February 1990

New York's Affairs News

C O U N T E R F E I T C O - O P S D C H A R T E R C H A N G E S
S A R A L E E E V A N S O N T H E F U T U R E F O R S R O s .
2 CITY LIMITS
e;tJf J . ; m ; ~ 5
Volume XV Number 2
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EDITORIAL
Early Warnings
Not long ago the city was doing next to nothing to create low income
housing. Community leaders, the homeless and housing advocates were
united by their outrage.
Now that the city is starting to provide housing are these natural allies
still working together? Not quite. In a classic scenario, the city is creating
a limited number of low income housing units and a variety of constituen-
cies are beginning to fight over the scraps.
Some community leaders say new developments have too many apart-
ments for the homeless and not enough for locals. Homeless families are
being divided into competing streams that don't have an equal shot at the
best of the newly available housing. Homeless single adults, homeless
people with AIDS, people who are homeless but not in the shelter system
and many others say their needs are being ignored. Meanwhile, some ofthe
nonprofit organizations that used to lobby for permanent housing are now
getting comfortable running transitional shelters.
Instead of allowing the city to divide and conquer, these various groups
should join forces and demand major changes in the city's $5 billion
housing plan. Not a redistribution of the relatively paltry amount of low
income housing, but a shifting of precious city resources away from
projects targeted to middle income New Yorkers, who can still fend for
themselves in the private housing market, and towards those who need
housing assistance most immediately.
It's a cause that can unite many New Yorkers.
* * *
As this issue of City Limits heads to press, nearly a month has elapsed
since Mayor David Dinkins took office. But we still have no housing nor
human resources commissioners and no new planning commissioner.
These vacancies remain as the nominating process-if such a word can be
used-devolves into the ridiculous. Public squabbles have erupted be-
tween at least two candidates. In the meantime, as the Dinkins administra-
tion struggles to meet the impending budget gap, there's no high-level
official to fight for housing and public assistance dollars. These are clearly
warning signs for the road ahead.
* * *
Correction: Two addresses in last month's feature on the new breed of
bad landlords were inadvertently scrambled. David Turner's townhouse is
located at 343 West 22nd Street and Barry Glasser's father owns 3505
Rochambeau Avenue. 0
"'X.523
INSIDE
FEATURES
Mixed Blessings:
Life After the Welfare Hotels
The hotels are closing but where are the families
going?
8
The Rise of the Counterfeit Co-op 14
Co-ops were supposed to giving tenants a stake in
running their own building.
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial
Early Warnings .......................................................... 2
Short Term Notes
Tenancy Lawsuit ..... ............... ... ............. .... ........... ... . 4
Radioactive Waste Fight ........................................... 4
City Scorecard ........................................................... 5
Neighborhood Notes ................................................. 6
Pipeline
A User's Guide to Charter Process ......... .. .............. 18
City View
SROs: Where to From Here? .............. ......... ............ 20
Letters ................. ......... ........ ................................ ..... 21
February 1990 3
Scorecard/Page 5
Mixed Blessings/Page 8
{ .
l/J \ n t (] ':;, '...i
A
to CA \ ( n oMf!.
0\ -\-0
-;\.i;i)"'. \i \AC f!.- +0
Counterfeit Co-ops/Page 14
4 CITY LIMITS
SHORT TERM NOTES
TENANCY
LAWSUIT
Natividad Abreu has sublet
an apartment in a city-owned
building in the Bronx since
June 1987. When the legal
tenant moved out later that
year, Abreu tried to obtain a
lease from the city's Depart-
ment of Housing Preservation
and Development (HPD), but
never received one. And
although she was never
informed by HPD why the
lease was denied, she
received an eviction notice last
year with a summons to
appear in court. "The judge
told me I have to move out
within 60 days," recalls the
mother who survives on food
stamps and $144 a month in
public assistance. "I ex-
plained to him that I was
expecting my baby and I have
another child-how can I get
an apartment in 60 days?"
Abreu is a plaintiff in a
lawsuit against HPD that
charges the city with unfairly
evicting peaple who live in
city-owned buildings by squat-
ting or paying rent through
suolet or share arrangements
with leaseholders.
HPD Assistant Commis-
sioner Harold Schultz says
that the city is attempting to
provide housing for those in
need, but adds that there are
rules about who is eligible for
that housing. ''We don't allow
peaple who have been living
in apartments illegally to jump
ahead of homeless peaple
who have been waiting for a
long t!me t ~ get housing," he
explains. Our general
purpose is to grant apartments
to peaple who are deserving."
lawyers from the legal Aid
Society, who are representing
the plaintiffs, counter that HPD
spurs homeless ness by evicting
low income peaple from city-
owned buildings without
proper legal procedures.
"Our own experience indi-
cates that there are hundreds
of people [in city-owned
buildings without leases], if
not thousands ... we realized
that the city sets a lot of them
up as tenants, and not others,"
explains legal Aid attorney
Richard Marsico. "This is a
patent injustice. The right to
due process of law is a
fundamental right."
Under HPD's official written
policy, occupants in residence
as of April 1, 1988 are
granted or refused tenant
status based on an interview
given by the occupant's
property manager, who
evaluates "household compo-
sition, residence history,
involvement in unacceptable
activities and willingness to
pay rent and arrears."
Occupants refused tenancy
receive an eviction notice and
a summons to appear in court,
where they can challenge
HPD's decision.
But according to legal Aid
there are a number of
problems with HPD's proce-
dure. First, it does not
consider occupants who
moved in after April 1, 1988,
even if they have been paying
rent and living there with the
tenant's permission. Further-
more, legal Aid lawyers say
that HPD informs neither
occupants nor the courts of its
policy. (legal Aid was not
even aware of the policy until
after the lawsuit commenced
last June.) Additionally,
according to the lawsuit,
occupants are not told they
are being evaluated for tenant
status when they are inter-
viewed, nor are they told the
reason for being turned down.
Finally, the lawsuit claims
that HPD carries out the policy
inconsistently and some
tenants initially denied tenant
status will subsequently have it
granted simply because they
appear in court. "It's a hit or
miss kind of thins," says
Marsico. "Peaple who arer!'t
intimidated by the eviction
notice and court summons
show up in court and get
considered for tenancy,
regardless of when they
moved in. Those intimidated
move out."
legal Aid lawyers filed a
motion calling for a halt to the
policy until major changes are
implemented. The case is
expected to be heard in
Manhattan Supreme Court this
month. 0 Sarah Babb
RADIOACTIVE
WASTE FIGHT
Officials and activists in
Brooklyn are condemning a
state plan that would use a
controversial radioactive
waste transfer station to
temporarily store low-level
radioactive waste from New
York's hospitals and research
institutes.
The transfer station, Radiac
Research Corporation, picks
up and disposes radioactive
materials. It has been the
target of protests by the
Williamsburg Around the
Bridge Block Association, the
Toxic Avengers of EI Puente
and Greenpoint Against Smell
and Pollution. The groups
contend that the transfer
station, which is located half a
block from a public school, is
a safety threat.
"To increase the storage at
a facility the community is
fighting is detrimental and
insulting," says local Council
Member Abraham Gerges. "I
understand the need for a
place [to store the waste) but I
object to placing it in a
residential area near a
school."
The temporary plan for
low-level radioactive waste
was developed by an inter-
agency council set up by the
New York State Energy
Research and Development
Authority. Eileen Shepord, a
spokesperson for the author-
ity, responds, "To the best of
our understanding, the facility
is in compliance and has been
effective accommodating
public health and safety
requi rements."
low-level radioactive waste
comes from nuclear power
plants, hospitals, academic
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institutions and research and
industrial firms. Currently,
only three states store the
refUse-South Carolina,
Nevada and Washington-
but they will stop accepting
shipments from out-of-state at
the end of 1993.
At that time a federal
mandate requires each state
to store the low-level radioac-
tive waste generated within
their borders. New York has
already declared that the local
site, which has not yet been
designated will not be
operational until 1995; thus
the need for a stop-gap plan.
Recently certified by Gov.
Mario Cuomo, the interim
plan calls for nuclear power
plants to store their low-level
radioactive waste on-site,
while some industries,
hospitals and research
institutions will send their
waste to Radiac or a facility in
Peekskill, NDl, Inc.
located at 261 Kent
Avenue, Radiac has been
licensed since 1970 to store
low-level radioactive materi-
als. Neighborhood protest has
focused on the fact that the
radioactive waste transfer
station is located adjacent to a
storage site for hazardous
and Aammable materials.
local residents are also
worried because 31 million
gallons of heating oil are
stored nearby.
"We're concerned about a
fire or explosion that could
happen," explains Adam
Cohen, a member of the
Williamsburg Around the
Bridge Block Association. "It
could blow up the warehouse
and vaporize the radioactive
waste-which is the nightmare
of all of us."
Carol Steinsapir of the
Community Environmental
Health Center at Hunter
College adds that the facility
has never had to make an
environmental impact report
that would assess the possibili-
ties of such an accident. She
says, "It's not reasonable to
ask people to accept govern-
ment assurances that all will
be well if there's been no
evaluation and public review
of the risks involved and the
potential consequences of a
worst case scenario."
Exposure to radiation can
potentially damage or kill
body cells, producing cancer,
genetic mutations ana birth
defects. A recent study by the
National Research Council
concludes that the risk of
gettin9 cancer from low levels
of radiation appears to be
four times as high as previ-
ously estimated in a 1980
report. As a result of the
National Research Council's
study, national experts say
Congress will probably lower
the safety threshold for
exposure to low-level radioac-
tive waste. 0 Lisa Glazer
CITY SCORECARD
Private developers and the
city are joined in a handful of
mammoth plans to build
housing targeted mostly to
middle income New Yorkers.
With a new administration in
place, attention is being
refocused on these contentious
projects. So far the plans are
only on paper-whether they
remain that way remains to be
seen. Here's an update on
their current status:
-Tibbett Gardens: A plan
to create a high rise complex
in the Kingsbridge section of
the Bronx. Sponsored by the
Real Estate Board of New
York (REBNYI, the plan was
put together after former
mayor Edward Koch asked
developers to help build
affordable housing. After
community protests, the
development was scaled down
from 1,001 to 750 apart-
ments, affordable to Families
earning above $50,000.
