N:PLUS

What is happening in your part of Washington Heights and Inwood?

The city’s fortunes are improving.  It has accomplished this in part, by aggressively using rezoning and capital investments to create jobs in growth industries such as film production and biotechnology and through new housing production. 

New York City is safer – crime is down 22% from 2000 and these and many other factors are important.  Nevertheless, a soaring housing market in NYC is pressing on upper Manhattan with great force.  In this vein, the aggressive use of the inclusionary zoning program permits developers to build more housing in rezoned areas if they keep a portion of that housing (20 to 30%) affordable forever using the 30% of household income rent ceiling for households earning at or below the area median income.  In late 2006, this was around $70,000.  It is established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

At the close of the 20th century, the labor force trend in New York City continues to illustrate an increasing gap between well-educated and high-skilled workers and less well-educated, low-skilled workers.  The consequence of this growing inequality is falling adversely on the rental-housing sector and heavily on communities such as Washington Heights and Inwood.  Unlike previous decades, lower income groups are finding it much more difficult to advance economically.

What is happening in your part of Washington Heights and Inwood?