An Artist’s Guide to Obtaining Public Housing
Hope Gardens in Bushwick, the “most successful” (as of 1993) projects in the city.
Are you an actor, artist, bartender, waiter, or a member of any other profession where you have low — or at least low reported — wages? Don’t mind soulless architecture, pest infestation, broken-down elevators, urine-soaked hallways, or other sub-par conditions, as long as you get to live almost rent-free forever more in the city you love? Consider applying for an apartment with the New York City Housing Authority!
This is already a widespread phenomenon, so don’t hope to be a pioneer in the projects. From Chelsea to the East Village, the projects are full of people in creative industries who worked the system to their advantage. And you only have to make under $43,000! I know what you’re thinking: what kind of environment is that for me to make my art and be creative? Well, who are you to question, when several generations of families have been raised in these very complexes — are you implying public housing is a failure? How dare you, sir. Besides, maybe the desperate conditions will inspire your work!
Now because internets are expensive thingies, the Housing Authority can’t have the applications just sitting online a-cloggin’ up their tubes — you have to either go in person to the applications office in Downtown Brooklyn, or you may call the office and have it mailed to you by that other necessary public bureaucracy, the United States Post Office.
350 Livingston Street, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 250-5900
When you receive your application, please fill it out and mail it to NYCHA:
NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY
Post Office Box 1342
Church Street Station
New York, NY 10008
Good news: Brooklyn doesn’t suffer from the long waiting lists that Manhattan and Queens do! Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose the neighborhood you will live in, but with any luck you’ll be assigned to our fair Bushwick. If not, whatever, you can afford to pay for a regular apartment. But the point of the projects is that you don’t want to. So give it the old college try.
I always wondered about this, do you know what the income cap is for the housing?
From
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/assistance/generalfaq.shtml
Your family may be eligible if your total gross family income is not more than the following amounts:
Person(s) in Family :: Income Limits
1 $43,000
2 $49,150
3 $55,300
4 $61,450
5 $66,350
6 $71,300
7 $76,200
8 $81,100
9 $86,000
10 $90,950
and:
How much will my rent be?
Rent is based on 30% of the family’s adjusted gross income.
Doh, what a terrible guide-writer I am. Thanks JL! I’m gonna amend the post.
Jesus, *I* qualify for public housing!
Me too!
You idiotic hipster transplants. If you only knew how out of place you are.
The projects are a govnurment project that went sour about 30 years back, so they leave it sour in hopes to say the city can’t afford the costs to maintain the problems in the projects,so they let the people in the projects rob,steal,sell drugs,murders etc.Now theres the no nonsense policy, which they throw a family out for any of the crimes listed above.Which works for me, but the problem is they put a worse family in place of the one thrown out.No wins here..
The only thing worse than hipsters are the people who go out of their way to oppose them.
Even worse is the people who oppose the opposers, I hate them.
More like opposeur, amirite?
dietrollingassholewithastupidwebsitenoonecaresabout.com
Projects are horrible horrible horrible places to live, and as much as I understand this post is mostly a joke and fearless hipsters will never “gentrify” housing projects. Any idiot who thinks this is a good idea probably should try to get an apartment in a project just to see how horrible it is to live there.
Marcy Avenue projects seem pretty decent.
I’ve only been in a project apartment twice but that was in Chelsea so I’m not sure if it counts. I didn’t even know these were “projects” but here is what I remember:
The building and exterior grounds were nicely kept, not as lush as a Long Island garden apartment but complete with kiddy and adult play areas. The interior halls were industrial yuck with lots of graffiti and more than a little bit of trash. And they did have an unpleasant odor but I don’t remember thinking urine, more like fish or maybe bed-ridden old person’s room (hmm, maybe it WAS urine). The apartment itself was great – very large with all that anyone could want.
But the key to this tutorial on obtaining government housing or any government subsidy is that it takes a lot of WORK. You will be so busy with forms, appointments, interviews and whatnot that you will have no time for your full-time job.
To clarify – I’ve only VISITED a project apartment twice – never lived in one (yet).
My mom lived in the Tompkin Houses and in Woodside Projects and I lived in Ravenswood Houses.The apartments are lovely.. very warm in the winters.. may have roaches…no mice. You don’t pay light or gas but may be mugged in the elevators or walking to the grocery at night.. OR IN a awkward elevator situation…like why does one thing not look like the others… hmmm oh andddd..the stairwells DO smell like urine and sometimes the elevator .. but hey people turned troutman st and jefferson st and hookerbocker the major crack spots into East Williamsburg.. so who knows… if you got the power …GO FOR IT BUDDY!………………..just a note from a Bushwick born and raised.
I really wish diehipster would elaborate on her remark. How exactly are hipsters out of their element? What is their element? Clue me in.
Why don’t more starving artists and struggling creative types, the ones doing experimental and cutting edge work (translation: hard to make money at), take advantage of this sort of opportunity? I think that’s the only joke in Jeremy’s post.
I doubt these hipster are really starving… Go to a third wold country and you’ll see what starving means. I live a few blocks away from the Morgan train stop and all these “starving” hipsters/artists ever do is drink. Funny, they can afford drinks but not food. -_-
So if hipsters flood the housing projects, then where do the single mothers and their kids go? Or do you give two shits?