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-C-IT-Y--LI-M-I-T-S ~
COMMUNITY HOUSING NEWS
JANUARY, 1()77
VOL. 2, NO. I
(This hOUSfil can still be saved if HDA puts its own house in order . See story below. )
MAJOR REORGANIZATION of HDA
PROPOSED by SUTTON
RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY HOUSING GROUPS '
Percy Sutton, Borough President of Manhattan, has issued a 32page proposal calling for the creation of a New
York City Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. The proposal and report , "Saving New York's
Neighborhoods," was prepared with the assistance of ANHD's Executive Director, Bob Schur .
Sutton stated, "This report is developed out of the experiences of community housing groups who have been
thwarted by the hydraheaded city housing bureaucracy in their attempt to redevelop their neighborhoods. Out of
their experiences, a more responsive city housing program can emerge."
Continued on Pdge 2
2
CITY LIMITS
published monthly by the Association of Neighborhood
Housing Developers,lnc., 29 East 22nd Street, New York,
New York 10010. (212)674-7610.
Executive Director ... .......... .... .. ......... .............. Robert Schur
Editor ........................................................... Kathy Sanders
Design and Layout .............. ... .. ...................... Louis Fulgoni
Research Assistants ........ .......... ............. .. .. ... Richard Zeitler
and Bruce Ricklin
Production ............................................... Marianne Czernin
Copyright 1976. All rights reserved. No portion or portions
of this Newsletter may be reprinted without the express
written permission of the Association of Neighborhood
Housing Developers, Inc.
Reorganization of HDA (continued)
A RELIC OF A BYGONE ERA
The report documents, in detail, the shift in housing
policy away from new construction to preservation of the
existing housing stock. At the same time, however, pro-
grams designed to preserve. maintain and upgrade existing
housing are scattered among a plethora of departments and
agencies and in Sutton's words, "continues to be organized
as if its principal function were still the production of new
housing. and as if the preservation of existing housing were
an afterthought."
Included in the report is a thorough listing of present
programs relac::1g to housing and neighborhood preserva-
tion and where they presently are located. If that simple
listing of programs scattered throughout unrelated offices,
departments and agencies were not enough of an eye-
opener to the uninitiated . the report gives seven very
graphic examples of what goes wrong. Here are just two of
the horror stories :
An owner applies for a rehabilitation loan to the Office
of Evaluation and Compliance for a rehabilitation loan
under Article 8A. To qualify for such a loan, the owner
must show that he is unable to obtain finanCial assistance
from the private sector. He also has to show that the
needed repairs can be accomplished at a cost of not more
than $3,000 per dwelling unit and that the building is a
multiple dwelling. OEC has its own rule that loans will not
be approved for vacant buildings. Suppose the building
meets only three of the four requirements. It will be
rejected by OEC, but it might qualify under anyone of a
number of other programs. OEC does not administer any of
them, however. So, unless there is an unusually able,
concerned and knowledgeable person at OEC, the owner
will merely receive a rejection notice: will have no informa-
tion as to where else to go or what to do and may, out of
ignorance and despair, decide to abandon his building.

Two families remain in a 20-unit landlord-abandoned
building. The weather turns cold. They call the Central
Complaint Bureau to advise them that they have no heat or
hot water. A housing inspector certifies the facts. The
Emergency Repair Program repairs the boiler and supplies
fuel all winter long - at a cost to the city of $10,000. Comes
Spring. One of the families finds another apartment; the
other family is relocated after defective wiring causes a fire
which burns out their apartment. The building is now
vacant. The city eventually acquires it for non-payment of
taxes, by which time it is so severely deteriorated that it is
demolished at a further cost to the city of $10,000. The two
families could have been moved to other sound units on the
same block and the building sealed for future rehabilitation
at a recoupable cost of $3,000. Instead, the city has
incurred totally un recoupable costs of $20,000.
RESPONSIVE AND COORDINATED TREATMENT
PROGRAM PROPOSED
The answer to this problem put forth in the report
would be the creation of a new department within HDA, or
a separate agency should HDA be dismantled. The follow
ing programs would be brought under unified control and
direction :
- Emergency' Repairs
- Code Enforcement. including issuance of vacate orders
- Housing Court Activities
- Housing Repair and Maintenance Agreements
- NonEmergency City repairs
- Receivership
- 7 A Administration
- Rehabilitation Loans {Articles 8 & 8A, sec. 312,
- Tax Exemption and Tax Abatement (J51)
- Rent Restructuring for Rehabilitated Buildings
- Community Management of City-Owned/Controlled Buildings
- "As Is" Sales of CityOwned Buildings
- Cooperative Conversion
- Urban Homesteading
- S.H.I.P.
- Unsafe Buildings (demolition and seal-up)
Continued on Pdge 8
\
New York State Tenant and
Neighborhood Coalition
Adopts Program for 1977
L islative Session in Alba
Association's January Mem rship Meeting
Coalition building is a familiar concept for ANHD
members and affiliates. The creation of ANHD by its
founding members and its acceptance of new members
during the past two and a half years points to the obvious
benefits derived when people come together around com-
mon goals. Another organization that is founded on the
principle of coalition-building is the New York State Ten-
ant and Neighborhood Coalition (formerly the New York
State Tenants Coalition).
NYSTNC presently has member organizations in 16
counties of the state, representing such upstate cities as
Buffalo, Troy, Syracuse, Albany, Schenectady, Utica and
Poughkeepsie, as well as New York City and its suburbs.
The Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers and
several of its member groups belong to NYSTNC.
For the past three y.ears, NYSTNC has worked to
develop a strong tenant movement in the state and has
devoted a good deal of its energies toward legislation to
protect tenants from unfair and unscrupulous owners.
In its first two years as the major "lobbyist" for New
York State tenants, NYSTNC scored some impressive vic-
tories. Among them were the enactment by the New York
State Legislature of the Warranty of Habitability Law, the
Coop-Condominium Fair Practices Code, the Langley Law
(which requires the election of tenant representatives to the
Boards of Commissioners of public housing authorities in
upstate cit ies) and the Preservation of Sound Housing Law
(which protects tenants in older buildings from eviction by
high-rise developers). The 1976 Legislative Year, however,
despite the continued and re-doubled efforts of the Coali-
tion, was a near-disaster for tenants of all types and income
levels. Leaders of the Legislature, knuckling under to
pressure by the real estate and banking industries, failed to
deal with issues of housing in a substantive mann_er.
The Legislature's only major piece of housing legislation
was the "bail-out" of the State's two super-agencies, set up
by Rockefeller, to finance new construction of housing and
commercial developments. In sum, over $80 million of state
taxpayers' money was appropriated for the Urban Develop-
ment Corporation and the State Housing Finance Agency
(which had brought the State to the brink of default) to
enable them complete new construction projects, mostly
to Discuss Bills and Strategies
for middle- and upper-middle-income residents, such as
Roosevelt Island in our own East River.
The major piece of legislation that the 1976 Legislature
failed to enact was to require the state-regulated savings
banks to put any money into inner-city or low-rent housing
mortgages as a condition for granting these banks the right
to handle checking accounts. The savings bank lobby
mounted a tremendously expensive and successful cam-
paign which got them "free checking" with no strings
attached. NYSTNC lobbied intensively, but unsuccessfully,
for an amendment to require the banks to invest in housing.
