city limits magazine, august/september 1981 issue

8/3/2019 City Limits Magazine, August/September 1981 Issue

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-LIMITSTHE NEWS MAGAZINE OF NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOODSAUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1981 . $1.50CLOUDS OVER NEW YORK'SOPEN SPACES


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Short Term Notes

Esther Rand,Tenant RightsAdvocate

Tenant advocate Esther.Rand, Vice Chairperson ofthe Metropolitan Council on Housing, died on June19th, at the age of 74 while visiting the country of herbirth, .the Soviet Union. For over twenty five years Rand

As a tribute to 'the effectiveness of her tenant advocacy, Rand, wh o was a fixture in Housing Court an dat the Rent Office, was known to hundreds of landlordsas "That Woman." She appeared frequently on radioand television, and conducted a weekly radio show onWBAI called "Housing Notebook." In 1972 she ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate fo r the NewYork State Assembly.

Interpreting Census.Figures for the Community

The Census Bureau is sponsoring workshops on the useof 1980 Census data by community groups. The workshopsare held at the request of the groups at locations within thecommunity. The content of the workshop is designed to res-pond to the needs of the sponsoring organization. Forgroups desiring particular information about their communities the Bureau will make suggestions as to the type ofdata that ought to be examined as well as instruction in itsuse and analysis.

Workshops provide a basic familiarization with the cen-sus through half-day or all-day sessions. They arc free andthe only requirements are a minimum attendance of 12 pe0-ple and scheduling on e month in advance. Those interestedin setting up a seminar for their group and communityshould contact Gene Flynn, Regional Coordinator forCommunity Services, at (212) 264-4713.


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Campaign AgainstLead Paint DangersA new drive against lead paint poisoning has been

launched by a coalition of housing and health groups inWashington Heights. The coalition seeks to alert peoplethat the problem of childhood lead poisoning is no t one ofthe past, but a present and widespread danger. A hazard inolder apartment buildings, ingestion of lead paint chips ordust can lead to brain damage and even death.According to the city's health department, WashingtonHeights has the second highest rate of lead poisoningamong children in Manhattan-two and one half times thecitywide average. The area experienced a 40 percentincrease in the number of cases in 1980, the largest jump inthe borough.

Sponsored by the Washington Heights Health ~ c t i o n Project, the campaign has heeD joined by CouncilmemberStanley E. Michels who has introduced legislation in theCouncil which would make the presence of lead paint in anapartment a Class 'C ' immediately hazardous-violationof the city's housing maintenance code.

The use of lead in paint was banned in 1970after awidespread alert was created about the critical healthproblem it posed. Lead from old coats of paint, however,can continue to flake off both in chips, which are sweet tothe taste for young children, as well as ground into a fmedust which easily gets onto the hands of children."It is time to recognize that lead poisoning is as much ahousing maintenance problem as it is a public healthconcern," said Michels.

CONTENTSSHORT TERM NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2CLOUDS OVER NEW YORK'S OPENSPACES . . . . . ............... ..............4ASSISTANCE FOR OPEN SPACEPROJECTS ................................6FUROR OVER HARLEM'S LOTTERY . . . . . . . . 9QUIET PLANS FOR GREENPOINT'SW A T E ~ O N T ........................... 12ENERGY CO-OP GROWS IN BROOKLYN . . . 14CHANGES LOOM FOR CITYMANAGEMENT .......................... 18LENDING LEGAL ASSISTANCETO CO-OPERS ........................... 20STALLED AGREEMENT ON CITY OWNEDVILLAGE . . . . . . . . ; ......................22ABRAMS CHALLENGES LANDLORDMONITORING ......................... . . 24 .CITY APPROVES BALTIC ST. PLAN . . . . . . . 2S

CCITYUMI1S)


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A'Cloud Over -New York's O p e n S p ~ c e s T ~ ~ " ~ " : 'In the past few years, New Yorkers all over the city have carved ' g a r d ~ D S . , .,'playgrounds and bucolic sitting spots out of the city's vacant land, creating ~ a I I y a new parks system. And though the greening moven.tent is gettiilg i n ~ g I y sophisticated, it faces a dilemma of losing gardens because of dsing land prices.

I t' s been a season of contrasts for New York Oty'sthousands of vacant lot gardeners. Those who struggled this spring with' spadefuls of rain-poor soil and who :obligingly lugged two-gallon pails of water through thevegetable and flower, trenches , are headed towards aharvest that may yield as many question marks as saladgreens. Gardens from the Bronx to Brooklyn are alreadyyielding an early abundance: tomatoes are large and fIrm,and the silk hairs atop ears of stunted urban coin arealready brown. Fiery red snapdragons and pale Lillies ofthe ValleY are holding forth for viewers. :;

But the mid-season satisfaction with which gardenersare eyeing a promising harvest is marred by nervousglances at some menacQtgly dark clouds moving quicklyoverhead.It's a time of transition for urban gardens and theirtenders. On the one hand, those who attacked rubble- .strewn lots with so much gusto some years ago with littlemore than sOme basic hand tools and a willingness to growas many callouses , as tomatoes have now developed as o p h i s t i c a t e d t e c h n i ~ apparatus 'complete withassistance organizations backing up a growing number ofattractive and bountiful green spots all over the city. Oty

development believe whatever agreements:"-'if a n y ~ bereached in Manhattan will decide the fa:te of the hundredSof gardens in other parts of the city where spiraling' 'landprices will soOn be catchfug up. .Some gardens have 8lready yielded their flower bedS tobulldozers. Onelot on LaGuardia Place in the Village wassold and soon after dismembered. Another, on an urbanrenewal site on West 68th Street; where a' unique 'wildflower garden had prQspered, is also gone. ' ,A number of others are scrambling to hold on. One Upper East Side 'garden oil the Ruppert Brewery UrbanRenewal ~ i t e has been battling the city ~ o u s i i 1 g d e p a r t m e n tand itS development proPoSals for over a: year to maintainits place in 'the sun. Siinilarly ' imperiled are lots on theother side of town. The Dome Project on West 84th Streetwas offered its site for S 3 0 , ~ a fIg1:Ue' itS sponsors couldnot begin to r ~ h - a n d is on notiCe 'to clear out. An allotment garden-one with individual plots for gardeners-onan Urban Renewal Site'on weSt 90th Street is Scheduled togo as well. And on 48th Street, west of Ninth Avenue, agarden with a crew of 100 planters . barely survived the city's noose and haS received a boef reprieve. But, unless itcan meet the citY's aSking price, offIcials say; iis fate is


