Tax Changes to Create Affordable Housing in Manhattan

Efforts to increase the amount of affordable housing in Manhattan take many forms. Some of the most powerful efforts involve changing the incentives in the private sector to spur growth in the number of affordable units. In a recent example, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Jose Serrano, State Assemblymember Denny Farrell, and Governor David Paterson worked together to remove significant incentives for owners to leave property vacant in Upper Manhattan. They accomplished this change in incentives by harmonizing the tax treatment of vacant property in Upper Manhattan with the treatment of vacant property in the rest of the borough.

Locating the Vacant Properties

One of the catalysts for this change was Manhattan Borough President Stringer. In 2006, his office launched the first ever large-scale, street-by-street count of abandoned buildings and vacant lots in Manhattan. That survey helped to identify possible locations for the creation of more affordable housing and led to greater understanding of what causes buildings and lots to lie unused when the demand for housing is so high. Based on survey results, in 2007, the Borough President released a report entitled No Vacancy: The Role of Underutilized Properties in Meeting Manhattan's Affordable Housing Needs. http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/NO%20VACANCY.pdf

Two of the report’s key findings were that the vast majority of vacant property in Manhattan is located in Upper Manhattan and that half of all of the vacant property in Manhattan is privately owned.

Specifically, the report highlighted that:

• 2,228 properties in Manhattan appear to be vacant or have vacancies; 1,723 of the properties contain built structures, and 505 are empty lots
• Enough developable space exists on these vacant lots and enough residential units exist in these vacant buildings to create nearly 24,000 units or one in eleven of the 265,000 housing units the NYC Mayor Bloomberg has said are needed to meet our city's future population growth
• 50% of the vacant properties are privately owned, while only 6% are government owned and 3% are owned by not-for-profit entities
• 74% of vacant residential buildings and 71% of all vacant lots are located above 96th Street, in Upper Manhattan
• $5 to $10 million in property taxes are lost annually because vacant lots above 110th Street are taxed as Class 1 residential properties
  

Changing the Incentives

Based on the findings of the No Vacancy report, State Senator Jose M. Serrano and Assembly Member Herman D. Farrell, Jr. introduced state legislation (S.6207-B/A.8666) that amends the Real Property Tax Law to equalize the treatment of vacant land throughout Manhattan by placing all vacant land into Class 4. The legislation encourages the development of much-needed affordable housing in Manhattan by allowing property owners to remain in Class 1, and therefore stay in a lower tax bracket if they file plans to develop affordable housing. It also provides financial penalties for owners who warehouse vacant properties, and it gives the city additional tools to work with owners to foster the creation of affordable apartments, along with more than $5 to $10 million in new tax revenues.

Governor Paterson signed the legislation into law on July 25th, 2008, and it will take affect on January 1, 2009.

Private Sector Solutions

This change in the NY State tax laws improves the likelihood that the private sector will invest in affordable housing and reduces the chances that valuable land will be underutilized for long periods of time. Rather than placing the government in the driver's seat for determining the future of the privately owned vacant properties in Upper Manhattan, these tax law changes leave the private sector flexibility. Owners can pay higher taxes than they did previously (but not any more than they would pay if the property were elsewhere in Manhattan) while keeping their properties vacant, or they can develop those properties and avoid the increased tax burden. By shifting the incentives for Upper Manhattan property owners in the direction of the creation of housing, NY State is enlisting the private sector to help accomplish the public goal of increased affordable housing while increasing tax revenues.

Vote Tingling on Tuesday in Manhattan

Manhattan Viewpoint breaks with tradition and publishes early this week in order to encourage all Manhattanites and all friends of Manhattan to vote on Tuesday, September 9. We will return to our traditional Monday posting on September 15, 2008.

On Tuesday, September 9, 2008, New York State will hold its primary elections. Here in Manhattan, the Democratic Party will pick its candidate for Surrogate Court Judge. There is no Republican candidate, therefore the choice of the Democrats will become the next Surrogate Court Judge. I will be voting for NYS Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling for Surrogate Court Judge.

What is the Surrogate Court?