What the Legislature also failed to do was to refor'm rent
regulations, deal with Neighborhood Preservation, put the
Mitchell-Lama program on a sound financial footing, pro-
vide for the needs of Senior Citizens and take steps to
combat redlining. All of the programs, with the exception
of rent regulations, need appropriations, but the huge
"bail-outs" foreclosed any possibility of enacting housing
legislation with a price tag. As for reform of rent regulation,
that was a political "hot potato" that the Legislature
preferred to deal with in a non-election year.
Michael McKee, Chairperson of NYSTNC, observed :
"There was also a failure on the part of tenants and housing
activists to put adequate pressure on the Legislature. Many
tenants assume that laws directly affecting housing are
passed or defeated by the City Council. On the contrary,
the State Legislature has the power, AT ANY TIME, to
impose new laws superceding present regulations and/or
simply to abolish old laws." The events last year suggest
that the real estate lobby and their friends in the State
Legislature will make a serious effort in 1977 to let the
present laws rents and evictions lapse and to
defeat any efforts to deal with Neighborhood Preservation
and redlining.
Last year, NYSTNC was successful in obtaining only a
one-year extension of the Emergency Tenant Protection
Act and the Coop-Condominium Fair Practices Code, which
requires that at least 35% of tenants in occupancy agree to
purchase shares in a coop before a plan can become
effective. Since both these laws expire on June 30th of this
year, it is considered by many to be easier for the
(over)
3
4 ' NYSTNC (continued)
LegisJature to allow these laws to expire since 1977 is NOT
an election year for the State Legislature. The battle tl\is
year to preserve existing protections for tenants and to
enact new legislation will be a difficult one.
NYSTNC, however, has not been idle. Since the end of
the Legislative Session this past July, NYSTNC has been
organizing support around the state to make tenants aware
, of the danger that exists.
In addition, NYSTNC's membership has grown to in-
clude a number of neighborhood housing organizations.
'Although some groups view NYSTNC as an organization
concerned chiefly with rent regulation and eviction protec-
tion, NYSTNC was the leading group in Albany last year
,fighting for the adoption and funding of a state-wide
Neighborhood Preservation Program, which would provide
funds to non-profit, neighborhood-based housing groups to
cover planning, development and admini'strative costs.
Evidence of this broadening of its goals a'nd program
activities is NYSTNC's name change, adopted at a state-
wide meeting held in Albany on December 5, 1976, to '
include the word "neighborhood_" The legislative program
adopted at the same meeting for the 1977 Legislative
Session is of particular importance to ANHD members. The
Neighborhood Preservation package which NYSTNC will be
supporting includes:
I. A drastically-modified version of the so-called "Urban
Coalition" bill which will encourage the management,
' ownership and rehabilitation of substandard housing by
neighborhood non-profit housing organizations.
2, The "Lehner Bill' to provide state funding for
community-based, non-profit groups to engage in neighbor-
hood preservation activities.
3. A tough antiredlining law to create a state-operated
grievance procedure for homeowners and landlords (includ-
ing tenant cooperators) who are denied mortgages by
banks.
J 4. A state-wide Housing Rehabilitation Trust Fund Act ,
which will create a billion.{iollar fund for, low-!nterest loans
to' low-income homeowners, cooperatives and neighbor-
hood housing groups to acquire and rehabilitate housing, to
be financed by long-term mandatory loans to the state by
stat e-regulated banks.
NYSTNC's leadership has pledged to conduct an all-out
effort to force the State Legislature to enact a strong
neighborhood preservation program. Michael McKee, Chair-
person of NYSTNC and Barbara Chocky, Southern Rl!gion .
Chairperson, will address ANHD members at
membership meeting to explain NYSTNC's Legislati've Pro-
gram and to outline what kind of support and opposition
we can expect.
The January monthly membership meeting of ANHD to
be held on January 19, 1977 at 6:00 p.m. at the United
' Charities Building, 105 East 22nd Street, New York, New
' York, Room 416, will be given over to a workshop on the
NYSTNC 1977 Neighborhood Preservation Legislative Pro-
gram: its implications for community housing groups and
the roles that members and affiliates of the Association can
play in affecting such legislation this year. The various bills
will be explained and discussed and opportunities will be
provided for the membership to consider and adopt posi-
.' tions which the Association may take on these matters.
This promises to be a most interesting and informative
meeting - one which may be extremely important for the ;
': future of the community housing movement in this city '
and state. All members, affiliates and other interested
, groups and individuals should be sure to attend.
It is our hope that 19n may become a year when our
representatives in Albany do something FOR us, rather
than TO us, for a change. To make this happen we have
to become informed and active. Let's start in January_ '
Kathy
MATERIALS ' ON THESE BILLS ARE AVAILABLE
FROM ANHD' CALL -KATHY SANDERS OR MICHAEL
MCKEE AT 674-7610 OR WRITE TO THE ASSOCIATION
- -
r
Upstate Tenants Conclude
Successful Public Housing
Schenectady Tenants Win Collective
Rights and in Future !-busing Decision
Fifteen miles west of Albany, New York, on the banks
of the Mohawk Ri.ver, sits the city of Schenectady, other-
wise known as the home of the gigantic General Electric
Company. Schenectady is also home to some 90,000
residents, some of whom live in one of seven public housing
authority projects. This story is about 500 of these public
housing fami lies, a successful rent strike action which they
ran against the housing authority and about Laurie Holland
- a publ ic housing tenant and one of the strike leaders.
On either side of Schenectady, quite far out of the way
from the shops and services, are located the city's two
largest public housing projects. Up near the northern city
limits is Yates Village, a sprawling complex of two-story
dull red brick buildings, built around the time of World War
II, to house 309 families. Way across town, a similar
project, built about the same time, Steinmetz Homes,
contains another 250 apartments. Both were built by the
state, although today, along with the newer federally-
funded projects, they are operated by the Schenectady
Municipal Housing Authority (MHA) which consists of five
commissioners and two tenant representatives (the latter
mandated by the 1974 Langley Law) .
Rents in Yates and Steinmetz are supposed to be based
on tenants' incomes, but the Rockefeller and Carey budgets
in recent years have made a of this idea in
state-subsidized projects. Two years ago, for the first time,
the tenants in Yates and Steinmetz were given an across-
the-board 20 percent rent hike. They grumbled, but paid it.
RENTSTRIKE
Laurie Holland
RENT INCREASES ANNOUNCED
Last year, the MHA announced a further increase of
13.8%, to be effective on August I, 1976. But this time the
tenants were ready to do more than grumble. An organiza-
tion and a spirit and determination were present. This was
the time to stand and fight .
The tenants had a good deal to fight about - more was
wrong than a second rent increase in less than three years
which would push rents far beyond the ability of a lot of
tenants to pay.
For years, Yates and Steinmetz had been suffering from
poor - even downright bad - maintenance. were so
bad, in fact, that over 70 apartments in the two projects
were standing vacant, despite waiting lists of eligible famil -
ies. The empty units were essentially unlivable and the
Housing Authority was using them for temporary emergen-
cy relocation purposes. Families burned out of their homes
would be offered temporary shelter in "as is"condition.
