US: Cuts in Public Housing put Low-Income People at Risk

(New York, April 18, 2022) -The United States federal government’s cuts to public housing funding have jeopardized the living conditions of up to 2 million low-income people throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
Public housing, governed by Section 9 of the US Housing Act, was created based on the principle - consistent with the international human right to adequate and affordable housing - that everyone, regardless of income, deserves a decent, affordable, and accessible home. Compared with other housing assistance programs in the US, public housing has been particularly effective and dependable at providing housing for people with the lowest incomes. It is a critical resource for marginalized people across the country, especially for people of color, older people, and people with disabilities.To support our work, please visit: hrw.org/donate
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org
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[@anidiquaojala1804]

TY for addressing this huge problem being ignored by all that aren't effected by it...SMH

[@jo-annvlado9710]

Some of the comments I’ve read on here are just ridiculous! Yes these people are living in NYCHA buildings because they don’t make enough to pay these high rents. Some are single mothers with children or the elderly and disabled. Maybe they are on welfare or disability don’t Judge them. They’re doing the best they can and they are paying the rent they have been assigned. People deserve to be treated humanely. They don’t deserve to be in apartment with leaks, non working stoves, paint chips or floors that become buckled up and need replacement. That’s why they have maintenance. They keep saying that they don’t have money for the repairs. Yet the city keeps bringing people here that don’t live here and they’re trying to help them. How about you help people that live here in New York City first. Do you know how much money they pay for a single woman with a child to stay in the shelter? A lot, that money they could be using to repair apartments in NYCHA that are vacant so they can have housing. Also, I see so many things that the city is paying for because I have Instagram. They’re fixing Orchard Beach , building things and making a stage for summer concerts. Ok maybe they should fix the bathrooms. However, building things there when people are in need of affordable housing or repairs. The city officials need to re-think about what is more important.

[@dubreil07]

If you live generations in public housing then that means you are not trying your best

[@dorothyleroy5536]

Jl0

[@wildlightarts]

😭 it's heartbreaking to see people living in these conditions. especially seniors without advocacy.

[@briansullivan1621]

Public Housing should be temporary unless the tenants are disabled.,

[@user-ns1jj3ks5s]

I grew up in public housing Alfred E. Smith Projects on the lower east side in the 50's and Castle Hill Projects in the Bronx 60's. Back then the city took care of the maintenance of the buildings. But now it's a holy nightmare in every aspect. Shame on the city in failing it's duties to the people of NYC.

[@Stephanie-vn6ir]

So grandma lived there really cheap for 37 years and saved her money? Yeah, right!? She could have bought a house with all that money she so called saved! Instead of leaving some money for her grandkids, she pissed it all away!

[@bsmiddy236]

lmao

[@shauncameron8390]

Pretty much. Some people are poor for a reason. And the rich have nothing to do with it.

[@genxx2724]

37 years in public housing is ridiculous.

[@mickeyfc1643]

And only having to spend 30% of her check on rent all the while smh.

[@jennifer3551]

Beggars can't be choosers. The taxpayers that pay the balance on your rent aren't happy either

[@bsmiddy236]

WELL SAID.....I am responsible for my self and my family....why should i be responsible for yours as well?

[@beng4647]

Imagine going to another country and doing nothing your whole life...but everything is paid for.

[@Steve-ge8ji]

Depending on the government for housing is a losing proposition and you will be forgotten....except during voting season. Lol

[@ianhomerpura8937]

Singapore, Japan, and Austria were all able to build decent and clean public housing developments. Americans are lame and full of excuses, as usual.

[@briansullivan1621]

If you dont like the housing that tax payers pay for get a better education, work harder , save money & go pay for your own apartment or house

[@user-yw4rj5dp5p]

But that requires hard work and people are lazy af

[@herbieainsworth4793]

seen it with my own eyes

[@roshelltannen9698]

So what? You pay 30% of your low income and complain you have to pay upkeep. NYC isn't solely responsible for the decline of public housing, people that could afford better, did better. 37 years off cheap rent, and that's still not enough. I'm willing to move states to live well. I'm sick lifetime Welfare recipients complaining about everything. It's very rare to see an eldery/disabled person on these documentaries, it's always single moms with dogs.

