“One way to address the problem is by the city taking on the cost of building new apartment buildings and entering into vertical ground leases with landlords. This would allow landlords to charge tenants less and still turn a profit.”

Buildings in Battery Park City, lower Manhattan. (Shutterstock.com)

To address the housing shortage, the city should make it cheaper for landlords to build new units. A public-private partnership where the city builds the shells of new apartment buildings and leases the interiors to landlords, who in turn develop and rent them to tenants, can increase supply and lower rents.   

Some estimate that the city needs 500,000 more housing units by 2032 to keep up with demand. Rental prices are skyrocketing because of this high demand and limited supply. “Abundance,” a book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, claims that the lack of affordable and plentiful housing is a major contributor to basically all the ills that plague our cities, like homelessness, wealth inequality, and drug abuse. The lack of affordable rent will crush the soul of the city, as aspiring musicians, artists, and actors continue to get priced out. 

As crazy as it sounds, one way to address the problem is by the city taking on the cost of building new apartment buildings and entering into vertical ground leases with landlords. This would allow landlords to charge tenants less and still turn a profit.  

The city could use a mix of public funds and mortgage financing to pay developers to construct the exterior and base structures of the buildings. The expense of building the interiors is left to landlords (more below). Unlike other public-private housing partnerships, like Battery Park City, the city would own the buildings. The buildings should be thoughtfully designed with the same profit-earning mentality of apartment buildings built by the private sector.  

The city could then execute vertical ground leases of 50 to 100 years with landlords. The landlords would be responsible for designing and building the interiors, and have as much control as possible over the layout of each floor. But the city could impose some conditions to ensure that the buildings have a sufficient number of units, and that landlords do not overcharge rent.  

Here is why this plan could be a win-win-win:  

Landlords would have significantly lower up-front costs, allowing them to charge less in rent and still make money. Landlords would only need to recoup their costs from developing and maintaining the interior of the buildings. And since the landlords would not own the buildings, they would not have to pay real estate taxes. This could amount to millions of dollars in savings per year.  

Tenants would benefit because as explained above, the landlords’ lower up-front costs means they can charge less in rent. If the government builds enough of these buildings, it could dramatically increase the supply of rental units which would also lead to lower rental prices across the City.  

The city would earn money in the form of ground rents from the landlords that lease the buildings, creating a long term income stream. As an example, the Battery Park City Authority earned $52 million in ground rents in fiscal year 2023 alone. And the BCPA projects that it may earn over $8 billion in ground rents by 2069.  

Since the city would own the buildings, it would benefit from the value of real estate increasing over time, and the capital improvements that the landlords make to the buildings on their own dime. (Any increase in the value of the buildings from renovations and improvements made by the landlords belongs to the city, since it owns the buildings.) It is like house flipping, except the landlords do all the renovating for the city for free.  

The city must be creative and consider public-private partnerships like this if it wants to fix the housing crisis. Committing public funds in ways that benefit private landlords makes people feel uncomfortable, but it can be effective. The BPCA makes so much money that it was recently able to commit $500 million to other affordable housing projects in other parts of the city.  

This plan would be challenging and expensive. Figuring out how to pay for these buildings, choosing which public property to commit to the projects, finding developers to design and build the buildings, and finding landlords interested in leasing the buildings are just some of the challenges posed by this plan. But no cost is too high to save New Yorkers from astronomically expensive rent. It could revitalize the city.  

Sam Martin is a Brooklyn resident and public interest lawyer.

The post Opinion: Creative Public-Private Partnerships Can Help Tackle NYC’s Housing Shortage appeared first on City Limits.

En 2024, la ciudad suspendió temporalmente varias regulaciones para algunos refugios mientras llegaban inmigrantes, con el fin de poder levantar más rápidamente refugios de emergencia. El alcalde Mamdani quiere ahora un plan para que todas las instalaciones vuelvan a cumplir las normas sobre capacidad y otros estándares.

Hombres frente a un refugio para migrantes adultos en el Bronx la primavera pasada. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 7 de enero. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

El martes por la mañana, el alcalde de la ciudad de Nueva York, Zohran Mamdani, emitió una orden ejecutiva en la que exigía al Departamento de Servicios Sociales y al Departamento de Servicios para Personas sin Hogar (DHS por sus siglas en inglés), en colaboración con el Departamento Jurídico, que elaboraran un plan para eliminar gradualmente el uso de refugios de emergencia para migrantes que no cumplan con las normas municipales vigentes desde hace tiempo.

Esta medida marca el final de un caótico capítulo de casi tres años en el sistema de refugios de Nueva York, durante el cual la ciudad se apresuró a abrir docenas de centros de emergencia en respuesta a la llegada de cientos de miles de inmigrantes y solicitantes de asilo, instalaciones que no tenían que cumplir las mismas normas de espacio y recursos exigidas por la legislación municipal.

