VOL. VI.
June-July, 1963
No. 7
$21,200 Public
Housing Apartments
Page 1
Tenement House
Revival
Page 3
New York - Not
Birmingham
Page 5
BuildingFor Service
Page6
CooperativeVs.
Condominium
Page 8
Parking $2,000
Page 9
AppearanceCosts
Money
Page 11
THENEWYORKCITY Housing Authority submitted plans last month for the building of 4,749 apartments at a cost of $21,200 each. The apartmentswillbelocatedinninedifferentprojects, andthetotalcostis estimated at $100,935,000.
In the.address of State Housing Commissioner James W. Gaynor, which waspublishedlastmonthhesaid, "thecostspiral [ofpublichousing} threatenstopricelow-incomefamiliesoutofthelow-incomehousingmarket." The questionmightbe asked, "canweexpecttosolvethe problems of slum clearance and of providing housing for low-income families by building housing at a cost of $21,200 a unit?"
Aftertwenty-seven yearsofpublichousing,bothCongressandtheStateof NewYorkaretakingalookattheprogramtoseehowitmightbeimproved. Federalhousing officialsaresayingthatsome newmethods may beproposed to provide shelter for low-income families. At the present time, Congress has not appropriated funds for continuing the program. Governor Rockefeller hasappointed a commission to study the policies used to provide lowcosthousing.
Since 1937, nearly 600,000 units of low-cost housing have been built under the federal program. In addition, under the New York program 55,411 units have been completed. Both the federal and state programs are administered through municipal housing authorities. The New York City Housing Authority operates a total of 106 projects with 120,157 units. It is estimated that approximately a half-a-million New Yorkers live in those projects.
Commissioner Gaynor has this to say about the scope and limitations of the program: "Despite the scope ofthis program and the number of families itpresentlybenefits, itisdwarfed by present needs andby predictable future needs. Infact the gap would be barely bridged if the present program were increased fivefold. We are, by our unilateral approach, committed to acting out the role of anunsuccessful tortoise in the race with the legendary hare. We are not meeting the demands of families displaced by demolition, nor are we meeting the requirements of families still remaining in substandard units. In sum, we are not actually running hard enough to stand still in our approachtothe goal ofa slumlesscity."
Since the low-cost housingprogram was initiated it has been a mistake to (Continuedonpage 2)