While REBNY has been
unable to complete private
financial arrangements for the
four-year-old development
effort, the city's estimated
contribution has steadily
climbed from $25,000 to
$84,000 per apartment. The
city's Housing Development
Corporation has already
committed $1.77 million,
which won't be paid back if
the project doesn't proceed.
February 1990 5
Arveme urfHln renewal .iN:
Up"a" deyelop"..,., plan. are moYi"fl ahead.
- Arverne: A plan to build
10,000 homes on a 308-acre
urban renewal site in Far
Rockaway, Queens. The
townhouses and mid-rise
buildings would be affordable
to families earning at least
$60,000. The developer is
Oceanview Associates, a joint
venture of Forest City Ratner
Companies and Park Tower
Estates. Before he left office,
Koch reportedly fast-tracked
the project, which started
rolling back in 1987. The
developer has not yet com-
pleted the environmental
impact statement. Oceanview
is promising to provide the Far
Rockaway community with
$300 million worth of
amenities. The city is planning
to use the purchase price for
the property-$90 million-to
build 800 units of housing for
families earning between
$25,000 and $50,000 a year
in nearby Edgemere.
- Seward Park: A plan to
build 1,200 units of housing
on an urban renewal site at
the foot of the Williamsburg
Bridge on the lower East Side
of Manhattan. The developer,
Samuellefrak, plans to build
400 luxury condos and use
the profits to offset the cost of
640 middle income units and
160 moderate income rental
units. Diana Concannon, a
spokesperson for the Depart-
ment of Housing Preservation
and pevelopment, blames a
community lawsuit for initially
stalling the progress of the
project, which was initiated in
1988. Although the lawsuit is
still pending, Concannon says
lefrak has now put up
$250,000 to start preliminary
environmental impact studies
and the Housing Development
Corporation is planning to
issue a loan of approximately
$2.5 million. The official city
subsidy for the apartments is
$25,000 each.
- Clinton: A plan to build
about 1, 500 units of housing
on two sites in the Clinton
neighborhood in Manhattan.
The developer, the Milstein
Organization, plans to use the
sale of market-rate condomini-
ums to offset the costs of
building 760 moderate-to-
middle income rental units.
The city would provide a
$25,000 per unit subsidy for
these apartments as well as
$30,000 per unit towards the
renovation of 44 city-owned
apartments. The bulk of the
subsidized apartments would
require an annual household
income of at least $25,000.
The plan will separate the
lower income units from the
market rate units by 10
blocks. The project started in
1988 and Concannon says it
is on hold until the developer
decides whether to renovate
or completely rebuild a schoal
on the site. 0 Usa Glazer
6 CITY LIMITS
NEIGHBOR
NOTES
BroD][
Better late than never? The Tran-
sit Authority recently switched po-
sitions and now they're promising to
restore the fire-ravaged Intervale
subway station. Last year transit
executives were ready to close down
the station on the IRT Number 2 line
permanently, but a barrage of media
coverage and protests reversed the
decision. Still, local straphangers
are far from exuberant. At a cost of
$5.2 million, the restoration will
proceed at a snail-like pace-the
station is expected to be back in serv-
ice some time around 1995.
Brooklyn
They call themselves Stand To-
gether Against Neighborhood Decay
(ST AND) and they brought a lawsuit
against Metrotech, the massive
downtown Brooklyn development
project. The activists were fighting
potential environmental damage
from the project, but when push
came to shove, they accepted a lucra-
tive cash settlement from the devel-
opers in December 1988. Was this a
sell-out? Shortly after a recent ar-
ticle in City Limits questioned
STAND's commitment to their orig-
inal goals, the group decided to do-
nate $92,300 from their settlement
to two environmental groups, the
Natural Resources Defense Council
and INFORM ...
Ian Bruce Eichner, the "too-tall
tower" builder, is aiming to make his
mark on Brooklyn's skyline. He
wants to replace some Greenpoint
warehouses with as many as 15 apart-
ment buildings. The tallest building
would reach 38 stories, making it
one of the most prominent structures
in the outer boroughs. Some com-
munity members are afraid the pro-
posed Brooklyn buildings could rise
even higher-after all, Eichner ille-
gally tacked 14 extra feet onto his 72-
story Cityspire building in midtown
Manhattan.
Manhattan
Adonis Morfesis, the reviled "devil
landlord," did five hours time in the
slammer last month. The city was
trying to keep him in jail for 20 days
but Appellate Division Judge Betty
Weinberg Ellerin let him free after he
to post $100,000 bail.
Morfesis, who has racked up more
than 2,500 housing violations on
more than 30 buildings in Harlem,
has eluded incarceration for years
through endless legal appeals. The
city hopes this heat and hot water
case, which began in 1985, and in-
volved tenants from 465 W. 157th
Street, will finally lead to punish-
ment for the slumlord.
Queena
The city's Commission on Human
Rights recently ruled that the board
of a Jackson Heights co-op discrimi-
nated against Mary Shoyinka, and
ordered the board to pay her more
than $25,000 in damages. Back in
1987 Shoyinka applied to purchase
an apartment at 35-45 82nd Street
but she was turned down by the
building'S board of directors. Ac-
cording to the Commission on Human
Rights, at least one board member
admitted to spurning the applica-
tion because Shoyinka, who is white,
has two children whose father is
Nigerian. D
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February 1990 7
MANAGING YOUR COOPERATIVE:
CONFERENCE FOR HDFCs and HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS
Saturday, March 10, 1990
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33 West 42 Street
(between Fifth and Avenue of the Americas)
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Cooperative Documents
Financial Issues
Fees:
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non-members $10*
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members $10
non-members $15*
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FREE LUNCH AND CHILD CARE PROVIDED
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Housing Environments Research Group
8 CITY UMITS
FEATURE
Mixed Blessings:
Life After the Welfare Hotels
The city is moving ahead with plans to close down the notorious welfare
hotels. What's happening to the homeless families who inhabited them?
BY LISA GLAZER
I
n the last five years, the atrocious conditions within
the welfare hotels used as shelters for the city's
homeless families evolved into a national scandal. A
flood of media coverage provided detailed accounts of
men, women and young children languishing in cramped
quarters while drug dealers and prostitutes roamed the
hallways and government agencies picked up the tab:
upwards of $1,000
a month for each
squalid room.
As public hear-
ings and protests
mounted, the outcry
became so great that
the federal govern-
ment threatened to
cut off the subsidies
covering half the
cost of the hotel
rooms. With their
backs against the
wall , city officials
finally announced
plans to close the
hotels down. "While
homelessness will
not be eliminated,
we should be out of
the hotel business
within two years,"
proclaimed Mayor
Ed Koch in 1988. "Families who have been without
homes for extended periods of time will be able to raise
their children and lead their lives in a permanent resi-
dential setting."
So far, 18 hotels have been emptied, including the
Martinique, the Brooklyn Arms, the Latham and the
Regent. There are still 23 hotels in operation, providing
shelter for 1,508 families, but city officials promise to
move out all homeless families by June of this year.
While public attention has been focused on the dra-
matic closures, homeless families and their advocates
are adjusting to a new-and very mixed-set of circum-
stances. "We've seen a positive step to close down the
welfare hotels," says Keith Summa, advocacy director of
the Coalition for the Homeless. "But it's just one step of
many we've got to make. We can't sit back. The battle
isn't over yet."
As families filter out of the welfare hotels, some are
simply leaving the shelter system-possibly returning
to the streets, staying in overcrowded apartments with
friends, or finding a home on their own. Others have
been transferred to transitional shelters run by nonprofit
organizations. And a large number have moved on to
permanent housing provided by government agencies.
According to John Beckman, a spokesperson for the
Human Resources Administration (HRA), approximately
1,800 families have left the welfare hotels so far. Of these
families, he says 11 percent are no longer accounted for,
24 percent are in transitional shelter, and 65 percent
have received permanent housing. Beckman adds that
the time that families need to spend in the HRA shelter
system before becoming eligible for permanent housing
has been reduced from 18 months to six months.
The experience ofrelocated families, so far, appears
to be rocky. "It's rough-really rough," says Jean Chap-
pell, a former resident of the Brooklyn Arms and a leader
of Parents on the Move, an advocacy group formed by
homeless mothers at the hotel. "A lot of families are
having a hard time making ends meet. Drugs in the
neighborhood are a big problem." She adds that in many
instances families in poor quality housing are afraid of
becoming homeless again.
Claire Woo, an organizer for the Hotel Tenants Rights
Project, says, "It's one thing to house homeless families,
but it's another thing to put them in the most dilapi-
dated, needy communities, where schools are poor, the
hospitals are inaccessible, and there isn't day care.
These needs are b lsic for anyone, but especially for
formerly homeless
Studies done by c..dvocacy groups such as the Citizens
Committee for Children and housing providers like the
Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association
show that while some families have prospered in perma-
nent housing, others are struggling and still others have
become homeless again.
The intertwining factors influencing these outcomes
are numerous: the strength of the family itself, the
quality of their apartment, the security of their building,
the stability of the neighborhood and the availability of
a network of friends and relatives as well as social
services.
Permanent housing is being provided by a wide vari-
ety of agencies and programs. The major providers
include:
The New York City Housing Authority, which is
providing homeless families with one percent of their
vacant apartments over a two-year period. The housing
authority has staff members providing follow-up serv-
ices to families relocated in the projects.
The Special Initiatives Program (SIP) and the Con-
struction Management Program (CMP). Both programs
involve complete re-
habilitation of city-
owned buildings and
often include on-site
social services. SIP
buildings were origi-
nally rented only to
homeless families;
now they are filled
with a mix oflower in-
come families. CMP
buildings are also
rented to homeless,
low and moderate
income families.
The Office of
Property Manage-
ment, which runs
many city-owned
buildings (commonly
known as in rem prop-
erty). Although the
city has done some
renovation on apart-
ments intended for
homeless families,
these buildings are often located in devastated neighbor-
hoods and are renowned for being among the worst of
the city's housing stock. .
Private landlords who receive a payment from the
city through the Emergency Assistance Rehousing Pro-
gram (EARP) for housing homeless families for a 32-
month period. Because some families have become
homeless after the 32-month period is completed, many
advocates do not consider EARP apartments permanent
housing.
The quality of the housing being provided ranges
from exemplary to awful. Woo from the Hotel Tenants
Rights Project says, "Our members who are in housing
authority projects are doing very well." Judy Berck,
assistant coordinator of the Emergency Alliance for
Homeless Families and Children, adds, "Some programs
like the Special Initiatives Program and the Construc-
tion Management Program are producing excellent
housing but families going into centrally managed in
rem stock are going into substandard housing in dilapi-
dated buildings."
