City Limits Magazine, October 1987 Issue

:
October 1987 $2.00

G E N T R I F I C A T I O N U S A D C I T Y R E H A B S F O R H O M R E S S
B O B H A Y E S R E A D S B E T W E E N T H E U N E S
2 CITY LIMITS Odober 1987
eiq " i m i ~ s
Volume XII Number 8
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vocating programs for low and moderate
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Prott Institute Center for Community and
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communi ty groups. The Center also
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icy and performance.
Urban Homesteading Assistance Boord,
a technical assistance organization pro-
Viding assistance to low income tenant
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City Limits (ISSN 0199-0330)
(212) 925-9820
Editor: Beverl y Cheuvront
Managing Editor: Doug Turetsky
Contributing Editors: Peter Marcuse,
Peggy Moberg, Tom Robbins, Jennifer
Stern
Production: Chip Cliffe
Photographer: Cindy Reiman
Copyright 1987. All Rights Reserved.
No portion or portions of this journal may
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City Limits is indexed in the Alternative
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chitectural Periodicals.
EDITORIAL
Street-fighting Man
Last spring Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward warned that the city
may be in for a summer of street brawls and looting. Ward was right - but
he had us looking down the wrong alleys. The only riots going on were
in the corridors of City Hall. While most of the populace was vacationing,
the Koch administration was roughing up its opponents and ravaging
communities.
The now-infamous August Board of Estimate marathon leveled the
city with two quick hooks: Quality Housing rezoning and the mayor's
transitional shelter plan for the homeless. Both were ill-conceived and
poorly planned. In a city begging for affordable housing, the new rezon-
ing will spur displacement of low and moderate income families to
clear the way for some very unaffordable new construction.
While Koch needed to exercise only a little political muscle to get
Quality Housing approved, it took a series of uppercuts to nail the votes
for the shelter plan. The mayor mugged the opposition, leaving alterna-
tive plans to provide real homes for the homeless lying in his wake.
Meanwhile, off on it side street, the mayor's minions were strong-arm-
ing the Tibbets Garden plan through City Planning Commission ap-
proval. The CPC's initial public hearing for this boondoggle, which calls
for heavy city subsidies to build 1,000 condos selling at more than
$100,000 apiece, was held before the local community board was sched-
uled to issue its own recommendations.
Such backstreet tactics may have won the mayor several battles. But
they may lose him the war. Having played divide-and-conquer with the
Board of Estimate, Koch may have started skirmishes on too many fronts.
The specter of Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden calling for
low income housing plans may seem strange at first, but it can also be
seen as an opportunity. The rifts between Koch and his colleagues may
be deep enough to drive through a real affordable housing policy.
Koch's tough-guy posturing is a boon for alternatives like the Housing
Justice Campaign and its city council supporters. Its well-thought-out
proposals for affordable housing gain even more dignity when contrasted
with the juvenile delinquent antics of the city administration. Sum-
mer in the city is over for another season, and as cooler weather prevails,
cooler heads must take charge of the development of a housing policy
that really addresses the crisis facing New York City. We need answers,
not bravado, from a street-fighting mayor. OD.T. & B.C.
Cov.r photo by Adom Anik
INSIDE
FEATURES
Heartbreak Hotel 12
When Rev. Bruce Ritter bought the city's largest SRO
hotel, his motives were charitable-to sell it for an
endowment for Covenant House. But Ritter's treat-
ment of permanent tenants has housing advocates
calling him "the Simon Legree of non-profit hotel
management. "
Bed-Stuy Restoration: False Promises? 16
The nation's first community development corpora-
tion was designed to be a combination of political
good will , business expertise and grass-roots demo-
cracy. Has Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp.
lived up to its promises?
