Sunday, July 27, 2014

{Op-Ed} An Open Letter to #NewYorkCity - Just say NO to "The Poor Door" #oped #poordoor

View of New York City, NYC


I am not a visitor, a lurker, a stalker, a dreamer or 'NYC Wannabee' I was born here. I was raised here. I have worked hard my entire life here. 

Forging a life in this City is not an easy task.  This city isn't all endless cocktail parties.

It takes a lot of hard work and quite frankly cojones to make it here. No one hands you anything, there is a reason the song lyrics say 'If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you New York, NEW YORK'.

I sat on this Op-Ed for days, hoping that when my fingers met my keyboard somewhere amid my furious typing that my emotions would level off a bit, that I could approach this from a place of neutrality and tap into my News Writing Background, but I am still as emotional right now as I was when a status update from a wide variety of my friends hit my feed with a link to a Huffington Post article entitled "Luxury New York Condo Will Have A 'Poor Door' For Lower-Income Residents." The link I provided to it will open in a new window for you, please read it. Then come back here and tell me how it made YOU feel.

A 33-story building now under construction at 40 Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City will contain 219 luxury units facing the Hudson River, there will also be a segment on floors two through six that will contain 55 street-facing units for the building's 'poorer' residents. The 'poor' residents will have their own entrance. These 'affordable' units are being made available to families of four whose annual income is $51,540 or less - which amounts to 60% of the area's median income. The lower-income residents will not only have to go through a 'poor door' to get in and out of the building, they will also be prohibited from using the amenities found in most properties by the New York-based developer Extell like the gym and swimming pool. The Developers will receive millions in tax breaks and hard working New Yorkers deemed by them as 'poor' will be stigmatized as they enter and exit their own place of residence each and every single day. Demoralizing much?

We all opted to tweet Mayor Bill Di Blasio (who may have still been on his vacation to Italy at the time) and I am sure none of us will get a direct response, but that tweet I sent just didn't feel like it was enough. This doesn't sit right with me on any level.

I spent time post College doing Public Relations for my local district's City Councilman and all throughout my School Years and while working with him I was constantly told I should pursue a career in Politics, and I scoffed at the idea, until now.

The Huff Post article has left me with a knot in my stomach that has been churning for days, and while part of me wants to break up with this City, another part of me questions if it's time for me to make change in a way that really matters, from the inside out.

The New York Times noted in May that minorities and the elderly largely make up the city's rent-regulated population, but by far the best quote I've read so far on the issue comes from Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal who said:

"A mandatory affordable housing plan is not license to segregate lower-income tenants from those who are well-off."

Haven't we battled hard enough to end segregation in America? Is history really doomed to repeat itself because we never learn from our mistakes?

I don't want to be part of a system where it's OK for some to hold their head high and others be made to feel like they should drop theirs in shame.

You know what families may end up qualifying for the 'poor apartments' those of teachers, doctors, fire fighters, sanitation workers - you know just the folks who keep this city running, IN the actual trenches. You mean to tell me the local teacher and his/her family should enter from a separate door? That a Police Officer who puts his/her life on the line each and every single day should come home from a hard day's work keeping this city safe and enter through a 'Separate Door'?

What about that hard working young College Grad working at a Not-For-Profit? Should they feel 'shamed' when they come home too?



Butterflies I am always super careful to use this space as a place to inspire. I try to keep Religion, Sex and Politics off these pages, as my goal was to always keep my online home rant and snark free, but I can't pretend this doesn't hit me where it hurts. As a New Yorker I find this shameful. I know that the city where dreams are made of has always had a rough 'underbelly' and I never want to cover the sky with one hand, but I can only hope that everyone apartment hunting sees the Huff Post article or this one, and that even if they can afford the apartments there, that they will put their money where their mouth and conscious is, and NOT buy an apartment in ANY building with a "Poor Door".

As a lifelong New Yorker, there is one and only one 'separate entrance/exit' I find acceptable. The one at the theatre that allows actors to quickly exit after a play. When that play ends they are off the clock. Some days they may stop and sign playbills, other nights just like us they need to get home to family obligations or just de-stress. That is the only 'separate' door I can find acceptable in this day and age.

Since Sundays is usually the day I reserve to share my Weekly Moment of Gratitude, all I can say for today is that I am grateful not to live in a building with a "Poor Door".

I found AND SIGNED an online petition that is intended directly for Gary Barnett, President of Extell Development Company who is building the Apartment Building at 40 Riverside Boulevard, I hope you will considering signing it! I want this to remain a City that rewards you for your hardwork, but can't it do so without shaming anyone? NYC median rents continue to skyrocket, the average right now is at $3,247 per MONTH, longtime residents are being pushed out of the City, so in essence most of us can work here, just not afford to continue to live here.

What do you think of the "Poor Door"?

