Sign of the Times: Long Lines for Housing in Fort Lee

The lines started forming outside Malcolm Towers along Main Street and Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee early Monday morning. Some seniors even kept vigil throughout the night. The wait wasn't for concert tickets, but for something far more important; something as important as the concept we call "home"—affordable housing for seniors under Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Seniors over the age of 62 who have incomes that fall under 50 percent of the area median income and who qualify may have access to subsidized housing, but it's more complicated than that. Fort Lee seniors Monday were just hoping to get on the list, which has to be comprised of at least one-and-a-half times the housing units that are available. Residents pay 30 percent of the adjusted income for rent plus utlities and often receive other forms of assistance such as health care and transportation.

Lines for work or housing recall images from the 1930s, when our parents and grandparents were willing to do just about anything for a place to live or a job. Our country has grown in diversity and opportunity since as reflected by the many cultures represented in the line to get on a waiting list for units at Malcolm Towers Monday.

Further up the street, Verizon workers were on strike.

It's a new day, even though it recalls the past.

Text by Arya F. Jenkins; video by Donna Brennan.

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