Flophouse
The term flophouse refers to accommodation at the very lowest cost.[1] The term implies the venue may fall below common standards of habitability, and may fall below the local municipalities sanitary regulations.
At various times reformers have tried to suppress hoteliers opening up flophouses, over concerns that the marginally housed individuals there were being exploited.[1] An article published in the New York Times, in January 1996, quoted other experts who argued that flophouses were a better alternative than finding a squat, or staying in a homeless shelter. According to the article, residents at The White House, an infamous flophouse that was being forced to close paid only $10 per night, while running homeless shelters cost $50 per night.
Gentrification has also triggered the disappearance of flophouses.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 John Tierney. The Big City;Save the Flophouses, New York Times, 1996-01-14, p. (section 6, page 16). Retrieved on 2024-01-19. “The White House's lodgers are the latest victims of the long crusade to protect the poor from the capitalists who once housed the poor in lodging houses (the official term for flophouses), single-room occupancy hotels and rooming houses.”
- ↑ Lauren Elkies. From flophouses to fancy on the Bowery, The Real Deal, October 2006. Retrieved on 2024-01-19.