Rise of Homeless in Subways Poses Increasing Problem for Transit Staff

[Deucey]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The thing is land is so expensive here and there's so much red tape that you have to build luxury to turn a profit. That's just a way of life here in NYC for developers. The "affordable" housing here seems to be for the very poor or families, but middle to upper middle young people are left out, and it's the middle class that's being pushed out. The real issue is the need to destabilize rents and allow for more market-rate apartments. That would then lower rents and put less pressure on the rental market. What I predict is more people that are young getting roommates and unable to afford rents on their own. People my age seem increasingly unable to which is alarming. Then again when you have rents approaching mortgages, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Can't forget about the broker fee - 15% annual rent.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

14 minutes ago, Deucey said:

Can't forget about the broker fee - 15% annual rent.

lol... Just to show you how things have skyrocketed, my first place in NYC I paid $2,700 to get in there and that was less than six years ago. For that same place, I'd have to pay $4,800 today based on what I pay now.  That doesn't include monies to actually move or furniture, and I remember looking at my Amex bill the next month and saying whoa then. lol  What's ironic is when I lived in Italy, I paid roughly $1,600 a month American for rent for a spacious renovated one bedroom in Florence (spacious by European standards), and there you also pay for water, electric and gas as you control all of that, so let's say roughly $1,800 for all of that per month.  The only difference here is I don't pay for water or heat, and all my utilities are electric, but my rent is the same ($1,600). That's something else that is creeping up. I don't know about you, but I pay more and more each year for ConEd, cable and cell service, not including transportation and food, and who can forget student loans.  I don't know how kids graduating in the future will be able to afford to live on their own.  

[CenSin]

12 hours ago, R42N said:

That works sometimes, but that’s a huge inconvienece at other times. Picture a customer, freezing, waiting for 15+ minutes at Astoria-Ditmars (where there is no covered protection) for a late night , only to have the train come and be taken out of service for a few minutes, only to quickly resurrect back in service.

That can’t be worse than being in a smelly train. You want better quality of life, you have to make some sacrifices to get it. 5 minutes outside the train is nothing.

[bobtehpanda]

5 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The thing is land is so expensive here and there's so much red tape that you have to build luxury to turn a profit. That's just a way of life here in NYC for developers. The "affordable" housing here seems to be for the very poor or families, but middle to upper middle young people are left out, and it's the middle class that's being pushed out. The real issue is the need to destabilize rents and allow for more market-rate apartments. That would then lower rents and put less pressure on the rental market. What I predict is more people that are young getting roommates and unable to afford rents on their own. People my age seem increasingly unable to which is alarming. Then again when you have rents approaching mortgages, it shouldn't be a surprise.

There's still lots of capacity left on the land, our zoning just caps it and makes every hypothetical unit really expensive. Tokyo is a much larger city than we are that is by no means some libertarian deathtrap, but the median house there starts at 300K, whereas anything you find for 300K here is probably a tear down.

The developers and the brokers here are a cartel. Starts by small developers doing the banal stuff like house -> townhome or townhome -> multifamily home are basically dead because it's in the rich developers' interests to shut them out.

[B35 via Church]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

... I don't know how kids graduating in the future will be able to afford to live on their own.  

They won't (generally speaking) - it's why you have as many of them doing the roommate thing as it is now.... Worse than that, some of these young adults (if you ask me) have been brainwashed into not wanting/having their own space.... I mean, yeah you save money by splitting bills 'x' amount of ways & I can understand (well, to an extent anyway) not wanting to own (a house) as they get older, but being 40 & fabulous and living with friends/acquaintances is NOT the business, I'm sorry... It's bad enough these new apts. that's being built nowadays are so damn small; some even resemble dorms..... And have the gall to want rent resembling mortgage payments....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

They won't (generally speaking) - it's why you have as many of them doing the roommate thing as it is now.... Worse than that, some of these young adults (if you ask me) have been brainwashed into not wanting/having their own space.... I mean, yeah you save money by splitting bills 'x' amount of ways & I can understand (well, to an extent anyway) not wanting to own (a house) as they get older, but being 40 & fabulous and living with friends/acquaintances is NOT the business, I'm sorry... It's bad enough these new apts. that's being built nowadays are so damn small; some even resemble dorms..... And have the gall to want rent resembling mortgage payments....