Surrogate Court is the Trusts and Estates court for New York State. In each NYS county, the Surrogate court hears cases involving the estates of those who have died. It also handles adoptions and related matters. In every county in NYS except two, one judge hears all Surrogate cases for that given county. In Manhattan and in Brooklyn, there are two judges in the Surrogate Court. They answer to no one and have no oversight beyond themselves. These judges choose which attorneys will administrate certain estates, and they also play a large role in determining the future of the estates of those who die without a valid will. In Manhattan, the dollars that come through the Surrogate Court are in the billions of dollars, and who serves in this position without oversight is crucial.

Why Vote for Milton Tingling?

• Judge Tingling is the only candidate running who has judicial experience
• The other two candidates are being pushed forward by law firms and power brokers in order to attempt to stop the anti-corruption reform of the Surrogate Court that Judge Tingling has pledged to undertake
• Judge Tingling will open up the court to ordinary people, ensure that for the first time translations are available for those who do not speak or understand English, and establish an Upper Manhattan satellite location to bring trusts and estates information to a larger number of people

Others who have looked at this race have come to the same conclusions that I have. Judge Tingling is our best (only) hope for reducing the corruption in the Surrogate Court and making it accessible to the people of Manhattan. See the links below for the thoughts of others.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/08/14/2008-08-14_to_clean_up_corrupt_surrogate_courts_wak.html
http://www.observer.com/2008/surrogates-court-tingling-gets-county-endorsement
http://www.susancampriello.com/2008/08/19/the-candidates-opening-up-the-court/

Friend of Manhattan Seeking Re-election in Brooklyn

A quick note about a Friend of Manhattan. Brooklyn State Senator Kevin Parker is facing a tough primary battle on Tuesday. He has served admirably as the Minority Whip in the State Senate, and he has stood up for Manhattan's interests on numerous occasions.
http://www.kevinparker.org/message.asp

He bested his opponents in a recent debate.
http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/parker-stewart-felder-debate-identity

Manhattan Viewpoint encourages anyone in the 21st Senate District in Brooklyn to support Senator Kevin Parker, and we hope that Manhattanites with friends and family in that district will encourage their loved ones to vote for Kevin Parker on Tuesday. Though he represents Brooklyn, he improves lives in Manhattan through his work on behalf of Brooklyn. We'd like to see our friend back in Albany fighting for us.

Manhattan in Denver - DNC 2008

On this Labor Day, Manhattan Viewpoint salutes all workers and unions. We will examine labor issues later this year. This week's posting looks back at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the race for the Presidency of the United States.

Witnessing the beginning of the end of the 2008 Presidential race while enjoying the city of Denver, my mind remained focused on the world's most important city and on the Borough of Manhattan that anchors our great city. It was fabulous to be in Denver to witness the official nomination of the next President of the United States. It is also great to be home.

Manhattan Should Be Proud

Denver welcomed Manhattan's public leadership last week, and Manhattan should be proud of how its leaders conducted themselves on the National Stage. NY Governor David Paterson spoke on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention. He electrified all of those assembled in the Pepsi Center with his very clear explanation of why the US needs to reject John McCain and embrace Senator Barack Obama. http://www.demconvention.com/david-paterson/
David Paterson represented our State and our borough perfectly. I was cheering loudly as anyone ("David. David. David. . .") as he concluded his remarks.

Later, Chairman Charlie Rangel, by whom I am represented in the House of Representatives, led the remarks of Congressional Black Caucus in a tribute to the late member of Congress Stephanie Tubbs Jones. As usual, his remarks were well suited for the moment. While there had been controversy regarding whether Chairman Rangel would be permitted to address the Convention, the Chairman rose above the controversy and made us all very proud with his sensitivity and eloquence. http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRNewswire/release/55224.html

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton spoke as well as they've ever spoken, and these two adopted Manhattanites (or Friends of Manhattan if you wish) were the Story of Tuesday and Wednesday of the Convention. Bill Clinton's office is in the heart of Upper Manhattan, and he represented us extremely well on Wednesday. Hillary Clinton couldn't have done a better job of making it clear that all of us should work as hard as we can to elect Senator Barack Obama to the Presidency. She's been attacked, underestimated, underappreciated, and pushed aside by so many (which is a familiar experience for many of us in Upper Manhattan). She showed on Tuesday night of the Convention that she is better than her critics. She returned later in the Convention to make the motion to nominate Senator Barck Obama for the Presidency by acclimation. She was the heroine of the week. http://www.demconvention.com/hillary-rodham-clinton/

Bill Clinton's presentation at the Convention was the single best presentation by any speaker. No one was surprised, but everyone was excited. http://www.demconvention.com/bill-clinton/

After the Convention, We Pray for a President Obama

The 2008 Democratic Convention was strong in terms of pageantry and high on emotion. It was historic and inspiring. I had to wait in line for 2 hrs to get into Invesco Field for the final night of activities (see the picture at the right for a view of the size of the line for entry to Invesco Field), but it was worthwhile. I'll tell my grandchildren about it someday.