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ing Conservation Coordinators. Also, there are two ovalgardens where the Green Guerillas-a missionary group ofgardening advocates from around the city-are testingnew strains of seeds developed by commercial frrmsespecially for urban cultivation.Putting a cash value on the garden would be hard. Likemany around the city, it was begun in self-defense in 1976by a block association that was fed up with watching therubble grow. And any dollars and cents figure would inevitably be skewed since all the labor involved has beenvoluntary. But on a recent sunny day the garden's valueseemed obvious to lunchtime strollers, tourists wanderingup from the passenger liners docked a couple of blocksaway, passing motorists and even neighbors who pass byseveral times a day. Universally, heads turn, the gaits areslowed and many stop to peer through the diamonds of thechain link fence.On a block that was largely abandoned by its privateowners in the early seventies, residents have made aremarkable recovery, despite a continuing drug traffic problem at both ends of the block. Notwithstanding severalcommunity and tenant-managed buildings on the block

and in the immediate vicinity, the neighborhood is goingthrough a sharp reversal from low and moderate income

to upper-middle. "We're probably facing the end of ourlow income neighborhood, just as it was getting liveable,"lamented Mallory Abramson who coordinates activities inthe garden.The small 5 by 8 and 10 by 10 garden plots are tended bya polyglot crew, as diverse as the Clinton neighborhooditself. Some are neat, well-weeded lanes of herbs andvegetables, others a riot of wildflowers. Several aredouble-sized, reflecting the demands of a number of largefamilies who depend on them to provide their vegetableneeds."It's just too choice for the city to ignore," said A b r ~ -

son. The assessed valuation ofthe land is $167,000, thoughit could bring more at auction. Either way, it's not chumpchange.

D igging marigold beds therefore becomes an unaffordable anomaly according to the city's Department of Real Property. "Our general poli cy," said Directo r for Real Estate Development Richard Landman, "isthat if the property is very valuable, it's doubtful it will remain open space."

And the specific policy in the city's new leasing programsays that any lot worth more than $20,000 is headed forcontinued on page 7


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1" ~ : .

Open Space: Where To Find AssistanceNew York City's open space movement hasspawned a number of technical assistance organizations, each of which contributes different forms ofhelp to community groups.After being handed from one director to

another-it has had four in its three yearhistory-Operation Green Thumb is now in thehands of a couple of greening activists bent on making the program not merely functionable again, but aprovider of genuine a s s i ~ c e for open space projects. Operating under the Department of GeneralServices, Green Thumb will give a one year, onedollar, lease to groups that can demonstrate commitment to improving vacant land in their area. Afterthe lease is signed, there is a wide-ranging assistanceprogram. The program will coordinate clean-up ofthe lot with the Department of Sanitation. It will alsoprovide materials for a cement-flXed, 4' by 4' postchain-link fence as well as loan gardening tools,shovels, picks and axes. Director Ken Davies and hisassistant, Tony Antonellis, have both worked withcommunity open space projects, and they havefocused a key component on proper design. To thatend they have retained architect Rad Dike as a consultant supervising the design work of students fromPratt and Parsons who will draw a sun and shadeanalysis of the patch and make suggestions aboutother lot amenities. Green Thumb has soil, lumber,shrubs and plants available for gardeners, and willpair up projects with an outside assistance group. 49

ly beneficial partnership between people andplants." 51 Chambers St., NYC 10007. 566-0990.Long before going to work at the Council on theEnvironment, Christy helped found the GreenGuerillas, a group that has evolved from a smallcrew of planters on the Lower East Side to a citywideactive membership of ninety. "We provide assistance ranging from one visit, one phone call, to onsite help every week for a year," says director TessaHuxley. To cope with the steadily increasing calls foradvice, the group tries to get individual members to"adopt" a garden. "Not all need adopting," saysHuxley, "We're interested in fostering independence."The Guerillas are the recipients ofnumerous anonymous donations of plantings,shrubs and trees from corporations and institutionsthat change their greenery frequently.,

"It's so odd to me that people think parks arefluff," she says. "They say housing dollars is themost important, but we spend a good deal of ourtime out of doors. Parks are like our living rooms."417 Lafayette St. NYC 10003. 674-8124.The Trust for PubHc Land's New York Oty LandProject plays a unique and increasingly necessaryrole for open space projects. The Trust is a national

conservation organization committed to preservingopen land for public use, particularly in or nearurban areas. Since arriving in New York in 1978, theTrust's Land Project has helped some 40 groups all


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OPEN SPACE Continued from p. 5bigger things than grass and gardens.

The new leasing policy is a good example of the quandary facing the open space movement. It's been hailed asan important breakthrough because for the fIrst time thecity has recognized that in order to get any investment inthe vacant lots it traditionally has rented at one year terms,it has to extend the time period. At the same time, it' s seenas fatally flawed because it is only intended to "encouragethe lease of the least economically desirable lots, in preference to those where a private market exists." Accordingto Landman, that lets out "Almost all of Manhattan."

