Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alicia Boyd, Political activist on gentrification, displacement, and affordability for low-income residents
1:53:35
·
3 min
Activist Alicia Boyd criticizes the hearing's focus on developers over the impacts of gentrification and displacement on communities of color like Crown Heights and Flatbush. She argues that development, even designated 'affordable,' often targets income levels far above existing residents, exacerbating displacement, and demands that planning address the needs of the lowest-income New Yorkers.
- Boyd highlights high eviction rates coinciding with high development rates in communities of color.
- She challenges the definition of 'affordability,' citing local examples where targeted Area Median Income (AMI) is unaffordable for current residents.
- She asserts that the housing crisis disproportionately affects those making very low incomes (e.g., $30k/year) who are not served by current policies like City of Yes.
- She calls for prioritizing residents' needs and addressing displacement.
Alicia Boyd
1:53:35
Hi.
1:53:35
My name is Alicia Boyd, and I'm a political activist in the Crown Heights Flatbush.
1:53:41
I have been a strong advocate against development and high rise development and gentrification in my neighborhood.
1:53:48
All the experts that you have in front of you have never once talked about gentrification and displacement.
1:53:54
You talked about, oh, the opportunity for developers to build more and build faster, and, oh my god, it's so expensive for them, and, oh, we gotta do this.
1:54:02
But not one person that you have asked to talk about.
1:54:06
What are the effects of all of this gentrification, this development?
1:54:11
District 35, Crown Heights, Flatbush, downtown, has the highest rate of development in Brooklyn.
1:54:20
Oh, we have our share, but we also have the highest rate of evictions.
1:54:25
And who are the ones who are evicted?
1:54:27
Black people.
1:54:28
Black people are a part of this process that continues to focus on black communities, communities of color.
1:54:38
When they talked about those 10 communities that produced all of this development, did anybody talk about the fact that they're all communities of color?
1:54:46
Did anybody sit there and give you documentation about how much how much displacement has happened as a result of that?
1:54:53
Did anybody talk about affordability?
1:54:57
Okay.
1:54:58
So right in my neighborhood, which is all we got all of the all of the, key points.
1:55:05
We have next to transit.
1:55:07
We're next to Pasey Park.
1:55:10
We, you know, that's about all that you require, low rise community.
1:55:16
Last time, we just got a rezoning in our neighborhood.
1:55:20
The target population for the affordable housing was a hundred and $41,000 starting.
1:55:27
$3,500 for a studio.
1:55:29
My neighborhood has $55,000 annual income.
1:55:34
So what is that development going to do?
1:55:36
That's going to provide us with a little bit of affordable housing.
1:55:40
It's going to put so much pressure on the existing residents in that community.
1:55:46
This board needs to start talking about, not the term affordability, and needs to be talking about what targets are you going to plan to ensure that communities of color, whose average median income is 55,000 is not getting affordable housing that's a hundred and 40 1 thousand.
1:56:06
There needs to be a concern for the residents.
1:56:08
People are leaving this city because of lack of affordability, but they're also leaving this city because they can't afford to live here.
1:56:17
If you're making $30,000 a year, you have a 6% chance of finding an apartment in New York City.
1:56:26
And nothing that has come through, nothing.
1:56:30
City of yes, none of them are addressing those people.
1:56:33
None of them are addressing the people who make $30,000.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
1:56:36
Thank you so much, miss Boyd.
1:56:37
We're at time.