La ciudad ha ido cerrando estos centros durante el último año, a medida que disminuía el número de nuevas llegadas de inmigrantes. Mamdani espera recibir un plan en 45 días, es decir, antes del 19 de febrero, para que todo el sistema de refugios vuelva a cumplir con la normativa en materia de capacidad y otros requisitos, como que todas las instalaciones para familias dispongan de cocina.

Bajo el mandato del exalcalde Eric Adams, la ciudad llegó a un acuerdo para suspender temporalmente algunas de esas normas sobre el derecho al refugio durante la oleada de nuevas llegadas, con el fin de poder poner en marcha más rápidamente la capacidad de los refugios de emergencia. 

“La suspensión y modificación iniciales de estas normas y reglamentos se produjeron en un momento en que la ciudad buscaba desesperadamente capacidad de acogida para hacer frente a la afluencia de solicitantes de asilo que necesitaban servicios de acogida”, dijo un portavoz del DHS en un comunicado. “Dado que la situación se ha estabilizado, estas disposiciones de emergencia ya no son necesarias”.

En diciembre, la ciudad seguía gestionando tres refugios de emergencia no pertenecientes al DHS, dos para adultos solteros en Brooklyn y el Bronx, y uno para familias con niños en el Row Hotel, en el centro de Manhattan. Dos de ellos cerraron a finales del año pasado, quedando solo el del Bronx, aunque no es claro de inmediato cuántas personas permanecían allí. 

El último censo de solicitantes de asilo de la ciudad muestra que, en noviembre, había algo menos de 4.000 migrantes alojados en instalaciones no pertenecientes al DHS. Según la agencia, actualmente hay más de 28.000 migrantes en los centros gestionados por el DHS —de los más de 86.000 que hay en total en los refugios del DHS— y la gran mayoría son familias con niños.

La orden de Mamdani aún no pone fin al acuerdo que suspendía ciertos requisitos para los refugios, alegando la emergencia migratoria. El DHS sigue gestionando varios hoteles comerciales como refugios que no cumplen totalmente con la normativa, según Dave Giffen, director de la Coalición para las Personas sin Hogar.

“Aún no han revocado esa suspensión [del acuerdo]. [La ciudad] sigue diciendo que necesitamos cierta capacidad para alojar a las familias en hoteles que no disponen de instalaciones para cocinar”, afirmó Giffen. 

Aunque la orden ejecutiva no exige a la agencia que cumpla estas normas en un plazo de 45 días, sí exige la presentación de un plan en el que se describa cómo el DHS lo hará.

La coalición y Legal Aid Society aplaudieron la orden de la nueva administración.

“Dado que la ciudad ya no está experimentando una afluencia de recién llegados tan elevada como la observada en los últimos tres años, según la propia lógica de la administración anterior, un marco de crisis ya no es apropiado ni necesario, ni sustituye a una estrategia de reubicación y vivienda humana y duradera”, afirmaron los grupos en una declaración conjunta.

Durante las elecciones primarias, el entonces candidato Mamdani dijo que pondría fin a los límites de 30 y 60 días de acogida para los migrantes en el sistema, una política que Eric Adams instauró en 2023 para los adultos y en 2024 para las familias con niños.

“Somos optimistas”, afirmó Giffen. “La filosofía del nuevo alcalde y su administración parece estar en consonancia con la nuestra, es decir, que la respuesta a la falta de vivienda masiva es la vivienda asequible, que las personas que no tienen hogar no deben ser criminalizadas, sino que se les debe proporcionar acceso a una vivienda permanente”.

Para ponerse en contacto con el reportero de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post Mamdani terminará refugios de emergencia para inmigrantes que no cumplan con estándares de la ciudad appeared first on City Limits.

By MATTHEW LEE and FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the U.N.’s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the U.S. further retreats from global cooperation.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies and commissions following his instructions for his administration to review participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a presidential decision that had not yet been publicly announced.

Most of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.

“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” the State Department said in a statement.

Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as his administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including capturing autocratic Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and indicating an intention to take over Greenland.

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This is the latest U.S. withdrawal from global agencies

The administration previously suspended support from agencies like the World Health Organization, the U.N. for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO as it has taken a larger, a-la-carte approach to paying its dues to the world body, picking which operations and agencies they believe align with Trump’s agenda and those which no longer serve U.S. interests.

It has marked a major shift from how previous administrations — both Republican and Democratic — have dealt with the U.N., and it has forced the world body, already undergoing its own internal reckoning, to respond with a series of staffing and program cuts.