John McCain interrupted the Obama momentum with his daring choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. I respect McCain for being willing to share the national stage with a strong, outspoken woman who has the executive experience that he, Senator Obama and Senator Biden all lack. As I look at the impressive life and accomplishments of Governor Palin (beauty queen, basketball star, Governor, mother of five, and reformer), her emergence on a national ticket reminds me how much focus will be necessary to elect Senator Obama to the Presidency. She is a true conservative who does not favor abortion rights, and she is very unlikely to support improved lives for those of us in New York City if she joins John McCain in the White House. We Democrats should not claim that she is "more of the same", because she is like nothing we've seen before. We Democrats should not claim that she is unqualified, because her qualifications meet or exceed those of our Presidential nominee. We Democrats need to remind the electorate that the electorate agrees with the Democrats on all of the key issues. The electorate is disappointed and disgusted with the Republican Party and wants to give us Democrats a chance to see if we can do better.

Manhattan needs an Obama Presidency - two terms. Let's pray that the incredibly appropriate words of Chairman Rangel, our Governor, and our friends, the Clintons, can combine with the hard work we all must do during the next 2+ months to propel Obama - Biden into the White House and give Manhattan the friend in the Oval Office that we've lacked for the last 8 years.

Preventing Terrorism in Manhattan

The NYPD is planning to install permanent license plate scanners at each of the 20 crossings into Manhattan.

While many respected members of our community have opposed the tracking of all vehicles entering and leaving Manhattan, I view the project as an important piece of creating a safer Manhattan that is more attractive for business activity as well as for raising our children. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/08/12/2008-08-12_aclu_sez_city_plan_to_scan_license_plate.html

Challenge of Privacy

We need to be vigilant in protecting the privacy of Manhattanites. We do not want our every movement tracked by the authorities. We do not want a public record of every telephone conversation we've had or a video recording of how we've reacted to everything that has occurred in our lives each day. Some of our privacy has already been lost due to EZ Pass. The government has access to information regarding where our vehicles have been, and the government can use our Metro Cards to track our movements as well.

For me, this latest proposed loss of liberty (not having the government know whether or not my vehicle is in Manhattan) is outweighed by the deterrent effect on criminals and terrorists. I respect the concerns about a slippery slope (if we allow the government to track every vehicle that enters Manhattan, how will we avoid the government's intrusion into every aspect of our lives with cameras and tracking devices?), but we can choose to look at this proposal on its merits and distinguish it from the recent Federal wiretapping and the potential for ubiquitous video taping of our movements as people. This proposal is focused on tracking which vehicles are here in our home county - the most important county in the world.

A vehicle was used as a deadly weapon in Oklahoma City in 1995, and we should be eager to invest in preventing such a tragedy here in Manhattan, which is now, more than ever, the center of the world for commerce, finance, arts, culture, international affairs, etc. We will always be a terrorist target, and we must engage in efforts to defeat the terrorists' schemes.

Protecting All of Manhattan

Early versions of the proposal for license plate readers focused on Lower Manhattan. The latest plan includes all of Manhattan. We should not encourage terrorists to view attacks in certain parts of the borough to be more acceptable than attacks in other parts. To the extent that we sacrifice some liberty to promote safety, it must be safety for all of our people and not only for those now living and working in close proximity to the location of the 2001 terrorist attacks. In Upper Manhattan, we expect that the NYPD and its law enforcement colleagues will show no less determination to prevent attacks and track the movements of those legitimately identified as threats when those potential attacks and identified threats are in the northern reaches of our borough.

