West Indians, including a large number of Jamaicans, Haitians and Guyanese, may be one of the largest immigrants groups in New York City and, in the main, are middle-income residents, but far too many of them are forced to live in sub-standard housing. And the reasons for their housing woes are a mix of their immigration status and the color of their skin. Yes, their median income almost matches the City's; the level of their educational achievement is high and so is the 37 percent rate of homeownership for the first generation and 33 percent for the second generation.

But about 18 percent of them live in apartments and other forms of accommodation that have multiple violations, which run the gamut from insect infestation, peeling paint, cracks in walls and ceilings, lack of heat, water leaks and holes in the floor. That depressing picture was painted in a new report prepared and released by the Common Service Society, one of the City's leading independent voices for poor New Yorkers. The policy brief entitled "Housing the City of Immigrants" delved into the housing conditions different foreign-born residents must endure and it concluded, among other things, that immigrants are forced to set aside a "larger share" of their income in rent, and they are twice as likely to live in crowded conditions.

The report was released at a public forum sponsored by the CSS and the New York Immigration Coalition. "Housing stresses don't just affect individual households, they affect communities," said David R. Jones, the Society's president and chief executive officer. "Housing issues have emerged as a major concern that must be addressed by New York legislators, particularly as New York immigrant communities continue to grow."

Tom Waters, CSS housing policy analyst and co-author of the report, told the New York Carib News that immigrants across the board faced three distinct housing problems – high rents, bad conditions and over-crowding. "People from the Caribbean, West Indians, are the least crowded, except for the Russians, but the other two factors – high rents and poor housing – hit the community," he said. "It comes down to affordability and bad conditions, and when West Indians get involved in politics, those two issues should be among their priorities."

Puerto Ricans and immigrants from the Dominican Republic are not included among the West Indians for purposes of the report and they comprise one of the bigger groups in the City – an estimated 20,000 households or 7 percent.

On the whole, they are a middle-income group, with a median income of $43,800 for the first generation, which is not much less than the median income for all New Yorkers – $48,700. For households headed by the second generation of West Indians, the median income is $53,000.

They are also a well-educated group with high rates of high school and college graduates. But in housing, West Indians do a little bit worse in housing than you would expect for such an income group.

"The median rent burden is 30 percent, which is the same for immigrants overall and actually it is even higher than what it is for African Americans," Waters explained. "So, even though their incomes are high, the share of it going to rent is also high." In addition, the percentage of apartments with three or more maintenance deficiencies and are considered in pretty bad shape is at 18 percent, which is really high for a middle income group.

"We are talking about holes in the walls, pest infestation, serious cracks, lack of heat, real problems like that.

"The rate isn't as high as it is for Dominicans, but for such a high income group of people paying higher rents they are still experiencing bad conditions."

Interestingly, immigrants from Africa run into the identical housing problems, "bad housing outcomes," said Waters.

How come?

Researchers and others indicate that the sub-standard conditions under which Africans and West Indians are forced to live are the result of racial discrimination and their status as immigrants," the Society's analyst stated.

"The middle-income Black immigrant groups end up with housing conditions that are similar to low-income African Americans because of racial segregation. The difficulties they encounter are also traceable to hurdles all immigrant groups encounter."

Interestingly, African immigrants whose median income is $48,900 are doing better than West Indians and most native New Yorkers. "The median income for Africans is $200 over that for all New Yorkers," Waters pointed out. "What's noticeable is that the bad conditions are being experienced by both the first- and second-generation West Indians. I would say that 18 percent of them are experiencing conditions that are appalling and that's a very high rate for a middle income group. The results of the study show that it isn't just low-income members of the community that are affected by the problems but the whole community."

Jones – his grandfather was a Caribbean immigrant and his father was the late Thomas Russell Jones, a highly respected retired State Supreme Court Justice who had previously served in the New York State Assembly in Albany – described immigrants as a "vibrant part of New York" who have created a "landscape of cultures and ethnicities that capture diversity at its highest level." That was why the City, he added, "should work towards including immigrants in the tapestry of New York, and not exclude them."