A forthcoming study by the Citizens Committee for
Children tracks 32 families who left the city's welfare
hotels. Of these families, 44 percent received unsatisfac-
tory housing within buildings managed by the Office of
Property Management or rented from private landlords
in the EARP program. "Conditions included no heat or
hot water; large holes harboring rats; rodent and roach
infestation; incomplete plumbing or electrical work,"
according to the report.
At first glance, advocates say that the quality of the
housing a family receives appears to be linked with their
ability to survive in their new environment. Yet the
issue is more complicated: How and why do some
families end up in excellent housing while others move
into ramshackle buildings located in desolate neighbor-
hoods?
February 1990 9
The city's 10-year
housing plan incl udes
15,000 units for the
homeless. While this
number may seem
large, it is nowhere
near enough to meet
the needs of the esti-
mated 90,000 home-
less New Yorkers-
and the thousands
more who are as good
as homeless, doubled
up in the homes of
friends or relatives. To
further complicate
matters, there are two
different homeless
systems, one run by
the HRA and the other
run by the city's hous-
I ing department. The
5 HRA shelter system in-
ii:! cludes the welfare ho-
~ tels, transitional shel-
ters and shelters for
individuals, while the HPD system, which is less widely
known, shelters families whose homes were destroyed
by fires or used by the city for rebuilding plans.
With the need for permanent housing greater than the
supply, different housing programs have different eligi-
bility standards and it seems that families from the
welfare hotels, especially those who do not move on to
transitional shelters, are at a disadvantage because
families in the HPD shelter system immediately qualify
for permanent housing, while HRA families have to wait
at least six months. Additionally, apartments for home-
less families within certain city programs, like the Spe-
cial Initiatives Program, are divided between families in
the HRA and HPD systems, but the only HRA families
eligible are those in transitional shelters. According to
the Citizens Committee for Children report, families
coming straight out of the welfare hotels are are often
ending up in low-quality apartments run by the Office of
Property Management.
"The big picture is that not all housing is available to
all homeless families," says Berck of the Emergency
Alliance. "All too often the families in the worst kind of
shelter are getting the worst kind of housing with the
least support."
While advocates are addressing these underlying
policy issues, relocated families are coping with a range
ofimmediate problems: the slow transfer of rent checks
from public assistance offices, the lack of local support
services, the presence of drug dealers, and the difficult
budgetary balancing act required to buy food, pay bills
and purchase afpliances while surviving on public
assistance, socia security or a limited income.
Following are the stories of six families who offer a
cross-section of experiences since leaving the welfare
hotels. Although each story is unique, the combination
of their stories offers a representative picture of the situ-
ations facing families who have left the welfare hotels.
10 CITY LIMITS
Problems
Close to Home
A
bleSSing and a curse could be the best way to
describe Gwendolyn Smith's move from the
Brooklyn Arms Hotel to permanent housing in
Crown Heights. The blessing is her freshly painted,
three-bedroom apartment. The curse is the presence of
drug dealers in the ramshackle, city-owned building
that has a gaping hole in the entranceway and no lock on
the front door.
Smith, 27, and her three kids, Rashawn, 7, Shani, 10,
and Unik, 9, moved into the new apartment 10 months
Gwendolyn Smith and family:
The drug d_lers upstairs are a constant menace.
ago after almost a year and a half at the Brooklyn Arms
Hotel. During the move, Smith was pregnant, and
shortly afterwards she gave birth to her fourth child,
Keith, who is now nine-months old.
Looking back on her first day in her new apartment,
Smith says, "I was so happy I was overwhelmed. The
kids, they just ran from one room to another. We had no
food, no blankets, no curtains but we just slept on the
floor, that's how happy we were to have someplace to
call home again."
Motivated by the move, Smith attempted to improve
the conditions of the building, which is run by the city's
Office of Property Management. "When I first moved in,
I would sweep the hallways from top to bottom," she
recalls. "I would keep it nice and clean and put out
mothballs. But when people come smoking in the halls
and they say, 'Bitch, go in your apartment, we're getting
high here,' then it's time to stay away."
In fact, a week after Smith moved in, she says the drug
dealers above her apartment cut a hole in their floor-
her ceiling-then covered it, using it as an escape slot for
their drugs during raids from the Tactical Narcotics
Team. "When this happened, I was ready to go back to
the hotel," she recalls. "I was ready to give the apartment
back. But I spoke to Mrs. Shepherd [a caseworker from
the Brooklyn Arms] and she said hang in there."
Workers from the city's housing department eventu-
ally came and closed up the hole, and Smith says city
marshals have tried to lock the apartment above her's to
keep out the drug dealers, but so far, the dealers have
repeatedly made their way back in.
Despite these problems, Smith says she still likes her
apartment, has made friends with neighbors in the next
building, and is pleased that she lives in Brooklyn
because her children haven't had to transfer schools.
She has to juggle payment of her telephone and utilities
bills but so far her finances are stretching-just.
Smith and her children became home-
less a few years ago after she moved out of
her apartment and went to stay with her
brother, who was sick and needed care. But
the landlord didn't want the extra family
members in the basement apartment, so Smith
and her kids moved out. "I said I'll find
somewhere to go, but it got harder and
harder," recalls Smith.
After four months living on floors in the
apartments of friends, Smith went to her
grandfather's house, and for one night she
and her three kids shared a single bed while
he slept on a chair. In the morning, Smith
says, her grandfather gave her a token and
told her to go to the welfare office and stay
there until she had some place to go. "I went
back to my caseworker and I said, 'You take
me home to stay with you and your husband
or you take me to a hotel.' That's how I ended
up at the Brooklyn Arms."
Sitting on her bed, playing with her
youngest son, Smith is clearly proud of the
new apartment, which is decorated with art-
work created by her children and filled with
furniture bought with money from the HRA's
Lend-a-Hand program. "I love it, it's great in here," she
proclaims. Then there's a burst of violent cursing in the
hallway and her upbeat tone turns quiet. "The neighbors
say how can you stay in there with your kids. I say I have
no choice."
Good Neighborhood,
Bad Housing
W
hen Harriet George heard the Brooklyn Arms
was closing down and she and her children were
eligible for permanent housing, she figured she
had two choices: a nice building in a bad neighborhood,
or a bad building in a nice neighborhood. She chose the
latter.
Halsey Street is a well-tended block of brownstones
on the border of Stuyvesant Heights in Brooklyn but
George's building, 519 Halsey Street, has garbage strewn
in front and the entranceway is unlit and uninviting. "I
don't like this building but it's a good area," says the
mother of five who lived in the Brooklyn Arms for more
than a year. "You make the most of what you've got. "
George's building is owned by Earl Arrington, who
receives a cash payment from the city under the Emer-
gency Assistance Rehousing Program, for housing
homeless families. George's rent money also includes a
subsidy from the federal Section 8 voucher program.
Since she moved in seven months ago, a caseworker
from the Victim Services Agency has visited and she
received money from Lend-a-Hand to purchase furni-
ture, which augmented money she saved while in the
hotel. Her oldest children, Walter, 13, and Rochelle, 7,
are attending the local school and her three year old,
Rakeem, goes to a local day care center. Her two-year-
old twins , Rashim and Rasheed, stay home with her.
When George moved in, renovations in the apartment
were not complete-the floor was untiled, there were
holes in the walls, and appliances weren't installed.
After constant haggling, the landlord made some im-
provements, but George says heat is intermittent and
rep'airs are still made grudgingly. "I had a cabinet fall
from the ceiling to the floor. That's what it took to get
him to put in new cabinets."
An upstairs neighbor who used to live in a welfare
hotel is trying to organize the tenants to force the land-
lord to improve conditions, but George is hesitant to
become involved. "My apartment is not really bad," she
explains. "I call the landlord and curse him out. I have
to stay on his back, but when I need something done, I get
it done."
George says she's prepared to accept her current
situation because she' s been homeless, not once, but
twice, and she doesn't want to push her luck. The first
time she entered the shelter system was in 1982, after her
Bronx building switched hands a number of times, was
handed over to the city, then condemned. She and her
children ended up in the Martinique, and eventually
were given permanent housing in a city building in the
Hunt's Points section of the Bronx. "It was a beautiful
building but I used to have to get up every morning and
walk my kids to school past the drug dealers and prosti-
tutes, " recalls George. After the city told her she couldn't
transfer to another building she decided to move to
Philadelphia and stay with relatives.
The move to Philadelphia didn't work out and the
family eventually returned to New York and ended up in
the shelter system, this time in the Brooklyn Arms.
"People didn't bother me because I didn't bother them.
There was drugs, everything going on inside. But I've
been on my own since I was 18 so it didn't mean much.
I'm a survivor. "
Back to Square One
A
year ago, Norma Allen and her family were living
in two rooms in the Brooklyn Arms Hotel. Now
they're in the Times Square Motor Hotel in mid-
town, one adult, four children and a grandchild in a
single room crammed with numerous beds, a cot, a small
bathroom and a television.
February 1990 11
Norma A1'.n, h.r pregnant daughter and grand.on:
Crammed in one room in th. Tim Square Motor Hote'.
Allen and her children, Brunilda, 16, Leon, 14, Temika,
11, and Natina, 9, entered the city's shelter system in
December 1988 and ended up at the Brooklyn Arms.
During their time at the Brooklyn Arms, HRA took
Temika and Natina away from the family and put them
in short-term foster care. Allen voluntarily placed Bruni-
Ida in a special program for young mothers after she gave
birth to a son, Antonio.
With most of her children out of the hotel, Allen
moved out of the Brooklyn Arms when it closed and
went to stay with her sister. Within three months,
Temika and Natina were returned to her care-and in
order to qualify for permanent housing the family had to
return to square one and get back into the city's shelter
system. After short stays in a variety of hotels they
landed in the Times Square Motor Hotel. Brunilda, who
is pregnant again, recently rejoined the family.
Allen says she hopes to qualify for permanent hous-
ing by March. "In the meantime, I've got to stay here,
send my kids to school and try to live in that room. What
I do is sit around and be bored. I wait for the kids to come
home from school and I watch TV."