Holding the NYPD Accountable

The NYPD has been unsuccessful in eliminating racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other forms of policy misconduct. It has supported rules protecting officers who engage in misconduct, and it has been able to avoid any real oversight from outside of its own ranks. As the NYPD gains the ability to track vehicles throughout Manhattan, we must unite to demand that the NYPD live up to its commitment to purge its records of the movements of those vehicles after 30 days in the absence of evidence of associated criminal or terrorist related activity. We will have an obligation to demand that the tracking data be used only to prevent violent crimes and terrorist activities - not to embarrass critics of the NYPD and not for general detective work and broad investigations.

I recommend that a special citizens oversight committee be established to review, on at least a quarterly basis, the work of the NYPD with regard to the tracking of the movement of vehicles into and around Manhattan. This committee would, at a minimum, prevent the widespread abuse of the acquired data by the NYPD from going unchallenged or unnoticed. The Borough President, Scott Stringer, would be the natural person to appoint the members of this committee and to ensure that the committee is a mixture of those with knowledge of law enforcement and those dedicated to preserving our civil liberties - all working together and with the NYPD to keep our borough safe and to protect our precious civil and Constitutional rights, simultaneously.

Stealing From Manhattan

Upstate New York is stealing voting power and economic resources from Manhattan, and we need to band together to put an end to the theft.

Federally Assisted Theft

The theft starts with the assistance of the Federal Government. The US Census Bureau counts incarcerated individuals as living in the locations where they are housed in prison rather than in their home communities.

When electoral districts are drawn, Census data is used. As a result, voting power is shifted from the areas that suffer most from having their residents incarcerated to areas that have prisons in their midst. In addition, when educational dollars are allocated, population is a key driver. When highway money is allocated and when other investments are made, absolute and relative populations play a major role in determining how much of various resources are available to various communities.

Theft from Manhattan

While, as of 2002, only 24% of those incarcerated in New York State are from Upstate New York, 91% of prisons are in that part of the state. Manhattan loses the votes of those incarcerated and must subsidize the education and lifestyle of upstate communities. Manhattan subsidizes the parks in upstate communities, and Manhattan's ability to fight back is limited by the increased voting power of upstate communities. In fact, many Federal program dollars are allocated based on the number of low-income residents in a given community, and the Census results in those dollars being provided to upstate communities who don’t use the funds to aid those incarcerated individuals whose presence in their communities creates the windfall from the Federal Government.

The Republican control of the NYS Senate persists today because of the theft of voting power by upstate communities. Republican counties upstate are able to elect more members to the State Senate than their actual populations would dictate. After stealing populations from Democratic counties (such as Manhattan) through the prison system the Republican control of the state senate allows the theft to be reinforced and amplified as public policy changes that would help the people of Manhattan are blocked.

It is worth noting that more than 80% of New York State's prisoners are Black or Latino, while the state's prison locations are nearly all in areas with very few Black or Latino residents. Though drug use is equally common outside of communities of color as it is within communities of color (see page 271 of this report by the US Department of Health and Human Services), ninety percent of those in NY State prisons based on drug offenses are Black or Latino. Therefore, this theft from Manhattan is also a piece of a broader crime against ethnic minorities and people of color who reside in New York State. The impact of the diluted voting power and reduced resources that result from this theft is concentrated in neighborhoods where Black and Latino residents live in the largest numbers. These facts add insult to the injury.

See a detailed report on the effect of prison populations on legislative districts in New York State in a report by the Prison Policy Institute. http://www.prisonpolicy.org/importing/importing.html

Preventing Additional Theft

After the 2010 Census, all of the Congressional and State Legislative districts with be redrawn in 2011 and will likely govern our elections until 2021. We must advocate for a change in the Census procedures as soon as possible. We must ensure that Manhattan's proper representative power is restored in the 2011 redistricting process, or we will be agreeing to have our resources and our political power stolen from us for another decade.

Manhattan Needs a Borough President

The NY Post says that we don't need a Borough President. http://www.nypost.com/seven/07222008/postopinion/editorials/nix_the_beeps_120969.htm Please allow me to tell you why they are wrong.

Protecting Our Homes and Strengthening Our Neighborhoods

We need a Borough President to stand with those who have made Manhattan (particularly Upper Manhattan) such an increasingly popular place to live. Manhattan is the most important county in the world. The world comes here to solve its political problems at the UN. The world comes here to perform on Broadway, at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall. Manhattan is the capital of the arts and the capital of culture for the world. Manhattan is the capital of the capital markets, commerce, and international trade. But, for so many of us, it is, first and foremost, the place where we live, the place where we have lived for so many years, and the place we want to continue to call, "home".

