And getting a voucher doesn't mean it's easy to find a place to live. WAMSLEY: She says in New York, as elsewhere, far more people qualify for Section 8 vouchers than receive them. A lot of people likely are going to want to move. JUDITH GOLDINER: Some people may want to go back. WAMSLEY: Judith Goldiner is an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which is helping residents assess their options. The residents will now be able to take their vouchers elsewhere, Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin said this week.īRIAN BENJAMIN: We will be working with the developers and those on the ground to make sure that everyone has adequate housing as soon as possible if they cannot come back to the building. Most of those vouchers had been tied to units in the building, which is supervised by the state of New York. Three-quarters of the building's households are on Section 8 vouchers, the federal program that subsidizes housing for very low-income families, the elderly and the disabled. Eleven of those who died in the fire were from Gambia in West Africa. The building is now home to many immigrants. But a big question is on the horizon for residents, to return to the building or move? When Twin Parks North West opened in the early 1970s, it was considered a model of subsidized affordable housing. Other residents are staying in hotel rooms paid for by the building's owner. WAMSLEY: For those whose homes are uninhabitable, New York City and the Red Cross are currently providing hotel rooms. But we're just here to wait and see what's going to happen. Like many residents of the building, called Twin Parks North West, she and her family are now in temporary housing.ĭEJESUS: The Red Cross was here. She was briefly allowed to go back to her apartment on Monday. WAMSLEY: Karen Dejesus lives on the building's third floor, two doors down from where the fire started. KAREN DEJESUS: Looks like a war zone on the third floor. There's also the question of where to go now. LAUREL WAMSLEY, BYLINE: For the residents who survived Sunday's fire, there's the pain of losing friends and neighbors and the awful memories of smoke-filled stairwells that acted like chimneys. But as NPR's Laurel Wamsley reports, finding affordable housing in New York City is hardly a simple task. Officials have promised that tenants who want to move will get vouchers to live somewhere else. The fire that killed 17 people in a Bronx high-rise earlier this week has also displaced hundreds of residents from the building.
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