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Housing advocates, elected officials and New Yorkers from every borough marched on City Hall this week, demanding more affordable housing in New York City.
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(FADE UP, THEN POST MB--CHANT) "Affordable housing now! Affordable housing now!" (FADE OUT)
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Paige Sayle, who represents the Partnership for the Homeless, explains why so many New Yorkers turned out to march.
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(Paige Sayle) Affordable housing has been an issue for a long time but it's never quite reached the peak of crisis that it's reached now. There are about 40,000 homeless men, women and children in this city on any given night and there's twenty percent of the New York City population that's living below the poverty line.... and that means people cannot afford to live in this city any more.
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Housing advocates say section 8 is a critical part of the city's housing plan. The federal funding cuts will leave the city fifty million dollars short, with nearly a hundred and twenty five thousand families still on the waiting list. Yvonne Anderson was one of them. She says it's thanks to section 8 that she is just leaving a homeless shelter.
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(Yvonne Anderson) A lot of us are trying to get off of public assistance...So I indeed do feel lucky. At least with this, I can go to work, go to school, and have a better future.
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That future is also at stake across the country. Linda Couch, a spokeswoman for the national low income housing coalition, says housing authorities across the country are reacting in several ways.
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(Linda Couch) One way is to increase rents that residents pay toward their housing. Another way is to ask landlords to take less in rent, which as you c ould imagine for a program that is so tied to the participation of private landlords, is really detrimental to the program's future.
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Spokesman Michael Morder says New York city's housing authority has not yet clarified how the city plans to live within a smaller section 8 budget.
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(Michael Morder, NYCHA): The reality is, our options are limited, given the magnitude of the federal government's funding reduction.
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Couch says the city will most likely save money in only one of two ways: it can either give vouchers to people who are able to put a higher percentage of their annual incomes toward rent, or pay a lower standard to landlords. Where those who cannot pay more will turn remains to be seen.
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(Linda Couch, Nat'l Low Income Housing) Well, that's the kicker. Federal housing programs from HUD are supposed to be the safety net. And when we take that safety net away, there seems to be some presupposition on the part of white house that another one exists down the street. But that's not the case.
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Paige Sayle says New Yorkers, in particular, need that safety net.
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(Paige Sayle) In a lot of instances, especially here in nyc, that's going to translate into people having to pay more of their income, to cover the cost of their voucher or potentially people having their voucher taken away entirely, which will then ultimately lead to more people in the shelter system.
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The federal Housing and Urban development agency disburses section 8 funds. The notice HUD Fed Exed to city housing agencies last month said that this year's decision was final, no appeals allowed. For Columbia Radio News, I'm Kristin Espeland.