The family became homeless after their landlord tried
to upgrade their Bronx building. "I was living on Davidson
Avenue in the Bronx for nine years and then a new
landlord took over the building and started renovating,"
Allen recalls. "What ended up happening is he cut the
water and gas off- we had no heat, hot water, no win-
dows, it was getting cold, so I went into the system.
"These are hard times and times are bad, right?" says
Allen. "People are supposed to survive. When we get on
top, we'll help others."
.
.
12 CITY UMITS
End of an Odyssey
C
arol Quarles sits in her sparsely furnished bed-
room and reflects on her three-year odyssey from a
bungalow in Far Rockaway, Queens, to the Martin-
ique Hotel in midtown, the Harriet Tubman Shelter in
West Harlem, and now, a four-bedroom apartment on
the 16th floor of a housing authority project in East
Harlem.
"I'm staying here. I'm not moving again," says the 43
year old who has six teenage children and three grand-
children, most ofthem living with her in the apartment.
"Before I got here the lady said, 'I have to tell you this-
four people were murdered in your apartment.' 1 was
kind of leery, but 1 wanted out of the Harriet Tubman."
Quarles and her children became homeless in Octo-
ber 1987, when the building they lived in was con-
provement over the Martinique-the family had more
room and cooking facilities-Quarles found the rules
objectionable.
"I had to tell them every time I was going and coming
back. I'm not in prison, my kids are all grown, 1 should
be able to go out when I want," she says. During her stay
at the Tubman, Quarles became active in the Hotel
Tenants Rights Project and lobbied for improved secu-
rity and telephone service. The highlight of her activity
was a protest at 100 Gold Street, the main offices for the
city's Department of Housing Preservation and Develop-
ment. The protesters were granted a meeting with
Wilfredo Vargas, assistant commissioner for relocation,
who promised them they would get permanent housing.
Not long after the protest, Quarles was offered the hous-
ing authority apartment.
The first night in the new apartment , Quarles, five of
her children and two of her grandchildren
slept on the floor because they didn't have
any furniture. Then they purchased beds
and a kitchen table with money from the
Lend-a-Hand program. Women in Need
provided blankets, sheets, pillowcases, soap,
dishes and pots and pans. .
After Quarles moved, there was one
month where her rent was not paid because
of problems with the transfer of her social
security money, a problem now cleared up.
So far, Quarles says, she's happy with her
new home. ''I'm becoming active again. I've
joined the tenant association, I met some
people and we go out together. "
Quarles still attends the counselling
sessions organized by Women in Need but
she goes less fre,quently than she used to.
''I' m trying to make it, to get back on the right
track, " she says. "I'm trying to get my family
used to being normal again. They're still
~ fighting every day but they're slowly break-
..:...-________ --1...: ing out of it. My 19 year old, he finally has
Carol Qua""., tit,... children and two grandchildren: his own room, it's the first time he's had his
"I'm trying to get my family v.eeI to being normal again." own room in his entire life."
demned. Quarles and some of her kids stayed with a
friend, while a few of the children went to stay with
relatives. At one point the whole family moved in with
a niece. "For a while there were 15 of us in my niece's
one-bedroom apartment. She was nice and sweet but it
was chaos. 1 couldn't take it anymore."
From the niece's apartment, the family had a variety
of short stays in city hotels and eventually ended up at
the Martinique. "When I was first there 1 was scared. My
kids said they wouldn't stay there ... but we had no place
else to go." While at the Martinique, Quarles started
attending counselling sessions run by a nonprofit group,
Women in Need, because she had problems controlling
her teenage children.
When Quarles heard that the hotel was closing down
she says she was anxious. "I didn' t know what 1 was
going to do next and 1 didn't want to go to a barracks
shelter." She ended up at the Harriet Tubman, a transi-
tional shelter run by West Harlem Group Assistance.
Although the conditions in the shelter were a vast im-
Beautiful Apartment,
Troubled Neighborhood
R
enee McKenzie opens the door to her three-bed-
room apartment at 652 Southern Boulevard in the
Bronx, revealing an immaculate kitchen, shiny
wood floors and a living room filled with newly pur-
chased furniture covered with a flowery red and brown
print.
A little over a year ago, McKenzie, 31, and her two
youngest children, Kalala, 8, and Samuel, 6, were living
amid the squalor of the Martinique Hotel in midtown
Manhattan. Now that they've received permanent hous-
ing, McKenzie says, "I'm just glad. I can rest. I can
breathe easy. We were homeless but 1 never gave up. "
The McKenzies live in a fully-rehabilitated building
that is filled with formerly homeless families within the
February 1990 13
were back in life. In the Martinique, it was
like being inside a cage."
While staying at the Urban Family Cen-
ter, McKenzie's oldest son, Velton, rejoined
the family after a stay in foster care. He
attended Seward Park High School and
worked after school as a babysitter. McKen-
zie also worked part-time in the mail room at
Henry Street, saving $800, which she used to
purchase her living room furniture.
Before she accepted the SIP apartment,
McKenzie went on a number of trips on the
Human Resources Administration van to look
at city-owned buildings run by the Office of
Property Management, which she rejected
because of the presence of drugs. She had the
confidence to turn down apartments because,
she says, she was informed by Legal Aid law-
yers that she didn't have to accept the first
apartment she was offered.
Now that she's on her own, McKenzie
Ilen_ McKenzie ancl her younge.' .on: 't' t t k d t Sh '
'" cion" 'ike rhelJronx my.e" bu, .ince "m in a nice aporlmen" have to cI_' wi". i,." says 1 s no easy 0 ma e en s mee . e s
Special Initiatives Program. Although the quality of her
apartment is excellent, McKenzie is hesitant when she
discusses life in the Hunt's Point section of the South
Bronx. "It's fine ... OK. I don' t like the Bronx myself but
since I'm in a nice apartment I have to deal with it."
All of McKenzie's doubts about her new neighbor-
hood center on drugs. "The area is drug infested," she
explains. "I don't have my kids play outside. I worry
about them outside their school." She shrugs her shoul-
ders and adds, "I had an apartment for 10 years in
Brooklyn. I just heard so much bad about the Bronx. But
it's bad all over, every neighborhood is bad."
Shortly after families started moving into 652 South-
ern Boulevard, the lock on the front door broke. "A guy
was behind the [outside] bannister smoking crack, so
when the door got broken he came in," explains McKen-
zie. The tenants in the building responded by setting up
a tenant association and sitting downstairs with a table
to check who was coming in and out of the building.
"We know the neighbors and we look out for each other ,"
says McKenzie. "We want to see that the building
doesn't go down."
The McKenzies became homeless a few years ago. "A
new landlord took over and he wanted to put the rent up.
My direct vendor payment [from public assistance]
messed up, I got behind, we got evicted and I didn't even
bother to go to court. I got scared and I just left."
Despite all the problems at the Martinique, McKenzie
says she and her children coped by staying to themselves
and avoiding the hallways. When she heard the Martin-
ique was closing down, she became extremely worried
about where she and her family would go next. They
ended up at the Urban Family Center, a transitional
shelter run by the Henry Street Settlement in the Lower
East Side.
After the chaos of the Martinique, the Urban Family
Center was a relief. "It was very nice-they had coun-
selling once a week, budget classes. We went on the
housing march to Washington. It made you feel like you
still working part-time at the Urban Family
Center and attending a self-help group there,
but she's having complications with her welfare case
and recently had her food stamp allowance lowered. "It
seems like as soon as you get a place public assistance
tries to mess with you, just when you're starting to get
yourself together. You work-but then you have to pay
for a babysitter. It's a Catch-22."
Still Waiting
F
or more than a year, Khala Smith, 31, and her six
children have been living in a small walk-up build-
ing run by the East Harlem Family Center, which
provides transitional shelter for homeless families.
The Smiths have a compact apartment with a bath-
room and cooking facilities and they take advantage of
the day care in the building, as well as after school pro-
grams, social activities, and, most importantly, the staff
person who works full-time trying to find permanent
housing for residents.
"It's okay here. I've got heat, hot water, a stove for
cooking," says Smith, who moved to the United States
from Jamaica in 1981, then did domestic work and
became a home aide until she stopped following the
birth of her second child.
Smith says she became homeless a few years ago
when she split up with her husband. She was placed in
the Martinique shortly before it was closed and then
transferred to the East Harlem Family Center.
Although Smith has been in the shelter system for
more than a year, Annie Wallace, the director of the
center's rehousing assistance program, explains that
Smith hasn't received permanent housing because she
is still waiting for a green card.
Smith says, "My only choice is to make it through. I
hope my green card will come, then I might get perma-
nent housing. I'm going to stay in here, try to do the best
I can. That's all there is to it." 0

14 CITY UMITS
FEATURE
The Rise of the Counterfeit Co-op
Many buildings are cooperative in name only.
BY MARY KEEFE
L
ast spring a coalition of real es-
tate operators ran full-page ads
in the New York dailies trum-
peting "Everybody Wins and Nobody
Loses" in co-op and condo conver-
sions. But after years of widespread
co-op conversions, there's mounting
evidence that not everybody wins
and there are plenty of losers.
Fueled by a seemingly endless rise
in real estate prices and the glow of
homeownership, co-
oping boomed in the
1980s. From 1983
through July of 1989,
2,946 private conver-
sion plans were ap-
proved by the state, ef-
fecting 235,414 rental
apartments in the city.
That's an average of 37
buildings converted a
month for six and a half
years. By anyone's
count, that amounts to
a significant impact on
the ci ty' s housing stock.
Despite such dramatic
effects, regulations
covering the conversion
process are weak-and
we may now be seeing
the sponsors of some conversions
have left residents with buildings
still needing major repairs and
mortgages that are rapidly coming
due.
Through the 1980s, greater and
greater numbers of conversions have
moved outside prime Manhattan
areas to Brooklyn and Queens and
other Manhattan neighborhoods like
Washington Heights and the Lower
East Side. For residents of co-ops in
these less affluent areas, the risks are
the toll. Glen Cab Villa.,. in Queen.:
largest converters in the city, heads
the list of co-op sponsors who may
soon be unable to meet their finan-
cial obligations to individual build-
ings. No longer are tenants the only
ones calling for change in the con-
version laws.
Marie Milcznski lives in the 145-
unit Murray Hill House, which was
converted into a co-op two years ago
with only 22 apartments sold.
