Corporations exist to make profit. In the housing context, corporate landlords extract as much profit from their investments as possible. The results are rent increases, cost-cutting on building maintenance, reductions in building-wide services, low-cost or inadequate repairs, and evictions.
“Unemployment continues to be higher in places like Flatbush, Brooklyn—my neighborhood—than in the wealthiest parts of the city and state. For my unemployed neighbors and those earning low wages, price increases hit us much, much harder than the richest residents of the Upper East Side who may own two or three homes.”
A state senator and assemblyman argue for a law that would publicize which New York businesses have 50 or more employees using taxpayer benefits to supplement poor wages.
It’s easy to blame globalization and technology for the proliferation of low-wage jobs. But what about the executives, stockholders, taxpayers and consumers who benefit from them?
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Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
