I LOVE my job... and I am SO busy. One of the staff members has been out for the past two weeks and I have taken over his duties of constituent correspondence in addition to trying to finish my main project (a report and some sort of publicity on 80/20 housing developments, 421-a tax incentives, and affordable housing policy in general).

I really enjoy working in the District Office (Gale's office on the Upper West Side). The staff member that runs this office, Rosalba Rodriguez, is in charge of housing issues (a huge area) and assists an enormous amount of individuals in the community on a daily basis. The District office is Gale's face to her community, and Rosalba, Anne Cunningham (another staff member in the District Office, in charge of Seniors), and Peter Goldwasser (the third District Office Staff Member, who is currently gone, and who is in charge of general quality of life issues and constituent correspondence) are really the individuals responsible for communicating with Gale's public and working with them on their individual problems on a day-to-day basis. I am ever impressed by the degree of accessibility in this office... Gale has, by far, the most active, involved constituents in NYC, and I believe this is because they feel that if they say something, they will be heard. And not only will they be heard, each person will be heard by Gale specifically. Gale is adament about seeing each piece of correspondence that comes in/out of the office. There is no issue that is dismissed as irrelevant - Gale will personally address all of her constituents issues, and it is a very heartening thing to witness.

She would not be able to do this, however, without Rosalba. Rosalba works almost as hard as Gale (who works seven days a week - sometimes until 2 am). Community members come in to speak to Rosalba thoughout the entire day - she sometimes acts as a lifecoach. Rosalba will do whatever she can to rectify housing injustices and to assist people in accessing all the services they are eligible for. She is an incredible resource for the community and, as she is the person I work with on a day to day basis, I have learned an immense amount from her, and from the individuals who come in to seek her help. This also creates an air of comedy in the office. As you can imagine, some of the individuals who come in are a tad nuts:-)

Similarly, as I have taken over writing/editing/oversight of correspondence in one of the staff member's absence (Peter)I have really gotten a feel for the vast spectrum of issues that people will come to Gale for assistance with. For example, in one batch of letters, I have written about construction, noise, traffic, housing, carriage horses, MTA issues, etc., etc. There are a lot of instances in which individuals have valid issues, in which agencies should respond, but without written support and backing from a body such as the Council Member, these issues would go unaddressed or would at least be addressed at a much slower pace. Even if our correspondence doesnt necessarily help the individual, it makes them feel attended to, listened to, and validated - which in many instances is almost as important (obviously there are many instances in which action is far more relevant than feelings). While correspondence has been a great tool for exposure, it has also been immensely time consuming, and I am beginning to panic at the reality of the summer's looming deadline (next Thursday:-/). I have not made the progress I would have like to have made on my housing project, and I have a feeling the next week is going to be insane.


I have leaned so much about housing policy during the 5 weeks I have been working for Gale Brewer… and yet, I know nothing. This fact became abundantly clear to me during a meeting I had last Tuesday with Council Member Gale Brewer and two women from the Settlement Housing Fund, Carol Lamberg and Susan Cole. The Settlement Housing Fund is a non-profit housing development corporation with the mission of creating and maintaining "economically and ethnically diverse affordable housing with community programs and neighborhood amenities." I would be informed that these women were two of less than a handful of individuals who truly understand housing in NYC, and that this was to be the meeting of my lifetime.

I had an opportunity to interact with Carol and Susan for a while until Gale arrived (she is the busiest person I have met in my entire life) and I immediately took to them. Carol informed me that she initially entered into the housing policy field after having done a program similar to CUSP and having written a thesis on housing projects on the upper west side (which was a very ethnically(and economically) segregated neighborhood). It was interesting to hear her critique her thesis as “young and arrogant” as she and Susan explained to me the absolute necessity of mixed income neighborhoods and housing and for support for the middle income bracket (~80-130% of median income). A mix of incomes "provides role models for upward mobility, financial stability for building operations and avoids the concentration of a very low income population in one location." Without this diversity, a ghetto-esque situation emerges, which is bad for schools, crime, quality of life, etc. Moreover, with current housing policy, there is no support for the people floating around in the middle; the City’s “working poor.” So, really the only people that can “afford” to live here are those who are poor enough to qualify for government housing assistance, and the very wealthy. This is a very dangerous situation, and while this emergerence of stark class division is occuring throughout the country (and especially in major cities) I have seen that it is an enormous problem in NYC, and how to maintain an economically diverse population within this city is and will be an issue of major concern.

Carol and Susan stressed the need to re-define the definition of "substantial government support" in terms of housing, to develop housing support for the moderate income bracket, and to formulate affordable housing programs that incorporated mixed income commnities in order to ensure stability, good schools, etc. These women literally knew everything in the world about housing. It was fascinating to hear them speak. It was equal parts history, social and political lesson as it was a housing tutorial. Beyond that, they were quite cool.