"New York is open space poor," insiSts Liz Christy ofthe Council on the Environment which has provided basicassistance to gardeners and others. Standard texts recommend a ratio of two acres of recreation space for every 800of the population, a fIgure New York City cannot evenbegin to approach . But while New York does have an extensive amount of developed park space, no one is denyingthat it has been low on the list of fIscal priorities and hassuffered commensurately.

And many parks are considered inaccessible. Just downthe street from the Clinton garden the city opened a newall-cement play space last year which quickly became ahangout for junkies most of the day. Nor did local folk geta say in what the park should be. "They put in a boccecourt," said Mallory Abramson, shaking her head. "N oone around here even knows what a bocce ball is."

"Right now, we have an alternative parks system,"declared To m Fox who has put together an alliance of progreening groups and individuals called the NeighborhoodOpen Space Coalition. "The city disinvested in its parks,and it's no wonder people started coming up with theirown."

was asking $6,500 for each of its three lots. "The lotsaren'.t ~ v e n contiguous," said C a s h d a n ~ "There's no waythe CIty s property can be anything but a community openspace.project. "In Greenwich Village, where land prices have long beenhigh, a group of local residents recently settled a fIve-yearold dispute with the city over their right to grow on atriangular p atch of land at the corner of Hudson and JaneStreets. They are now paying $400 per month-with a fIvepercent yearly increase-for their right to maintain a piece

of land that Jack Gillen, a gardener and a local realtorwho knows something about land values says can never beused economically for anything else.Even though, as he says, "the resale value of GreenwichVillage brownstones is going into telephone book

numbers" this piece of land is "already getting its highestand best use. The point is," he insists, "w e are providingthe city with an amenity. Anyone who wants a key can getone, and there are already 250-300 keys out. We've got 25foot crab apple trees and weeping willows. That's whatwe've created. The parks department is bankrupt-andhere's one for nothing."

But arguments about the inherent need or value of openspace leave the city unmoved. "Our policy," explainedRichard Landman, "is that it's the role of the Parks


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Department and ULURP [the Uniform Land Use ReviewProcedure] to determine if something is going to be a park.Others look at city-owned land and say "Well, it's free,'but if the city could sell that land for $100,-and itdoesn't-then it's losing the $100,000. There's a perceptual difference."W hether it's a difference in perception or in values,that's where the matter rests at the moment. Various groups are working overtime to come up with solutions for the threatened parks: a deal with the developerfor Ruppert Green, putting the Dome Project under thejoint auspices of the Departments of Parks and Education,getting the new downtown city college to use theWashington Market garden in its curriculum and a tradeof space for air rights to potential builders on the ClintonCommunity Garden.But any deals that can be cooked up still forestall alarger day of reckoning. And the agency that is chargedwith taking an overall look at how the city's land is beingused has been fairly sleepy in regards to the open spacemovement that has burgeoned under its nose. After ahighly critical report on the city's greening programsissued last year, the planning commission is only now on

the verge of publically acknowledging that this sort ofopen space is a legitimate land use.One of the most constant voices agitating for approvalof open space, however, does work at City Planning. Martin Gallent, Vice-Chairman of the Commission, says hisadvocacy stems from tilling a Victory Garden in theBrooklyn Botanical Gardens during the Second WorldWar. "People walk and recreate in very small spaces," hesays, "a s a result you just can't get eQough of these smallparks." Gallent has argued strongly to keep the RuppertGreen garden going, insisting tliat that over-populated section of the city desperately needs its garden. But he viewsthe progress of the city open space movementphilosophically. "The city is not always flowing in thesame direction," he says. "The contradiction comes inwhen the real estate price start climbing. There will betrade-offs. People tend to forget that the sites were alwaystemporary. But we are developing open space as a permanent factor of the city."

"Open Space is not a fluff issue anymore," declaresTom Fox. "There are enough sites involved, and enoughpeople to justify it as a vital issue. What we're developingis a system." 0


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Furor Over Harlem's LotteryDespite an overwhelming outpouring of communityprotest against its plan, the city will hold a lottery weightedthree to one in favor of neighborhood residents for 13historic Harlem brownstones. No date has been set for theauction.In a vote of six to fIve, the Board of Estimate on July 23approved this special lottery although more than 100 community residents showed up at city hall to oppose thismethod of disposing of properties. Most residents contended that the properties should be sold back toHarlemites under a negotiated sales agreement.Dissenting votes on the lottery were registered byManhattan Borough President Andrew Stein, City Coun

cil President Carol Bellamy, and Comptroller Harrison J.Goldin, all of whom supported an amendment introducedby Stein that would have extended the deadline forreaching an agreement for handling this tax-foreclosedproperty.As this controversial matter was being called on theboard's fIrst calendar, many Harlem residents outsidewere refused entrance to the hall on the grounds that thehearing room was filled beyond capacity. The hall, in fact,was half-filled at the time.The lottery issue, which has simmered in Harlem sinceearly this year [see City Limits, June/July, 1981], burstinto citywide news when Mayor Koch told the daily press

13 brownstones, I'm talking about 13,000. Don't putHarlem up for the lottery. You can't gamble with us.We're no crap game."Lois Penny, head of the Anti-Lottery Committee, earlyin the hearing asked the board to consider negotiated saleswith preference to Harlem residents as an alternative thatwould not exclude outside bidders but also would not"replace or displace" local residents. Her argument drewsupport from numerous speakers, including an aide toCongressman Theodore Weiss, Democrat of Manhattan,and City Councilmember-at-Large Edward Wallace, also aDemocrat, who said, "People who have seen Harlemthrough all the bad days should have the fIrst chance" atthis property.Others blamed the city for the fact that it owns morethan 65 percent of Harlem. "Our community got intotrouble because the city of N e ~ York withdrew all codeenforcement." said Alma Griffm, fIrst vice chairperson ofManhattan's Community Board #9 where two of the 13brownstones -are lOcated. "Do not take our homes fromus," she added. "The speculators are out there now likebuzzards on the fence, but we're going to fIght back andare fIghting constructively right now."