That's my big thing. I didn't even have roommates when I got my first apartment in Italy.  I had to put out my own money for my place but I didn't care. There's nothing like having your own place to do as you please when you please.  In fact this whole roommate thing is one reason why rents are what they are.  You basically get a room for like $1,000 a month, all to say that I'm making it in NYC. lol There are also some that MUST live in Manhattan or the trendiest areas at all costs.  I've looked at places in Manhattan and could definitely afford to live there, but choose not to.  I don't think it's worth it to pay someone else's rent and on top of that, have to deal with the subway every day.  My commute is a bit longer and more expensive, but still much nicer taking MNRR or the express bus in. We're due for another recession soon.  You can already tell by the way rents are starting to come down (slightly).

29 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

There's still lots of capacity left on the land, our zoning just caps it and makes every hypothetical unit really expensive. Tokyo is a much larger city than we are that is by no means some libertarian deathtrap, but the median house there starts at 300K, whereas anything you find for 300K here is probably a tear down.

The developers and the brokers here are a cartel. Starts by small developers doing the banal stuff like house -> townhome or townhome -> multifamily home are basically dead because it's in the rich developers' interests to shut them out.

You can't compare Tokyo to NYC.  Japan has no choice but to build, given the limited amount of space there. I do agree about the developers and brokers being a cartel though. It's hilarious.  My building sits almost empty now as just about all of my former neighbors were pushed out due to high rents.

[Spypenguin]

As a young adult, I don't really mind having roommates. If you find the right people, it can work out well. Privacy does not need to be sacrificed when having roommates. It also builds character. Millennials like to be outside and having roommates helps us from becoming house dwellers.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

14 minutes ago, Spypenguin said:

As a young adult, I don't really mind having roommates. If you find the right people, it can work out well. Privacy does not need to be sacrificed when having roommates. It also builds character. Millennials like to be outside and having roommates helps us from becoming house dwellers.

Oh please.  I don't know how old you are, but a lot of millennials are starting to hit 30 or above that.  How long are you planning on having roommates?  Until you find a girlfriend to split the expenses with?   I'm sorry, but if you're in your 30s you should have your own place.  It's just that simple.  I had a few roommates in college, but that was only because it was obligatory. My first semester I didn't have one and after that I had three roommates.  Senior year I lived alone and prior to that I made sure I paid extra to live alone for the time I was living on campus, so I value my privacy and will pay whatever it costs to have it.  I mean you can't even entertain dude.  Just this weekend I was out at Sur La Table and Crate & Barrel buying stuff for my new place and was thinking about pieces when I have company over that I wanna show off.  I don't even want to know how entertaining works when you're living with four or five people.  

When I lived in Italy, a few people at the private university I went to would always complain that they hated having roommates because the hot water would run out before they could get a shower, so that meant a cold shower.  There's other issues too I'm sure like sharing one bathroom.  When I want to shower in the morning, I don't want to deal with waiting for "Joe Schmoe" to finish doing his business, etc.  There's weekends where I just stay in and sleep and relax, and you know what, that's what I get to do because I pay my own way.  

[RR503]

33 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Oh please.  I don't know how old you are, but a lot of millennials are starting to hit 30 or above that.  How long are you planning on having roommates?  Until you find a girlfriend to split the expenses with?   I'm sorry, but if you're in your 30s you should have your own place.  It's just that simple.  I had a few roommates in college, but that was only because it was obligatory. My first semester I didn't have one and after that I had three roommates.  Senior year I lived alone and prior to that I made sure I paid extra to live alone for the time I was living on campus, so I value my privacy and will pay whatever it costs to have it.  I mean you can't even entertain dude.  Just this weekend I was out at Sur La Table and Crate & Barrel buying stuff for my new place and was thinking about pieces when I have company over that I wanna show off.  I don't even want to know how entertaining works when you're living with four or five people.  

When I lived in Italy, a few people at the private university I went to would always complain that they hated having roommates because the hot water would run out before they could get a shower, so that meant a cold shower.  There's other issues too I'm sure like sharing one bathroom.  When I want to shower in the morning, I don't want to deal with waiting for "Joe Schmoe" to finish doing his business, etc.  There's weekends where I just stay in and sleep and relax, and you know what, that's what I get to do because I pay my own way.  

Where do you get your authority to dictate how people live? 

I wholly agree that it’s nice to have ones own space, but it’s a personal choice. Live and let live. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

8 minutes ago, RR503 said:

Where do you get your authority to dictate how people live? 

I wholly agree that it’s nice to have ones own space, but it’s a personal choice. Live and let live. 

