As our city struggles to regain its economic footing, with tens of thousands still unemployed and under-employed, the current administration is moving forward with a lien sale. As of the early afternoon of Wednesday, September 2, 2020, the sale has not been postponed. I hope that by the time this opinion is published that it has been rescheduled, however the data is still worth a look.
First, the lien sale disproportionately impacts council districts with a higher percentage of persons of color. Using the city’s lien sale address data along with Census data, note the following:
Looking solely at the top three districts, that’s one-third of all Brooklyn lien sales happening in council districts of near 100 percent minority populations. As if that’s not bad enough, the lien sales of the above top five districts are adjacent to each other. In raw numbers that’s 1,976 properties up for sale.
Next, the lien sale disproportionately impacts council districts with higher numbers of persons living in poverty. Using data provided by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, we know that, as a whole, the entire city has 20.3 percent of persons living in poverty.
With that in mind, note the following:
The districts ranking in the top four of total lien sales are also the top four districts with the most persons living in poverty in Brooklyn. In raw numbers, it’s well over 1,500 in districts with poverty rates disproportionate to the rest of the city.
Now let’s look at all sets of data together to look for patterns:
It pretty much jumps out at you: the districts with the highest percent of minorities, and the highest percentage of persons living in poverty also have the highest number of lien sales.
It’s also important to look at the neighborhoods that these districts are in. The top districts are either ones that have ongoing gentrification or are beginning to gentrify and worse, they are all adjacent as noted above. If this lien sale goes through, who will purchase these properties? Who can afford their rents once new owners take over? And where will these people go? I don’t have to remind the current administration that we aren’t just in an economic crisis, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Displacement will most certainly contribute to the spread of COVID.
I know that today, Council Member Robert E. Cornegy Jr., Chair of the Housing & Buildings Committee, held a press conference laying out some of the above data and took a strong position against the lien sale. Attorney General Letitia James also took a strong position against the lien sale, as have other city and state elected officials. Their advocacy is welcomed and needed, as it seems the city has turned a deaf ear on the issue.
Absent from this chorus is the representative of the 37th council district because the seat is still vacant. The district with Brooklyn’s highest number of lien sales, Brooklyn’s highest percent of minorities, and Brooklyn’s highest number of persons living in poverty has no council member advocating for it. Fortunately, Darma Diaz, Democratic Nominee for the 37th Council District, has been advocating strongly for the district, reaching out to the administration and elected officials, as well bringing awareness to the issue on social media; but while being the Democratic nominee is tantamount to being the next council member after the November 2020 general election, it doesn’t carry the same weight as a sitting member of the council.
Again, I hope that by the time that this opinion is published, the lien sale has been canceled, and the above data can be taken into consideration when strategizing for the prevention of these lien sales. There’s still time for the sale to be canceled and if it is, I hope a thoughtful review is conducted that factors in the above data, with outreach mechanisms created and deployed so that these districts aren’t destabilized simply because the city wants to raise revenue.
Manny Burgos is a resident of the 42nd Council District, and CEO of By the Numbers Consulting Services Corp., located in the 37th Council District. BTN Consulting is a leading provider of outreach, compliance, advisory, and data gathering services. Manny splits his time between New York and Puerto Rico.