Milcznksi says for many months a
large number of apartments remained
vacant before the con-
version. Although spon-
sors are limited to ware-
housing 10 percent of
vacant apartments in a
building prior to issu-
ing the preliminary con-
version plan, they can
continue to add to their
stock of vacant units
after filing the "red
herring." The ware-
housed apartments at
Murray Hill House,
which rented for about
$375 before the conver-
sion, are now free of
rent -regulations and are
rented for as much as
$1,000 a month, accord-
ing to one newspaper
ad.
After a decade of fig"'t y_'" after the co-op con.,e,..ion, 900 apartment. remain occupied by
feverish con versions rentillfl Nnan",
"Co-op conversion is
a decontrol mecha-
the spiral in co-op
prices has leveled and demand weak-
ened, leaving the flaws in the proc-
ess increasingly apparent. Under the
guise of turning buildings over to
resident shareholders, the city's
supply of affordable rent-regulated
apartments has been markedly de-
pleted. In fact, many co-op conver-
sions occur with few, if any, resi-
dents purchasing apartments. Some
non-purchasing tenants who remain
after a conversion complain that
repairs and services decline for them
and they essentially become second-
class residents.
At the same time, complaints from
co-op buyers are also on the rise, as a
growing number of them find that
.
much greater. With less cash avail-
able for lawyers and technical assis-
tance, co-op converters have freer
reign to set thE! terms of the deal.
Since early 1988 there has been a
"dramatic rise" in complaints about
conversions, and foreclosures have
"grown tremendously" in the past
year, according to Frederick
Mehlman, who heads the Real Estate
Financing Bureau, the division of
the state attorney general's office
responsible for reviewing and ap-
proving conversion plans. The attor-
ney general is now investigating
numerous conversions where spon-
sors may be experiencing financial
trouble. Time Equities, one of the
nism," charges Michael
McKee, executive director of the
Community Training and Resource
Center. "In more and more buildings
when apartments become vacant,
they are not sold but rented by the
speculator at market-rate rent."
A Bevy of Plans
McKee's comments are bolstered
by the fact that despite a serious
slump in the market for co-ops,
converters continue to file a bevy of
new plans. During 1989, the attorney
general's office accepted 368 new
conversion plans, effecting 25,596
apartments.
For resident shareholders like
Milcznski, where the sponsor retains
control of most of the
apartments, there's little
that makes the opera-
tion of the building a
cooperative venture.
Milcznski plopped
down 35 years of sav-
ings for her apartment.
Now she charges that
trash piles up, heat is
erratic, doors go with-
out locks and the inter-
com system remains
broken for weeks at a
time.
Glen OGle. tenant leader .emice Sieg.1 (.econd from left):
February 1990 15
which details the con-
version plan, and is
eager to make the re-
quired number of sales
(15 percent of a
building'S units) to
complete the co-oping
process. Or at least
that's the way it should
work.
If a co-op can be cre-
ated without a single
tenant buying in, spon-
~ sors have little reason
~ to deal. "Negotiation is
only significant if both When buildings are
officially called co-ops
but have few units sold,
few tenants purchasing
their apartments and
sponsors who retain a
"Th. bureaucratic maze you're forced to flO throuflh i. incredible."
sides hold equal or
similar power. Since
the landlord/sponsor
does not need any in-
large majority of shares after conver-
sion, you have what housing activ-
ists at Gateway Community Restora-
tion call "counterfeit co-ops." Such
counterfeit co-ops are the result of a
1982 law ostensibly protecting a
tenant's right to remain in their apart-
ment following a conversion.
The law was really something of a
Trojan horse, allowing sponsors to
complete their conversions with only
a handful of units sold and no re-
quirement that any of the purchasers
be current tenants. While this may
have been better for non-purchasing
tenants, who could be evicted once
the sponsor sold half of the apart-
ments under the now rarely used
eviction plans, it also made co-oping
relatively easy.
At a hearing last October in
Queens, Attorney General Robert
Abrams noted that among the co-op
and condo conversion plans accepted
duPing the first six months of 1989,
more than half had less than 20 per-
cent of tenants purchasing their
apartments. What's more, 81 out of
the 221 plans accepted during that
period had less than five percent of
tenants buying in-and 41 didn't
have a single tenant purchaser.
At the hearing, which was spon-
sored by Abrams along with Queens
Borough President Claire Shulman
and state Assembly housing com-
mittee chairman Alexander Grannis,
dozens of angry tenants, sharehold-
ers and their advocates testified about
deteriorating conditions as convert-
ers retained control of building fi-
nances after co-oping. "Unless a
sponsor is of extremely good will,
when he owns 85 percent he can do
whatever he pleases and the ten-
dency will be to do it the least expen-
sive way," says Mary Ann Rothman,
director of the Council of New York
Cooperatives.
Better Buildings?
Co-op and condo conversion is
often heralded as a way to pump
money-and improvements-into
the city's aging housing stock. Some
realtors estimate that up to $250
million is invested annually in up-
grading buildings undergoing con-
version. But the Council on Owner
Occupied Housing, the same outfit
that ran the "Everybody Wins and
Nobody Loses" ad, successfully
challenged in state court the attor-
ney general's authority to require
correction of housing code violations
and dangerous conditions before a
conversion occurs.
Even in counterfeit co-ops, spon-
sors have a relati vel y short-term inter-
est in a building since they must
relinquish control of a co-op's board
of directors within five years. Ten-
ants and shareholders generally have
longer term interests, especially in
the repair of expensive heating and
plumbing systems in the many older
buildings that are converted. If these
repairs aren't attended to by the
sponsor, the costs will end up on the
shoulders of both tenants and share-
holders.
The critical time for tenants to
negotiate for repairs is when the
sponsor releases the "red herring,"
side purchasers to con-
vert, there is no need to negotiate
with the current residents and that
very important aspect of the conver-
sion process becomes a farce," com-
mented Antonia Dosik, executive
director of Gateway Community
Restoration, at the October hearing
on co-op and condo conversions.
Following conversion, non-pur-
chasing tenants often have more
problems than they previously did-
especially in a counterfeit co-op.
Harassment is always a potential
problem because the apartment is
not deregulated until the tenant re-
siding in the apartment at the time of
the conversion moves out. And just
knowing who is responsible for re-
pairs can be confusing. A tenant's
apartment could be owned by the
sponsor, partners of the sponsor or
outside investors who buy units with
no intention of living in them.
"The bureaucratic maze you're
forced to go through is incredible,"
says Bernice Siegel, tenant leader at
the 2,800 unit Glen Oaks Village co-
op in Queens. Eight years after the
mammoth complex was converted
to a co-op, there are still more than
900 rent-regulated tenants, and out-
side investors own some 300 units.
About 500 of the rent-regulated units
are owned by American Savings
Bank, which took possession after
the sponsor of the Glen Oaks conver-
sion, Gerald Gutterman, went bank-
rupt.
Convoluted ownership has in turn
resulted in confused responsibilities
for maintaining the complex. Two
(Continued on page 17.)
16 CITY LIMITS
King of the Co-ops
Aaron Ziegelman is a staunch
defender of the co-op process. And
so he should be. Since 1981 he has
converted or filed to convert more
than 100 New York City apartment
buildings to co-ops or condos. As a
trustee of the Council on Owner
Occupied Housing, he has lauded
the contribution co-oping makes to
the city's housing stock.
But not everyone sees co-oping
as entirely beneficial-especially
many of the tenants and sharehold-
ers in Ziegelman's buildings. From
Manhattan's Upper West Side to
~ I ' - , ........ " ..... son Heights, Queens to
Brooklyn, Ziegelman has
a trail of residents crying foul.
Since his first conversion in
Queens, Ziegelman has set up an
impressive operation. Not only does
he buy buildings and sponsor their
conversion, but he also holds the
mortgages for many of the proper-
ties, has his family real estate
company sell the apartments and
sometimes writes in a contract for
his own management company to
run the buildings following the
conversion. The shareholders of
Gala Realty, which is the sales agent
for Ziegelman's conversions, are his
daughters. Aaron Ziegelman is
president and a shareholder of Zeal
Management Corp., a firm that
sometimes receives a two-year
management contract as part of the
conversions he sponsors. Both these
companies share offices with The
Ziegelman Organization.
Healthy Profits
Despite the slump in the co-op
market, Ziegelman still apparently
turns hefty profits. He recently
garnered $10 million from inves-
tors in apartments occu pied by non-
purchasing tenants in buildings he
has converted. Rather than a tax
break, Ziegelman offers an eco-
nomic deal: through a joint venture
partnership he guarantees inves-
tors an eight percent annual return.
Tenants and shareholders wish
more of those returns were flowing
into their buildings. If co-oping is
supposed to promote reinvestment
in the city's aging housing stock,
then Ziegelman's conversions,
which are predominantly of older
buildings in less than fashionable
neighborhoods, should be prime
examples. In Flatbush, where
Ziegelman has bought 12 buildings
in the past year and half according
to his own count, residents com-
plain of shoddy living conditions.
Persistent Problems
At 650 Ocean Avenue, where
Gala Realty operates the sales office
for its "Brooklyn Collection," ten-
ants say repair problems persist. A
circular entranceway leads to a
newly marbled and mirrored lobby
graced with gold chandeliers.
Tenant Eugenia Williams describes
the lobby as "beautiful." But that
didn't stop her from going on rent
strike and later filing a housing court
action against Ziegelman with the
help of the Metropolitan Council
on Housing.
In October 1988, Ziegelman
signed a court order to correct 463
housing code violations in the 76-
unit building. Ayear later the build-
ing still has more than 400 viola-
tions. The co-op conversion was
declared effective last November-
without a single tenant purchasing
an apartment.
Down the street at 700 Ocean
Avenue, some tenants are also up
in arms over the co-oping of their
building by Ziegelman. While hous-
ing department records indicate that
Ziegelman has removed hundreds
of violations, tenant leader Lethea
Curtis describes the repairs as
"camouflage work." She may be
right. On a recent visit it was appar-
ent that newly patched walls in
some apartments are already water
damaged and recently painted walls
are flaking. The co-op plan for the
building became effective last June,
when agreements were signed to
purchase 14 apartments-none of
them by tenants.
In a telephone interview, Ziegel-
man down plays these complaints,
arguing, "When you start fixing up
a building people want more." But
Stanley Mills, a tenant leader at 50
Lefferts Avenue, says what they
want is a conversion that doesn't
just dump the landlord's problems
on the tenants. An engineer hired
by the tenant association in the
building reported that 34 of the 53
apartments he inspected show
damage from water lines.