I would disagree with that.  People get roommates because they can't afford to live alone, and this is the "new trend" (it's either that or living at home until you're 30 or 40 - let's be honest), so if it makes folks feel better trying to justify living with roommates in their 30s or even 40s then sure, you can call it a "personal choice", but it also relates to the growing number of homeless people.  The whole shacking up with roommates is what is driving rents to such absurd levels in the first place.  I would say if you could de-regulate all of these apartments and put them on the market for market rate consumption, you'd see rents come down and a lot fewer people getting roommates. 

Let's be honest now... You can't honestly sit here with a straight face and tell me there isn't something strange about some person in their 30s or 40s still living with roommates.  I could probably excuse it in your 20s because most are usually just graduating right out of college, and saddled with student loan debt and broke, even if they start out with a good job, so if you have four student loans like I did then you do whatever you have to do, but at some point I would think you would want to settle down and live like a real grown-up and have your own apartment and make your own way, even if you struggle a little bit.  

Where do I get my authority from? I'm just telling it like it is, and you know it's true.  You wanna bring a chick home and what do you tell her? Oh I gotta see if my roommates are home first. Smh Crazy...

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

On 11/1/2017 at 6:14 PM, Deucey said:

@Via Garibaldi 8, cops always say they're being prevented from doing stuff - whether it's the pols or the courts. To me, it's lazy bureaucratese - people who really want something find a way to do it within the law or in the gray area between legal and illegal.

There's 45k blue bloods in the city on active and reserve status, so the manpower is there. It's the desire that isn't.

If they didn't have funding, the PBA should be lobbying, the Commish should be lobbying and both should be thinking about how to partner with other agencies to do that - Housing and Homeless PD, Sheriff's office, NYSP - partnerships don't need Billy to sign off to happen.

But the will has to be there, and it isn't. That's the problem.

There are more people without homes in NYC than there are people in the Albany - Schenectady - Troy area.

The bureaucracy is literally making an endless handover of a straightforward issue. Speaking of gray areas...

There are some NYCT employees that aren't helping. One of them went too far in dragging a passenger off a terminating train.

Someone caught it on cell phone video. An investigation was started.

 

Unofficial editors note: That neighborhood is Kensington, not even West Flatbush. As far as I'm concerned, East Flatbush begins near the intersection of Kings Hwy and Linden Blvd (post office is less than 20 ft away).

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

57 minutes ago, Spypenguin said:

As a young adult, I don't really mind having roommates. If you find the right people, it can work out well. Privacy does not need to be sacrificed when having roommates. It also builds character. Millennials like to be outside and having roommates helps us from becoming house dwellers.

It won't be long before you're driven mad. It's easy to get snared in housing that's as cheap as the experience but more costly as days pass by, in more ways than just money.

I thought I was the unrealistic one. You aren't one of the Crown Heights incoming, are you?

[CenSin]

5 hours ago, MassTransitHonchkrow said:

There are some NYCT employees that aren't helping. One of them went too far in dragging a passenger off a terminating train.

Someone caught it on cell phone video. An investigation was started.

Why would they even soil their clothes to clear out a train… some mace could have gotten the train cleared up in no time.

[bobtehpanda]

9 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

You can't compare Tokyo to NYC.  Japan has no choice but to build, given the limited amount of space there. I do agree about the developers and brokers being a cartel though. It's hilarious.  My building sits almost empty now as just about all of my former neighbors were pushed out due to high rents.

Do we not also have a limited amount of space? Isn't that why we have the problem in the first place?

 

5 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Let's be honest now... You can't honestly sit here with a straight face and tell me there isn't something strange about some person in their 30s or 40s still living with roommates.  I could probably excuse it in your 20s because most are usually just graduating right out of college, and saddled with student loan debt and broke, even if they start out with a good job, so if you have four student loans like I did then you do whatever you have to do, but at some point I would think you would want to settle down and live like a real grown-up and have your own apartment and make your own way, even if you struggle a little bit.  

We're moving back to the living styles that existed in the 1900s. The 1950s-1980s period of America was, compared to the rest of human history, an outlier in terms of how people lived.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

16 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

Do we not also have a limited amount of space? Isn't that why we have the problem in the first place?

We do but it isn't as bad as Japan's situation. Not even close. Part of the issue is everyone wanting to have a Manhattan address or live close to Manhattan with subway access.  If people expanded their horizons a bit we'd have a much different picture.  It's comical too because the subways here are deplorable, so you're paying extra to be close to an "amenity" that runs like crap.