To Michael Bloomberg
Dear Mayor Bloomberg:
I was recently reading an article on The Atlantic's "Cities" website where the author lamented affordable housing in Manhattan. While one doesn't have to have sympathy for the author particularly, it's still lamentable that Manhattan is becoming some kind of exclusive nightclub that not many people can enter; I think most people know or would agree that it's a mix of all kinds of people that make places interesting and that provided a lot of the rich flavor and history that New York City is known for.
I was thinking that you could make a very direct stab at altering this situation. What if you were to buy three buildings (or create cooperatives/investment groups or clubs) that bought three buildings - don't have to be big, but it would be nice if they had 10 apartments or more; preferably in lower Manhattan; and then turned them into trusts. The buildings would be rented out to lower-income residents and families; you could even have some die-hard conservative screen the applicants to find only hard-working people who will value the roof over their heads; I still think the mix of cultures will make for a better New York and a better Manhattan.
Of course, I'm just a dreamer. I think that giving people chances when you have the power to change their lives (and the landscape of a city) is a great thing. So maybe you don't think it's worth it to spend $10m or $30m of your vast fortune to change New York forever (or for your lifetime) and to alter someone's life trajectory by giving them an opportunity to live in a wonderful place, surrounded by the resources of New York City, but I certainly would.
Dream big, Mr. Mayor. Dream big. I'm off to look at real estate prices in case you should write.
Ciao,
Michael
I was recently reading an article on The Atlantic's "Cities" website where the author lamented affordable housing in Manhattan. While one doesn't have to have sympathy for the author particularly, it's still lamentable that Manhattan is becoming some kind of exclusive nightclub that not many people can enter; I think most people know or would agree that it's a mix of all kinds of people that make places interesting and that provided a lot of the rich flavor and history that New York City is known for.
I was thinking that you could make a very direct stab at altering this situation. What if you were to buy three buildings (or create cooperatives/investment groups or clubs) that bought three buildings - don't have to be big, but it would be nice if they had 10 apartments or more; preferably in lower Manhattan; and then turned them into trusts. The buildings would be rented out to lower-income residents and families; you could even have some die-hard conservative screen the applicants to find only hard-working people who will value the roof over their heads; I still think the mix of cultures will make for a better New York and a better Manhattan.
Of course, I'm just a dreamer. I think that giving people chances when you have the power to change their lives (and the landscape of a city) is a great thing. So maybe you don't think it's worth it to spend $10m or $30m of your vast fortune to change New York forever (or for your lifetime) and to alter someone's life trajectory by giving them an opportunity to live in a wonderful place, surrounded by the resources of New York City, but I certainly would.
Dream big, Mr. Mayor. Dream big. I'm off to look at real estate prices in case you should write.
Ciao,
Michael
posted by Michael | 10:06 PM
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