by Clare O’Connor
Last week, things were looking up for residents of the Bushwick Houses project in north Brooklyn – at least, they appeared more promising than usual for a part of town rife with unemployment and poverty. The U.S. Census brought short-term, lucrative work for many residents of the 16-acre complex: about $20 an hour to go door to door in their own community.
“For a time, things seemed good,” said Dolores Byrd, a retiree who has lived at Bushwick Houses for 27 years, and who made $45 yesterday collecting completed census packets. Still, like many of the thousands who call the project home, Byrd’s good week ended abruptly on Wednesday when the city announced it may have to revoke housing assistance vouchers from more than 10,000 New Yorkers. The New York Housing Authority (NYCHA), faced with a $45 million deficit, may have no choice but to cut off the housing voucher program, known as Section 8, even though it may result in many thousands of people being unable to pay their rent and perhaps ending up homeless.
According to the latest NYCHA statistics released on March 31, there are 92,700 Brooklyn residents receiving Section 8 assistance in 36,193 units. The Section 8 program allows tenants to pay 30 percent of their income toward their rent, then covers the remainder. It is too early for NYCHA to know how many of these Brooklyn tenants may lose their vouchers, leaving them with a shortfall in rent money. “Right now, our energies are focused on addressing the budget shortfall so we can avoid putting families at risk,” said NYCHA spokesperson Heidi Morales.
At Bushwick Houses, Dolores Byrd worries for her friends and neighbors at 869 Flushing Ave., one of eight high-rises on the complex. As captain of the Tenants’ Association, she is aware of the difficulty many residents have paying their rent even with the help of Section 8.
“The people that have it are in jeopardy,” she said. “I don’t have it, but I applied for it. A lot of people in this building have it and are petrified. The economy has changed – there’s a rent hike, but no increase in your checks. The families with four or five kids, the senior citizens – where are they gonna go?”
One senior citizen currently on Section 8 is Colonel Banks, an Army veteran who declined to give his first name. He lives on the other side of Bushwick Houses at 140 Moore St., a high-rise with a playground out front. On Thursday, Banks stood outside the building as part of the project’s Tenant Patrol, a paid part-time job keeping watch over an area known for crime. “I have a year left on Section 8,” he said. “They didn’t change it yet. It’s doing fine for me. I’ll have to wait and see.”
Less optimistic was Cookie Moronta, a fellow resident of 140 Moore, also on Tenant Patrol on Thursday afternoon. “My son’s baby’s mother is on it,” she said. “She’s looking for an apartment right now with that voucher. Otherwise it’s back to the shelter.”
The shelter system was mentioned by a number of Bushwick Houses residents as the only other option should Section 8 be revoked. One resident of 869 Flushing Ave. worries for the young mothers who will have to look to homeless shelters without housing assistance vouchers to cover their rent shortfall.
“I am a parent – I’ve been in shelters,” said Gladys, who declined to give her last name, and who has lived in the project for nine years. “I feel sorry for the people who have Section 8. What are they going to do now? I can imagine how they feel.”
One of the public advocates working in Brooklyn’s housing courts sees NYCHA’s announcement as short-sighted, partly because of the added pressure this could put on the city’s homeless shelters.
“By definition people with Section 8 vouchers can’t afford the rent,” said Ed Josephson, director of litigation at South Brooklyn Legal Services. “Needless to say these people will end up in the shelter system.”
Josephson added that landlords renting privately-owned apartments to tenants using Section 8 vouchers will suffer. When residents have to move out into shelters or to stay with family, landlords will lose a revenue stream.
The head of the community board that oversees Bushwick Houses agrees that NYCHA’s move could amount to an “economic nightmare” for Brooklyn’s most vulnerable population.
“The truth is that this group is the least able to defend itself against changes in public policy,” said the Community Board 6 district manager, Craig Hammerman. “I wouldn’t even consider shelters a viable option. People will become homeless or end up doubling or tripling up in apartments with friends and family.”
The residents of Bushwick Houses will have to wait to hear whether the city will indeed go ahead and revoke thousands of housing assistance vouchers in their community. The various Tenants Associations responsible for the eight high-rises will address residents’ concerns at their monthly meetings. In the meantime, Dolores Byrd finds it difficult to remain optimistic in an area that – despite the recent boon of the census – can seem overlooked.
“The ones that are gonna hurt are people in this neighborhood,” she said. “We want to stop being on the bottom of the totem pole.”
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