During many difficult years, Manhattanites, including many of modest means, built their neighborhoods into the types of locations that now attract the most privileged and powerful individuals from all over the world. As the privileged and the powerful seek to make their homes in portions of Manhattan that had not attracted such people until recently, many people of modest means are put at risk of losing their homes.

A Borough President can use the considerable power of that office to influence the path of real estate development in Manhattan and ensure that neighborhoods are maintained. New affordable housing can be demanded as part of development projects, and existing examples of high quality affordable housing can be protected from gentrification. Nearly every development project in Manhattan ends up facing scrutiny by the office of the Borough President. When the Borough President makes strengthening our neighborhoods his or her priority goal, the developers will work to strengthen neighborhoods in order to streamline their path to development and profit. The Borough President needs to have the right instincts for working with for-profit developers in order to trade their opportunity to generate a meaningful profit for the opportunity for our neighborhoods to remain whole and for our neighbors to be able to enjoy the benefits of development (e.g., improved governmental and private sector services, increased entertainment and dining options) rather than becoming victims of development.

Looking Out for The Interests of the Borough

Whether it is the World Trade Center site, the MTA Rail Yards, waterfront projects, or Upper Manhattan development for big-box retail, the people of the Borough of Manhattan should have a say in the outcome of the project. We live here. At the World Trade Center site, the Governor of New Jersey can block plans that are agreed by representatives of NYC and NY State. New Jersey's residents get a voice at the table. We need to ensure that the voice of those who live in Manhattan is heard. Manhattan is a county (New York County), and it is important that our county be represented by an executive in the public sector who puts our interests first. Beyond land use and housing, the Borough President's voice on health, education, job creation and a host of other key issues speaks loudly and clearly for all Manhattanites. The NY Post would like to silence that voice in order to have fewer places to turn when their allies seek to overcome the will of the people of Manhattan. They don't want an advocate for the people to interfere with any plans that they create to gain power or to obtain profit. We need to ensure that we have a strengthened Borough Presidency to stand against those who work against the interests of the residents of our great Borough.

Ensuring that City Services are Delivered

As the chair of the Borough Services Cabinet, the Borough President works to make city services more responsive to community needs. He or she meets monthly with those who are responsible for delivering services to Manhattan's residents and ensure that progress is being made to improve delivery and prevent service delivery problems.

Appointing Qualified Individuals to Boards and Commissions

Under the Charter, the Borough President appoints individuals to the following:

• A member of the City Planning Commission A member of the Economic Development Corporation Board
• A parent to the Public Education Panel and two members to the New York City Community and City-Wide Education Council
• 600 members of Manhattan's 12 Community Boards; half on nominations from City Council members
• Three members to sit on the Hudson River Park Trust Board Members to advisory boards of Manhattan's municipal health facilities
• Thirty-five additional municipal advisory and tasks forces

Other important roles of the Borough President:

• Sits on the New York City Off-Track Betting Site Selection Board when the board is considering matters pertinent to OTB locations within the borough
• Serves as a Trustee to the New York City Employee's Retirement System

How should the Borough Presidency Be Expanded?

In order to look after the interests of the people of Manhattan, the Borough President should have the power to appoint:

• Members to the Board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
• Some of the members of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Board
• Some of the members of the NYC Economic Development Corporation Board
• Special ambassadors to represent the interests of the people of Manhattan to the Empire State Development Corporation

The NY Post Is Very Wrong

We need the Borough Presidency to remain in place and to be strengthened. Perhaps the other NYC newspapers will advocate for the people of Manhattan to have their voice heard as the NY Post attempts to silence our voices.

