Roshan Abraham

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Roshan Abraham, Next City's housing correspondent, is a journalist whose reporting on criminal justice, housing, and health has appeared in VICE, The Verge, Pacific Standard, The Village Voice, and more. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and a former Equitable Cities fellow.
A night view of San Francisco, with a dark blue sky and golden lights shining in all the windows.

San Francisco Is Fighting to Keep Its Homeless Sweeps Going—With or Without Shelter

Courts are curbing cities’ ability to threaten, cite, or arrest people merely for being homeless. Now states and cities are searching for loopholes to avoid the injunctions.
A group of people stand around a person with a megaphone. There are signs in the back of the room.

What Happened to Rent Control in Minneapolis?

Minneapolis voters gave their city council the power to enact rent control by ordinance. Two years later, the future of rent control is still in limbo.
A three-story red/brown brick building with white window frames. In the foreground, a thick green hedge. Behind the building, a clear blue sky. There are no people in the photo.

What Can We Learn From the U.K.’s Council Housing? (Hint: Vienna Isn’t the Only...

Social historian John Boughton explains how the U.K.’s social housing system changed millions of low- and middle-income people’s lives—and how privatization has crippled its power.
A three-story yellow building with moss growing in the first floor entrances and second floor.

How One Organization Is Preserving Housing Co-Ops

A group formed to promote student housing co-ops in the ’60s is acquiring and preserving cooperative housing for future generations.
A close nighttime view of the front of a squad car, with red and blue lights glowing on the roof, and red and blue lights in the grille. The headlights are also on. The windshield appears black and no people are visible in the car.

Sweeps Aren’t Outreach—Policing Homelessness Still Doesn’t Work

A new study shines light on the connection between homeless outreach teams and policing, and examines why so many cities are still using resident complaints to guide their response to the homelessness crisis.
A nighttime photo in Jersey City, NJ. The photo is take on the side of a street, with orange light trails in the center of the image going down the street. There are parked cars on the right side of the image, and high-rise buildings to the left.

Jersey City Grants Free Counsel to Renters Facing Eviction

Jersey City renters can’t keep up with a housing crisis fueled by proximity to New York City. A new right to counsel program, funded by development fees, could help.
Closeup of a weatherbeaten wooden sign that says Vacancies in block letters across the top, and underneath that, No, and underneath that, another No.

LA Isn’t Enforcing Its Section 8 Discrimination Ban. Could This Lawsuit Change the Tide?

In 2019, Los Angeles passed an ordinance banning discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders. But it has never sued to enforce the protection.
A row of New York Police Dept. cars lined up, half on the sidewalk, half in the gutter. At least 7 cars can be counted. Cars are white with blue lettering. At left, a woman is walking in the road past the cars.

New Yorkers Need Land. The NYPD Is Sitting On Nearly 150 Lots.

A new map reveals how much land in New York City is being wasted by city police—often sitting vacant, rather than serving the public good.
A surface covered with (and hidden by) $100 bills

Landlords on Notice: Section 8 Discrimination Will Cost You

Landmark lawsuits in D.C., New York, and California make source of income discrimination risky for landlords. 
A sign saying "Closed" hands in a window that reflects treetops and the sky. The interior of the building is dark.

PHAs Could House People with Convictions, But Most Don’t

Policy changes by local public housing authorities can be transformative for Americans with convictions, and for their families.
Two-story brick apartment houses surrounded by evergreens and deciduous trees. At right are several parked cars. A woman in a pink top and gray leggings is raking leaves along the curb.

Albany’s Good-Cause Eviction Law Worked—Before the Courts Blocked It

As local tenant protections face judicial backlash across New York, tenants are pushing for a statewide version of the law.