The MHA's policy was, in fact, hardly distinguishable
from the stereotypical slumlord. Not only were tenant
complaints ignored, but tenant efforts to organize had been
studiously and deliberately frustrated.
TENANTS ORGANIZE
The history of tenant organizing at Yates and Steinmetz
goes back quite a few years. Yates had al) active tenant
group fifteen years ago, but it soon degenerated into mostly
a club. However, during the War on Poverty days,
Continued on P.Ige 6
5
6
Schenectady Rent Strike (continued)
OEO set up a number of programs at Yates and Steinmetz.
Many of the tenants, especially younger ones, benefitted
from training in community and tenant organizing and they
put their newfound skills to work revitalizing their own
tenants groups. About five years ago, the Yates and Stein-
metz tenant associations merged into a single group which
they called the "Schenectady Residents Association."
The MHA worried about these developments and reacted
in vigorous fashion. The OEO projects were summarily
evicted from their quarters in the public housing buildings
and MHA itself sponsored rival tenant associations to
disrupt and confuse the Yates and Steinmetz residents.
MHA's counter-measures were quite successful - for a while.
Even by 1974, the tenants were unable to reorganize to
fight the 20% rent boost which was foisted on them in that
year.
The enactment of the Langley Law, however, gave the
tenants a new organizing issue. Under this law, whose
passage was greatly helped by lobbying efforts on the part
of the then newly-formed New York State Tenants Coali-
tion, public housing authorities in every city of New York
State (except the City of New York) were oblijJed to add
two public housing tenants as authority members - there
tenants to be elected by vote of the public housing
residents.
In Schenectady (as in other cities) the housing authority
did its best to minimize the impact of the new law. Since a
large proportion of the public housing projects in Schenec-
tady are primarily, if not exclusively, for senior citizens,
and since elderly residents are likely to be less troublesome
than younger activists, the MHA divided its projects into
two districts (each district to elect one tenant member of
the authority) in such fashion that one of the districts
would be certain to elect a senior citizen. MHA also ran its
own, hand-picked candidates with strong backing and lots
of behi nd-the-scenes campaign assistance.
The predictable results of the gerrymander and the
campaign help were that, despite a strong effort by the
Yates and Steinmetz residents, the tenant winners of the
election were little more than MHA flunkies.
Soon after the Langley Law election, MHA announced
its second projected rent increase. The vote of the authority
members was 6 to I in favor, with both tenant members
going along with the majority.
RENT STRIKE VOTED
The Yates and Steinmetz tenants were In a better
position to resist this latest move and the organizing drive
during the Langley election had helped. The tenant organi -
zations from Yates and Steinmetz (separate groups again
after the MHA attacks on Schenectady Residents Associa-
tion) got together and decided to go on strike against the
higher rents.
Despite the fact that no one in Schenectady had ever
been involved in a rent strike, the tenants did an amazingly
good job of organizing the action. When MHA called the
tenants, one by one, to the project offices and presented
them with new leases at the higher rents, over fifty percent
refused to sign.
A joint bank account was set up for both projects into
which the striking tenants paid their rent. The treasurer of
each of the tenant associations was designated to be the
"collection station" for the project. Picketing and demon-
strations brought the tenants' case to the attention of the
entire city. Rallies were held at city hall and at the MHA
offices and MHA commissioners' homes were picketed.
Press releases were written and distributed, with the result
that Schenectady' s two newspapers and four television
stations carried almost daily stories about the strike.
HOUSING AUTHORITY TRIES TO EVICT
Despite which, the MHA adamantly refused to meet or
negotiate with the tenants or their representatives. Its
reaction instead was to commence holdover eviction pro-
ceedings against all of the striking tenants. Fortunately, and
despite the fact that Schenectady's one legal services lawyer
was entering the hospital, the Yates and Steinmetz tenants
were able to locate a private, pro bono attorney from
Albany who agreed to work with them. They were also
helped by a neighborhood law collective in Schenectady.
The first thing the tenants did was to get the City Court
to direct that all the eviction cases would be heard together_
The day of the hearing produced thE! biggest demonstration
of the entire action. Two hundred and fifty tenants, their
families and many sympathizers marched together to the
Court House and virtually overwhelmed the Judge when
they all walked in together.
The Judge quickly saw that he couldn't try two hundred
and fifty separate cases, nor had he any desire to do so.
When he was told that the tenants were willing to negotiate
their grievances with MHA but the authority had refused to
meet with them, he sided with t ~ e tenants saying that "if
250 people come here together there must be something
wrong." He directed the authority to negotiate and mean-
while, upon being shown a complete set of books and
records being kept by the tenants, the Judge ordered that
the tenant organization could 'retain and continue to collect
the rent monies from the striking tenants.
TENANTS FRAME DEMANDS
Negotiations then took place and continued almost
weekly for the next five months - the authority often
seeking to drag them out as long as possible, but the tenants
retained a solid front at all times. The tenants submitted a
ten-point set of demands, which they had prepared in
advance of the strike and which they stuck to throughout
the bargai ning. The tenants demanded:
I. Recognition of the Tenants' Association as the collective
bargaining agent for ALL tenants in the Yates and Stein-
metz projects.
2. Formation of a joint tenant/management committee to
review hiring and firing of project personnel. '
3. Involvement of the joint tenant/management committee
in tenant selection.
Continued on Page 16
Meet the Officers:
Margaret McNeill,
President .
Margaret McNeill, ANHD's recently-elected President,
brings,tolherfnew position of leadership a strong background
in the movement to provide decent shelter for poor families
without the expensive -and destructive aspects of urban
renewal.
Mrs. McNeill is a slim and attractive mother of seven and
grandmother of five, who exudes an aura of calm determin-
ation that belies the staggering work load she now carries.
Perhaps this is due to Margaret's early life in the South.
Born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, she
attended schools there, including North Carolina Agricul-
tural and Technical College, where she has been pursuing a
degree in business administration when she met and married
Mr. McNeill in 1948. Following their wedding, they moved -
to New York City and set up house.keeping in Bedford-
Stuyvesant and, later, in Fort Greene in Brooklyn. From
this time until 1961, when the family moved to Harlem, Mrs.
McNeil considered herself "a full-time wife and mother."
The turning point for Margaret was the arrival one
morning in 1963 of a post-card from her church. The
church's pastor was the Rev. Eugene Callendar, who was..
alerting his parishioners to the city's plan to "renew" a
large p'ortion of the Harlem area. The plan contained no
provisions for the adequate relocation of the existing
residents of the area to be renewed. Instead, the city
planned to construct student and faculty housing for
Columbia University and to widen 8th Avenue. Margaret
attended a meeting at the church held prior to the Board of
Estimate hearing and became convinced that the urban
renewal project, as planned, would bring severe hardships to
the families living in the area. It soon became clear to a
number of community leaders in West Harlem, Morningside
Heights and Manhattan Valley that Columbia University
was attempting to move poor blacks out of the area and to
expand its real estate holdings for political, racial and
financial reasons.
So, the community leaders, among them Margaret Mc-
Neill, organized TRI-CO, a watch-dog group which helped
in the successful fight to halt the urban renewal efforts.
Out of TR I-CO, West Harlem Community Organization
was formed in 1964 (and incorporated in November, 1965)
to concentrate on the preservation and improvement of
existing housing.
