Housing Brass Tacks

This time on Housing Brass Tacks: Where does the money come from, and what’s it used for? Mark Willis, the Senior Policy Fellow at NYU’s Furman Center, takes us through the structure of affordable housing finance.

Excerpts from three documentary films, screened at the first Housing Brass Tacks film night, tackle how inequality is inscribed in the housing landscape.

Fred Freiberg, executive director of the Fair Housing Justice Center, explained the ins and outs of proving and pursuing housing discrimination.

In the latest Brass Tacks discussion, representatives from Coalition for the Homeless and Picture the Homeless considered homelessness as a symptom of our housing crisis and efforts to create permanent housing solutions.

In our seventh Brass Tacks discussion, Rasmia Kirmani-Frye, President of the Fund for Public Housing, leveled with us on public housing’s unique role in the city and the challenges NYCHA must face.

Catherine Fennell and Crystal Palmer, two authorities on Chicago's public housing transformation, probed the problematic mythos of public housing—from the "failure" of tower complexes to the virtues of mixed-income redevelopment.

For the season's ninth and final Housing Brass Tacks discussion, two developers — one for-profit, one not-for-proft — laid out the nitty-gritty of building affordable housing.

Confusing, reviled, unfair, arcane — and important. Explore the labyrinthine system of property taxes.

Like many companies in the “sharing economy,” Airbnb prides itself on “disrupting” the traditional marketplace — but at what cost to New York’s affordable housing?

If owning a home means security, stability, and the American Dream, those remain out of reach for most apartment-dwelling New Yorkers. But can limited-equity co-ops provide another way?

These days, “CLT” is a watchword for affordable housing and anti-displacement activists nationwide, including the residents and organizers behind a South Bronx initiative that’s building steam.

A housing court case can make the difference between safe at home and out on the street. Jenny Laurie of Housing Court Answers explains how it works and what throws the scales of housing justice out of balance.

In the thorny thicket of housing problems, from cost to supply to quality, what roles can architects play? Architects Susanne Schindler, Jared Della Valle, and Deborah Gans offer possibilities.