Blog
The ANHD Blog raises the profile of our issues, and educates our member groups, city decision makers, and the general public on our core issue areas. The ANHD Blog offers sharp, timely and effective commentary on key public policy issues, as well as our work and the work of our member groups.
All of our blogs are sorted based on the issues, projects, special tags, and dates they are associated with, and you can use the dropdowns below to filter through our blogs based on these tags. Additionally, you can do a general search through our blog, using the search bar the right. If you can’t find what you are looking for, email comms@anhd.org.
Blog
May 22, 2017
Last week, Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) released a powerful new white paper, “Resisting Displacement in the Southwest Bronx.” Drawing on research, their own organizing experience and the experience of tenants in the neighborhood, the paper lays out the myriad displacement pressures Bronx residents face, the ways in which a rezoning would exacerbate those pressures and tangible solutions that must be put in place to alleviate them.
Blog
May 17, 2017
A crowd overflowed the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College last night for the Community Board 11 Land Use Committee's public hearing on the proposed East Harlem neighborhood rezoning. This is the first public testimony of the seven-month public review process, the first chance for the community to respond publicly to the City's plans and, most importantly, a chance for the City to show whether it is in fact adopting a community-based planning approach to rezonings.
Blog
April 20, 2017
This morning, tenants from 10 community organizations and their allies, including Senator Brad Hoylman, Senator Gustavo Rivera, and a representative from Public Advocate Leticia James’s office filled the sidewalk with a picket line outside of Signature Bank’s annual shareholders meeting in Manhattan. At the rally, the tenants and elected officials tried to hand-deliver a letter to the board of directors to demand responsible lending practices to protect their rights and health, and preserve our stock of affordable rent-regulated housing.
Blog
April 8, 2017
Albany has come to an agreement on that includes resurrecting the 421-a real estate tax exemption, with a vote on the full State budget expected today. There is no acceptable reason that everyone except luxury real estate developers should be expected to pay their taxes. Taxpayers and tenants should be disgusted. We will need the $1.4 billion – and growing – that we spend each and every year on 421-a to fill the holes that will be left in the local budget by Trump’s federal budget cuts for essential services.
Blog
March 30, 2017
The important debate around the 421-a tax exemption may come to a head in Albany by Friday, but an article in yesterday's Crain’s New York makes clear that new development is moving ahead either way, a fact that should change the debate. Getting the 421-a program right matters. We owe it to our taxpayers and our communities.
Blog
March 27, 2017
If you want to know who really benefits from the real estate tax abatement known as 421-a, look no further than a lawsuit filed by then-developer Donald Trump 36 years ago, which to this day inflicts this unaffordable burden on New York City, costing $1.3 billion this year alone in foregone property taxes.
Blog
March 23, 2017
Yesterday afternoon members of the Gowanus community came together in force for the public launch of the Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice (GNCJ) and the release of their Priorities Platform. Formed in response to the City's proposed rezoning of the neighborhood, the GNCJ is a coalition of local residents, workers, businesses, and community organizations united in their effort to ensure the voices of under-represented local stakeholders are meaningfully heard.
Blog
March 21, 2017
Earlier this month, the ambitious new collaboration called the Joint Ownership Entity (JOE NYC) announced the acquisition of a 43-building, 248-unit portfolio of at-risk affordable housing in Brooklyn. This signifies another important step forward for neighborhood-based housing groups. The purchase was done by the well-respected local not-for-profit developer St. Nicks Alliance and was backed by the shared scale and financial resources that is the hallmark of the JOE model.
Blog
March 7, 2017
The Trump budget cuts to New York City have begun, as the Wall Street Journal today announced a sudden $35 million cut to New York City Public Housing. This could be the first of far more severe cuts to come, as New York City’s budget and the needs of our most vulnerable residents are targeted.
Blog
February 21, 2017
A bad landlord damages a community, sometimes with serious consequences. In the case of Ved Parkash’s 750 Grand Concourse, the building’s long-term rodent infestation problems recently flared up into a major public health scare. Tenants in Parkash’s buildings have been dealing with problems for years, including poor conditions, vermin, and scores of potentially meritless eviction proceedings for nonpayment of rent.