Interesting how the Howard Hughes Corporation is NOT contemplating building housing. Something tells me housing will be much easier to permit -- especially if they agree to set aside units for below-market rent. THINK people.
2
What’s interesting is there is a movie that costs hundreds of millions to make and market that will probably make all that money back and more being filmed right next to the homeless shelter. A perfect illustration to our society of winners and losers.
14
Whenever there is innovation there are winners and losers. This is as true today as it was in the time of the industrial revolution. Land and farming were less valuable than factories that made things. When cars replaced horses many people lost jobs. No need for horse shoes or pickup of horse waste. Now we’re seeing the next wave. Some people will lose and some will win. That’s capitalism. That’s the very essence of the American economy. If you don’t like it we can freeze all advances or we can vote into office more socialist candidates and transform the country into a different vision. But capitalism is what we have and we’re designed to have.
2
Civilized societies do not abandon those negatively affected by change. They have effective social nets for re-training and basic necessities so that those people retain their dignity and their children have some level of stability.
Capitalism does not demand that a society abandon its most vulnerable to the kindness of strangers; that is a societal choice. The United States is not the only capitalist country in the world, but it is the only one where the a vocal segment of self-identified "conservatives" gleefully dehumanize those who are unfortunate as merely being the price of capitalism. I would say shame on you, but shame is apparently in short supply.
17
This is a scene from a dystopian Netflix film, right? People are to be warehoused. People cast off as dispensible, as obsolete in an America where corporations are worshipped and a few enjoy life with their frequently enhanced and updated digital toys.
Of course, this effort to help homeless folks should be applauded. But ask yourself how most of these ordinary (could be you or me) people have become homeless. The answers are many but all tie back to our society's failure to adapt to the rapid change of technology and the displacement it creates.
The companies that drive these siesmic changes are doing great! They are getting bigger and richer. And they got a tax break so they could buy back more of their own shares. Which boosted share prices so they got richer! Did they hire more people? Did they institute retraining programs for those that have been ousted by AI, robots and outsourcing? Did they develop serious charitable efforts to help the sort of folks who have been left behind in this race to "modernity"?
Who's bright idea was it to rely on "capitalism" to take care of our citizenry? I am not talking charity or gifts. I am talking social respsonsibility to guide an economy so that we all can survive and benefit.
It is indeed time for a revolution. How many billion is enough, Mark? Google boys: could you sacrifice a billion or two to address the people left behind? And all of you who "buy" an Apple phone - aren't you are supporting the ultimate Oligarchs?
13
This story is heartbreaking and horrifying.As a society we have so lost our moral compass that we think it is "Great" to move homeless families into an abandoned shopping center. I believe a George Romero film I watched back in the day had a similar plot. That was a zombie apocalypse and fiction and this is actually happening. Adding to the irony is that several of the residents of this new shelter actually had a job working at that particular Macy's.Again not metaphor but reality. Unemployed people need jobs and homeless people need homes. America needs to find it's conscience and stop bankrolling billionaire's and their get richer quicker schemes and spend some of our treasure on people like this who need compassion and stability and a hand up. The photo of that adorable little boy exploring his new "home" really got me in the gut. He deserves a decent life a safe and stable place to call a home but instead here he is in a department store re-purposed as a shelter. He looks so handsome in his matching vest and dress slacks. I cannot help but wonder if the outfit was purchased from Macy's?
26
What a great use of space.
8
Great idea!!
4
I live in an ungentrified part of Brooklyn. I can walk to get anything I could possibly want. Within a three block radius, there is a butcher, a baker, a shoemaker, two banks, a fish monger, a fresh salad/juice place, a fresh fruit and vegetable bodega, a supermarket, a variety store, pizzarias, restaurants, delis, clothing stores, barbers, auto/body shops, auto repair, plumbing supply, a post office and two pharmacies.
None of these are chain stores. They are all mom-and-pop businesses.
My neighbors are the most lovely mix of people from all over the globe. And everyone who desires seems to be working!
Thriving cities rock!
34
Agree, my brother lived in Brooklyn for years and when I visited was impressed how much the neighborhood was like an old time small town.
12
The last time I went to Macy's I was asked four times to open a credit card account finally said what about no don't you understand, never went back. Corporate greed is why this is happening, both homelessness and vacant buildings.
17
@MDM You get it. Irony lurks everywhere in this article. I find it simultaneously frightening and sad. I grew up in a poor city Baltimore and back in the 70's and early 80's there was plenty of cheap housing and low income housing. Almost all of it was torn down at the behest of wealthy developers who wanted it gone so that the shoe box condos and overpriced rental housing they were building would be worth more money. They got what they wanted and much of the wealth those decisions created was actually bankrolled by working class and middle class citizens. Some of whom apparently now have to live in an abandoned Macy's department store.