Mrs. McNeill and the other founders of WHCO volun-
teered long hours to assist tenants with housing problems,
mainly pressuring the city to enforce its own housing codes.
With the assistance of ARCH (Architects Renewal Commit-
tee in Harlem) WHCO prepared a survey, plan and applica-
tion for the rehabilitation of most of the buildings slated
for urban renewal. Although the application was never
approved, neither was the urban renewal plan.
By 1965, the volunteer staff of WHCO was hard at work
on building tenant and block associations as well as hand-
ling individual tenant problems. In addition, a Head Start
Program was funded to s ~ r v e 70 children. Mrs. McNeill was
director of the Head-Start Program from 1966 to 1968.
wntinued on Page 8
7
8 Margaret McNeill (continued)
Then followed a two-year stint for Margaret on the staff
of the Morningside Renewal Council where she further
developed her knowledge of housing and organizing tech-
niques. Margaret returned to WHCO and in 1970 was made
its Executive Director.
-
Tragedy struck the McNeill family in 1970, when Mr.
McNeill passed away, leaving Mrs. McNeill to care alone for
her seven children. As she told me, "We had two choices
that year. I could stay home with the children and depend
upon public assistance or I could work. My children made
the decision - they voted for Mommy to work."
The next seven years have kept Margaret quite busy in
West Harlem. Although WHCO has accomplished much, its
financial footing has never been sound. Cutbacks were
necessitated when the small grants from private sources ran
out. What is remarkable is that the enthusiasm and active
involvement of the community residents who serve on the
board has not waned. Also, other local organizations, most
prominently STR ESS, a local delegate agency of
HARYOUACT, and its director, Elizabeth Lemon, gave
Reorganization of HDA (continued)
The most innovative component of the proposed new
department would be a Buildings Analysis and Evaluation
Office which would be the "first stop" for a problem
building. A staff knowledgeable in all of the alternative
treatment programs would assist in the development of a
plan geared to the particular problems of the building, its
tenants, and its landlord. Only after this analysis is made
would a/ referral to a specific program be made.
To monitor the effectiveness of the planning and imple
mentation of the specific building treatment program, a
. Policy Analysis Unit would also be established to track,
evaluate and recommend modifications and improvements
to existing programs and to develop new treatment pro
grams.
invaluable assistance to WHCO.
Margaret presently directs the staff of WHCO in a
variety of programs, including the management and main-
tenance of a number of buildings in the area. Most illustra
tive of Margaret's style of is the manner in which
lunch hours are observed at WHCO. At 12:00 noon sharp,
the entire staff gathers around the conference table -
bookkeepers, the secretary, the maintenance crew, stud-
ents, consultants and board members (who prepare the
lunch). Together they discuss everything from boiler repair
snafus to city-wide politics. No one on the WHCO staff
feels isolated. "In fact," Mrs.McNeill pointed out, "just last
week I had two community meetings to cover. One of the
maintenance men attended one for me. All of us are tenant
and community organizers now. That's the way it should
be."
Margaret has promised to bring this style of leadership to
ANHD. "All the members are going to be active this year.
Working together we can accomplish so much. I hope
everyone will begin the New Year at ANHD with renewed
enthusiasm. I know I will:'.
Kathy Sanders
TIME IS RIPE FOR CHANGE
The City Council is presently considering amendments
to the City Charter that would "dismantle" HDA. The
Mayor has proposed a reorganization of very limited scope
and in direct conflict with the city's current housing policy
which is aimed toward diminishing in the housing
stock. The Mayor's plan would simply spin-off the Build-
ings Department and would leave intact the current mish-
mash of programs at HDA.
We urge all concerned with this problem - particularly
neighborhood housing groups - to study the Sutton pro-
posal and to urge its consideration by members of the New
York City Council.
To obtain a copy of "Saving New York's Neighbor'
hoods" write to Mr. Frank Baraff, Borough President
Sutton's Office, Municipal Building, New York, New York
10007.
Kathy Sanders
RICHARDS & FENNIMAN. INC .
.!)n,dura,ncIJ
156 WILLIAM STREET
NEW YORK, N. Y. 10038
TELEPHONE (212) 267-8080
..
ANHD's Technical
Assistance Unit
Begins Operations
Climaxing a lengthy and at times much-debated policy
position, the membership of the Association of Neighbor-
hood Housing Developers, Inc. last November ultimately
voted to accept and ratify the basic terms of its staff's
proposal to Rockefeller Brothers Fund for a grant to
support a technical assistance unit to aid its members and
affiliates which have or are seeking Community Manage-
ment contracts with New York City. Staff for a Commun-
ity Management Unit was thereupon selected and their
resumes submitted to Rockefeller. Last month, Rockefeller
sent its check for $65,000 to the Association and the
program is now under way.
Thus closes a dramatic chapter in ANHD affairs and a
new one begins with the arrival of the staff who will
constitute the Community Management Unit. With ten
community housing groups presently under contracts to
manage city-owned and controlled multiple dwellings and
with others having applied or considering submitting appli-
cations for contracts, the new unit appears to have its work
cut out for it.
The decision to proceed with the program was preceeded
by a series of dramatic events and involved a good deal of
soul -searching on the part of many ANHD members.
The story really begins back in 1972 and much of it is
closely related to the origin and formation of ANHD itself.
In that year, Bob Schur, who was then Deputy Commis-
sioner in charge of the Office of Special I mprovements in
the New York City Housing and Development Administra-
tion (now known as the Office of Evaluation and Compli-
ance). after meeting with several community housing
groups, decided and convinced the city administration to go
along with a plan to contract the management of multiple
dwellings over which the city had been appointed received
to non-profit community groups. Within a year, eight
groups were managing some forty-odd city receivership
buildings.
In mid-1973, Bob (who is now ANHD's Executive Direc-
tor) was transferred to HDA's Office of Housing Rehabilita-
ti on and further enlargement of community group manage-
ment languished (t wo groups, in fact , fell out of the
program altogether).
The common involvement of community housing organi -
zations in the management of buildings under contracts
with the city did, however, constitute an important area of
mutual concern and interest among those groups which
stayed with the program and was one of the major factors
which led to the decision by them to organize ANHD in
mid-1974.
The next chapter opens in 1975 with the adoption by the
city of its First Year Community Development Plan and
Program under the newly-enacted federal Housing and
Community Development Act. That Plan called for an
enlargement and eXPilnsion of management of city-owned
(as well as receivership) multi -family dwellings by com-
munity-based housing groups. ANHD and the Pratt Coali -
tion, of which ANHD was a part, played a key role in
pushing for the enlargement of the program with block
grant federal funds available under the new law. Actual
implementation of the program (along with most of the
others in the city's Community Development Plan) became
stalled when the city's fiscal crisis came into full bloom in
the Summer and Fall of 1975. Nothing much happened
until after first Big Mac and then the Emergency Financial
Control Board took hold of the city's financial affairs.
At the beginning of last year, it began to look as though
the Community Development programs would finally get
started. But then another problem had to be faced . One
consequence of the fiscal crisis - and the decision by the
state and city politicians to avoid municipal bankruptcy at
all costs (translated into plain language that means: pay the
bankers and other holders of the city's bonds and notes one
hundred cents on the dollar plus interest at up to ten
percent a year as and when due though to do it you have to
curtail vital city services and layoff thousands of city
workers) - was that the Office of Evaluation and Compl i-
ance, which administers the city's end of the Community
Management program, suffered a decrease in its staff,
incluQing the loss of several key people.
