New York Shuts Down 'Poor Doors' With Rent-Regulation Bill - A Win for 'Dignity'

By Jana Kasperkevic, Guardian UK

30 June 15

Contentious rent-regulation bill stops city builders who get tax breaks from building separate entrances for the rich and the poor

ew York City is banning “poor doors” in a move one city official on Monday called a “big win for dignity”.

Thanks to a little talked about provision in New York’s rent-stabilization law, builders who receive a tax break for offering some units to low-income tenants will no longer be allowed to build separate entrances for the rich and the poor.

The controversial two-door rule came to an end after New York City mayor Bill de Blasio inserted a provision into a tax bill that was approved by the New York state senate late last week.

“I think that the state legislature and the city are now doing the right thing in terms of treating people in every socioeconomic group with the same level of respect and dignity,” New York City councilwoman Helen Rosenthal told the Guardian.

Rosenthal’s district on the Upper West Side is home to one of the buildings that have a built-in “poor door”.

“Our legislators heard the human cry from constituents who were very dismayed to see that there was a loophole in the previous legislation that allowed the developers to build a segregated building even though taxpayers’ dollars were involved,” Rosenthal said. “Now that indignity won’t happen.”

Ironically, while serving on the New York City council De Blasio originally voted in favor of the bill that allowed for “poor doors” to exist.

The separate entrances for the rich and poor came about due to a loophole in the Inclusionary Housing program enacted in 2009 that allowed developers to get subsidies if they provided affordable housing either on or off-site. As a result, the affordable housing units would have met the requirements even if they had separate entrance and elevators.

“I doubt any of us on the council were aware of that provision; I certainly wasn’t,” Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer told the New York Post last year. “A separate door on a building that benefits one specific project evades the spirit of our city – and we are working to close this loophole.”

Rosenthal, who called the new provision a “big win for dignity”, said that city hall was “fighting for this very hard”.

“Once we brought it to everyone’s attention, people were willing to take a step back and says: ‘Well if developers aren’t going to do this voluntarily, we will require it to happen.’ Fundamentally, no taxpayer dollar should go to program that further segregates our communities. Certainly not by socioeconomic status,” she said.

Thanks to the new provision, all buildings with affordable housing units in the future have to make all entrances accessible to all tenants – rich and poor.

“Affordable units shall share the same common entrances and common areas as market rate units,’’ states the bill.

The provision does not apply to buildings such as 40 Riverside Boulevard and 1 West End Avenue that already have been built with separate entrances. While 1 West End Avenue will still require its low-income residents to use the “poor door”, it will allow them to use amenities such as the courtyard and the river-view roof deck will be made accessible.