{"id":23895,"date":"2021-05-09T20:28:39","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/?p=23895"},"modified":"2021-05-11T13:05:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T17:05:51","slug":"renter-hardship-in-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/visualization\/renter-hardship-in-new-york-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Renter Hardship in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Stephanie Keith\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The New York Legislature made headlines at the end of 2020 when it passed a law placing a moratorium on residential evictions<\/a> in the state. This law extended the nationwide protections initially offered to tenants by the temporary ban on evictions<\/a> imposed by the Centers for Disease Control in September of that year. As of this writing, the New York State moratorium has been extended to August 2021 for tenants citing COVID-related financial hardship. This was a relief for millions of New Yorkers squeezed by the economic impact of the pandemic, finding themselves out of work and struggling to cover expenses. Although this bill was very popular, and the relief it offered was well-received, tenant<\/a> advocates<\/a> argue that this is an insufficient solution to the persistent, worsening problem of housing security in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to having one of the highest costs of living<\/a> of any city in the United States, New York City also has one of the highest rates of poverty<\/a> among large U.S. cities. This story of inequity is familiar to Americans all over the country, but anecdotally, New Yorkers seem to endure a remarkable amount of stress around their housing conditions. Using newly acquired geographic information systems (GIS) skills, I wanted to explore this topic spatially. What was the housing landscape like in 2019, the last \u201cnormal\u201d year before the pandemic hit the city? What can open data tell us about the condition of the housing stock in New York City, the rate of evictions, and who was most impacted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Agency Data Inspires Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My work in this project was informed and inspired by research conducted by the New York City Council Data Team and the Office of the Public Advocate. The Data Team\u2019s Evictions<\/a> page on the City Council website offers data visualizations about evictions in the city, accompanied by tenant protection resources. The Office of the Public Advocate publishes a Worst Landlord Watchlist<\/a>, now in its second annual release, that names the 100 individuals responsible for the most neglected private buildings in New York City. Their methodology involves aggregating the number of moderate and severe violations issued to residential buildings by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n