NYC Approves Poor People Entrance For Luxury Apartment Building

Gawker – It would be difficult to come with a more on-the-nose metaphor for New York City’s income inequality problem than the new high-rise apartment building coming to 40 Riverside Boulevard, which will feature separate doors for regular, wealthy humans and whatever you call the scum that rents affordable housing. Extell Development Company, the firm behind the new building, announced its intentions to segregate the rich and poor to much outrage last year. Fifty-five of the luxury complex’s 219 units would be marked for low-income renters—netting some valuable tax breaks for Extell—with the caveat that the less fortunate tenants would stick to their own entrance.  The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development approved Extell’s Inclusionary Housing Program application for the 33-story tower this week, the New York Post reports. The status grants Extell the aforementioned tax breaks and the right to construct a larger building than would ordinarily be allowed. According to the Daily Mail, affordable housing tenants will enter through a door situated on a “back alley.” Any of the unwashed folk who complain about such a convenient arrangement, of course, are just being ungrateful. As the Mail points out, fellow poor-door developer David Von Spreckelsenexplained as much last year:

“No one ever said that the goal was full integration of these populations,” said David Von Spreckelsen, senior vice president at Toll Brothers. “So now you have politicians talking about that, saying how horrible those back doors are. I think it’s unfair to expect very high-income homeowners who paid a fortune to live in their building to have to be in the same boat as low-income renters, who are very fortunate to live in a new building in a great neighborhood.”

You know when there’s a trade that works out for both teams? That rare occurrence where there really isn’t a clear winner or loser in a deal and both teams got better in equal, but opposite fashions? Like the Dodgers and Red Sox blockbuster a couple years back. One man’s trash was another man’s treasure – the Sox got to press the reset button and have since won a World Series. The Dodgers instantly shot to the top of the NL West and have been a force in the National League ever since.

Well thats whats going on here with the Poors and this luxury building. When this was first talked about last year I said the Poors don’t give a shit what door they have to go in, as long as they get to live in that building. They get a luxury apartment for like 1/5th the cost probably. In return the landlords get all sorts of tax breaks for letting disgusting bums live amongst their real tenants. Nobody said the rich people and the poor people have to play together. Nobody said they had to invite each other over for dinner. Cheap apartments, and tax breaks. Thats all this deal is about. And as long as both sides are getting that, I don’t think anybody cares about anything in between. Poor people go in the back door and live like kings in their apartment they could never afford. Building owners save a ton of money. And the rich tenants never have to see or smell the Untouchables. Thats a Win Win Win situation. I’m thinking about getting poor enough just so I can live in this building and use the back door.