clerks who cannot make ends meet on their own and may not even be eligible for “work supports” to lessen the financial gap between what they earn and what it costs to live in their community.

The West Siders that come to Strycker’s Bay’s office on West 87^th Street, are either on a fixed income or earn far less than the Self Sufficiency Standard for this part of New York City. This leaves a majority of them in unstable situations when it comes to maintaining their housing. Unless they are living  in subsidized housing that adjusts rent levels according to income, most are likely to be living in severely overcrowded conditions (renting a room form someone,  living in doubled/ tripled up situations with others), or constantly falling behind on rent payments facing eviction on a regular basis.

We, at Strycker’s Bay face the enormous task of not only assisting people to stay in their housing but helping them remain in their community. Many have lived on the Upper West Side all their lives (this includes me) and don’t have the income to keep up with the increasing costs of their housing. Here on the West Side your housing cost determines your ability to support yourself.

housing costs and not your efforts to earn a decent honest living determine your quality of life

Lifelong West Siders, many of them seniors, face the stress of worrying about how they will pay next month’s rent. Do we tell them to move? And if we do tell them to move, where do we tell them to go? Monthly housing costs in this city are just plain out of reach for too many.

Strycker’s Bay Neighborhood Council is in no position to overhaul the City’s affordable housing development and distribution plan for affordable housing. Instead we are a triage center with professional strategists for families struggling to survive in a city where housing costs and not your efforts to earn a decent honest living determine your quality of life.

Next post – What Strycker's Bay's "triage center" and "professional strategists" are doing to help the “housing poor” on the Upper West Side. 

Until the next post,

Kelley