13
Great story of a charity using an obsolete facility to assist the poor. We need much more of this type of activity.
21
Incredibly kind for HH corp. to allow this to happen -
13
Tax write-off? *cynical*
1
I noticed that this store was offing the space rent-free. Are retail stores struggling for the same reason that people are struggling? Is rent too high?
I wanted to put forth my theory to other readers that our economy has a rent problem. If businesses are struggling to compete with the internet, if technology is disrupting jobs, then wouldn't lowering their rent combat that?
I would appreciate thoughtful feedback.
13
I agree. State Street in our downtown is blighted by many dozens of empty storefronts yet the landlord raised the rent for Peet's Coffee and they are closing up. Not a Mom and Pop yet still a nice spot for locals and tourists alike. Seems greedy and shortsighted to me. Probably a tax write-off for them but does more than nothing for our town. We have an empty Macy's also, I think it would be a great location for student housing.
5
This is the age of superfluous people. Machines, software, robots, and AI are making more and more of us unnecessary.
In the past, people were necessary for all tasks great and small and even the small tasks had to pay reasonably well because there was no other recourse.
Capitalists back then weren't any nicer but they didn't have a choice. The economy was, like it had been for many centuries, people-driven and people had to live.
Now it's not and this is the result. People wandering for a permanent place to stay in a landscape of deserted, formerly lively buildings.
This article should perturb anyone who remembers malls during their heyday in the late 1980s and 1990s. So much diverse and bustling human life in one space. Consumerist, yes, but also highly interesting and joyous in a way.
17
Yes, but those enclosed mega malls killed the downtowns of America and most small businesses. Now most downtowns and suburban retail landscapes feature the same chain restaurants and stores. We've become a face land of Chipolte, Macys, Target, Best Buy, and McDonalds.
And history hasn't always been kind to the working class. Recall the reason why the Irish moved here during the so called Potato Famine. There was enough to eat but the contracts with the English owners of the land dictated that the farmers turn over almost everything they grew during the blight; thus causing the famine. If the landlords had been willing to accept less profit, the famine would not have occurred.
The capitalist system is efficient at meeting the needs of most people but it is not equitable by any means.
22
If three or four "capitalist" billionaires put their heads and money together, the homeless problem could be addressed very quickly.
We worship the "Gig economy" at our peril.
2
See: Amazon- Seattle.
So sad to read this. There is a $700 billion annual military budget. Can 4% of that be diverted to rebuilding the economy? Sooner or later this will affect all of us. Another economic crisis or crash then suddenly life changes!
30
We all can thank globalization for this mess.
9
That's like blaming the airplane for wars. Globalization has been great for some things like allowing third world farmers to see their produce on the world market. But globalization can be very bad for other things.
The problem is not globalization so much as our society deciding that massive income inequality is acceptable and even promoted through our laws and norms. If we truly wanted to eradicate most hunger and homelessness, we could. We simply chose not to.
34
No, thank trump. This was a decent country until he stole it.
1
What do you mean by globalization? That we can travel far, that goods can travel far? I am not sure that globalization is responsible for Macy's leaving this retail site, and I don't think globalization is responsible for depression of wages in the US, and crazy employment practices that treat most workers as disposable items.
Do what you can to strengthen unions, vote for candidates who want to raise the minimum wage, and support fair labor practices, and stop looking down on workers in the service economy.
9
Very appropriate for America. Turn landmarks of prosperity into homeless shelters. End of story...
24
The malls of America are a monument to the stupidity of Capitalism. Remnants of an era where big business fought back the civil unrest of the 1960’s by making all of us consumers. Bombarded constantly by advertising and a culture that states more is better, they were quite successful. That’s because the average person really isn’t that cognizant of the way they are being manipulated. TV was dominated by the networks and advertising. There was no ‘free media’ so to speak. Big business was so successful in this charade that over the same period the largest sector of our economy became banking & finance (from manufacturing). We literally went from making almost everything in the USA to making virtually nothing. And that’s where we are today.
25
This is a huge issue where I live, too, but no one here has proposed using abandoned properties for shelters. They always want to build new. And make it bright and shiny and perfect. Meanwhile, many hard-working people throughout the city and county are paying most of their take-home wages for substandard housing. The system is seriously skewed. Transients even get taxi service here. I wish I was joking, but I’m not.