Many independent nongovernmental agencies — some that work with the United Nations — have cited many project closures because of the U.S. administration’s decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Despite the massive shift, the U.S. officials, including Trump himself, say they have seen the potential of the U.N. and want to instead focus taxpayer money to expand American influence in many of the standard-setting U.N. initiatives where there is competition with China, like the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization.

The global organizations from which the US is departing

The withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, is the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the U.S. from international organizations focused on climate and addressing climate change.

UNFCC, the 1992 agreement between 198 countries to financially support climate change activities in developing countries, is the underlying treaty for the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump — who calls climate change a hoax — withdrew from that agreement soon after reclaiming the White House.

Mainstream scientists say climate change is behind increasing instances of deadly and costly extreme weather, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall events and dangerous heat.

The U.S. withdrawal could hinder global efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it “gives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that tracks countries’ carbon dioxide emissions.

It also will be difficult to achieve meaningful progress on climate change without cooperation from the U.S., one of the world’s largest emitters and economies, experts said.

The U.N.’s population agency, which provides sexual and reproductive health across the world, has long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition and Trump himself cut funding for the agency during his first term in office. He and other GOP officials have accused the agency of participating in “coercive abortion practices” in countries like China.

When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he restored funding for the agency. A State Department review conducted the following year found no evidence to support these claims.

Other organizations and agencies that the U.S. will quit include the Carbon Free Energy Compact, the United Nations University, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.

The State Department said additional reviews are ongoing.

Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Tammy Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

A Burnsville man is jailed and charged in a New Year’s Day morning attack on a 74-year-old woman on a park trail near Crystal Lake in the city.

Dashawn Jawaun Newton (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Dashawn Jawaun Newton, 23, grabbed the woman from behind, put his gloved hand over her mouth and told her that he had a knife and not to scream, according to charges filed Wednesday in Dakota County District Court.

The woman fought Newton, who had thrown her to the ground and at one point kneeled on her, the criminal complaint said. Newton eventually fled after asking her about her husband.

“Victim believed the male was going to sexually assault her, because she did not have any other property on her person for him to take,” the complaint read.

Surveillance recordings at nearby apartment buildings helped lead police to Newton, who was arrested Monday. He went before a judge Wednesday on charges of false imprisonment, threats of violence and fifth-degree assault.

Newton’s attorney Marcus Almon declined to comment on the charges when reached by phone Wednesday.

Newton remains jailed on $100,000 bail, which was requested by Assistant Dakota County Attorney Cory Monnens. In a bail request court filing, Monnens said Newton is a suspect in three indecent exposure incidents that occurred in Burnsville between October and December.

Two interactions

Burnsville officers responded to a report of an assault about 8 a.m. Jan. 1.

According to the complaint, the woman said she was walking on a park trail, close to Crystal Lake, and a male, later identified as Newton, had approached her and asked her questions about the trail and walking on the nearby lake.

She said she became suspicious and told him that her husband was in the area. Newton then left and the victim continued walking.

About 10 minutes later, Newton returned, approached her from behind and put his hand over her mouth. After pushing her to the ground, she attempted to scratch his face and eyes. He asked the woman if her husband was wearing black clothing. She responded yes. Newton then got up and ran away.

She yelled for help, and a man who was running on the trail responded and found her “pale, disheveled and in shock,” the complaint read. She went home and called 911.

Police asked for public’s help

Burnsville police alerted the public of the attack on Jan. 1 and asked residents in the area to review home surveillance footage.

Investigators viewed surveillance recordings from nearby apartment buildings. Newton was identified on the video, matching the description given by the woman, the complaint said.

Officers obtained a search warrant for an apartment where Newton was thought to be staying. During the search, they found clothing consistent with what the victim described to investigators.

On Monday, officers were surveilling the apartment and saw Newton leave in a vehicle. He was stopped and arrested.

In an interview with investigators, Newton said he went to the park on Jan. 1 to get fresh air and that a woman began talking to him on the trail. He said he urinated in the snow, causing the the woman to yell at him.

Newton said the woman got closer to him and started threatening him by stating that her husband would beat him up. He stated that the woman came up on him and he pushed her, at which point she fell to the ground landing on her stomach.

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Newton said the woman started screaming for her husband, and that he went back to his apartment.

Alleged prior incidents

According to the prosecutor’s bail request filing, Newton was previously seen masturbating outside of random strangers’ homes. In two cases, the act was caught on Ring video doorbell recordings, and in the third a person saw Newton outside of her sliding glass door.

“Defendant was questioned about these incidents as part of this investigation, and he admitted that he had been exposing his penis outside of people’s homes out of a desire to see people’s reactions to this conduct,” the court filing read. “The current offense seems to be an escalation of this conduct, and the State has significant public safety concerns.”