DEPARTMENTS
From the Editor
Street-fighting Man .. .. . . . .. .. . .. ..... . . 2
Short Term Notes
Tibbett Gardens Bumbles Ahead ..... . .... 4
Harlem RFP Deal ............. .. ....... 4
Alternative Funds for Housing . .......... 5
Anti-Developer Art . . .............. . . . .. 5
HUD Wins Wage Cut . .. . .. . . ............ 5
Neighborhood Notes
Bronx ...... ... .... . .. . . .... . .... . . . .. 6
Brooklyn ... . . . . .. .... . . .............. 6
Manhattan .. . . . . . . .. . ... . ............. 7
Queens . ...... . ... . . .. . ............... 7
Neighborhood Newsstand
Between the Lines .... . ......... . ...... 8
People
Ruth Young Organizes for Housing Justice .. 9
Program Focus
Renov!lting City-Owned Apartments:
Is Anyone Home? . . ..... ... .. ..... . ... 10
Film Review
A Tale of Gentrification ... . .. . ........ . 20
Letters ... . ... . ......................... 22
\\brkshop ............................... 23
October 1987 CITY LIMITS 3
OrganizinglPage 9
Times Hotel/Page 12
RestorationlPage 16
- - ' ~ ' = " " " ~ " ' T " ' : = " ' "
4 CITY LIMITS October 1987
SHORT TERM NOTES
TIBBE" GARDENS
BUMBLES AHEAD
Community leaders in Marble
HilVKingsbridge area of the
Bronx are preparing to mount a
major challenge to the Tibbett
Gardens project. The l,OOl-unit
condominium plan, proposed
by the Reol Estate Board of New
York and strongly supported by
Mayor Koch, is virtually assured
of City Planning Commission
approval as City Limits goes to
press. But a showdown looms
before the Boord of Estimate.
Tibbett Gardens is a
cornerstone of the mayor's
10-year affordable housing
~ o a l s . The city is set to commit
$25 million from the capital
budget to the project and will
sell the city- owned land, valued
at some $22 million, for $10 to
a non-profit group of
developers. The city's Housing
Development Corporotion,
which provided a $250,000
loan for production of the
Environmental Impact
Statement, may also issue bonds
to help finance construction
costs. Martin Siroka, HOC's
general counsel, says no firm
decisions have been made as to
"what our role is going to be."
But Roz Post, a Department of
Housing Preservation and
Development spokeswoman,
says her agency expects HOC
to provide a $25 million loan
from its reserve funds. Despite
these deep subsidies, the
apartments are expected to
start at $107,000.
Opponents of Tibbett
Gardens contend the project is
both over- priced and poorly
planned. The site selected by
HPD, next to JFK High School,
had been earmarked by
community leaders for
additional schools. The
neighborhood includes two of
the most overcrowded school
districts in the city. Respanding
to this complaint, city officials
propased tearing down a
recently renovated local librory
to build a new school.
Critics of the Tibbett Gardens
project plan say such reactions
to their complaints are common.
Mark Friedlander, chairman of
Community Boord 8, says the
city has planned the project" on
on ad hoc basis;" After selecting
the marshy site, the city learned
it would need concrete pilings,
some 40 feet deep, to support
the condo buildings - one of
the factors that is driving up the
cost of the project.
Oppanents to the project also
charge that not only are the
condos unaffordable to most of
the community's residents, but
they are also more expensive
than comparable units already
on the market in the area. A
payback scheme on the city
subsidies for any buyer who sells
a unit before the first 15 years
will, in effect, push the cost even
higher. Some believe this plan
was devised to short-circuit
opposition to the heavy
subsidization. Martin Gallent, a
former CPC vice chairman who
was hired to provide legal
counsel for one opposition
organization, believes the city is
setting itself up for a white
elephant project. Friedlander
believes "ultimately there will
have to be subsidies on the
price."
Tibbett Gardens is the
brainchild of key developers on
the Real Estate Board. They set
up a non-profit company, the
Article 11 Housing Corp., to
develop the project. While these
developers are personally
working on a non-profit basis,
the contractors, subcontractors
and others are not. Friedlander
describes the impending project
as an "orgy of
patronage.HOD. T.