One aspect of the lottery that has not been spelled out isthe minimum income requirement. According to Deputy


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F e n ~ ~ ~ g ,Offthe Anti-Rent. ', .ControlBlitz"

By Tho LedwithFo r the second year in a row, attacks on local r ent control

systems are being justified by some members of Congress onthe grounds that such systems deplete cities' rental housingstock. But a .newly released Columbia University studycompiled by Professor Peter Marcuse indicates that, i fanything, controls may actually ,hinder housingabandonment. "

The Congressional blitz on local controls began lastsummer, when the House of Representatives passed by awide margin an amendment introduced by Rep. ChalmersWylie (R-Ohio) to prohibit funding of a housing subsidyprogram in any city with rent controls on newly cons tructedhousing. Afte r lobbying by surprised tenant organizationsand others, the entire subsidy program was dropped inconference committeebuta precedent, a badone for tenants,had been set.

The Senate wasted no time in acting on that precedent thisspring, passing a strict measure that would have withheld.. Federal rent subsidies' from lOcalities that do not decontrolrents in apartments as they become vacant. In support ofthe,amendment to the Senate housing bill, Senator AlfonseD'Amato, a prime sponsor of the measure, said: "M y

, purpose is to move uS away from programs that arecounterproductive. We lost hundreds of thousands of unitsin New York City alone in the last two decades. That's not allbecauseofvarious rent laws, but a substantial proportion ofthese properties were lost precisely for that reason." Inresponse, membersof he fledgling Nationa l Tenants Union,the National Low Income Housing Coalition and otherhousing organizations in the Capital mounted an intensivelobbying and letter-writing campaign to defeat theamendment. A number of members of Congress, notablyRep. Charles Sc!tumer and Sen. Daniel P ~ t r i c k MoyirlhaD,both of New York, also opposed the measure and it wasdefeated in the House of Representatives. Now inconference committee, it appears to be dead-until nextyear.

Significantly, though, few of the legislators whochallenged the anti-rent control amendment this springdefended the effectiveness of rent and eviction regulations.For the most part, the measure was attacked as anunwarranted federal attempt to influence local policy.D' Amato's basic premise-that controls cause housingabandonment-received no real critical attention.The Marcuse study, which was presented at a NationalTenants Unionconference held in Washington in mid-June,seeks to fill that critical vacuum. Entitled "Rent Control andAbandonment: What the Figures Show," the report drawsfrom U.S. General Accounting Office and Census Bureaurecords, building-by-building comparisons in New York


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control and abandonment, there is no correlation betweenthe extent of rent control and the extent of abandonment;if anything, areas with low rentcontrolhave higher rates ofabandonment than areas with high levels of rent control.Th e study cites a 1978 Housing and Vacancy Survey ofover 18,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for

the City of New York, which measured the number ofapartments removed from the housing inventory since 1975and reported on the units' rent control status. Results for theborough of Manhattan showed that the three communityplanning districts with the least abandonment all ha d highproportions of rent controlled apartments, ranging from 9.2percent to 18.2 percent. On the other hand, thethree districtswith the most abandonmenthad low levels of rent controlledunits, averaging 6.3 percent.

Comparisons of sets of similar buildings and additionalsurvey results in the Marcuse report indicate that, during thelate 1970's, numerous New York City buildings with manyrent controlled units were better maintained and increased invalue more than buildings with many rent stabilized units;this despite the fact that stabilized rents ha d been allowed toreach market levels during a period of vacancy decontrolearlier in the decade.

As rent control restrictions are eased, in a city with bothrent control and abandonment, levels of abandonmenthave tended to increase.Drawing from the 1978 and prior New York City Housing

and Vacancy Surveys, the study points out that, as the nwnberof rent controlled apartments declined substantially, lossesfrom the City's housing stock sharply escalated. The figuresshow that between 1970and 1975, New York experienced a netloss of 30,000 units and the nwnber of rent controlled apartments dwindled by a full 623,000. From 1975 to 1978, the net

organize and win a rent control campaign, and innovativehousing strategies beyond rent cont rol. The book, which sellsfor $9.95 , is available only through mail order from:

Foundation for National Progress, HousingInformation CenterP.O. Box 3396Santa Barbar a, Cali fornia 93105

FACTS AND MYTHS ABOUT RENT CONTROL, aNational Tenants Union position paper by Peter Dreier.Th e report was produced in response to the need for informed debate on rent control at the national level. It consists of information gleaned from nwnerous academicstudies of rental housing, as well as the experience of peopleworking in conununities with rent controls. In addition, acritique of real estate-sponsored research on the question ofrent regulation is included. Th e report is available for $5.00from: National Tenants Union clo Shelterforce, 380 MainStreet, East Orange, New Jersey 07018. 0


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Laying Quiet Plans for Greenpoint'sWaterfront By Jim Miskiewicz

: : : ; = ~ s : t J

A lum!Jeryard on a Greenpoint pier, destined jor change under developers' plans. it:


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On May 7, 1.981, Sands was shot nine times outsidehis home in Middle Village. Sands has recovered fromhis wounds, and maintains that the attempted asssassination was "racially motivated" because of his standagainst busing while a school board member.