I support shelters — of course I do. However, sometimes I see something that makes me furious. One of the photos and captions here raised my hackles. The two able-bodied boys shown sitting and waiting, “while their room is prepared” could be lending a hand to the staff or volunteers who are doing that work. They could participate in helping themselves, and their mother, make a temporary home. (One of them is even old enough to hold a job, but there is no mention of him being employed.) Yet they are sitting and waiting to be served. I would not have been allowed to sit back and not pitch in to help in a situation like that, when I was that age. I had a job when I was 16, not because I needed to financially but because it taught me to work and be responsible. People constantly talk about “entitlement” these days, a loaded, dog-whistle word almost always used in a racial context. In that photo I see another kind of entitlement. I don’t like it.
9
But the boys are helping. The older one is watching his little brother and making sure he stays out of the way of the movers/shelter employees. That's an enormous help. For insurance purposes, it's likely he can't be involved in the room preparation until it's ready for the family to move in and make it a home.
Why assume that Jahlil doesn't have a job? The article doesn't say one way or another.
3
You have extrapolated quite a bit out of a caption that may or may not represent the full extent of the situation at the moment of the photograph or the lives of those boys in general. Are they "sitting back waiting to be served" or are they taking a break because they've been helping all day? Does their age prevent them from working on the job site? A distinct possibility. One of them may be old enough to work, but perhaps his homeless status makes that impossible. No address often means no job. His age might prevent him as well. It's not as easy for teen agers to find employment as it used to be. In large cities "summer jobs" are practically nonexistent as employers now have a steadier older workforce available to them because the economy is so tweaky. Or perhaps that boy and his family have decided school and his education are more important to his future than pulling in a few bucks at McDonalds when he could be studying. The truth is you don't know. You, like all of us, have biases and opinions about other people and how they live their lives instead of actual knowledge. And that is an entitlement of a completely different order.
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Neither of us can say what was being done to get the room "prepared" - electrical work perhaps?
I live down the road from Landmark Mall. For the elder boy to get a job he would need transportation and metro isn't anywhere near there and buses are extremely limited. The mall was built next to a highway with the expectation that people would drive there; in fact the mall has a huge parking garage attached to it.
When you combine transportation difficulties with school and the unpredictable schedule of service work, it is very difficult to reasonably expect that the boy could get a job that would provide meaningful employment at all. He would also need a permanent address for the employment paperwork.
37
But "the economy is doing great!" as this paper and others say. I always challenge anyone who tells me in person that the economy is booming to explain why there are so many homeless people these days and why depression and suicide rates are going through the roof if that is really the case. No one ever has a good answer.
Meanwhile today the Fed has decided to raise rates (thereby making it more expensive for poor people to borrow) because there *might* be inflation on the horizon. Might. Never mind that wages still refuse to budge, ergo, there will not be any inflation. But it will make the bankers richer.
Nice going. This country deserves everything it's got coming to it.
16
Lakeforest mall in Gaithersburg, Maryland (similar burb on the MD side of DC) is probably next. Currently, the huge parking lot is mostly used by a number of nearby car dealerships to store inventory. You can park within 25 spots of a door any time of the day or year.
4
What is happening to this country?
27
This is what I thought when I read the article. It broke my heart. I'm from Boston but live elsewhere now and I can't believe what I see in the self-proclaimed "richest country in the world."
12
If you are homeless, why are you having a baby?
11
TD have you NEVER been in a tight spot? EVER done something that turned out to be a wrong decision? Remember what Jesus said about you who are without sin....
1
That is a heartless comment. What drives one to write such a thing?
1
The baby is a month old. Perhaps she was not while she was pregnant? Perhaps she escaped an abusive partner? Perhaps she was terminated because of her pregancy? Perhaps her landlord sold her apartment to convert them to luxury apts. Neither of us knows this woman's story. Regardless, there are too many people homeless because of the lack of affordable housing.
29
Sooooo sad.....this kind of flies in the face of the running commentary of how great our economy is doing....."we the people" are running out of discretionary income thus the portions of the economy involved are collapsing....the 0.01%, however, seems to be doing very well......
25
Well, Ivanka and Jared earned over $82M last year. How can our society justify that?!!!???
10
".... 6,985 stores closed in the United States, a record.....[this year] retailers are on pace to close roughly 10,000 stores."
Yes. And now someone will pop up proclaiming that "x" amount of stores opened last year, etc., and I welcome those little factoids because, like the "employment/unemployment" figures, I have real doubts about how lovely this economy is.
My best to everyone trying to wrangle a new life out of the old and no offense meant, but I hope I don't have to join you.
