congressional_record: CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2135-4
Data license: Public Domain (U.S. Government data) · Data source: Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API
This data as json
| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2135-4 | 2002-11-22 | 107 | 2 | LONG ISLAND'S HOUSING CRISIS | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | ALLOTHER | E2135 | E2136 | [{"name": "Steve Israel", "role": "speaking"}] | 148 Cong. Rec. E2135 | Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002) [Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E2135-E2136] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] LONG ISLAND'S HOUSING CRISIS ______ HON. STEVE ISRAEL of new york in the house of representatives Friday, November 22, 2002 Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to once again note the severe affordable housing crisis my constituents face on Long Island. Today's Newsday carried an article by Christian Murray revealing some truly disturbing statistics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 26 percent of Long Island households pay more than 35 percent of their gross monthly income on either rent or mortgage. For over fifty years Americans have been cautioned to keep housing expenses under 25 percent of their income. The 35 percent average is a genuine crisis. [[Page E2136]] Pearl Kamer, an economist who wrote the report for the Island's leading affordable housing organization, the Long Island Housing Partnership, noted that ``with many people paying so much on housing, there is little left over for food and medical care.'' Mr. Speaker, this housing crisis is having a terrible effect on Long Island's families. The fact that young people--often college graduates with good jobs--cannot find adequate, affordable housing, means that those young people are leaving Long Island. And if companies can't rely on a stable workforce, they will choose to locate somewhere else. The lack of affordable housing on Long Island is not merely about some families having to pay too much. It is a problem that permeates every part of our community's life. Young people are forced out of our region. Jobs disappear as companies decide they can no longer depend upon a solid workforce. And our communities dissolve as the very foundation on which that community was built erodes. Mr. Speaker, when the 108th Congress convenes in January, we must quickly address the issue of adequate housing in America. I ask that the text of today's Newsday article be included in the Record at this time. [lsqb]From Newsday, Nov. 21, 2002[rsqb] Mortgaging LI's Economic Future (By Christian Murray) Skyrocketing rents and booming home prices are forcing more than 200,000 Long Island households to pay more than one- third of their income on housing, according to a comprehensive new study released yesterday. The study, ``Lack of Affordable Housing: Prescription for Economic Disaster,'' found 26 percent of Long Island households pay more than 35 percent of their gross monthly income on either rent or mortgage. ``These findings are dire,'' said Pearl Kamer, a regional economist who conducted the study for the Long Island Housing Partnership. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines say households should not spend more than 30 percent of their gross income on housing. ``With many people paying so much on housing, there is little left over for food and medical care,'' Kamer said at a news conference at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset yesterday. Kamer added that the high cost of housing is forcing many people, especially young families, to leave Long Island, and this exodus will hurt the region when the economy picks up and companies can't find workers. While affordable housing has long been an issue on Long Island, the problem has been exacerbated by the hot real estate market in the past four years, when home prices have soared 81 percent while household incomes have risen only 14 percent, Kamer said. Jim Morgo, president of the Hauppauge-based Long Island Housing Partnership, said he has established a task force of industry and nonprofit officials to take the study's findings to every municipality across the Island, as a means of prodding officials to make way for more affordable housing. The study, based on 2000 census figures, analyzed median incomes and housing costs in more than 250 communities by individual census tract. It found that about one quarter, or 165,000 of Long Island's 672,000 homeowners, paid at least 35 percent for a place to live--including mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance. In some Nassau County neighborhoods, including Elmont, Hempstead Village, Uniondale and Roosevelt, at least 20 percent of the owners spent more than 50 percent of gross income on housing. And this scenario also occurred in the Suffolk neighborhoods of Wyandanch, North Amityville, North Bay Shore and Brentwood. The study also found that one-third of tenants across Long Island paid more than 35 percent of household income in rent. In many neighborhoods--such as Central Islip, North Amityville, Wyandanch and Lawrence Village--about 40 percent of renters pay more than half their wages on shelter. Rental units account for about 19 percent of Nassau's housing stock and 18 percent of Suffolk's--low, compared with 38 percent of Westcheter and 27 percent in Rockland. But some Nassau neighborhoods, including Manorhaven, Hempstead Village, Great Neck Plaza, Long Beach and Glen Cove, have more than 40 percent of their housing units in rental apartments. And in Suffolk, Bay Shore and Patchogue both have high ratios of rental units to owner-occupied housing. Elizabeth McCarthy, who grew up in Dix Hills and works at Canon USA's Lake Success offices in marketing, said at the news conference she's been struggling to find housing after graduating from Marist College in 1998. Earning about $31,000 annually, she rented a studio apartment for $900 per month in Bay Shore--but it was too costly. ``I thought about leaving the area [lsqb]Long Island[rsqb].'' She started looking for a house with her parents. ``I was shocked to find that there was nothing out there, never mind anything in my price range.'' Eventually, she was able to buy a subsidizing affordable home through the Housing Partnership at the Highview, a complex in Huntington. Kamer added that since the 2000 census, when the data were gathered, the affordable-housing crisis has most likely worsened. Kamer said that many young workers, unable to afford housing here, are leaving. And many of these workers who have lower-paying jobs are essential to the Island's economy. Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney said some towns are reluctant to build rental units or affordable housing, fearing that it will decrease the value of an area. But if employers don't have the labor force they'll need because young workers leave, they'll set up businesses elsewhere. Among Morgo's list of possible solutions is his call to get towns to allow for greater zoning flexibility, when developers put forward proposals for affordable-housing units. While many young people earn much more than their parents, he said, they are unable to afford a home. ``It's the inversion of the American Dream,'' Margo said. Feeling the Pinch Communities on Long Island with the highest percentages of homeowners spending more than 35 percent of their income on housing costs. Minimum 3,000 housing units. 1. Hempstead Village: 34.9 percent. 2. Elmont: 34.2 percent. 3. Brentwood: 31.1 percent. 4. Dix Hills: 30.0 percent. 5. Central Islip: 29.9 percent. 6. Copiague: 29.7 percent. 7. Bay Shore: 29.5 percent. 8. Franklin Square: 29.3 percent. 9. North Valley Stream: 29.3 percent. 10. Freeport: 28.8 percent. 11. East Islip: 28.7 percent. 12. Greenlawn: 27.9 percent. 13. Uniondale: 27.8 percent. 14. West Babylon: 27.5 percent. 15. Deer Park: 27.4 percent. 16. Ridge: 27.0 percent. 17. St. James: 25.9 percent. 18. Selden: 25.9 percent. 19. North Massapequa: 25.8 percent. 20. Glen Cove: 25.7 percent. 21. Lindenhurst: 25.7 percent. 22. Long Beach: 25.7 percent. 23. West Islip: 25.7 percent. 24. South Farmingdale: 25.6 percent. 25. Merrick: 25.5 percent. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. ____________________ |