While Ziegelman has offered ten-
ants money to leave the building,
he's shown a reluctance to negoti-
ate for repairs before tenants con-
sider purchasing. The tenants' at-
torney, Diane Branch, says
Ziegelman's lawyer rarely even
returns her calls.
The co-op plan for 50 Lefferts
Avenue became effective last May,
when Ziegelman told the attorney
general's office he had agreements
to sell 20 ofthe building's 94 apart-
ments. But according to papers filed
with the attorney general in No-
vember, only eight apartments were
sold. Ziegelman has increased the
amount of money he's offering resi-
dents to leave. as much as $13.500
to some. Says Mills. "The tenants
in this building are very aware of
what Mr. Ziegelman is doing."
Mills' distrust is matched by ten-
ants and shareholders in buildings
converted by Ziegelman years ago.
At the Berkeley, a group of three
buildings converted to a co-op in
1981. residents have encountered
years of problems. They complain
that Ziegelman continued to con-
trol management of the building by
virtue of his control of unsold
shares. A $3.7 million wraparound
mortgage held by Ziegelman comes
due in 1992. and shareholders are
struggling to refinance. At the same
time they must repair the roofs on
all three buildings. which leak
badly. Complains one shareholder.
"Mr. Ziegelman has walked in and
received a very big return on his
investment for nothing."
Rebecca Sheener. a tenant at 504-
510 West 110th Street in Manhat-
tan. which Ziegelman converted to
a condo in 1985. also complains of
a roofthat constant! y leaks. Sheener
has been in housing court for two
years. demanding repairs. Ziegel-
man's Zeal Management collects
rents and makes repairs for the
remaining rent-stabilized tenants.
"Tenants who have stayed here are
second-class citizens." charges
Sheener. 0 Doug Turetsky
(Continued from page 15.)
different management agencies are
responsible for Glen Oaks-Grena-
dier Realty, which has an office at
the site, and Kingswood Manage-
ment, which doesn't.
Resident shareholders who bought
into a bad deal may be even worse off
than the tenants in the early years of
a conversion. Murray Hill House co-
op owner Milcznski thought she was
purchasing the added security of
having a role in operating her build-
ing. Instead, she says conversion
sponsors Corry Associates continue
to control the co-op's board of direc-
tors by virtue of the number of un-
sold shares they hold, refusing to
have meetings. Milcznski says the
only financial statement she can get
is stamped "Draft."
Just Another Business
Shareholders stuck in these build-
ings have little recourse. They can't
appeal to the state housing depart-
ment or the city's housing court
because they are no longer tenants.
Co-ops are regulated by the same
laws that govern shareholders of
Ford, IBM or any other corporation.
But some argue that a cooperative
building is a very different type of
corporation and should be governed
by a separate set of rules. "If the State
of New York continues to have a
compelling interest in providing
affordable homeowners hip for its
citizens, then it must have co-op laws,
rules and regulations that concern
housing, not stocks and bonds," Dosik
told legislators at the Queens hear-
ing.
It's not surprising that financial
cracks are beginning to show in a
system that has been pushed to the
hilt. In some co-ops, sponsors that
own most of the shares are overex-
tended and failing to cover their
maintenance costs. Many outside
investors who bought occupied apart-
ments as a tax dodge are losing money
since the 1986 tax changes. And
some of them had little understand-
ing-or care-for their responsibili-
ties as landlords.
At the same time as a co-op's
monthly revenue stream may be
sinking, other costs may emerge.
Reserve funds provided by sponsors
for major repairs may be extremely
inadequate. A study by Gateway
Community Restoration found that
in three Sunnyside, Queens, build-
ings, engineer's reports indicated the
need for repairs costing from
$202,520 to $1.365 million. Yet the
three buildings had reserve funds of
just $19,600, $21,480 and $240,000.
Resident shareholders and tenants
will either foot the bill or suffer
declining conditions and services.
Many co-op buildings also have
balloon or wraparound mortgages
held by the sponsor that come due in
just a few short years. These mort-
gages may be financial time bombs
for the shareholders: With banks'
growing portfolio of delinquent real
estate loans, they may be reluctant to
provide shareholders with refi-
nancing necessary to pay-off their
current debt.
No one can predict exactly where
these problems will lead, but troub-
lesome situations for both tenants
and shareholders are already in evi-
dence. Recognizing the mounting
problems, state Assembly housing
committee chair Grannis is promis-
ing new legislation. "But that proba-
bly won't happen until a lot more
buildings get in trouble," says Gran-
nis, who frankly admits, "Anticipat-
ing problems is not the strength of
the legislature."
Legislation Languishes
Plenty of proposed legislation that
addresses many of the basic prob-
lems has already languished for years
at the door of the Republican-con-
trolled state Senate. One bill that
does have a glimmer of hope for
February 1990 17
passage in the coming legislative
session would restore the attorney
general's right to demand correction
of housing code violations before a
conversion becomes effective.
Grannis and Mehlman of the at-
torney general's office say other re-
forms are needed now as well. Both
agree that a priority is legislation
that would require 25 percent of a
building's tenants to buy in before a
conversion could be declared effec-
tive. Other bills, most of which have
been passed in the Democratic-con-
trolled Assembly at least once, would
limit warehousing of vacant apart-
ments, keep unsold apartments under
rent-regulation, limit sponsor con-
trol after conversion and address,
problems ofrepairs and services f ~ .
non-purchasing tenants.
The real estate industry continues
to lobby strongly against such re-
forms. Grannis blames tenant and
co-op groups for not organizing as
effectively as the real estate groups.
"They [the tenant and co-op groups]
can't marshal enough forces to force
us and the Senate to act," he says.
But tenant rights advocate McKee
sees an alliance forming as conver-
sion and rent-regulation laws expire
next year. "If we can get Abrams to
take a more active role and forge an
alliance with groups representing
shareholders, we might be able to get
somewhere with the Senate in 1991,"
he says. 0 .
Mary Keefe is a freelance writer
focusing on community issues.
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18 CITY LIMITS
PIPELINE
A User's Guide to Charter Process
BY TODD W. BRESSI
IF YOU THINK THE WAY LAND
use decisions are made is confusing
now, just wait until the new City
Charter takes effect. Many decisions
will require the review of more lev-
els of government and take longer.
But the new procedures give com-
munities more leverage in influenc-
ing land use policies and propos-
als-in theory, at least.
That leverage will be both per-
sonal and procedural. There will be
many more players-more planning
commissioners, the borough presi-
dents, the City Council, and inde-
pendent planning staff serving com-
munity boards, borough presidents
and the council-each with a role in
a variety matters.
New rules attempt to give commu-
nity boards and borough presidents
a piece of the action. Although they
no longer have the final say, borough
presidents will be able to exert influ-
ence over the location of new facili-
ties such as jails and homeless shel-
ters, and both borough presidents
and community boards will be in-
volved in meetings that determine
the issues environmental reviews
will address. It will be easier for
comm uni ty boards to make their own
land use or zoning proposals and
shepherd them through the review
process.
Quicker Environmental Reviews?
In the current process, once a land
use proposal is submitted to the
Department of City Planning (DCP),
it will be reviewed by DCP and other
city agencies to determine whether
an environmental review is neces-
sary and which agency will super-
vise it.
Environmental review is one of
the most contentious stages of the
land use approval process. Develop-
ers complain it can be interminable,
while community groups complain
that they are blocked from partici-
pating in a process that rarely ad-
dresses the issues they are concerned
about.
Starting May 2, environmental
reviews change in two ways. First,
when city agencies meet with appli-
cants to discuss the review (com-
monly called the "scoping" sessions)
community board members and
borough presidents will be able to
attend the meeting. Second, appli-
cants will have the opportunity to
appeal to the City Planning Commis-
sion (CPC) if review takes more than
six months. The CPC must state
explicitly what further information
is needed or certify that the review is
complete.
But a Lengthier ULURP
Proposals for zoning changes,
special permits, urban renewal or
land use plans, acquisition or sale of
property by the city, location of city
facilities such as homeless shelters
and related matters will continue to
funnel through the Uniform Land
Use Review Procedure (ULURP),
which will still be administered by
the Department of City Planning.
The new charter changes ULURP,
adding a few steps, eliminating the
Board of Estimate, but still including
most of the major players.
Once an environmental review is
certified as complete, the matter is
referred to affected community
boards, which have 60 days to make
a recommendation. As in the cur-
rent charter, any community board
that believes it is affected by a pro-
posal can review the proposal and
make a recommendation.
Next, the proposal would be sent
to the affected borough president-a
new step that also starts May 2-who
has 30 days to make a recommenda-
tion. If the matter affects more than
one community board, it is sent
concurrently to the borough board,
which also has 30 days to make a
recommendation.
After that, the proposal is sent to
the CPC, which has 60 days to hold
a public hearing and vote. The CPC,
which now consists of seven
members, all appointed by the mayor,
will be reshaped to include 13
members; seven (including the chair)
appointed by the mayor, one by each
of the borough presidents, and one
by the City Council President. New
CPC members must be appointed by
March 1 and will take office July 1.
From there, all proposals have
been sent to the Board of Estimate for
Crispino's Landed Interests
Proponents of the new City
Charter argued that it would cre-
ate a more open and democratic
governmental process. The selec-
tion of Council Member Jerry
Crispino to head the council's new
Land Use Committee, perhaps the
second most powerful post in the
newly empowered council, sends
a signal that the backroom may
still be open for business.
Crispino admits he has little
background in land use matters.
But he does have a law practice,
from which he earned more than
$60,000 last year, with many real
estate clients. At least one-third of
his campaign contributions for last
year's re-election-in which he
did n 't have a primary opponent-
came from real estate and con-
struction industry sources.
According to Jack Newfield of
the Daily News, Crispino's selec-
tion was pushed by former hous-
ingcommissioner Anthony Glied-
man, power-broker attorney Sid
Davidoff and former general serv-
ices commissioner Jim Capalino.
Both Gliedman and Capalino are
now on Donald Trump's payroll,
whose massive Trump City proj-
ect may be the Land Use Com-
mittee's first controversial issue.