S ands is known as a "packager of real estate deals"according to the Daily News. His current involvement with the Greenpoint Renovation project seems toindicate a seriousness to get the complex built.Although day-to-day operations have been taken overby architect Gran, Sands says he conceived the waterfront project that would, "simply extend the currentGreenpoint community out to the river. We don't wantto get into a heavy commercialism or luxury housing,but a middle-income neighborhood where you can get toknow your neighbors again."Reminded that the present Greenpoint community islargely made up of blue-collar workers with an averageincome of $15,000 a year, paying some of the lowestrents in the city, Sands hesitated and then responded,"Well, I don't know if construction costs would let usgo down (in rentals or co-op prices) that far."Last year, Sands hired a group of fIlm students fromNew York University to produce a $30,000 promotionalfIlm, which Sands says is "out and making the rounds"to potential investors. According to Sands, a substantialamount of fmancial backing has already been found,but current interest rates make it uncertain as to whenthe project may actually begin.

The ownership of the proposed site also indicates theseriousness of the Greenpoint Renovation Project. Allfive-blocks of the site currently belong to one Montague

watchmen and guard dogs, blocking of f access to thepier. A year later, the application is still pending. Butthe fence remains and plans for a community-initiatedrenovation of the Noble Street pier have been dropped.The de-mapping application, which was signed byMichael Sonnenfeldt of the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse, lists vandalism and danger to the public because

of the decayed state of the pier-one of the same piersincluded in the Greenpoint Renovation Project-asreasons for de-mapping.Sonnenfeldt, who has compared Greenpoint toBrooklyn Heights, admits being familiar with TheGreenpoint Renovation Project and Nicholas Sands, but

refuses to comment on the extent to which his companyis actively pursuing the project.Some residents, however, feel that the abrupt closingof Noble Street may well be a sign of how much theowners of the area want to convert their property fromindustrial to residential use. Notes Layden, "As soon aswe started poking around . . . up comes this fence."While another block association member recalls thatseveral years ago a teenager drove a car of f the NobleStreet pier and drowned. "How come they didn't put upa fence then?" asked the woman. 0Jim Miskiewicz is a free lance journalist who has livedmost o f his life in Greenpoint.


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An Energy Co-op Grows in BrooklynBy Eric Goldstein

Staggered by their energy bills, a growing number ofBrooklyn churches are joining together to cut their fuelcosts and spearhead a movement that aims to containresidential energy costs, sell energy efficiency as "a majorinvestment opportunity" and help revitalize the Brooklyneconomy. The outpost of this crusade is a small storefronton Atlantic Avenue called the Brooklyn Energy Co-op.Now in its eighth month, the Co-op sells energy-savingproducts at low prices, screens local contractors, conductsprofessional energy audits of buildings and apartments, andadvises on energy strategies.Churches were a natural catalyst for this project. Withtheir frequently high ceilings, large windows, and agingphysical plants the city's religious institutions have in recentyears watched the contents of their collection plates godirectly into the boiler. Finding their traditional parish services and sometimes their very survival threatened by thecost of energy, 17 churches from various Brooklyn neighborhoods go t together last autumn to found the BrooklynEnergy Project, a local development corporation whichsponsors the C o ~ p store.According to a consultant with the Technical Development Corporation, a Boston-based energy consulting frrmwhich helped the Brooklyn Energy Project plan their Coop, this is the country's frrst church-sponsored energycooperative to offer such an ambitious range of services.There are in New York City a number of cooperative ventures for joint purchasing of fuel oil without the middlemanmarkup. But Brooklyn Co-op Director Dick Harmon isquick to point ou t the difference. "We're no t interested in

households that worship at the 25 churches which nowbelong to the Project. All parishioners of the member churches qualify for the Co-op's discounts and services.However, about 80 percent of these families live in rentalunits for which the rent usually includes heat and ho t water.Since these costs are borne indirectly by the tenants there isless incentive to spend time and money weatherstrippingdoors and insulating water heaters.But energy costs are a major factor in rent hikes, no t tomention fuel pass-alongs. Th e Co-op therefore urges its

mention fuel passalongs. TheCo-op therefore urges itsmembers to impress upon their landlords the mutual advantagesof energy efficiency.the Co-op qualify for all Co-op beneftts, the landlordresponse so far has been slow. One reason is that many ofBrooklyn's smaller rental buildings are owned by smalllandlords who have cash flow problems and are reluctant toinvest large sums in their buildings when fmancing is expensive and difficult to obtain.

Harmon hopes to see the Co-op become more aggressivein attracting the residential market. In its ftrst six months ofoperation, however, the Co-op has been preoccupied withchurch buildings. Each of the 17 founding parishes had itsbuildings monitored with a probe-eye infrared scan tomeasure heat loss. In a study of the "thermal envelopes",heating systems, and space usage in these church structures,the Co-op concluded that a two-tiered strategy of conservation measures could cut energy consumption by up to 50percent, depending on the building. Th e frrst stage involvesinexpensive methods such as restricting use of spaces that


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Brooklyn Energy Co-op members and friends assembling the solar greenhouse at St. Agnes' Catholic &hool on July 11.the contractors screened and approved by the Co-Op are mon concedes that the promise of avoided energy costs aBrooklyn-based and must agree to consider Cp members couple of years hence will fail to prompt most landlords tofor jobs created by Co-op-generated business. In addition, invest in energy measures. "The key incentive, like it or not,the Project predicts that the money diverted from the oil is the tax game," he argues. Harmon claims that while taxand utility companies will flow into the local economy. breaks such as the federal and state credits for many energy-Member churches include Catholic and Protestant Con- saving investments and the city's J-51 tax abatement forgregations from Brooklyn Heights to Bedford-Stuyvesant, housing improvements offer property owners substantialfrom Williamsburg to Sheepshead Bay. Each pays annual subsidies for energy work, even larger tax lures are needed


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Tenants Get Management TrainingTenants of "twelve city-owned buildings in theWilliamsburg section of Brooklyn recently completed a

three part, bilingual training course on owning and managing a cooperative. Th e sessions, held in May, June, and July, were jointly sponsored by People's Fire House, LosSures and St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation, whichcurrently manage the buildings under contract with the City,and by the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers and Community Service Society, two city-wide technicalassistance organizations.