And, you and I both know that that is purely a matter of luck.
34
Rosa, the closing of those stores has nothing to do with the overall health of the economy. Macy’s has been barely staying afloat for years because it operates on an untenable business model. Even the decline of malls is meaningless in the larger economic context. This breakdown has been going on for some time, and it is due to a fundamental change in the way people shop and spend their leisure hours. People are spending, but they are doing most of their shopping online. Old-style malls are not the draw they once were, as entertainment and social hubs. The new trend is a mixed-use, manufactured “Mainstreet” shopping area. Meanwhile, properties like this Macy’s building languish because planning, financing and building new commercial projects takes time. The mall near my home, for instance, has empty properties and businesses willing to sign leases if only a few alterations were approved. Yet the Planning Commission commission nixed it. So the mall will continue to languish.
10
Given the proximity to DC and 395, I predict the mall will be torn down and more poorly made, overpriced condos and apartments put up in it's place.
33
Amen. If you go on Google Streetview, it is astonishing how many faux-colonial condo townhouses are in the area and, in fact, in Alexandria at large.
3
It's interesting that you mention that the apartments and condos are poorly made. A nearby collage town has recently torn down hundreds of nice old houses, many of them Craftsman style, and ripped out more than 3,000 large trees to build multi-story apartment buildings that all look alike. A local big box store has the contract to deliver appliances. One of the young men delivering refrigerators said that the apartment buildings are so out of plumb that the doors in the units won't shut. He said he'd never seen such shoddy buildings. This is what we've come to, tear down the well-built houses and rip out the 100 year old trees to make particle board crap that will fall apart in ten years.
25
Homelessness is a crisis. Instead of spending the estimated $26 BILLION on a "wall", Trump along with the house and senate should focus on supplying shelter to those Americans that are less fortunate. It is disgraceful that this issue is not at the top of every politicians agenda.
78
You seem to blame homelessness squarely on the shoulders of 45. Did everyone own a home under Obama? Bush? Clinton? Were there no homeless under these past Presidents?
11
Or maybe the Dems should stop trying to import low skilled workers to drive down wages and drive up housing costs even further?
3
or maybe "The Trump Organization has won the permission to hire 70 foreign workers to serve as maids, cooks and servers for the 2017-2018 tourist season, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department." Or "Trump Vineyard Estates in Virginia filed a request for 29 visas so it could hire foreign workers."
4
The middle class is shrinking. Here on Maui we have at least 50% vacancy in every retail and restaurant space. They keep building more is the crazy part.
29
In my hometown, a developer who purchased a former hotel that was being used for affordable housing, kicked out the tenants just this past weekend, with little warning.
It is heartening to read that the owner of this mall allows the shelter to set up, rent free. May good karma flow their way.
It's heartbreaking to read how a lady who used to work at this mall, is now having to use it as a shelter. I hope the NYT will follow up with this lady to see how she makes out.
92
you sure you're hoping for a follow up or just simply being nosey? get a life:this lady will be fine..in 5 years she'll be elgible for Social Security, then she'll be able to move to a spot that can't charge here more than 30% of her monthly income
1
Five years is a long time to live in shelters. I hope she makes it that long. She's nearly my age. I would find it difficult.
4
A little history, Michael. Macy's at the Landmark Mall and everywhere else, started going downhill when they went bankrupt over 20 years ago. Back then Amazon only sold books.
The place has been run into the ground by the usual bankruptcy lawyers and hucksters for private equity funds, all singing the same phony tune.
Sears, anyone?
Customer service on Amazon is great. In any Macy's you go into there are usually two harried clerks on each floor trying to keep the purchase line moving and getting the returned merchandise back on the racks. Service is non-existent.
If it wasn't for the foreign tourists, the flagship Herald Square store in New York City, would have been razed.
So stop blaming Amazon and other online retailers for Macy's failure.
84
Amen. These retailers wouldn't pay for enough staff or give them a decent wage to ensure good service so they drove away customers. Typical of so many businesses that cut their way to quarterly profits by eliminating the people who actually do the work, thereby killing the goose that lays the golden egg over the long term in loyalty. When will they ever learn???
18
I would add, the 'over-malling' of America has contributed to the demise of brick and mortar retail. Too many stores; not enough shoppers. Even in consumption hungry America.
17
Mr Hughes' acted generously donating space for the shelter. Now we should push the makeup, clothing and jewelry companies that used to reside at the mall - and just got nice tax breaks from Donald Trump - to pay for GED, job training and daycare/afterschool programs for shelter residents so that they have a shot at gainful employment and will be better able to afford a home by the time the shelter's lease is up.
