PHROLES is working in local and national coalitions to figure out a solution to the current crisis. "The need will never grow old. When the shelters are empty in every city, then I can see tearing down public housing," she said.
Although New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer had little to tell City Limits about any present initiatives on NYCHA's behalf, they did point to recent efforts to shore up financing. And the local spokesman for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Adam Glantz, sounded an apologetic note too.
"I don't think it's a secret that in terms of operating subsidies, they used to get 100 percent, and that has been lowered," Glantz said recently. "Their mission is terribly, terribly important. We have literally thousands of public housing authorities going through the same thing."
But author Bloom, for one, remains optimistic. Democratic presidential administrations historically have supported public housing. Should Sen. Barack Obama be elected president – though he's hardly made affordable housing a centerpiece of his campaign – "I guarantee you HUD is not going to be holding up money for America's public housing," he said.
Additional reporting contributed by Lauren Victory and Betsy Morais.
