8 MARCH 10, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
‘Hard to keep up’
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 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.”
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 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. There’s a limit to what we
can take.”
Champagne is resilient and said that
Image via Pixabay
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 the Emergency Rental Assistance
Program (ERAP), which provides economic
relief to help low- and moderateincome
households at risk of losing their
housing.
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.
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