The subjects discussed in separate Spanish and Englishsessions were: the advantages and disadvantages of housingcooperatives, the steps in the conversion from city ownership to tenant ownership and building management. Thewritten materials were also bilingual.

The sixty tenants who attended some or all of the sessionslive mostly in 8 to 10 unit buildings which are now in theCommunity Management and Management in Partnershipprograms. They are scheduled for sale in 3 to 9 months. Thelargest building represented had 30 units. An evaluation

questionnaire revealed that the tenants present intend to buytheir buildings because they "have had enough oflandlords," but they expressed some concern about howthey would get agreement on management policies frompeople of different ethnic groups. Some tenants said theyhoped all tenants would agree to buy their apartments (ormore accurately, purchase shares in the cooperative corporation), because those who remained as renters "wouldprobably cause trouble."Speakers included Ann Henderson and Andy Reicher ofUrban Homesteading Assistance Board, Lidio Rivera of theNational Consumer Cooperative Bank, Jose Acuna ofManhattan Valley Development Corporation, Olga PerezMartinez of Adopt-a-Building, Abdu Farrakhan of ANHD,Pat Murray of Williamsburg Legal Services, Bonnie Browerof East Brooklyn Legal Services, and Rosa Esperon of thePuerto Rican Legal Defense Fund.

The course will be repeated for tenants of CommunityManagement and Management in Partnership buildings inother boroughs. For more information, call Toby Sanchezat ANHD, 23991422. DToby Sanchez

Looking for a Rent CollectorRent collection in city-owned residential buildings hasbeen a hot issue for the Koch administrat ion ever since it

took over the swelling number of occupied buildings seizedby the city fo r tax default. Early in his term the Mayorannounced his intention to evict non-paying tenant s incity-owned buildings and about a year later repeated thethreat insisting that "other cities don't provide this kind of[management] assistance."


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Changes Loom forCity ManagementPrograms By Susan Baldwin

buildings under an II-month lease, and, ideally, if they couldprove that the building could operate on its rent roll, theywould buy their apartments at the end of this period.But, many buildings in the program were found to needsubstantial repairs and, as a result, some have remained inTIL for almost three years.In a draft outline of its recent study on HPD's currentpolicy, Murray Dropkin and Company, a Manhattan-basedaccounting firm with a contract to improve the program, hasmade recommendations that, among other requirements,call for the following criteria for entry into TIL: the physical conditiG>nof the building is either adequateas is, or is repairable within the limits of the program'sresources. The building is located on a block that is more than 50percent occupied, in a neighborhood that is stable or showssigns of improvement. At least 75 percent of the habitable apartments arepresently occupied. The building has the potential for achieving 85 percentoccupancy in six months.The Dropkin study also asks that tenants be willing torestructure rents to "adequate" levels ($35 to $40 per zoningroom), that tenants be willing to pay at least three-months inrent arrears stemming from the period when the building wasin the city's Office of Property Management (centralmanagement), that there should be at least 85 percent rentcollection in the building, and that only buildings which canbe sold after 22 months in the program can enter the pipeline.In addition, the efficiency report stated, all applicants musthave "existing credit lines with local vendors."

Dropkin's contract agreement with HPD is scheduled tobe completed by November 30, 1981.The criteria outlined for TIL would also apply to buildings


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the program. Now only three are unoccupied but are slatedfor rental soon. But, the possibility of building exclusion isjust one of the fears that communi ty groups have expressedabout the proposed guidelines.

City housing officials continue to give conflictirig reportsas to whether new buildings can enter the program. According to TIL Director Smith, "there are ten to 15 buildingsfloating around" and no more will be accepted into theprogram until more buildings are sold. .

Currently, there are about 250 buildings in TIL and 80 in7-A Leasing, totaling about 8,000 units in both programs.Also, though thecity has only sold 15 TIL buildings to date, it.expects to dispose of at least 15 more by the end of the year.All of he buildings now being sold are going at the rate of$250perunit, and, aside from othersthe city is urging tenants

to quiekly purchase, they will be the last sold at that price.According to Deputy Commissioner William Eirnicke therewill be no more agreements made to sell at the $250 per unitprice.Still, a number ofcommunity groups are wary about buying their buildings, even at the $250 price, if certain repairsare not made. Some, such as Kilbaine at U-HAB, cautionagainst purchasing buildings that are in need of majorrepairs-boilers, new plumbing, rewiring. "Ownership is serious," she said. "Peopleshould know what they'rebuying fIrst even if it's just $250 an apartment. "

The transition from management by a court appointed7-A administrator to management by the city is a rough joltfor tenants, said David Weschler, director of the EastIf You Are In Housing . . .Think about advert-ising your product/services in CITY LIMITS.

Harlem-based Community Law Offices, a nonprofIt legalfIrm that handles tenant cases, including shepherdingbuildings into the alternative management programs."People win the right to run their own housing and then thecity takes the proper ty and they are told to pay rent to 'OPM(Office ofProperty Management) where they get no services.That's sudden death."

In his spring's Manhattanvesting, more than 50 buildingsthat were being managed by court-appointed 7-A's becamecity-owned and were immediately remanded to central management. "These ~ p . l e in these buildings believedthat theywere going to be accepted in TIL or 7-A Leasing," Weschlerasserted. "That's why they held pn so long. Now they're inlimbo and HPD has new criteria that no one can meet."- The imminent arrival of the new regUlations, accompanied by what many see as a growing retrenchment for thealternative management programs, has made manycommuni ty activists grimace over what the future may hold.And city officials are confIrming that concern.

"I would say the best thing groups could do would be tobuy the buildings at $250 right away," said Eirnicke, notingthat there is a great deal of renewed real estate interest in NewYork City. "Who 'knows what will happen after theelection?" he asked.

