FIFTEEN YEARS AND THE FUTURE
Housing policy and programmes is the subject of many heated debates in the Council Chambers of municipal provincial, state, and national governments all over the world. The adequate housing of citizens in the lower financial brackets is being recognised as an essential requirement of true democracy, and the financial and social machinery to provide such housing is being set up in ever increasing numbers of municipalities of democratic nations, It is, therefore, of particular interest at the present time to learn the extent of the housing programme undertaken by the City of New York.
The following is taken from the official publication of the 15th Annual Report of the New York City Housing Authority.
On one afternoon in the last week of December, the 33,850th family to become a tenant in public housing moved into a new home in Jacob Riis City Houses. On that same afternoon, workmen started digging the foundations for the City's 30th permanent public housing project, Lester W. Patterson Houses. Thus, the two main activities of the New York City Housing Authority, building and managing housing projects for families of low income, were highlighted as the Arst fifteen years of New York City's public housing program ended. Within that short time, public housing had grown from a novel experiment to an accepted fact.
Perhaps this growth and acceptance is best marked by the fact that New Yorkers no longer ask "Why?" and "How?", but "How many?" and "How soon?"
The answers to these questions are impressive. At the end of fifteen years there were:
34,000 families living in 23 permanent and eight temporary projects;
15 projects for 17,383 families being constructed;
14 projects for an additional 15,190 families planned, most of them to start in 1949.
Added up, it is a program of 60 housing projects providing homes for 69,367 families, about a quarter of a million people, to cost $600,000,000. This program will be considerably enlarged in 1949 and the following years, if new Federal and State housing legislation is passed as expected.
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Few major social programs have had beginnings. The aptly named First Houses, not only the City's but the nation's first public housing project, opened its doors in 1938, a 123-apartment rehabilitation project built with grants from several Federal relief agencies, financial assistance from private citizens, and the proceeds of the sale of salvaged materials. The subsequent growth of public housing is, in itself, the most convincing proof of the program's soundness.
There was at first only a Federal program, but both the State and City later joined in providing help. Indeed, the great burden of the program has fallen on them. Of the 52 permanent projects, 41 receive no Federal aid. Dependent on Federal aid alone, public housing would have been virtually dormant since the end of the war during the most critical housing shortage in the City's history. Fortunately, increased State aid plus the fullest possible use of the City's housing powers have made this period the most fruitful since the Authority was organized.
The great increase in the program, an 87% jump in the past three years, has been more than offset, however, by a steadily rising demand. New families have been formed since the end of the war far faster than new homes have been built. As a result, New York's post-war housing shortage has increased rather than diminished. Many thousands of families remain doubled-up or in other totally inadequate housing.
A tremendous task remains. Public housing will certainly not do the job alone. Reduction of the shortage will require the best efforts of all builders of housing, public and private.
New Record in Starts
1948 was the biggest construction year in Authority history, Starting with Gowanus Houses, for which ground was broken on January 5, Afteen projects were put under construction by the end of the year, a record exceeding not only any previous year, but the entire prewar program.
Here are the figures:
fifteen projects started in 1948 will provide homes for
16,663 families,
more than 60,000 persons;
they will cost $208,082,000;
they will contain 186 buildings, six to seventeen stories
high;
they will occupy 257.8 acres (about 102 City blocks);
67
216.7 acres, left open for parks, playgrounds, landscap-
ing, and to let in fresh air and sunshine; they will provide 12,885,786 man-hours of work for
New York building trades' workers;
the workers will set 37,981 tons of reinforcing steel, pour 346,384 cubic yards of concrete, lay 54,560,000 bricks, and install 205 miles of pipe;
15 tons of blueprints will be used,
The City Program
Much of the credit for the record progress must go to Mayor O'Dwyer and the City administration for the bold and imaginative use of the City's housing powers. In March, the Board of Estimate authorized the $200,000,000 program of housing without cash subsidy. Together with City-aided projects authorized in 1947 this new City program accounted for two-thirds of the projects started during the year. It helps meet a special need created by the post-war shortage.
Public housing developed in this country to provide decent homes for low-income families who would otherwise be forced to live in slum and sub-standard housing. To meet the needs of these families, rents were set low-so low, in fact, that they could not cover costs. The difference was made up by an annual cash grant, or subsidy, paid by the government aiding the program. New York City was the first in the country to undertake programs sponsored by Federal, state, and city governments.
In the post-war period, however, this traditional form of subsidized public housing is not adequate by itself to meet the variety of needs created by the housing shortage. Spiraling construction costs have forced the rents for new private housing so high that it is estimated that not more than one out of every ten doubled-up New York City families can afford the lowest rental apartment now being built. Many thousands of families can afford to pay higher rents than those prevail- ing in subsidized public housing, but cannot afford to pay the lowest rents of new private housing. Ironically, these "betwixt and between" families are, by and large, those in the most desperate need of new housing, Mostly young veterans' families, they are living doubled-up with in-laws, in furnished rooms, and in other crowded and sub-standard housing, where it is impossible to live a normal and healthy family life.
The need was not only more varied than before; it was far greater. In 1946 New York City faced the greatest housing shortage in its history, a shortage estimated at 150,000 apartments. The first three years of post-war construction lagged so far behind the increase in new families that by the end of 1948 the shortage was estimated at 260,000 apart- ments. Congress failed to enact a new Federal public housing program to replace the depleted 1937 Housing Act. Against this background the City took inventory of its housing powers and came up with its new program.
The ability of the City to provide public housing is limited in two ways. If a cash subsidy is needed, the amount of money available is a direct limitation. At present, all subsidies paid by the City are raised by a special tax, the occupancy tax, which yields $650,000 to $700,000 a year. City subsidies are not limited to the City-aided program. The State Public Housing Law requires that the City match dollar for dollar all State subsidies for State-aided projects. While this matching may be in the form of tax-exemption, if the exemption does not equal the full value of the State subsidy the City must make up the difference in cash.
The second limitation affects the indebtedness the City may incur for housing. The State Constitution limits the housing debt of the City to 2% of the average annual assessed valuation of its taxable real estate. Chargeable against this debt limit are the value of all cash subsidies, any direct loans for housing, and any housing bonds which the City guarantees.
Housing Without Cash Subsidy
This program differs from all previous public housing in New York City and the nation. With its approval, the City undertook the first public housing in the country to be operated entirely without cash subsidy. Rents will be set to pay all costs, with the figure expected to average about $17 to $18 per room, well below the rents of new private housing. The ability to provide housing at moderate rents is based chiefly upon the following factors:
(1) NO PROFITS-Unlike the private builder, the Authority need not figure any profits in its rents. It is sufficient that rents cover costs plus a reasonable operating and security
reserve.
(2) LOWER FINANCING COST-Funds are raised by the sale to private investors of Housing Authority bonds which are guaranteed by New York City. With this guarantee, money can be borrowed at a lower interest rate than private builders get. Lower interest rates mean lower costs, hence lower rents.
(3) LONGER TIME TO REPAY-Rents are affected by the rate at which the loan is repaid as well as by the interest. Long-term loans require a smaller annual payment, con- sequently permit lower rents. City-guaranteed bonds are long-term obligations, running for periods of up to 50 years.
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