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13 comments:

  1. SHAME on Gary Barnett, President of Extell Development Company , but more Shame on this City that will allow a greedy person and or company to degrade their hard working citizen's and their children !
    To take millions with the understanding that they would provide fair and equitable hosing to hard working people then use a " POOR DOOR " (to HARD WORKING ) citizen is a joke but were not laughing !!!.
    Nurses and teacher's ,emt workers, policemen and women and others can contribute to this city but can enjoy a nice place to live and there emenities !

    I thought segregation had been won in court but I see that was only on paper !!

    Not one person should allow this to happen not those on the "POOR DOOR" side NOR on the "well off side.

    Remember there always people with more $$$ than you and you might find yourself on the "POOR DOOR" what then !!!!!!!!!!

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    1. @Big Happy Buddha - Good point, how do you explain to children why they can't join in on a pool party all the other children are participating in? I hope you signed the petition!

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  2. I'll throw my two cents in even though I know the futility of what I am about to say.

    The party in power in this country (yes, starting with Obama and his totalitarian cabal and including deBlasio) are complicit in and responsible in large part for this class division and the social acceptance there-of.

    I find it amazing that progressive polices in totality espouse egalitarianism, embracing diversity, and tolerance of all yet the reality is that they, in very-visible practice in every day real world applications, end up being the exact opposite.

    The proof is there if one cares to look ...truly look with a clear sight.

    For examples, look to three tightly held Democrat-controlled cities: New Orleans, Detroit, and Chicago. All three are being strangled by unions (New Orleans less so but that is primarily due to the South's general rejection of unions overall), all three have pretty much marginalized the middle class (who is struggling harder in these cities under their progressive economic policies) and their "lower class" numbers are huge. There's no getting around it ...progressivism is about maintaining a stranglehold on the citizenry ....and it's nearing totalitarianism proportions.

    And, it's getting worse at an astounding pace under this administration.

    Your story, while appalling, is, to me, just one more example of progressive/democrat policies at work ...and what's so astounding is people keep voting into power people who believe in this type of society ...and use that power to make sure it's shoved down all of our throats.

    One last FYI ...Democrats voted en masse against desegregation and civil rights for blacks, yet somehow they have been successful in painting conservatives as the ones who are biased.

    I doubt Giuliani would have stood for this for a second.

    Even this article in the NYTimes could do little to open the eyes of the residents of the city:

    "Now, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, describes himself as a progressive. He has campaigned for mayor as a liberal firebrand who would set out to reduce inequality in the city by offering more help to poor families and asking wealthy residents to pay more in taxes."

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/nyregion/a-mayoral-hopeful-now-de-blasio-was-once-a-young-leftist.html?

    I am not surprised at all by what you write of. Anyone who knew anything about deBlasio's ideology could have seen this coming.

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    1. @Rusthawk - Interesting article reference! Definitely a good read! We are the ones electing these officials, citizens of the world need to be careful who they select to steer their ship. I hope you will considering joining me in signing this petition.

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  3. I can't imagine living there. It seems so chaotic and expensive. Amber N

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    1. @Celebrity VIP Lounge - It is an amazing city. It truly is, but it's ugly underbelly rears it's ugly head in big ways. And yes it's getting so expensive the residents who work here, have to move further and further out to live because they can't afford to live in the city they work so hard for. It's chaotic, but it's also the most 'alive' city you could ever want. (Sometimes a bit 'too alive') :-)

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  4. I'm interested to see the reaction to this post by those who live in the area. I applaud and respect you for this op-ed. I know in this politically heated environment it's become easier - and safer - to keep our views to ourselves ...but we have been gifted with freedom and democracy -- and a voice -- like few others in the world. We should use it.

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    1. @Rusthawk - This is one of my most viewed posts of the month so far and very few have commented.

      The sad thing is that people use the anonymity of the internet to make inappropriate comments, digs or to bully but when they need to rise up and find their voice they get quiet. It drives me nuts.

      I am always open to differing opinions!

      It took me a few days to decide to write this, but I just knew in my heart that I couldn't remain silent about this!

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  5. That is just awful. It is discrimination, plain and simple. I can't believe they can actually get away with making people have separate entrances and how they can sleep at night for even thinking of implementing such a thing.

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    1. @Mom of Two - I agree. It disgusts me on every level. Please consider signing the petition and sharing that you did with your social networks, the more we make people aware of this situation I can only hope it will help somehow. Instead of cat videos, I'd like to see THIS petition go VIRAL!!!

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  6. Is this seriously being done?! I knew there was a reason I didn't like NY. I thought it was the Yankees, but I was mistaken. Thank you for sharing... let your voice be heard !

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    1. @Tricias-ListPRPage - Tricia, New York really is an amazing city. This is corporate greed and political corruption at its very worst. But the people? New Yorkers are hard-working and industrious and the fact that we are being edged out of our own city and now a 'poor door', its just outrageous. Please consider signing and sharing this petition. The more we use our voices to express outrage, the less this situation can be swept under a rug and ignored.

      ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

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  7. Wow and Woah. Talk about Extremes. On the one hand it's all about being "Politically Correct", but on the other it's about "staying with our own". Shame on the developer, but even bigger shame to any of those "Haves" not seeing the injustice in the situation.

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