HIV and AIDS Testing for Manhattan

All of us need to commit to focus attention on HIV testing and prevention in Manhattan and to demand from our elected leaders increased leadership in this area. A number of recent developments have caused me to seek to catalyze Upper Manhattan communities to advocate for HIV/AIDS testing throughout Manhattan:

1) The NYC government announced in late June 2008 its decision to test all adults in the Bronx for HIV/AIDS. The decision should be applauded, but it highlights our needs in Manhattan. Manhattan has the highest level of HIV infection and AIDS in NYC. The city government needs to focus its AIDS testing and prevention resources on Manhattan with at least as much commitment as it is demonstrating in the Bronx. The article below from the New York Daily News mentions Manhattan's needs in describing the NYC choice to begin its mass testing efforts in the Bronx. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/06/25/2008-06-25_aids_tests_for_500000_in_bronx.html

A 2004 report from the NYC Department of Health showed that Manhattan had 50% more AIDS cases than the Bronx and that Manhattan had far more individuals living with AIDS than any other Borough. Here is a link to that report. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/dires/epi-surveillance-manhattan200406.pdf

2) In late July 2008, CNN focused on the Alarming rates of AIDS in the African American community and the lack of commitment by the US Federal Government to prevention efforts in the United States. The US spends billions on AIDS prevention overseas but less than one billion dollars each year on domestic prevention. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/07/29/black.aids.report/index.html

3) In Early August 2008, the Center for Disease Control announced that there were 40% more HIV positive individuals in the US than the CDC had previously believed. It is urgent that all in Manhattanites know their status and take steps to avoid the spread of HIV and AIDS. If the national numbers are 40% higher than previously believed, the Manhattan numbers might very well represent an even greater undercount. While we hope that Manhattan's numbers turn out to be more accurate than the CDC's national numbers of HIV infected individuals, only a strong testing regime will allow us to be certain. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/08/02/hiv.cdc/index.html

4) Before the new, alarming CDC numbers came out, I attended, in late July 2008, a private event sponsored by the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA - pronounced en-BLAK-uh or simply BLAK-uh). Its leader is the former Borough President of Manhattan, C. Virginia Fields, a dynamic and impressive leader who is certain to continue to groundbreaking fight against AIDS started by my mother-in-law, Debra Fraser Howze when she founded NBLCA more than 20 years ago. At the event, a group of young professionals from all over the NYC area were educated about the continued spread of AIDS amongst African Americans in NYC and throughout the US. NY State is the state in the US with the largest number of African Americans with AIDS, and the numbers continue to increase. Many of the other stats were astonishing even to those of us who have been associated with the AIDS fight for years. Below, and at http://www.nblca.org/aidsInfo_more.html is a sampling of these stats:

HIV/AIDS in 2005

• According to the 2000 census, blacks make up approximately 13% of the US population.
• However, in 2005, blacks accounted for 18,121 (49%) of the estimated 37,331 new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting.
• Of all black men living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was sexual contact with other men, followed by injection drug use and high-risk heterosexual contact.
• Of all black women living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was high-risk heterosexual contact, followed by injection drug use.
• Of the estimated 141 infants perinatally infected with HIV, 91 (65%) were black (CDC, HIV/AIDS Reporting System, unpublished data, December 2006).
• Of the estimated 18,849 people under the age of 25 whose diagnosis of HIV/AIDS was made during 2001–2004 in the 33 states with HIV reporting, 11,554 (61%) were black.
• Of persons whose diagnosis of AIDS had been made during 1997–2004, a smaller proportion of blacks (66%) were alive after 9 years compared with American Indians and Alaska Natives (67%), Hispanics (74%), whites (75%), and Asians and Pacific Islanders (81%).

AIDS in 2005

• Blacks accounted for 20,187 (50%) of the estimated 40,608 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black adults and adolescents was 10 times the rate for whites and nearly 3 times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black women was nearly 23 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black men was 8 times the rate for white men.
• The 185,988 blacks living with AIDS in the 50 states and the District of Columbia accounted for 44% of the 421,873 people in those areas living with AIDS. Of the 68 US children (younger than 13 years of age) who had a new AIDS diagnosis, 46 were black.
• Since the beginning of the epidemic, blacks have accounted for 397,548 (42%) of the estimated 952,629 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• From the beginning of the epidemic through December 2005, an estimated 211,559 blacks with AIDS died.
• African-Americans have the highest AIDS case rate per 100,000 population of all ethnic/racial groups-66.4 per 100,000 population compared with 8.2 for whites. African-American males have an AIDS case rate of 125.2, over seven times the rate for white males who have a rate of 17.8 per 100,000 population. African-American women have an AIDS case rate of 49.8, over 20 times the rate for white women who have a rate of 2.4 per 100,000 population.