In June, the city held a residential auction in which onebadly deteriorated brownstone in Manhattan's WashingtonHeights section sold for $167,000. Two others in the sameneighborhood brought prices of $97,000 and $91,000,respectively. 0

East Side SRO ProjectLegal ServicesTenant and Community


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Legal Assistance for TenantCo-opers


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junction with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension Housing program for Section 235 federally subsidizedhousing planned for 200 to 400 single family homes in theSouth Bronx.

In June, 1980, the Center came into being at a fortuitoustime. The city had become the owner of large numbers ofapartment units abandoned by landlords who chose not topay taxes. And tenants had banded together to save theirbuildings.

In addition to having helped negotiate a streamlined,cost-effective cooperative plan with the state AttorneyGeneral's office, Mallin and Schatz have helped buildingsget low-interest loans from the National ConsumerCooperative Bank and saved buildings from paying hugereal estate tax liens by making arrangements with the cityto qualify them for tax forgiveness under Section 606 ofthe Private Housing Finance Law.They are also developing a pre-abandonment strategy sothat tenants can approach their landlords with areasonable purchase offer before the properties are taxforeclosed.Supported by private funding, the CDLAC first aidedtenants in a cooperative closing in February and is currently representing more than a dozen tenant associationsin Harlem, the Lower East Side, and Clinton in Manhattan and in Williamsburg and Bedford Stuyvesant inBrooklyn.

"It's terrific to a homeowner, ana our place wouldnot be in such good shaPe now if we hadn't savedthousands of dollars in legal fees ," said Charles Abney, of404 West 48th Street in Clinton. "H e always made himselfavailable to us," added Greg Reeves, chairman of thebuilding's tenants association. "And this is why we wereable to spend our moneyonotherimprovements to keepour building."The tenants purchased 404 West 48th Street late in May.Two other buildings on the block, 405 and 413 West 48thStreet, also received legal help from the Center and havebeen bought as $25(}.a-unit cooperatives. The Center isalso representing 16 other Clinton properties where theresidents 'are attempting to purchase their apartments atthis same low price.Other projects supported by the center are industrialredevelopment in East Harlem for the Renigades HousingMovement, Inc., a neighborhood self-help group, and asweat equity . "shopsteading" program involvingcommunity-based renovation of vacant storefronts by theValley Restoration Local Development Corporation inManhattan Valley on the Upper West Side.

"Our main ambition is to create a center of expertise inthe area of community development law, and I think we'reunique in this effort," concluded Mallin. "W e hope to dofor an eight-unit tenement what a major developer andWall Street lawyer do for a 4O-story building." OS.B.

6. 914-997-1534GIBSON WI'NDOWS, INC.


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Stalled ~ g r e e m B e n t on Sale of City-OwnedVillage

That the 240 modest bungalow homesof HardingParkareup for sale has never been in doubt. But, the multi-ethnictenants of the largest chunk of city-owned, tax-foreclosedproperty in New York are now wondering, for sale to whom?Negotiations between the city and the representatives ofthe families who own their unorthodox homes, but rent theground on which they sit, have been ongoing since theproperty was seized for tax nonpayment in 1978. And untilrecently, both city housing officials and residents assumedagreement was within reach.Now, however, the landlord and the tenants are separatedby an increasing mistrustand abou t half a million dollars. Inearly June relations were at a point where Deputy Commissioner William Eimicke, in whose domain Harding Parkcurrently dwells, was threatening to discard the plans forsale, the new sewer, and tenants as well and seek "alternat ivemethods of disposition."

To the community, the commissioner's threats seemdesigned to intimidate rather than negotiate. But since then,they have frred their lawyer, gone on rent strike and collectedalmost$10,000to deposit inan escrow account, and put localpoliticians on notice that all past debts are immediatelyredeemable. Many of those leaders have offered assistance,but have approached the situation warily.According to Lois Chaffee, Presidentof he HardingParkAssociation, the primary stumbling block has been the cost.Thecity'saskingpricehasbeen$I,OOO,OOO, or, about $5,000

ground rents, from $25 to $75 per month, instituted at thebeginningofJune, was also motivated by the increasing costsof the project.Helen Occhuizzo, a life-time resident of the Park whosefather led tenant actions against past municipalencroachmentson the isolated community, including one byRobert Moses in the 19608, said the increases were arbitraryand without warning. "Wehad volunteered to raiseour rentsto $50," she insisted, "but we don't understand why theyshould be tripled."

The Association has also retained a lawyer to argue incourt that rents in the Park are protected by rent control lawsand cannot be summarily increased. A special legislativeaction in the 19608 placed the Park under rent regulation,however, the city has insisted that, like other in rem tenants,those rent regulations no longer pertain.The rent issue could become academic if there is newmovement towards a negotiated sale. In the interim,however, it is cause for considerable anger and talk in thecommunity alongside the mouth of the Bronx River. "Rightnow," said Occhuizzo, "we are paying in three differentways for our homesand the sewer systems. Our average ConEd bills alone are over $200 a month." 0New Director forCity-Owned Management

At the height of last January's cold spell, the Division ofProperty Management for some 23,000 of the city's taxforeclosed apartments lost its director when CharlesPoidomani was tapped by incoming flre chieftain CharlesHynes to become the new head of the flre marshall's unit.But, rather than quickly filling Poidomani's vacated officewith a new Assistant Commissioner, it was filled instead with


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narrower spectrum than those departments. The divisionperforms at best a holding action-directing themaintenance of buildings that are frequently in poorercondition than those that have made it into the alternativemanagement programs. Rent collection-an unenviabletask given the poorcondition ofmost buildings-has toppedthe list of the division's priorities. Tenants, other than thosein urban renewal areas, have developed littleof he organizedclout that characterizes city-owned buildings in otherprograms.Eimicke's early choiceofKrueger was apparently blockedby Commissioner Tony Gliedman after questions wereraised both insideand outside the housing department aboutKrueger's capability. Concern was raised that theappointment might mean the resignation of several key

staffers in property management who have clashed withKrueger in the past. The situation became a stand-offwithEimicke insisting on his right to choose his assistants. In themeantime, theoffice itself became hostage to the dispute andsome managers reported a disarray as no clear lines ofresponsibility were discernible.