GOP Christians should be all over this, with teach a man to fish and all that.
71
You do realize that this is a charity founded by Christians, don't you? Christians do so much for the poor, and yet are still on the receiving end of snarky remarks by some on the left.
Mr. Hughes died in 1976 by the way, a little early to receive a tax cut.
3
Mr. Wilson, I apologize - you're right that the comment sounded snarky instead of constructive. My target was the current administration - not the many Christian people who work very hard to provide aid to those of lesser means. When a president whose foundation donates paintings of himself and bribes officials to drop lawsuits, instead of helping people in desperate need, is applauded by many in the evangelical community (2/3 at the latest national pastor's meeting applauded Pence, while 1/3 abstained from attending in protest for Trump's discriminatory policies) it does not speak well of GOP evangelical Christians, unfortunately. Many Catholic people, however - and the Pope himself - have protested Trump's alt-right wave of cruelty and discrimination. My note should have said "evangelical Christians who support Trump."
For all: "Carpenter’s Shelter has evolved from a small group of concerned citizens providing little more than bedding on cold nights in Alexandria churches and warehouses into a leader in finding solutions that permanently end and prevent homelessness. We are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and we serve more than 600 men, women and children annually."
I am making a donation now to Carpenter's Shelter - because when it comes down to it - people who help must be supported by people who can help.
http://carpentersshelter.org/give/
2
Common sense, although I disagree vehemently with your characterization of evangelical Christians, I respect and appreciate your apology in all other respects. Mr. Trump, whom I did not vote for, has nothing to do with this issue in my opinion.
But in closing, God bless you. You showed evidence of high character in your response.
1
Well, that was depressing. Used to shop in that mall. One thing in the article I would like to talk about: the author said more than 10,000 stores closed last year, which is true, but more than that number opened as brand new businesses so things aren't quite as bad as it sounds.
If we would stop sending jobs to Mexico and Communist China these folks might have had a chance at getting a decent paying job. As long as both political parties in this country remain fundamentally anti-labor and pro-free-trade there isn't much hope for them. Free trade: a code word for easy corporate access to labor camps in third world countries.
25
free market economy, amigo. You can't have both sides of the same coin LOL
3
"If we would stop sending jobs to Mexico and Communist China". Do you use a smart phone? If so, your money went toward jobs in "communist" China. You or your family buy fast fashion? There's another financial contribution toward these jobs you claim are taken away from Americans.
20
...and it isn't as easy as saying "stop sending our jobs to [country]." it's the businesses who do this and who decide. i worked for chrysler & other manufacturers for years, and every move, every thing they do, comes down to one thing: how much it costs.
Harley-Davidson, one of the great bastions of "we only manufacture in the U.S.!" is now moving manufacturing overseas. So you can thank the businesses.
11
Sixty five years ago, when my mother became a "Single Mom," we lived in a small attic in the modest house of my grandparents. Back then, in that New England factory town there were no homeless.
I think that had to do with almost anyone being able to find work that paid a livable wage. The really destitute--like us (for awhile), got taken care of in a way that didn't feel demeaning. My Mom began cleaning houses to pay for our room and board as soon as she could and she was able to go on and find successively better jobs.
I'm heartened to read about the volunteers trying to help the residents of the mall, but I'm sorry that this country's economics and ethos haven't made it possible for more people to rely on each other rather than being confined in old malls.
I think we could use some leaders who could help ALL OF US understand we need to take better care of our brothers and sisters.
60
I live right around the corner from Landmark Mall (where they're filming the next Wonder Woman in a few days!). This is a great idea for use of the space. There is a Sears attached to the mall still thriving - I go there for my Lands' End needs. So the folks can possibly get a job at Sears, even part-time or seasonal, which will help them. And the mall is closed to the weather and safe.
I hope there is good job and personal counseling going on there to get folks into their own homes. But the reality is, the rent is so high here I can't see any of these people affording any kind of home any time soon.
32
The town I live in used to have a JCPenny, Sears, a movie theater, shoe stores, paint and wallpaper stores, and more. Walmart came in and the other stores slowly closed. Now Walmart's gone and there is nothing but a Dollar General. Amazon employs people but there's not an Amazon in every town like there used to be a Penny's in every town. You have to go out in the middle of nowhere to work in an Amazon warehouse and often live in a camper. The nice thing about malls and retail stores was that they employed local people, and you had people to say hi to and smile at. How many people were employed by that mall and that Macy's. Amazon is providing a service but they can't provide the local jobs and human touch that we used to have.
62