So now the complaint was raised by OEC - how can we
expand the Community Management program when we
don't have the staff to administer and monitor it? ANHD's
staff responded to this plaintive excuse for inaction by
proposing that it seek funds to expand its own staff so as to
provide additional technical assistance and expertise to the
community groups (both . already in and hoping to come
into the program) and thereby ease the city's administrative
burdens.
. Continued on Page 10
9
10 Technical Assistance Unit (continued)
This proposal was eagerly embraced by Deputy Commis-
,sioner Alan Wiener and Assistant Commissioner Henry
Lanier (Lanier had come to HDA from a position as
Administrator of Los Sures which was one of the first
community groups to enter into a management contract) ..
With their approval and support, a written proposal for a
Community Management Technical Assistance staff was
submitted to Rockefeller Brothers Fund in the Spring of
1976, together with a projected budget of $64,400. After
considerable discussion and revision, Rockefeller indicated
that it would make a grant provided ANHD would recruit a
suitable staff (which was approved by DEC).
At this point, ANHD's membership began to have
serious second thoughts about the matter. While the mem-
bers recognized the need for technical assistance - especi'-
ally in view of OEC's diminished capability to administer
the Community Management program and to provide assist-
ance to participating groups - they felt that the better
solution would be to provide the groups with the financial
means to purchase their own technical services as and when
needed, rather than to create a technical assistance staff
cadre within ANHD. In part at t ~ ~ t ,this perception flowed
from a rather unsuccessful effort by ANHO to add techni-
cal specialists to its staff during 1975.
After a series of meetings at which the issue was
considered and debated at length, a majority of the ANHO
members recommended that Rockefeller be asked to ap-
prove a plan which would allow all ANHD members to
purchase expert assistance on their own. This position was
formally adopted at ANHD's Annual Meeting on October 2,
1976.
Rockefeller, however, rejected the request, s ~ a t i n g that it
represented too great a departure from the previousty ap- .
'proved program to be adopted without resubmission to its
Board of Directors; that the Board would not meet again
until 1977; and that the grant would lapse if the program
did not get under way before the end of 1976.
So it was back t-o tne meeting-moms for the ANHO
membership. This time, what appears to be a satisfactory
and workable compromise was adopted by a large majority
of the members who participated_ The concept of a tedmi-
cal assistance staff would be accepted, but with four
conditions:
- The staff people to be recruited would be persons who
knew the groups and were known by them;
- Emphasis would be on staff people who could work
well with the groups and who would provide advocacy and
understanding as well as technical expertise;
- The goal at the end of a one-year period would be the
creation of a program to enable groups to seek and obtain
their own technical assistance with ANHD playing at most
an advisory, supportive and catalytic role;
- Close and continuing monitoring of the Technical
Assistance Unit by ANHD members.
OEC (which by now had lost both of its Commissioners
- Wiener to the City's First Deputy Mayor's office and '
Lanier to Yale Univertisy's Graduate School of Business
and Public Administration and is now under the direction
of Deputy Commissioner Carl Callendar) and Rockefeller
were notified of the decision and both approved and a crash
effort to recruit a suitable staff (which had to be accom-
plished and ok'd by Rockefeller by early December) was
undertaken.
Good fortune greeted the attempt and the makings at
least of- an exemplary Community Management Unit has
been engaged.
As Unit Coordinator, Jim Yasser, who formerly worked
for South Bronx Legal Services, in HDA's Neighborhood
Preservation Program and on the staff of South Bronx
Community Housing Corporation, wi-It assume his duties in
late January when he completes the present semester as a
student at Brooklyn law School.
The Project Coordinators, who have already gone on
active duty, are Frank Garrett, formerly director of Brook-
lyn Comprehensive Corporation and Emilie San Clemente,
who among other things, organized and helped manage the
building in which she lives on the Lower East Side of
Manhattan.
Providing accounting and bookkeeping instruction and
assistance is Cesar Rangel who, in the relatively brief time
he has been with ANHD, showed tremendous talent and
capability working with groups in the CETA and CJCC job
training programs. Cesar will be assisted by Clem Lloyd,
ANHO's experienced and mature Comptroller.
The Technical Assistance team is completed by the
inclusion of Jim Harris as legal consultant and advisor,
abetted by his law partner, Larry McGaughey_ Harris and
McGaughey are under a legal retainer with ANHD, funded
by a grant made at the beginning of 1976 by New' York
Community Trust for legal assistance. Jim Harris, who was
on HOA's legal staff and later directed its Office of
Cooperative Conversion, succeded Henry Lanier as Los
Sures' Administrator. Larry McGaughey got his homing
legal baptism as a lawyer for Community Action for legat
Services and for the past two years has been specializing in
housing law as a private practitioner. These experienced
members of the bar are being assisted by Doug Simmons, a
law student at NYU who is serving the Association under a
work-study program.
The new staff, except for Jim Vasser who joins up later
this month, has started to become oriented to the ANHO
member groups, to OEC and to each other and everyone is
looking forward to a busy and productive program.-
JOB OPENINGS
FIATBUSH DEVEU:FMENI' a:>RPORAll0N
~ TIIE FOLLOWING
IM\1EDIAlE < P ~ S
I. HOUSING PROGRAM DIRECTOR - Housing Pro-
gram Director will administer a housing renewal program
for community development organization. Must be able to
negotiate with landlords, financial institutions, government
agencies and community organizations. Experience in apart-
ment building management, financing, litigation or com-
, munity renewal preferred. B. A. degree required. Salary:
High Teens.
2. COMMUNITY HOUSING SPECIALIST - Commun-
ity Housing Specialist will assist Housing Program Director
in all phases of landlord, tenant and government agency
negotiations. Must have experience in community organiza-
tion and a commitment to stabilizing and revitalizing the
North Flatbush area. Communication skills in the organiza-
tion and conduct of meetings and presentation of reports
required. Flatbush resident preferred. Salary: $11,000 -
$13,500.
3. COMMUNITY HOUSING ORGANIZER - Commun-
ity Housing Organizer will work for the Caton Housing
Action Task Force, under the supervision of the project
steering committee responsible for the organization and
direction of a sub-area task force aimed specifically at
housing improvement. Duties include organization, training
and mobilization of local tenants and community groups.
Applicants must have a B. A. or equivalent life experience
and have experience in community organizing. HOl,Jrs are
flexible. Salary: to $9,250.
4. SECR ET ARY - Secretarial duties include general
office work; typing, light bookkeeping, filing, mailings,
phone coverage, etc. Applicant should have at least two
years work experience and type 60 w.p.m. and take
,dictation at 80-90 w.p.m. Salary: Open, comensurate with
experience.
Applicants for any of the above positions should for -
ward a resume, including salary history and requirements,
to: FLATBUSH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, 1418
Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, New York 11226. (No phone ,
calls, prease.)
