Adjustable rate mortgages appeared as a means for low-income individuals in America to attain the American dream of owning property. However after the initial fixed periods these rates often shoot up causing a major foreclosure boom that threatens many homeowners. Deyanira Del Rio notes that the trend of these abusive mortgages is concentrated in Black and Latino homeowners; therefore, this becomes a civil rights issue. Therefore, the question becomes "why are minority homeowners targeted?" I believe these mortgages to be a tool of gentrification. We explicitly see gentrification occurring in Harlem today. Harlem was once a place where lower-income minority New Yorkers lived. Now we see these residents being pushed or bought out and suddenly million-dollar Whitestone's and luxury condos appearing and the streets in certain areas of Harlem are becoming a little less diverse. Brooklyn is on the verge of suffering the same fate. Property values are rising quicker than hot air. What happens when the upper-middle class and the social elite suddenly take interest in developing and inhabiting an area? They must devise a means of acquiring the property. When buying/ pushing out residents becomes too visible and too easily diagnosed as a social ill, new methods must be devised- i.e. predatory sub-prime mortgages. New York is a small state relative to its population. Furthermore it is a major metropolitan hub for business. It seems to me that at a certain point in time the upper-class of New York decided it was no longer viable to share the state with the less privileged. As mentioned in previous blogs there is a squeeze on the middle class in New York. The cost of living has soared making a New York State of mind a luxury. I see the effects of rising living costs in my neighborhood too when approximately 4,500 homes are for sale and neighbors are making plans to retreat to the "cheaper" states such as Florida or Georgia. When the minority working class individuals are pushed out, what will become of New York? It will become a homogenous state where the marketplace of free ideas will lack the variety needed for a progressive society. Keeping New York socio-economically and racially diverse is beneficial to all residents of the state. Therefore, how do we stop the foreclosure boom? The answer is to get policymakers behind a movement for ethical mortgages. This would entail Mortgage companies not taking advantage of the ill-informed consumer, feeding them products that are incongruous with their needs. However, such a plan would require a bit of selflessness on behalf of New York's powerful and privileged. Furthermore, we know that the powerful and privileged do not maintain their status through altruism. The answer ultimately is inspiring the feeling of social responsibility in New Yorkers- in all New Yorkers.

Wow Melissa, I do think you are on to something about the connection between home mortgages and gentrification. I feel like I saw some numbers on that pertinent to Bushwick in particular possible on DMIBlog. I think as you put it "Keeping New York socio-economically and racially diverse is beneficial to all residents of the state." is a matra that needs to be repeated and repeated till people in power recognize it and act on it.

Anyway Mark just published a piece in alternet touching on some of the other issues you raise. check out http://www.alternet.org/story/50322/