Part of the problem was apparently solved when anotherin-house candidate for the post, Dom Catania, was madehead of a new Techical Services unit separate from otherdivisions.Krueger, however, inherits a division that has a decliningbudget and little organizational resources. Mobilizing thedepartment to cope with the coming winter in buildings thathave still no t received adequatepreparationwill have to be atop priority. 0

Over Objections, City Sells Little Italy Buildings

Six city-owned, tax-foreclosed tenements in theLittle Italy section of Manhattan have been approvedfor sale to a development company over the objectionsof the local community planning board. The boardhad sought low income subsidies for the site. Thepresent development proposal which will create 40apartments of market-rate rentals.The buildings, at the southeast comer ofPrince andElizabeth Streets, are within the Little Italy historicdistrict and were seized by the city in 1978. Despite

committee, the full board overwhelmingly rejected theplan by a vote of 24 to 4. The board instead adopted aresolution afflfming a need in the community for"housing more compatible with the rent structurewhich exists there today." The Lemberger Brodyproposal, the resolution stated, "is completeiyopposite the make-up of the community."

"People in that neighborhood could in no wayafford the rents they'll have there," insisted Rita Lee,


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Abrams Challenges City's Landlord MonitoringNeighborhood Coalition and Congressmember Ted Weiss,DemocratofManhat tan. The RSA was established in 1969 toadminister the regulations of the then new stabilizationsystem designed as a less stringent form of control on rentsand evictions. Since that time the RSA has been the targetofcriticism about the manner in which it spent members' dueswhich were supposed to be used primarily to support thesystem's administration. But in spite of the volume ofcriticism generated, the Association has remained unscathedby local officials.Legally, the Attorney General's complaint stops short ofsuing the Housing Commissioner for the abuses it cites.

o Rather, it presents a strong request that some rapid steps betaken to remedy the situation.According to the petition, which was released in midJune-just two weeks before the state legislature was todecide on renewing the stabilization law-between May,1977 and November, 1980theRSA misappropriated$925,000. The complaiili-cites:

@$I90,OOO spent on lobbying and publicity by threeAssociation-employed lobbyists in the city Council and statelegislature.@$342,OOO for legal actions-most of this to press legalsuits against such pro-tenant laws as the "warrant ofhabitability. "


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CIty Approves 8 ~ l f l c Sf. PlanOne more step along the road to construction on a large

vacant lot in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn was takenwhen the city housing department announcedits choice fromamong the responses to its request for site developmentproposals.

The city's decision attempts to merge two differentdevelopers' plans by having onedeveloper construct a 27,500square foot supermarket and another approximately 50owner-occupied three fainily homes. This may take somedoing. The supermarket plan of Baltic Associates, a groupcomprised ofLouis Rosenberg, Samuel Feinerman and PickQuick Foods, which proposed condominiums on the rest ofthe site, is substantially larger than the structure advocatedby the designated builder of the residential homes, UrbanHousing Associates.

Theprospects for both development companies see-sawedback and forth as local Community Planning Board #6weighed which plan to recommend. The high hopes ofBalticAssociates after being chosen as the recommendation of heboard's Housing and Land Use Committees were dashedafter the full board, following an unusual and impromptuhearing, reversed the choicesand proposed the planofUrban

Both groups were hoping that selection of theirrecommended plan would significantly affect the futuregrowth of the surrounding neighborhood. Yet the planswhich each ultimately endorsed bore only a ,partjalresemblance to their original proposals. The ImprovementCommittee's insistence that the entire lot be commercialdisappeared following the announcement of the cityguidelines last winter which called for a residential andcommercial mix. Similarly, when the city attached noprovision for low income Section 8 rent subsidies ,tOe tsoutline of what it wanted built on the site a ! l l a j o ~ e l e m e ~ t ofthe Fifth Avenue Committee's plans and hopes waseliminated.

Despite the city's enforced c ~ m p r o r n i s e s , h o w e ~ e r , thelarger issues dividing the groups and molding' communitysentiment c o n t i n u ~ to f'md shape; in quickly' a i n e n d ~ development plans . Arid regardless of those changes, bothsides seemed cOnvinced that the ultimate decision would bean importantpart of heir respectlvepolitical fate. Followingtl!e fuqU community board vote Fifth Avenue Committeesupporters were jubilant, while Improvement Committeebackers stood stunned and silent. 0

Homes instead. Sha h IdNot far beneath the surface of the debate on which re 0 ersproposal to endorse was the bitter emotion that has Elect Co-op Bank Directorscharacterized the ongoing argument over the direction the , ' _lower Park Slope community should take. An d the primary In terms of federal funding for next year, the Nationalbacking for the proposals also reflected the division in the Consumer Cooperative Bank is still wandering out in thecommunity. Pushing Baltic Associate's bigger market and cold, awaiting a Congressional invitation to come back tocondominium plan was the Park Slope Improvement the hearth. But while the pank hangs on to see what itsCommittee which has centered its efforts to let private real propriation for flSCal year 1982 will be, it continues to takeestate market forces decide local development issues on the affirmative steps to sUfYive on its own.


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Quiet Plans for Greenpoint' s WaterfrontThe Cloud Over New York's Open Spaces . Fending off the Anti-Rent Contro lBhu

city limits magazine, august/september 1981 issue

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