The deadline for receipt of resumes is Monday, January
24, 1977: Flatbush Development Corporation is an Equal
'Opportunity Employer.-
PECPLE'S DEVEU:FMENI' (UUl()RAll00'
SEEKS TENANf ORGANIZER
Candidate should be experienced in all phases of tenant
organizing, preferably in the Bronx. Knowledge of Spanish
very helpful and Bronx resident is preferred.
Salary is negotiable. Call: Megan Charlop at 292-8049.-
a-IELSEA ACllON CENfER SEEKS ORGANIZERS
Two tenant organizers, experienced in working on ten-
ant/landlord disputes, are sought by Chelsea Action Center.
Knowledge of Spanish is preferred, bllt not absolutely
necessary. Chelsea resident is preferred. The pay is low, the
hours are long, but the rewards <Ire high.
To apply, call Helen at 255-2872.-
11
REfARDATION
MfNfAL HEALnI AND IlRECfORY OF

t of Mental Health
The New York City Second Edition
. Se' es has Issue Y rk CIty.
RetardatIon rVlC ed Citizens in New 0 . e of
"Directory of Bowen, Director of the. OfflcUnit
Compiled by Emma ' . Community RelatIons. '
. d EducatIon, . the achle
ve
-
InformatIon an uch to "recognIze f
the Directory purports as as to serve as a
f doers" as muc . urban affaIrs a
. ments 0 'd individuals In d to help locate
of individual in all kinds of
P . d resources who m g
people an .
mmunitY servIces.
. co a complete
o date and far from ber of
While not fully up-t - deal about a large num . .
listing, its 108 in some !ashion. ThIs IS
organizations servIng c. . that will be pubhshed.
. b the last edItIon
stated to e rtment of
York City Depa
F
copy write to: New . es Office of Informa-
or a ' R tardation Servlc, . 93 Worth
Health and Relations UnIt,
tion and Educat:n
New
York 10013 .
Street, New Yor ,
''1HE CDNSUMFR-FARMER CXXPmATOR"
'MUST READING' lDUSING ACI1VISfS
Congratulations to Consumer-Farmer Foundation on the
best issue yet of its excellent newsletter. "The Cooperator"
has to be MUST reading for everybody concerned with the
community housing movement in New York City_
The January, 1977 issue includes special feature stories
about Peoples Development Corporation, Oceanhill-
Brownsville Tenants Association, the Renigades - in short,
just about the entire range of low-income cooperative
housing projects, plus a very moving and thought-provoking
"Report of the President" (Mr. Meyer Parodneck) and
much more.
For those not familiar with the Consumer Farmer
Foundation, it has one of the most progressive and concern-
ed Boards of Directors and staff in NeW York. The
Foundation has made thousands of dollars worth of seed-
money loans to dozens of low-income tenant cooperatives
when no other funds were available.
For a copy of "Consumer-Farmer Cooperator," write to
us at ANHD or to Consumer Farmer Foundation, Inc. 101
East 15th Street, New York, New York 10003 .
. .
F1RST RESULTS OF JOINT
FUNDRAISING mIVE
$45,000 in Geants Pledged
by Two Fotmdatiom
ANHD's joint-fundraising campaign, conducted with and
on behalf of its members, is finally beginning to bear fruit.
After long months of preparation, research and proposal-
writing, capped by a breakfast-meeting for foundation
representatives, held at the New York Foundation last
, November, we are pleased to announce that the first two
pledges of contributions towards our goal of $395,000 have
been received .
The Taconic Foundation has agreed to contribute
' $25,000 and the Sherman Foundation, a member of Joint
Foundation Support, Inc., has made a grant of $20,000.
Special thanks to Jane Lee Eddy of Taconic and Patricia
Hewitt and Axel Rosin of Sherman for their commitment
and generosity.
While many of the private foundations that have been
solicited have sent rejection letters, a few more have
indicated that they are giving serious consideration to our
requests; others are still to be heard from and of course we
are continuing to explore the field to discover additional
potential donors. In accordance with the policy established
by the membership, funds received will be distributed to
member organizations who have indicated a need for
funding assistance to cover their baSic administrative and
overhead expenses.
Judy Flynn, ANHD's Director of Operations, has been
putting in long, arduous hours on the joint-fundraising
effort and is reported to be both pleased and relieved to see
the ice having been broken. Judy also deserves a lot of
credit for a painstaking and often frustrating undertaking,
as does ANHD's Vice-President for Fundraising, Gloria
Milliken.
Here's hoping that the last $350,000 needed to reach
our goal will be quicker and easier. Any member organiza-
tion having ideas or suggestions or desiring information
about the campaign - as well as any would-be contributors
- contact Judy Flynn at 674-7610 .
.. ,-"
..
TIlE LAWYER IS IN (EVERy WCLA'I.w.>
f
1 ...... \
'di Arrayo .... l"""
ANHD FroVl ngd Affiliate Organizations
to Merrber an
. ment with
. Ie al retainer agree
ANHD has entered Into a g u hey for a variety of
I
firm of Harris and McGa g d affiliate houSing
the aW ' 1 ble to member an
services to be aval a
groups. V
ANHD as a former Ice-
Jim Harris, to mittee member as well as
P
resident and Operations co.
m
s
keeping office hours at the
f Los Sures, I I 5 p.m.
Administrator 0 Wednesday afternoon, from to 'thout
Association every d during those hours (WI .
He may be seen or appointments and meetings
. . ) and will sc e
P
rior notice . t t'lmes
II
onvenlen .
at other mutua y c .
. d McGaughey ,firm
. the HarriS an
Neither Jim HarriS nor pecific cases for member or
are prepared to taker The services whiChlear:I
affiliate groupS or fo d consult with groupS on g ff
available are to and orientation to nSdtato
t proVI e to locate a
matters, 0 s and to assist groupS unsel or
personnel 9
f
group h se matters where legal co
. h I wyers on t 0
work Wit a ry or advisable.
. ' s necessa
representation I b
. with mem er
un to conduct meetings 0 In
Jim has alreadY beg d ' 11 be continuing to do s .
I 'ssues an WI . (t ANHD on
groupS on lega I hould contact him a I
the meantime , all their questions and prob ems
W
ednesday afternoons
of a legal nature.
. '
LOS SURES AND MXUUs HElGHfS
IMPROVFMENr A5SOC1AnON
ONCE APPOrNlMENr OF NEW lXREcToRs
Best wishes to Wilfredo Var as a dB '
respective appointments as Ad
g
. . n etty Terrell on their
Morris Heights
. a life-long resident of the Willi b
Ity, IS a founder of los SUres and has ams urg commun-
Directors until his recent of
strong background, he brings to his a
professional experience in J'ob t . . Job
h . raining programs related t
ouslng - most recently with New York City' D 0
of Employment. s epartment
for Terrell first ?ecame involved in Morris Heights, her home
. past SIX years, as a rent-strike leader in her
?Ulldlng. subsequently took a leave of absence fro Own
has Higher Education Officer with the
di'J to co.ntinue her own education while she
and later for as organizer for Met-Council
a tenant organizer. ,were s e was subsequently hired as
W
'IIIWb
e
.are certain that both of these new top staff persons
ring new talent and e h .
to ANHD T nergy to t elr organizations and
. errell was elected last N b
member of ANHD' O. ovem er as an at-large
. . s peratlons Committee. We look for -
ward to their active participation .
