20 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 10, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens residents say they are fearful
to lose housing as a result of infl ation
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Infl ation 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 fi nding 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 infl ation
has completely curtailed his budget.
“We have to think fi rst before we buy or
take a step,” Tsering said. “Infl ation 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 diffi cult.”
Luckily, Tsering said that his rent has not
increased, although he had great diffi culty
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. Th e cost of lumber increased 114%
over the 12 months since May 2021— the
highest recorded 12-month growth. Th e
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 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 fi ght as a small business. It’s a real
struggle.”
Fortunately, Champagne said that her
husband is able to make up for any profi t
losses and pay their mortgage for their home
in Ridgewood. But Champagne is worried
about being able to aff ord 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 profi t. And
at some point, if prices still are getting higher,
we can’t keep raising our prices because we’ll
lose our customer base. Th ere’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 infl ation 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
Image via Pixabay
the Emergency Rental Assistance Program
(ERAP), which provides economic relief to
help low- and moderate-income 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 Offi ce
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 affi liated with infl ation. Many said,
with fear in their voice, that if things don’t
change soon, they will lose a lot by next year.
“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.”
— Carlos Pereyra
“We have to think fi rst before we buy or take a
step. Infl ation has aff ected 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 diffi cult.”
— Tenzing Tsering
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