[@fatimamanneh9432]

I agree with you a person has to help their self can’t always depend on the government now we have child tax credit that will pay for daycare so why they can’t work towards getting out of that situation I don’t understand

[@georginamcallum1324]

I don't Mind the animals.

[@iMetmor]

Yeah. Better fund a war in Eastern Europe.

[@timemmons7821]

If you can’t afford housing or food you shouldn’t have pets..

[@bsmiddy236]

@@timemmons7821 or children

[@georgiamarierx9682]

Many of these people abuse the system and get old and look for pity

[@tammywines7343]

I'm going too another nation and throw a fit lol you're not speaking English that is affecting me, or I better learn the language of the people in charge.

[@ocean12]

If you think housing is bad now, just wait until all rental properties are govt owned and managed. That is the goal. Force landlords out of business. Then the govt will swoop in. People will be living in slums. When you depend on others to support and take care of you, aka public assistance, you are forever enslaved to them. You never learn how to fend for yourself. Welfare has been the demise of the Western nations. There is no reason able boded people need welfare. Generational welfare should be banned forever. People feel entitled to have others take care of them instead of taking care of themselves. Race, politcal views, and where you came from does not matter. We all have the opportunity to improve our own lives. No one owes you a free ride. Soon there will be more people on govt assistance than who work and pay taxes. Then the entire welfare free ride will come to an end. People who never learned to live by their own hard work wont survive in hard times. For the man who complained that noone in the office speaks spanish...you are in america. If you came here legally, you learned english. If you are here illegally, you are a criminal. We dont need to learn your language, you need to learn english. If you went to russia do you think they would speak spanish to accomodate you? No.

[@jeffnegron8845]

WTF was that? I was waiting for some kind of positive conclusion but nothing happened

[@johnathanabrams8434]

Boricuas stand up. Weve been in public housing for over 50 years and aint going nowhere, ever.

[@misaelcabral5411]

If people start pay rent , work together abd take care of what they given it will a better place

[@bsmiddy236]

possibly

[@richardcloer3510]

I know people who have moved to Mexico where the rents are dirt cheap and the way of living is so affordable it boggles my mind. I wonder if the people in this video have ever entertained the thought of doing such a thing?

[@jennoor3105]

You could do it too, right?

[@richardcloer3510]

@@jennoor3105 I'm sure anyone can do it, including you.

[@jennifer3551]

They would probably not be able to get all the juicy benefits from the Mexican government that they get from us taxpayers

[@ticca_9217]

These people don't leave their block let alone state lol did you hear her? She basically inherited the project from her grandmother. That's 3 generations stuck

[@richardcloer3510]

@@jennoor3105 I'm not the one complaining about my living situation.

[@DavidSmith-eg5le]

Another thing we should do and I don't know why we don't have protests throughout the nation for public housing and I'm talking the size of the Arab Spring something huge a peaceful Revolution for housing

[@rosez2528]

I grew up in NYCHA in the Bronx; but back then, they were brand spanking new. Moved in at the age of 1 in 1961, the year mine were built. Very nice community, very nice apartments. Everyone grew up together, went to the same schools, and looked out for each other. But that was over 60 years ago. I moved out in 1996.. Went back to vist in 2006 and was shocked to see there was scaffolding around each building. I thought either they're going to be knocking them down or renovations were about to be taking place. Fast forward to present day and There still haven't been anything done to those buildings since they first went up. What was once a nice vibrant community surrounded by playgrounds, parks and benches are now surrounded by scaffolding and fencing, infested with rat holes. Children can no longer play outside, their parent no longer sit on those benches. It's sad that a city with so much, cares so little for their own, yet have given so much to those that come here illegally. NYC is no longer the city I loved.

[@theresabell2492]

It's time for the residents to invest in our buildings and create mixed income housing partnering with the real estate industry.

