‘HARD TO KEEP UP’
Queens residents say they are fearful to lose housing as a result of infl ation
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owns Qwik Pack and Ship, agreed that
the increase in prices has made it hard
to keep up with her bills. Champagne
said that she has had no option but to
raise her prices, which in turn made
her lose some customers.
“Costs of materials have gone up,
which slows us down big time,” Champagne
said. “It’s a fight as a small business.
It’s a real struggle.”
Fortunately, Champagne said that
her husband is able to make up for
any profit losses and pay their mortgage
for their home in Ridgewood. But
Champagne is worried about being
able to afford the rent of her business
space.
“I’m very scared to lose my business
we’re feeling the hit right now,” Champagne
said. “Right now, we’re not making
any profit. And at some point, if
prices still are getting higher, we can’t
keep raising our prices because we’ll
lose our customer base. There’s a limit
to what we can take.”
Champagne is resilient and said
that despite everything, she hopes she
can stay in Ridgewood to provide shipping
services for her community. Not
many are as fortunate as Champagne
and do not have someone to fall back
on to pay for housing costs. Sandy
Jimenez, who rents an apartment in
Sunnyside, said that inflation has
forced her to make a strict budget to
keep up with rent.
“It has been hard,” Jimenez said.
“Especially with everyone being at
home, food became really expensive
for us. My partner also lost his job at
the start of the pandemic. We had a really
hard time making ends meet.”
Jimenez said she was forced to apply
for the Emergency Rental Assistance
Program (ERAP), which provides economic
relief to help low- and moderateincome
households at risk of losing
their housing. ERAP has helped over
100,000 households across the state as
of March 1, estimating about $2 billion
in assistance. According to the Office
of Temporary and Disability Assistance
(OTDA), nearly 40,000 prospective
rent applications were submitted
in Queens, with the highest amount of
applications from Corona.
Queens residents are on the verge
of losing their housing or businesses
due to the rising costs affiliated with
inflation. Many said, with fear in their
voice, that if things don’t change soon,
they will lose a lot by next year.
BY JULIA MORO
Inflation has caused a spike in
seemingly every necessity in daily life,
including gas and groceries. With the
rising price of goods, Queens residents
are also finding it hard to pay their
housing costs.
Tenzing Tsering rents a house in
Jackson Heights, but worries he will
lose his house since his business is
struggling and inflation has completely
curtailed his budget.
“We have to think first before we
buy or take a step,” Tsering said. “Inflation
has affected my family budget a
lot. If we don’t pay rent, we will have to
leave the house, and if we pay rent we
have to reduce all our daily needs. It’s
very difficult.”
Luckily, Tsering said that his rent
has not increased, although he had
great difficulty paying once his business,
Punda Tibetan Restaurant, lost
75% of its revenue during the pandemic.
Rent costs rose 0.4% in December,
according to a New York Times report,
which can be credited to a number of
factors that contribute to rising housing
costs, like supply chain issues and
labor shortages.
According to White House data,
supply issues have driven up the cost
of home construction resulting in a
hike in housing prices. The cost of lumber
increased 114% over the 12 months
since May 2021 — the highest recorded
12-month growth. The price of iron and
steel also increased by 73% over the
past year.
Carlos Pereyra, a homeowner in
Ridgewood and owner of Carper Home
Improvements, said that the price of
supplies for his business has gone up
about 30% or 40%.
“Business is pretty slow, the prices
of things keep going up but I have to
keep my prices the same,” Pereyra
said. “We pay the mortgage but I was
very close to losing the house. Living
is expensive, I’m trying to save money
for the mortgage but everything is expensive.
Not much room for anything
but we still get by. I am just waiting
for everything to get better but there’s
nothing else we can do.”
Another business owner in Glendale,
Berangere Champagne, who
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