Critics charge that in his 15
years on the council, Crispino has
done little to distinguish himself
as a legislator. But his primary
asset to City Council Speaker Peter
Vallone, who picked Crispino for
the committee post, may be loy-
alty. Crispino became a council
member under the tutelage of for-
mer Bronx Democratic boss Pat-
rick Cunningham and has re-
mained loyal to the city's Demo-
cratic leadership ever since'o
Doug Turetsky
a final vote. Starting July 1, what
happens next will depend on what
the proposal is about and how the
CPC votes on it.
Proposals for zoning changes, land
use plans, housing and urban re-
newal plans or sales of most city-
owned residential property would
be treated one way. If the CPC af,-
proves the proposal, it automatical y
will be reviewed by the council. (One
imrortant exception is for residen-
tia property sold to not-for-profit
groups. The CPC vote would be
final.) If the CPC did not approve the
proposal, the mayor could ask the
council to review it.
All other proposals, including the
location or closure of city facilities,
are treated another way. If the CPC
approves the proposal, it can be
reviewed by the council only under
certain conditions. If the community
board and borough president recom-
mend against the proposal, the bor-
ough president can request the coun-
cil to review it. Or the council can,
by a majority vote, "call up" the
proposal itself. If the CPC does not
approve the proposal, then it cannot
be sent to the council, although the
mayor can request it to review zon-
ing, special rermits or land use plans.
The counci needs a two-thirds vote
to override CPC on these matters.
Proposals that reach the council
will be reviewed by its Land Use
Committee, which will be headed by
Bronx Council Member Jerry L.
Crispino (see sidebar), then by the
full council. The council has 50
days to approve, deny or modify the
profosal.
I the council modifies the pro-
posal, it will be returned to the CPC,
which will have 15 days to deter-
mine whether a new environmental
review is needed. If the modifica-
tions were substantial enough, the
environmental review and/or ULURP
process could start over. If not, the
CPC would return the modified pro-
posal to the council with a new rec-
ommendation.
Finally, all council actions are
referred to the mayor, who has five
days to veto them. The City Council,
in turn, has 10 days to override a
mayoral veto by a two-thirds vote.
Just as under the old charter,
community boards can initiate land
use plans (known as "197-a" plans,
because of the charter section that
\
authorizes them) or propose rezon-
ing any area under their jurisdiction.
So, after July 1, will borough presi-
dents.
All new land use plans and rezon-
ing proposals would be r e v ~ e w e d
under ULURP, but several new pro-
visions attempt to make review sim-
pler. The CPC must establish stan-
dards, by July 1, that plans will have
to meet before they can be certified
complete for ULURP. And if a com-
munity board or borough president's
plan requires environmental review,
the city's planning department must
pay for it.
Siting New Facilities
New planning and approval re-
quirements attempt to give borough
presidents more say in where poten-
tially unpopular city facilities, such
as incinerators or shelters, are lo-
cated.
Starting this year, each November
15 the mayor must issue a citywide
statement of needs that includes all
plans for building, expanding or
closing facilities during the next two
years. Proposals for new or expanded
facilities must be listed by borough
and, if possible, community board,
but not by specific location. Propos-
als for closures of facilities like fire
houses or hospitals must be listed by
specific location. Borough presidents
have 90 days to propose specific sites
for new facilities , if they want to.
Specific proposals for new facili-
ties must be reviewed through
February 1990 19
ULURP. If the community board and
borough president recommend
against the proposal, then the CPC
must approve the proposal by a
"super majority" of nine votes. And
even if the CPC approves the pro-
posal, the borough president can
request the council to review it.
Who Wins, Who Loses?
The new land use approval proc-
ess clearly tries to address some of
the concerns communities had about
the old process. But community
activists and their allies are divided
about how much the new process
will help. Some claim it is not
democratic enough because too many
matters are decided by the CPC.
Others claim it is too democratic
because the council is too unwieldy
a body to balance the neighborhood
and citywide issues posed by land
use proposals.
Still others claim CPC members,
often accused of being handmaidens
to the mayor, could be handmaidens
to borough presidents, whose inter-
ests can be just as self-serving. They
argue the CPC should provide one
level of review that is professional,
dispassionate and free from political
wrangling. 0
Todd W. Bressi, associate editor of
"Places, a Quarterly Journal ofEnvi-
ronmental Design, "writes frequently
about city design and community
development.
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(Intercommunication Trust is a division of Church Action with the Unemployed. a nonprofit charity)
20 CITY LIMITS
CITY VIEW
SROs: Where to From Here?
THE NEW YORK COURT OF AP-
peals ruled, on July 6, 1989, that
~ w York City's SRO moratorium
,35'B:w-Local Law 9-was unconstitu-
N; (i,gpal. That ruling, and
"llle subsequent decision
by the U.S. Supreme Court
not to review the case,
temporarily set back ef-
forts to preserve the city's
depleted single-room-
occupancy (SRG) housing
stock. The immediate ef-
fect of the decision is clear:
harassment of SRO ten-
ants has increased and
buildings are being emp-
tied. What did the mora-
torium accomplish and
now that it has ended,
what does the future hold for vulner-
able SRO tenants and the buildings
in which they live?
Local Law 9 was enacted by New
York's City Council to stem the dev-
astating loss of a unique and afford-
able form of housing for single adults.
Noting the correlation between the
loss of SROs and the growing num-
ber of homeless people who claimed
one as their last home, the council
banned demolition for five years and
required owners to rent empty rooms
to bona fide tenants. Some of its
objectives were never achieved. In
part, that is because the law's rent-
up requirements, commonly referred
to as its anti-warehousing provisions,
were not implemented.
Immediately after its enactment,
the law was challenged by owner-
developers and its anti-warehousing
provisions were put on hold by the
lower court. The stay continued
through the litigation process-up
to the time the appeals court finalll
declared that the law's provisions a -
fected a "taking"of property without
providing owners just compensation.
Consequently, during the entire
, period of its existence, the morato-
~ . u m continued to enable landlords
. ~ empty their buildings gradually
-::Wld prepare for conversion.
The court's decision has created a
!.'
City View is a forum for opinion
and does not necessarily reflect
the views of City Limits.
challenge for the Dinkins admini-
stration. Alternative legislation,
seeking the same ends as the morato-
rium law, will soon be presented by
advocates to the admini-
stration for its considera-
tion. It is clear now that
unless new protections
are adopted immediately,
SROs in gentrifying areas
of the city will be demol-
ished. The administra-
tion can avoid this by
embarking on an ambi-
tious program of acquir-
ing endangered SROs.
Acquisition may be
achieved by purchase,
which is preferable, or by
condemnation, if neces-
sary. Once acquired, buildings
should be turned over to a semi-
autonomous entity similar to the New
York City Housing Authority. That
body could operate the buildings or
lease them to nonprofit organizations
to run. An acquisition program could
be implemented expeditiously, it
would be effective and it would serve
notice on the real estate community
that the Dinkins administration will
not tolerate unbridled development
that destroys people's homes.
The Department of Housing Pres-
ervation and Development should
set aside a larger share of its in rem
stock for single adults. To the extent
that the city's 10-year housing plan
has survived the municipal elections,
it must be revised to allocate a larger
share of its renovated units to low
income adults who, until now, were
scheduled to receive merely 1,410 of
the 252,000 units included in the
plan. At a minimum, the city should
make a commitment to preserve the
622 SRO buildings containing 10,986
units in the housing stock it has
acquired through foreclosures by
rehabilitating these buildings and
maintaining them as SROs.
Acknowledging that anti-ware-
housing legislation is controversial
because of the recent moratorium
decision, advocates believe that a
bill can be drafted that would with-
stand a constitutional test. Legisla-
tion proposed by Council Member
Stanley Michels is currently pend-
ing in the council's housing commit-
tee. It is patterned on New Jersey's
anti-warehousing laws, which pre-
vent warehousing in apartments and
in SROs. It would exempt buildings
whose landlords have taken steps to
convert to cooperatives and those
who plan demolition and removal of
the property from the rental housing
market. These provisions address
the problems the court found here.
The City Council leadership is
firmly opposed to anti-warehousing
legislation. It would require vigor-
ous persuasion by the administra-
tion for proposed legislation to be
voted out of the housing committee.
Additionally, should it be passed,
anti-warehousing legislation will
surely face legal challenge. Notwith-
standing these potential problems,
anti-warehousing legislation would
make more SRO units available to
needy tenants than any other pro-
posed legislation. For this reason,
and because it will preserve SRO
buildings it should not be rejected
without careful analysis.
In fact, even if a close analysis of
the legislation requires additional
concessions to the real estate indus-
try, the bill should not be rejected. It
could still be helpful if enacted as
one part of a larger housing preserva-
tion plan, which includes acquisi-
tion and development of new units.
At the same time alternative propos-
als for combating the warehousing of
units should be studied. Considera-
tion should be given to freezing rents
in buildings that have more than a 10
percent vacancy rate, employing tax
disincentives against landlords who
refuse to rent empty rooms, and link-
ing luxury development with provi-
sion of SRO housing.
Finally, even if all of the remain-
ing SRO housing is preserved, addi-
tional units are needed to provide
homes for the many thousands of
homeless former SRO tenants. Cur-
rent building and zoning laws make
development of new SROs virtually
impossible. The administrative code
and the zoning law will have to be
changed to encourage the building of
new SROs. In the interim, enforce-
ment of tenant protection laws, re-
quiring landlords to comply with
housing code provisions and an
acquisition program will help pre-
serve the city's remaining SRO hous-
ing for the low income tenants who
currently live in them. 0
LEITERS
fine Reporting
To the Editor:
For some time I have debated: Shall
I not respond, as do most people
queried for funds-just go out and
spend thousands on Christmas/
Hanukkah etc; not one penny on
worthy causes like the million in-
cluding your very fine periodical. I
am a new subscriber; and although
overwhelmed with the likes of Guard-
ian, Militant, Mother Jones, New
Internationalist, Washington Spec-
tator (no dailies-too dishonest,
corporate-dominated) I manage to
read most of it and appreciate the
fine job you do for reporting the city's
affairs. But I am old (74). on fixed
income (total, no kiddin'-$6,500).
on which I do live, very frugally.
Occasionally I get so upset re Nicara-
gua and EI Salvador, that I sent them
$5, $10; and give up on a book I
wanted to buy. I don't celebrate
Christmas, although I'm Christian,
and have kids. Too frivolous.
So please understand, your paper
is great, necessary; but all I can af-
ford is the subscription price. God
bless you.
Ann Morris
Manhattan
February 1990 21
HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!