CfIY CDNTINUFS 10 STALL
NEGOTIATIONS ON DFM)LIllON AND SEAL-UP
Community Groups Take First
Steps To Sue
The community representatives on the New York City
Demolition and Sealing Task Force, who have been negoti-
ating with officials of various city departments for well over
a year to force the city to adopt and implement procedures
that . would end the wholesale demolition of sound build-
ings, have assumed,due to the lack of response on the part
of HDA Administrator Appleby to a final proposal submit-
ted back in October, 1976, that a satisfactory negotiated
settlement of the dispute is highly unlikely .
They plan to institute legal proceedings to enjoin HUD
from providing Federal C. D. funds for the demolition of
buildings until such time as the city conducts a full -scale
environmental review, as required by law. Community
representatives have been led to believe that they have a
strong legal case agai nst the city .
If the community groups successfully litigate the matter,
the demolition pipeline would come to a screeching halt for
at least a year or more and the public would, in the
meantime, receive the benefits of a full-scale public airing
of all of the implications of the city's past and proposed
demolition activities.
While patiently waiting for a response from Administra-
tor Appleby, community representatives have retained the
law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom of 919
3rd Avenue, New York, New York, through the efforts of
Dan Kurtz, Esq. of New York lawyers for the Public
Interest.
At press time, twelve organizations had agreed to be
plaintiffs in the case. Any individual or . organization con-
cerned with the manner in which our housing stock is being
torn down willy-nilly is invited to participate. Joining the
suit, either as a group or as an individual , will not entail any
financial obligations. For more information, contact Kathy
Sanders at ANHD.
13
14
, .

LEITERG
by Robert Schur and Richard Zeitler
GARNISHEE One whose salary or wages are subjected
to garnishment, or who has money or property owed or
belonging to someone else against whom a third party holds
a court judgment.
GARNISHMENf A legal procedure by which one who
holds a money judgment issued by a court obtains an order
of the court directing the employer of the person against
whom the judgment was issued to pay over a portion of the
salary or wage to the holder of the judgment in order to
satisfy the judgment debt. In New York State, garnishments
. : are limited to ten percent of the salary or wage in excess of
$85.00 per week and are collected by a sheriff or marshll.
GENFRAL BUIlDING SCHEME (ex General
Plan) A plan or program whereby an owner of a large tract
of land divides it into building lots to be sold to separate
persons for separate occupancy by deeds which contain
uniform restrictive covenants (see def . COVENANTS). A
typical example is where an ' owner of a city block divides
the block into several lots, usually of more or less uniform
size and o'ffers the lots for sale by deeds which restrict the
purchasers from erecting anything except a single-family
house on each lot , General Building Schemes were quite
common before the introduction of zoning ordinances
' which now exist in most urban and even . in many rural
communities. They are now seldom used, although in many
cases General Building Schemes adopted many years ago are
still effective today. (For example: as late as the 1950's,
courts were ruling that a General Building Scheme adopted
by the original seller of building lots in the Lefferts Gardens
area of Brooklyn before the turn of the century was still
effective to prevent occupancy of buildings in that area by
more than one fami ly - even though the New York City
zoning ordinance allowed two-family and even multi-family
occupancy. )
GERRYMANDER A method of dividing a state or other
territory into legally authorized divisions or districts (as
into districts for electing members of a legislature) in such a
way as to accomplish a sinister or improper purpose such
as, for instance, to secure a majority of votes for a political
party where the result would be if districts were
divided along obvious or natural lines, or to divide school
districts in such a way as to insure that children Of race,
religion or nationality will be brought within another
, district .
The term is derived from an early 19th Century Governor
of Massachusetts named Elbridge Gerry, who had the lines
of a county of a state drawn to favor election of representa-
tives from his political party. It is said that when an
observer looked at a map of the district he exclaimed that
resembled a salamander, to which a second observer replied
that "it was not a salamander but a gerry-mander."
GIFr Any voluntary transfer of real or other property
from one person to another which is made gratuitously and
without payment of money or other consideration.
GILT EDGE A term applied to bonds or other securities
(including mortgages) implying that they are of the sound-
est and best quality - most likely to be paid. Securities of
such a class are usually bought and sold either at or very
near their face value or at a premium above face value.
GOING VALUE (or Going Concern value) Applied to
the property, plant and equipment of a business. A valua-
tion which arises not only fro", the replacement cost of the '
land and physical improvements, but which also takes
account of the previous labor, effort and expenditures in
building up the business, acquiring good will and success-
fully adapting the property to the intended use_
G(X)J) REO)RO 1l1LE A t itle to real property which
imports that the official records will show that the present
owner has an unencumbered, fee simple title, free and clear
of any valid liens, claims and encumbrances.
G(X)J) 1l1LE A title to real property which is, techni-
cally, one which a court would conclude is sufficient
ground for compelling a purchaser under a contract of sale
to accept and pay for without deduction from the agreed
purchase price. It is synonymous with "Clear Title," "Mar-
ketable Title" and "Merchantable Title" and means that the
ownership of the land is free from encumbrances, is not the
subject of any current or threatened litigation and has no
obvious or serious doubts or defects.
G(X)J) WIlL The advantage (which may be expressed
by a monetary value) which an established trade or business
has acquired by reason of its location, continuance in
business, acceptance by the public and any other factors
which add to its value, above the mere replacement cost of
its physical assets and its monetary capital.
GRACE PERIOD A period of time, usually expressed in
the contract or other document creating an obligation,
beyond the due date for payment or performance during
which the party to whom the payment or performance is
owed will accept it, or during which the payment or
performance will relieve the obligor of a det'ault. Grace
Periods are frequently expressed in insurance policies (such
as life insurance where payment of the premium within
' thirty-one days after the due date will keep the p'olicy in
full force and effect), and in mortgages (such as a clause
stating that while the mortgagor must pay all real estate
taxes on the mortgaged property when due, payment
within a stated number of days after the payment date will
to proper performance by the mortgagor).
Continued on ,e;
LINGO (contin"ued)'
GRADE The rate of ascent or descent in land surface; an
indication that a given parcel or area of land is not perfectly
flat, but contains changes or varieties in its elevation. Grade
is measured as a ratio of change in vertical elevation per
unit of horizontal distance. It may be expressed as a
percentage (e.g. a 10% grade indicates a change in elevation
of one unit of distance for each ten units. of horizontal
distance); as a numerical ratio (e.g. 1:5 or I to 5, indicating a
change in elevation of one unit of distance for each five
units of horizontal distance); or as a rise or fall of so many
units per unit of horizontal distance (e.g. 50 feet per mile).
GRANDFA1HER. CLAUSE Originally, a clause found in
many state constitutions or southern states which limited
the right to vote to persons who could read and write or
who understood the state constitution, or who were gain-
fully employed or owned property of at least a stated value
but which exempted persons who had served in the Confed-
erate Army during the Civil War or their descendants from
such requirements. The intent and effect of these provisons
was to prevent most blacks from voting while not affecting
the voting rights of the whites. The provisions were upheld .
by the United States Supreme Court in 1898 and again in
1903. Since 1915 Grandfather Clauses have been held to
violate the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the
United States Constitution.