[@bsmiddy236]

how about you just buy your own place and that should solve the problem

[@randomboyfrom2004]

@@bsmiddy236…

[@theoneaboveall7708]

LOL...would never work cause most of these residents either won't or can't find WORK.

[@beng4647]

The problem is no one works. Our economy is garbage. So it isn't 100% their fault.

[@110311DONTWANTCHANNE]

The biggest obstacle is the lack of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and civility. Don't get prego young, without a reliable long term partner and without a career of some sort...even if its just long term full time minimum wage. If you try not to get pregnant and have a surprise, partner with another adult and share expenses instead of demanding tax payers be responsible for you...and make darn sure it doesn't happen again....have 4 adults without kids in a 2 bedroom and pay your own expenses instead of demanding your own place...seniors need a roommate to pay expenses....generations should live in the same household if they need to in order to pay the bills....and stop damaging the buildings making housing more expensive

[@beacarr9652]

Japan houses millions of people in "apartments" that are no bigger than a double sized mattress. This has got to be hard, but why don't they have the crime, gang and drug problems that our public housing has in America - the density in those Japanese high rises is WAY higher than in any American public housing highrise.

[@theoneaboveall7708]

The answer is cause POOR people think they are entitled something.

[@margaretnorvell9555]

Japan is a homogeneous society. They care for each other and their country.

[@anidiquaojala1804]

yes write, call, email your local representatives , senators and congress . it does raise awareness and ultimately action

[@ianhomerpura8937]

Time to abolish the Faircloth Amendment and let government build public housing again.

[@allenspearing9143]

It was president Ronald Reagan who cut section eight housing. I don't have a decent place to live because of him

[@45kzzeemoney]

What do you expect from a low income apartment building you paying less than a normal apartment stop complaining

[@georginamcallum1324]

The government don't pay for repairs.

[@shauncameron8390]

Even the government worries about costs despite infinite access to money.

[@crestonavetenants7376]

We are going through very similar issues. We need help!

[@tonytrapp8567]

I live in NYCHA complex Stapleton Staten Island, I agree they need to upgrade every thing but there not going to do it, i saw the news its going to cost 40 billion fix repairs, I think they are skimming the pot, but that's how I see it. If you have the skills and money you can do it your self, thank god I have both.

[@110311DONTWANTCHANNE]

say a person makes minimum wage and earns 1200/month. they pay 360 in rent. require 2 adults working a combined 70 hours ($2000/month) minimum and that raises their portion of rent to about 600....putting 240 a month into the budget to make repairs....nearly 3000/year....

[@user-gs6fq1jq8y]

You can always build More...

[@CJCody2006]

The solution to this is private philanthropy. It's perfectly clear that public housing is of unmeasurable value to lower income residents, and it's becoming more and more evident that this is a need which the federal government isn't equipped to service on it's own. Private philanthropy in the form of donors and sponsors providing either funding or materials to maintain these buildings would improve their qualities of living and reduce the strain on government spending.

[@charlottetrades3367]

32 Trillion in debt. Time for folks to start paying and figure things out themselves.

[@melodythompson7755]

Who is more important . . Corupt workers, . Or the people

[@anthonykence9954]

This is the Ghetto

[@lyfe680]

We should take it all the way back to the homestead act days..

[@jeffbarnes54]

I don't think we will ever see massive investments in existing projects like the ones featured. Republicans have NO intent on funding it, if they get back in full power again, funds will get cut even more or completely eliminated. Democrats and independents try to fund housing but it never seems like the money gets to where its needed. Most of those old buildings just need to be razed and new ones put up in a phased plan so that no one is displaced, but I just don't see any "real" will by any politicians or private sector to do this.

[@georginamcallum1324]

Lolllllll yeah k

[@bsmiddy236]

Hmmmm...so why would the taxpayer want to raze the building and build a new one? Most of the problem is from people who have done nothing to improve their situation and expect someone else to fix it for them. Ohhhhh Barnes there are plenty of democrat slum lords out there...and there isn't one politician who cares or understands how all this works...the government isn't interested in solving a problem they are interested in money however they can get it from taxpayers.