There are thousands of New Yorkers outthere who should be reading City Limits. We need
your help reaching these potential subscribers.
1. Impress your neighbors with your knowledge of city issues. Then, not too subtly
suggest, that by reading City Limits, they'll know as much as you.
2. Visit your local newsstand, show the owner a copy of City Limits and ask why
don't carry it since it's seen on all the "best" magazine racks in town.
3. Surreptitiously leave your City Limits on the desk of an office colleague. Rush over,
frantically asking if they've seen the "missing magazine." Curiosity aroused, they'll want to
know more.
4. Send your creative suggestions on expanded distribution to us (attn: Harry).
SUPPORT SERVICES FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Writing 0 Reports 0 Proposals 0 Newsletters 0 Manuals 0 Program
Description and Justification 0 Procedures 0 Training Materials
Research and Evaluation 0 Needs Assessment 0 Project Monitoring and
Documentation 0 Census/Demographics 0 Project and Performance
Evaluation
Planning and Development 0 Projects and Organizations 0 Budgets
o Management 0 Procedures and Systems
Call or write Sue Fox
710 WEST END AVENUE
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10025
(212) 222-9946
Nowwe,neet
For 15 years we've insured tenant and community
groups al/ over New York City. Now. in our new.
larger headquarters we can offer more programs
and quicker service than ever before. Courteously.
Efficiently. And professionally.

more ,nsurance
needs than ever
for groups
lilee yours.
Richards and Fenniman, Inc. has always provided
extremely competitive insurance programs based
on a careful evaluation of the special needs of our
customers. And because of the volume of business
we handle., we can often couple these programs
with low-cost financing, if required.
We 've been a leader from the start. And with our new
expanded services which now include life and bene-
fits insurance, we can do even more for you.
For information call:
Ingrid Kaminski, v.P.
(212) 267-8080.
RIch..a .... FennI ........ lnc.
123 William Street. New York, New York 10038-3804
Your community housing insurance professionals
.- Ie 0 . : . : s S 0 , \ , It Ie . : ( . '. ' 0 Ie \ .
Barry K. Mallin
Attorney At Law
A decade of service representing
community development organizations
and low income cooperatives.
56 Thomas Street
New York, N.Y. 10013
Telephone 212/619-6800
DEBRA BECHTEL - Attorney
Concentrating in Real Estate & Non-Profit Law
Title and loan closings 0 All city housing programs
Mutual housing associations 0 Coopertive conversions
Advice to low income co-op boards of directors
100 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 624-6850
architectural/engineering SBrricBS for nonprofit dere/opefS
o Building Evaluation and Inspection
o Feasibility Studies 0 Construction Supervision
o Preliminary Design/Scope of Work Studies
o Complete Construction Drawings" Specifications
Call John Harris RA. for an evaluation of your project's needs
458 BERGEN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11217 (718) 398-1440
BERNARD CARR ASSOCIATES
J-51 TAX BENEFIT EXPEDITING
Specialists in:
HDFC'S Gut Rehabilitation
Vacant Building Program Developments
CALL TODAY FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
1740 Victor Street, Bronx, NY 10462 Tel. (212)824-5044
TURF COMPANIES
Building Management/Consultants
Specializing in management & development
services to low income housing cooperatives,
community organizations and co-op
boards of directors
329 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
Mr. John Touhey
718/857 -0468
SMOLLENS and GURALNICK
COUNSELLORS AT LAW
Specializing in representing tenants only in
landlord/tenant proceedings, cooperative
conversions, loft proceedings. We represent
sellers/buyers in house, condo and co-op closings.
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10038
2121406-3320
LAWRENCE H. McGAUGHEY
Attorney at Law
Real Estate, Subsidized Housing,Wills,
Trust & Estates,Business and Not-for-Profit
Corporations, Ecclesiastical Law
217 Broadway, Suite 610
New York, NY 10007
212/513-0981
ARt::HITEt::TURAL & PLANNING DIVISION
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Specialists In Nonprofit Housing
and Community Facilities
FULL ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
Zoning Analyses' Design Through Construction Documents
Inspection, Evaluation & Feasibility Reports
Contact Betsy Calhoun or Paul Castrucci , A.A. 212/226-4119
40 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012
Abeles Phillips Preiss & Shapiro, Inc.
Zoning
Land Use
Planning and Development Consultants
Real Estate Feasibility
Economic Development
Housing
Market Studies
434 Sixth Ave., New York NY 10011
307 N. Main St., Highstown NJ 08520
212-475-3030
609-448-4753
Himmelstein & McConnell
Attorneys at Law
Residential and commercial tenant representation
in individual and group cases; cooperative and condo-
minium conversions and cooperative board represen-
tation; real estate; closings, general civil practice.
325 Broadway, Suite 402
New York, NY 10007
(212) 349-3000
WORKSHOP
OFFICE ADMIIISTRATOR. Social issue film distribution co-op seeks
responsible, well organized ind to handle IBM computerized
bkping, acctg, royalty payments, deal wlvendors/suppliers &
misc support work in small nonsmoke office. Good phone man-
ner, knowl of computers essential. 40 hrs wk, mid $20s (neg)+
health bnfts. Letter & resume w/3 refs to: Kathy Kline, 617 West
End Avenue #9A, NYC 10024. Tel/Fax: 724-9302.
PARALEGAL. Legal services office seeks paralegal for new, spe-
cial project to assist low/mod income people obtain divorces.
Conduct interviews w/clients, maintain control on individual case
reqs & status. Must be aggressive, organized, reliable & able/
willing to assume responsibility. Relevant exp, Spanish fluency &
familiarity w/computers prefd. Salary per collective bargaining
agreement. Resume: Lucas E. Andino, Managing Atty, MFY
Legal Services Inc, 170 E. 116th St., NYC 10029.212/427-0693.
COMMUIITY ORGAllZER (IWBttt). Work for the people who beat
ARTHA Management's MCls, who made FREDDIE MAC enforce
its good repair clauses and change its underwriting criteria, who
replaced POMP with a new nonprofit/tenant ownership program.
Sal: $15 - 16.5K. We can't pay more, but we do more. Good
benefits. Call Mary: 212/584-0515.
ATTORIEY. Legal Action Center for the Homeless seeks a staff
attorney to represent homeless single adults. Applicants should
have experience working w/poor people; excellent academic
background; sensitivity to the situation & needs of the homeless;
energy, initiative & enthusiasm. Prior legal exp prefd. Exc bene-
fits. Pay on par w/legal services. Women & minorities especially
encouraged to apply. Resume: 220 E. 4th St. , NYC 10009.
SUPERVISOR. Opportunity for creative program devlpt & leader-
ship. Supervise outreach staff & provide case mgmt services for
homebound older adults. Participate w/ other prof staff in quality
community-based services. MSW w/ geriatric & supervisory exp
reqd. Salary: $28,500+ depending on exp, exc benefits incld free
health club. Resume & cover letter: R. Mushkin, Lenox Hill
Neighborhood Assoc, 331 E. 70th St, NYC 10021. EOE.
"COMMITMENT"
February 1990 23
HOUSIIG PLAIIER. The Victim Services Agency seeks a housing
planner to develop housing programs for battered women &
runaway youths. Responsibilities incld site identification, fund
raising, working w/govt & pvt funding sources, supervising reno-
vations & rent-up. Masters in Public Policy, Urban Planning or
related field & 1 yr exp in development, or BA & 2yrs related exp
reqd. Resume: Jay Marcus, Victim Services Agency, 2 Lafayette
Street, NYC 10007.
ATTORIEY. Large nonprofit social advocacy org seeks ind to fill
position of Associate Council. Conduct litigation in state/federal
courts on behalf of economically disadvantaged in NYC. Reqs:
Law degree, member NY State Bar & min of 4yrs exp in major
impact litigation in area of voting rights, housing or education. Exc
bnft package incldg company paid medical/dental , pension plan,
tax deferred annuity & liberal vacation policy. Please call for appt:
212/614-5462.
STAFF OPENING TO FILL?
ADVERTISE YOUR JOBnlTERISHIP
II THE "WORKSHOP"
HOUSING THE ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL WORK COMMUNITY JOBS URBAN
PLANNING NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT
AND MUCH MORE
RATES: $40.00 for a maximum of 50 words.
Display Help Wanted - $30 per col. inch
DEADLINE: 15th of the month for the next issue.
Call Harry at 212/925-9820 to place your ad!
Or FAX it to CITY LIMITS at 212/966-3407!
Since 1980 HEAT has provided low cost home heating 0\1, burner and boiler repair services.
and energy management and conservation services to largely minority low and middle income
neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
As a proponent of economic empowerment for of the citis communities. HEAT is
committed to assisting newly emerging managers and owners of bUildings With the reduction of
energy costs (long recognized as the single most expensive area of building management).
HEAT has presented tangible opportunities for tenant associations, housing coops. churches.
community organizations. homeowners and small to gain substant ial savings and
lower the costs of building operations.
Working collaborat ively with other community service organizations with similar goals. and
working to establ ish its viability as a business entity, HEAT has committed its revenue gener
ating capacit y and potenti al to providing services that work for, and lead to. stable, productive
communit ies.
Through the primary service of providing low cost home heating oil, various heating
plant services and energy management services, HEAT members have collectively
__ ..,
HOUSING ENERGY ALLIANCE FOR TENANTS COOP CORP.
853 BROADWAY. SUITE 414, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 (2121505-0286
If you are interested in learning more about HEAT,
or if you are interested in becoming a HEAT member,
call or write the HEAT office.
E X P I R I N G F E D E R A L
D O U S I N G S U B S I D I E S :
Education and Mobilization
A half-day Conference for Tenant Leaders, Advocates and
Com m unity-Based Organizations
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH 9:00 AM TO 1-00 PM
Defining and Assessing the Risks:Buy-Out, Opt-Out, Run-Out
The Timetable forthe Existing Stock of HUD-Subsidized, Privately-
Owned Low-and Moderate-Income Projects in New York City.
Advocating Policies to Preserve the At-Risk Stock as Affordable
Housing for Low-and Moderate Income Use
Mobilizing Advocacy and Technical Assistance Strategies at the
Community and Project Level.
Sponsored by
THE COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
THE W ORKING GROUP ON EXPIRING FEDERAL SUBSIDIES
For information, contact Vic Bach at CSS, (212) 614-5492