Today, the term "Grandfather Clause" is
used to describe laws which exempt persons who have
previously been engaged in a business or used land from the
effect of a newly-enacted law or regulation which restricts
or prohibits the business or use. Thus, most zoning ordin-
ances exempt pre-existing uses of land which do not
conform to present requirements. Similarly, laws which
prohibit operating a bar or liquor store close to a school or
house of worship may exempt establishments already in
operation when the law is enacted, or which are in opera
tLon at the time the school or church is established.
GRANT A general, generic term, applicable .to all trans-
fers of real property; any transfer of an estate or interest in
land.
GRANTSMANSHIP The art of successfully applying
for and obtaining grants, subsidies or contracts for research,
experimentation or the funding of programs. It embraces
the skills in researching the availability of such funds,
preparinq appl ications and proposals and negotiatina with
the public or private' agencies giving. or administering the
grants.
GRATI.JITY A "tip" or other payment given voluntarily,
without legal obligation, as an expression of appreciation or
reward for a service or favor . It is customary, for example,
for title insurance companies to furnish an employee or
agent of the company, called a title closer, to assist the
parties at the closing of a real estate transaction where the
purchaser or mortgagee is purchasing title insurance. The
company does not make a charge for the services of the
title closer, as such, but it is customary for the party who
requests that a title closer be present to make a small
payment or "Gratuity" to the closer.
GREENLINING A term describing the practice of lend-
ing institutions or fire insurance companies to approve
applications for mortgage or home improvement loans or
fire insurance on properties within a given geographic \lrea;
freql,Jently used to describe a practice which is the opposite'
of "Redlining."
GUARANTEE A party to whom a "Guaranty" is made.
GUARANIOR. One who makes a "Guaranty."
GUARANIY A promise to answer for the payment of a
debt, or the performance of a legal or contractual duty in
case of the failure of another person who, in the first
instance, is liable to make the payment or performance.
One who makes or gives a "Guaranty" therefore, assures a
creditor or person to whom a payment or performance is
due, by another, that if that other fails to payor perform,
the payment or performance will be made.
GUARDIAN A person who legally has the duty of
taking care of or managing the property and affairs of
another who is legally incapable of doing so by reason of
being a minor or a mental incompetent. "Guardians" may
be designated in wills made by parents to manage the
property or look after the personal well-being of their
children in the event the parent or parents die while the
children are still under legal age ; or by a court to manage
the property of persons adjudged to be mentally incompe-
tent (in New York State a person so designated is called a
"Committee") or to act on behalf of infants in lawsuits
where the law does not permit them to institute or defend
such suits on their own behalf, such a Guardian being called
a "Guardian ad litem."
GUEST The legal term for one who stays at a hotel or
inn, with consent of the keeper, for an unspecified period
of time and who pays for the privilege while remaining
there. A "Guest" is thus distinguished from a "Tenant" or a
"Boarder" by the fact that the latter categories of persons
acquire the rights to occupy real property for a definite
specified period of time.
"Guests" are also subject to special provisions of law as
distinguished from other kinds of occupants of real estate.
Thus, one who provides lodging to a Guest is automatically '
responsible for the safekeeping of the personal property
that the Guest brings into the lodging. Also, where a Guest
fails to pay the charge for the lodging, the hotel N
innkeeper is entitled to seize the Guest's personal belong-
ings and to hold them until the bill is paid.
GUIDELINES General statements of policy without the
inclusion of specific details. The word also denotes a type
of city planning in which the planning authority lays down
a set or series of general pr inciples to which private
developers must conform. Usually, the planning authority'
reserves to itself the power to decide, in specific cases,
whether the subsequent plans of developers conform to its
"Guidelines;" the latter are interpreted by the authority in
relation to specific proposals for development.
(Editor's Note: This is the seventh installment of
"LlNGO" which appears in alphabetical order as a regular "-
feature of "CITY LLIMITS. " Subsequent issues will con-
tinue Lingo through the rest of the alphabet. By cutting out
and preserving each installment, you can create a complete
dictionary of words and phrases used in the housing and
development field.
If YQU missed any earlier installments, write or telephone us .
and lIVe will be pleased to furnish them to you.)-

16 Schenectady Rent Strike (continued)
4. Formation of a joint tenant/management grievance com-
mittee to set priorities for maintenance activities.
5 . . Immediate repairs to rent-strikers' apartments, each
tenant to select three items most in need of repair.
6. Tenant associations to get free office space in each
project.
7. Replace present month-to-month leases with leases ~ o r an
entire year, such leases to contain a fixed rent and other
terms less onerous to tenants.
8. Housing Authority to begin modernization program
immediately - for which it had allocations of 1st and 2nd
Year Community Development funds.
9. No rent increase. Instead, Housing Authority should
petition the state for an increased operating subsidy.
10. Public hearings, based on a budget submitted to the
public, before any future rent increases are imposed.
VICTORY AT LAST
After many lengthy sessions, the tenants have finally
achieved substantial victory. Most of their 'demands have
been agreed to; some of the others are still being discussed.
But what is most significant is that this is the first time in
New York State that tenants of public housing projects
have succeeded in withholding rent (some $50,000 worth in
all) and in forcing substantial concessions from the public
authority. It is also the first time in the history of the state
that a negotiated lease is governing the rights and duties of
the tenants and a public housing authority. From now on,
the tenants' organizations will be the official bargaining
agents for project residents; they will participate in hiring
and firing of personnel, tenant selection and grievances;
there will be public hearings before further rent increases
are put into effect and tenants will see the housing
authority budgets, and they will receive annual, negotiated
leases.
Meanwhile, the striker's apartments are getting their
repairs and the modernization program has begun with new
sinks in a'll apartments.
A milestone in the often sordid history of public housing
in the State of New York has indeed been achieved by the
united efforts of two tenant organizations in the City of
Schenectady.
PORTRAIT OF A TENANT LEADER
Much of the leadership and inspiration for this effort has
been furnished by a quiet but combative mother, who
doubles as a community worker in her adopted city on the
Mohawk. Laurie Holland, who grew up in Brooklyn, moved
into Yates Village six years ago. She was soon approached
by the tenant organization which was struggling to find
leadership in the project. Laurie soon found herself elected
secretary and a year later president of the Yates Village
Tenants Association.
For the past three years, Laurie has been working for
Peoples Advisory Services of Schenectady - an advocacy
organization primarily concerned with welfare and housing
problems of the city's low-income residents. When the
confrontation with the MHA became imminent, Laurie
found herself in the thick of the fray. She prevailed on her
agency to give her time to work on the rent strike and
furnished her expertise and leadership through all the long
months of organizing, demonstrating and negotiating.
laurie also coordinated the legal assistance. which the
tenants needed and through the membership of Peoples
Advisory Services in the New York State Tenants Coalition,
she got Michael McKee, Chairperson of the Coalition, and a
veteran tenant leader in New York City, to come to
Schenectady where he conducted rent-strike workshops
with public housing tenant representatives.
Laurie feels that what has happened so far in Schenec-
tady is only the beginning. "We've still got to figure out our
short- and long-range objectives. But one thing seems
certain: when tenants get involved in management and get
more apartments fixed up, then we'll have really accom-
plished something."
In our opinion, Laurie is far too modest. She and her
fellow tenants have already accomplished a near-.mir.tele
and have broken new ground for tenant groups all over
the state to follow.-
Robert Schur
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