Affordable housing is a cornerstone of any community's social fabric, offering stability and security to those who might otherwise struggle to find a place to call home. In Tarrytown, New York, the residents of Asbury Terrace find themselves grappling with a harsh reality: they can no longer afford the place they've called home for decades.
A Community in Crisis
For over four decades, Asbury Terrace affordable housing complex in Tarrytown, New York has been a vital community lifeline. However, the community now finds itself in crisis as long-time residents struggle with abrupt rent increases threatening to displace many from their homes.
Audrey Thomas has called Asbury Terrace home for 43 years and witnessed generations of families grow up within its walls. For low-income residents like herself, it provided the stability and affordable option that was otherwise unattainable. With 86 units subsidized through Section 8 and the remaining market-rate but affordable, the complex fulfilled its original design of serving those most in need of decent housing.
Thomas and her neighbors anchored the community for decades, establishing deep roots in the neighborhood. But that stability was shattered in 2020 when the building was sold for $15 million to new owners seeking higher profits. Residents correctly feared this marked the beginning of the end for Asbury Terrace in its current form.
Their worries materialized this February with rent hikes as high as 82%, increasing Thomas' monthly payment from $1,362 to an unaffordable $2,352. Facing displacement, long-time residents banded together to fight back. However, village officials have so far failed to curb the owner's efforts, reigniting long-simmering tensions over accessibility and gentrification at a heated public meeting.
With another crucial meeting upcoming, the Asbury Terrace community now finds itself in a crisis over its very existence and character. Unless solutions are found, over four decades of providing homes for those most vulnerable may soon be lost to speculative investment. The neighborhood risks losing the diversity and character built by residents who have called this complex their home for generations.
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The Winds of Change
For decades, Asbury Terrace served as an anchor of stability and community for its low-income residents. But all that began to shift in 2020 when the building was sold to new owners seeking profits from the property.
Mountco Development purchased Asbury Terrace for an enormous $15 million, raising initial red flags among long-term tenants about how such an expensive acquisition may impact their rental costs going forward. Their concerns were somewhat assuaged by reassurances from the new owners that the affordable character of the complex would remain unchanged.
However, it soon became clear those promises would not last. In the ensuing months, unease grew in the community as residents braced for the winds of change now swirling around them. Subtle signs emerged that Mountco was poised to alter the footprint of Asbury Terrace. Friendly inquiries turned pushy as tenants were questioned about pay and family sizes, fueling fears rent hikes couldn't be far off.
Sure enough, in February 2022 residents received dreaded letters announcing rent spikes as high as 82%. For many, this marked a sudden shift from stable, affordable homes to precarity and potential displacement from the only neighborhood they had ever known. Where once reassurances provided hope, they now rang hollow as financial motivations trumped the human impacts.
The winds of change have left Asbury Terrace residents in crisis, fighting to maintain the community fabric so carefully woven across generations. Though change is inevitable, this abandonment of commitments to affordability has shaken tenant faith in their home's future direction.
A Cry for Help
For nearly half a century, David Cova has called Asbury Terrace his home. Like many of his neighbors, the complex has provided the sort of stable, affordable housing that has allowed Cova to develop deep roots within the community.
However, Cova's stable way of life was upended when he received shocking notice of his imminent rent increase. Among those impacted the most, Cova's rent was set to surge a mind-boggling 72% - from $1,362 per month to a completely unaffordable $2,352.
The life Cova had built for himself was now under outright threat. On his current fixed income, coming up with an extra $1,000 every 30 days would be impossible. Facing imminent displacement after decades of residency, Cova's world was turned upside down.
It became clear this rent spike was no anomaly but rather the new standard, with some neighbors facing even steeper 82% hikes. The intent seemed obvious - to price out those long-standing residents unable to pay luxury rents. Cova and his friends felt they had been abandoned by those charged with maintaining Asbury Terrace as an asset for the community.
In the face of losing his home and community, Cova realized he had no choice but to raise his voice in a desperate cry for help. He helped organize his neighbors to demand action from those with power to reverse these unaffordable increases before it was too late. For Cova and many others, this was an existential fight to save their neighborhood from forces of rapid change.
Voices of Resistance
For Asbury Terrace residents like David Cova finding their way of life threatened, taking action was imperative. They refused to go down without a fight and organized and presence to make their voices heard at the next village board meeting.
As residents stood up one by one to share their stories, the emotional turmoil bubbled near the surface. Decades of community were at stake, with some facing the very real prospect of being homeless. Frustration and anger emanated from those who felt powerless against the rent hikes designed to displace them.
Confronting this visible distress, even the mayor struggled to maintain control of the charged atmosphere. Residents passionately pleaded with officials to intervene and curb the uncaring greed of the new ownership. As voices raised in the crowded room, tensions mounted with the recognizable fear, pain, and resistance of a community unified against looming destruction.
When debate grew increasingly heated, dissent threatening to boil over, the mayor saw no choice but to call a recess. In that moment, the board experienced firsthand the human impact of their inaction, coming face to face with a swelling movement committed to fighting displacement by any means necessary. Voices of resistance that day ensured Asbury Terrace’s crisis would not fade from focus.
Conclusion
As the dust settles from the heated meeting, the residents of Asbury Terrace find themselves at a crossroads. Their struggle is not merely about rent increases; it is a fight for the soul of their community. With allegations of improprieties surrounding the building's sale looming large, the stakes have never been higher. Yet, in the face of adversity, there is hope. The mayor's commitment to addressing the concerns of the residents is a glimmer of light in the darkness. With another meeting scheduled to take place, the residents of Asbury Terrace are not alone in their fight. Together, they stand united in their quest for justice and dignity, determined to ensure that affordable housing remains a reality for all who call Tarrytown home.
