Apartment City

RIO DE JANEIRO ― Seven years ago, Vila Autódromo was little more than a tranquil fishing village on the edge of Jacarepagua Lagoon, next to the racetrack for which it was named. Like the hundreds of other favelas that dot Rio de Janeiro ’s landscape, it had long been neglected by the city government , and it lacked many basic public services that are standard in the fast- growing wealthier neighborhoods just across the water. But to the more than 600 families that lived there, it was home. “This was a paradise,” said Luiz Cláudio Silva, who lived in Autódromo for more than 20 years. “I thought that I would live here for the rest of my life.” By the time the Rio Olympics are over, just 20 of the families who lived in Autódromo in 2009, the year the International Olympic Committee chose the city to host the games, will remain. The community, which sits less than a mile away from Rio’s Olympic Park, was crushed so that the city could build new access roads to connect Olympic venues . ...

MILLVILLE — Oakview Apartment operators are threatening to evict residents in at least 50 units unless their past- due heating bills are paid by the end of the month, the president of the newly formed tenants association says. Nate Sanders said some of the people living in the low- income housing development on East Broad Street near Wade Boulevard owe thousands of dollars for heating bills — but residents believe those numbers are inaccurate. Apartment operators have not given the tenants access to meters so they can check whether their heating bills are accurate, said Sanders, who said he owes more than $2,000. Latest Video Sanders, 53, who said he has been unable to work for years because of injuries suffered in a series of automobile accidents, said he might be able to pay his bill if he gets some financial help from friends. Other tenants may not be so fortunate, he said. “It’s the other people I’m worried about,” said Sanders, who was elected presiden...

How the fight against displacement calls for New York City’s Asian immigrant communities to defect from the “ model minority ” narrative. Media Gallery When NYU sophomore Sam Kim attended a rally outside Manhattan’s City Hall in March, he didn’t think that he would be ushered into the spotlight. Kim had learned of the rally through the local housing organization CAAAV (Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence), which called on New Yorkers to oppose President Trump ’s proposed $6.2 billion cut to the 2018 budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This cut would dramatically reduce federal funding for New York City public housing , which currently provides rent-subsidized homes to 600,000 New Yorkers. Along the City Hall steps , Kim and two fellow student organizers joined a rare gathering of tenants from otherwise disparate peripheries of the city. Asian immigrants from Chinatown and Queens stood alongside Black and Latino residents of Brooklyn and the Bronx...

CLOSE HUD inspects Washington Heights Apartments Washington Heights (Photo: Roger Weeder) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Federal inspectors were out at Washington Heights Apartments in Jacksonville Tuesday, conducting what management is calling a routine, annual inspection. The federally- subsidized housing complex is owned by the same Tennessee organization under scrutiny for what city leaders have called deplorable conditions at Eureka Gardens , which sparked investigations by city code enforcement and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Global Ministries Foundations owns both complexes, which provide rent-assisted housing through a federal program. At Eureka Gardens , some residents complained of poor maintenance. Inspectors found that some stair cases used to access units at the complex were structurally unsafe and they also uncovered mold in some apartments. At Washington Heights , some residents told First Coast News off-camera that there are maintenance delays. One res...

NEW YORK, NY — It's one of the oldest rivalries in American migration: New York vs. Los Angeles. For the better part of a century, residents of the nation's two largest metro areas have been defending their chosen kingdom and dismissing the other on an endless loop of judginess between kitty-corner coasts. Ew, the traffic! But the sunshine! But the subway! But the garbage! But the skyline! But the coastline! But the bustle! But the chill! In this tireless war of words, a clear winner has yet to emerge. But it's harder to argue against the numbers. Thousands of working professionals have relocated to Los Angeles County from New York City in the past year and a half, according to a series of monthly "workforce reports" released this spring and summer by the job- networking site LinkedIn (and spotted by LA Weekly). And it's not exactly a two-way street. Since early 2016, according to LinkedIn, around seven or eight out of every 10, 000 site users in LA report...