Photo courtesy of West New York Housing Authority.
Though the construction of new luxury buildings around town may signal progress and prosperity for the Sires administration, who campaigned with the alliterative slogan, numbers show it may actually leave many West New Yorkers out of the conversation.
West New York has a population of about 52,975 as of July 2024. According to the US Census, 21.4% of the population lives in poverty. To determine who lives in poverty, the census adds up all incomes in a household or family. The sum is then compared to a poverty threshold, which varies according to the size of the family. Here are the poverty guidelines for 2025, according to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation:
- Household/family of 1: an income of $15,650 or lower
- Household/family of 2: an income of $21,150 or lower
- Household/family of 3: an income of $26,650 or lower
- Household/family of 4: an income of $32,150 or lower
- Household/family of 5: an income of $37,650 or lower
- Household/family of 6: an income of $43,150 or lower
- Household/family of 7: an income of $48,650 or lower
- Household/family of 8: an income of $54,150 or lower
According to Slice of Culture’s calculations, about 11,337 people in West New York live in poverty. Being a low-income household is one of the requirements to become eligible for affordable housing, which 10% of all units in West New York must be set aside for, as stated by Ordinance #32/34 Section Two.
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Assuming all buildings comply with the ordinance, this means 1,134 people living in poverty receive affordable housing. While this covers a large number of people, this leaves 10,203 people living in poverty without affordable housing.
Another option for residents who are low-income or in poverty is to apply for a Section 8 voucher. West New York Housing Authority currently displays that they administer 400 vouchers on their welcome page, but claim it is “over 400” in the “WNYHA in Numbers: Fast Facts Section.” Slice of Culture called the Section 8 department and the Director’s Office through the number provided on the WNYHA website to confirm the correct amount, but no calls were returned at the time of writing.
Assuming the authority gives 400 vouchers, this only covers 3.53% of people living in poverty.
This is an issue that impacts more than numbers.
The Waterfront Project has served the Hudson County Area with housing counseling and pro-bono legal representation for 12 years. Its director, Carol Sainthilaire, has firsthand experience with the necessity of affordable housing, having grown up in North Bergen.
“My parents got a Section 8 voucher when I was seven after my father had [an accident.] He was a janitor at a university in New York. He fell down the stairs and had to be on disability. He had surgery…my mother was just a seamstress with barely an eighth-grade education in [the Dominican Republic], and thank God for the church community that would bring us food and stuff…,” she told Slice of Culture.
Despite the challenges, her family was able to receive a Section 8 voucher. This experience motivates Sainthilaire to help others facing similar situations through The Waterfront Project and her former experience working as program director for housing assistance at the Hudson County Division of Housing and Community Development.
“I look back at it and I’m like, ‘I really wish organizations like The Waterfront Project existed back then,’’ she said.
Sainthilaire recognizes that times have become harder for residents now.
“I know firsthand, even way back when, that the rent has only been getting exponentially more expensive. And while we have a lot of [Section 8] vouchers out on the street right now, what a lot of people are seeing is that they can’t find a lot of units within the Fair Market Rent, or FMR,” she said.
Fair Market Rent, or FMR, is a rate or term used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine “reasonable” or modest rent for an area. To find your zip code’s FMR, log on to the huduser.gov portal, select New Jersey in the states column and then select “Hudson County” in the counties column. After clicking “Next Screen…,” all of the county’s zip codes are available in a table with their respective FMRs.
Here are the current FMRs for West New York, whose zip code is 07093:
- One bedroom: $1,830
- Two bedroom: $2,070
- Three bedroom: $2,570
- Four bedroom: $2,870
In comparison, here are the average amounts of rent in West New York, according to Zillow:
- One bedroom: $1,850, or $20 more than what is considered “reasonable”
- Two bedroom: $2,500, or $430 more than what is considered “reasonable”
- Three bedroom: $3,000, or $430 more than what is considered “reasonable”
- Four bedrooms or more: $3,300, or $430 more than what is considered “reasonable”
One of Sainthilaire’s goals with the Waterfront Project is to educate as many people as possible about their rights as tenants and terminology like FMRs so that they can have access to fair and affordable housing.
“Especially in West New York, with such an immigrant population and bilingual population, we need to make sure that all of the [affordable housing] services are accessible: making sure that folks understand,” she said.
“There’s so many times that I see–I’m Dominican–I’ll go to the nail salon or the hair salon and the Dominican ladies or other Latin American ladies are like, ‘Oh you know, my landlord, he’s making me have to pay him a thousand dollars more,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, did he put it in writing?’ They’re like, ‘No, he just texted me…’ That’s not how it works.”
Having access to educational resources can empower the Latinx or immigrant communities in West New York, who often feel voiceless in the conversation of affordable housing. Learning an entirely new system in a language they do not understand can be an intimidating task, which is where organizations like The Waterfront Project step in.
“Latino households, that are mixed status, especially with everything going on with the federal government right now, even before, they were [and are] scared to speak up. They didn’t realize they had rights, or they didn’t want to cause any problems. They would just figure out the money and then pay the landlord, and then the landlord would just keep doing the shady tactics that they were doing,” she said.
When discussing local politicians, Sainthilare says they need to use their platforms to advocate for both organizations like hers and the working class.
“They need to listen to us, they need to advocate as much as we are to their state representatives, to other counties,” she said.
Sainthilare continued to call for:
- Reviews and updates of rent control ordinances
- Enforcement of rent control
- Enforcement of housing inspections because “there’s so many people that are in illegal apartments or an apartment that has mold or vermin, roaches, rats…”
- Preservation of existing housing
- Incentivizing developers through tax credits
- Implement zoning board ordinances to build more
- More voucher programs and to make sure we’re utilizing those vouchers to the best of our abilities
Sainthilare also says bordering towns’ and cities’ close proximity is an important factor in tackling affordable housing.
“In Hudson County, our municipalities are so strong, but sometimes we’re like: ‘We’re gonna take care of our own,’ and you know how borders are in Hudson. I grew up on the border with Union City and Jersey City; if I went up tenth street, I’d be in Union City, if I went up sixth street, I’d be in Jersey City.
“We’re a county; anybody that’s experiencing homelessness in West New York could go to either PERC Shelter in Union City, Hoboken Shelter in Hoboken or St. Lucy’s in Jersey City.
“I would love to see the municipalities come together along with the county executive Craig Guy, the county division of housing and community development, to all the municipalities and community development to come together and be like ‘Hey, let’s be more strategic about this.’ Yes, West New York wants to take care of West New York, but our borders in Hudson County…we just mesh.
That’s one thing I could see, is getting all the mayors and county executives to really talk about what we’re gonna do, especially as all of their officers are getting cuts because of federal funding.”
“One person being homeless on the street is one person too many.”