[@randomboyfrom2004]

@@bsmiddy236please learn about these people and their situation before you speak on it.

[@tammywines7343]

Yeah those democrats in charge are really helping. Like the man said pandering for votes. Always the Republicans you blame when all these big cities are Democrat ran shat holes. Maybe the newest group of illegals that democrats are moving in will receive the new housing that democrats will never build ? Or maybe like Chicago the people already in these apartments will be displaced for the newest democrat voters. Good grief democrats control every city and they control the Realtors association, go talk with them. Bahaha yeah right.

[@antoniomontana4480]

just get 2 jobs, most are lazy and don't even try, can still work in a wheelchair sitting down

[@melodythompson7755]

Watch these workers . .they wait for you to go go. . Tamper with your food . .. those in public safety . . Where camera footage is is sent . They use tenants to lie and deal with you . .if you complian

[@denniscostabile4264]

You realize this can never happen in a world where 3% has more than the lower 97%. It's just a fact.

[@bsmiddy236]

or a country where 55% pay taxes and the rest wait for the check

[@shauncameron8390]

And those same 3% pay 70-80% of all the taxes.

[@tonytrapp8567]

By the way nice video you made.

[@BiggestTrollaRSM]

Well stop votin and doin the same shit ya been doin for 30 yrs and wake up and do whats right show them who really has power and its not the damn govt

[@georgiamarierx9682]

He can’t speak English but expects something in English.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

Time to abolish the Faircloth Amendment and build new public housing.

[@bsmiddy236]

no....just enables bad behavior and choices

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@bsmiddy236 other countries do public housing so much better, like Singapore. What makes the US so incompetent that it cannot do the same?

[@bsmiddy236]

@@ianhomerpura8937 there is no incompetence involved except believing the government is the answer to anything.

[@shauncameron8390]

@@ianhomerpura8937 But Singapore is a city state with no more land to build new housing on and not exactly a free country.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@shauncameron8390 Japan is free and democratic country as large as the entire East Coast, with a population of 126 million - more than 1/3 of the US. And yet they have clean and decent government housing for BOTH the lower and middle class, built near or beside bus and train stations.

[@jeffnegron8845]

I grew up in the NYCHA Projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan since the early 50s and it was what formed me and so many other Puerto Ricans and Blacks… we were One People and had love for each other and made babies together so yes we were family. I would not trade any other upbringing experience for this is what made me strong and what made me understand the strength of bonding with my African American brothers that came from the Southern States that had punished them both physically and spiritually. We Puerto Ricans perhaps did not suffer the Whip and the Lynching they did but we were not far from the status of Slaves under the dictates of the Spanish Overlords and their sense of Racial Superiority.

[@tonyrivers8688]

This population is going extinct.

[@georginamcallum1324]

What about the government making new housing and not using private people property. 80 millions plays more to the uK and bringing more people but tho people are to much.

[@bsmiddy236]

Why do I want my tax money spent on a bottomless pit?

[@guangxidavidliu]

Leaches, moochers and looters

[@jondough9651]

THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER 💯

[@adrianmelton4732]

Bayou

[@DavidSmith-eg5le]

Here's the thing and I think the UN needs to get bold frankly I think the UN start holding sanctions against any country that denies housing to the most vulnerable citizens that should include us in the USA I don't know why they don't do that but I think that would be an effective tool stop homelessness

[@bsmiddy236]

who is denied housing?

[@antoniomontana4480]

uummmm no, no foreign interference

[@shauncameron8390]

LOL. No one is denied housing in the US.

[@ocean12]

Healthy functional people that want to live off taxpayers are not vulnerable. They are lazy entitled parasites! Get a job and take care of yourselves.

[@adrianmelton4732]

Byou

[@sirleighthamilton959]

All these animals deserve to live in their conditions.

[@antoniomontana4480]

get another job

[@dubreil07]

Low income people are at risk because they choose to be low income

[@crimsonhermit]

Let’s make sure these politicians keep getting those fat paychecks. Greed in this country is beyond out of control.

[@johnholmes871]

Means they need get a job