HARLEM RFP DEAL
A last-minute deal between
Manhattan Borough President
David Dinkins and Mayor Ed
Koch has paved the way for
Board of Estimate Approvol of
the renovation of 919 city-
owned apartments in Harlem.
which is scheduled for a vote as
City Limits goes to press. Critics
had charged the renovation
under the Construction
Management Program cut local
and minority-owned contractors
out.
City officials selected the
Tishman Construction
tile city cut locol ond minority-owned
bu,inel"e. out of its massive re/tob project.
Corporation to manage the
renovation project. But Gayland
Kirkland of the West Harlem
Community Organization
complained the city's Request for
Proposal was designed so only
a company like Tishman, one of
the largest builders in the city,
could win. Kirkland's group has
run local job training, building
management and development
programs in the area for the
past 20 years. West Harlem
respanded to the RFP issued by
the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development,
but was not selected.
"They set it up this way
intentionally," said Kirkland, "so
that it was so enormous that you
had to have a big company to
deal with it. The RFP was
intended to relate to large,
white developers. It's a racial
affront to the Harlem people."
Kotie Marshall, a
spokeswoman for H PO, said the
eight block. 45 building
renovation stretching from
138th St. to 147th St. between
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Boulevard and Lenox Avenue
necessitated a large firm. The
RFP process determined
Tishman the best qualified. The
firm, whose past projects
include Battery Park City, the
World Trade Center and
Zeckendorf Towers, will receive
a management fee of about $ 12
million to perform the role
usually played by HPD - the
letting of subcontracts for the
project.
The deal struck between
Dinkins and Koch calls for 20
percent of the subcontracts to
go to local companies. City
officials estimate that
approximately 35 percent of
the work force would be
composed of women and
minorities. In addition, the
mayor broke with a long-
standing policy and will set
aside 40 percent of the
renovated units for local
residents - a policy that will be
instituted citywide on all
subsidized projects.
HPD had previously
contended that the proposed
Tishman contract already
contained a 15 percent
set-aside for local companies
under the city's Local Business
Enterprise rubric. But Kathleen
Conkey, a spokeswoman for
Dinkins, said the dollar amount
of contracts awarded to
minorities under LBE is usually
"miniscule."
"In 1986, the city awarded
$32 billion in capital program
commitments, only $849 million
was subject to the LBE program.
Of that, only $ 104 million
actually went to LBEs and only
$12.3 million of that went to
minority-owned businesses,"
said Conkey.
The deal hammered out
between Koch and Dinkins will
also apply to the 929-unit
Construction Management
Program renovation in the
South Bronx, which has already
received Board of Estimate
approval. OMary Jo
Neuberger
I
.
ALTERNATIVE
FUNDS FOR
HOUSING
The Big Apple Coalition, a
housing-oriented alternative to
the United Way, will be seeking
contributions from federal
employees during the
Combined Federal Campaign,
which continues through
December.
Contributions to the coalition
are divided among its non-
profit member agencies, which
include Accion Latina, the
Association for Neighborhood
and Housing Development,
Brooklyn Neighborhood
Improvement Association, City
Limits, Clinton Housing
Development Company, the
Coalition for Housing of
Disabled People, Flatbush
Development Corp., Pratt
Center for Community and
Environmental Development, St.
Nicholas Neighborhood
Preservation Corp., Urban
Homesteading Assistance
Board, West Harlem Community
Organization, and Community
Training and Resource Center.
These agencies, which are not
eligible for United Way funding,
provide a variety of services that
include rehabilitating housing,
managing city-owned buildings,
organizing tenants, and
providing advocacy, public-
policy research, neighborhood
preservation and economic
development.OB.C.
ANTI-DEVELOPER
ART
On a wall above Loisaida's
Plaza Cultural, overlooking the
junked cars and busy streetlife,
hangs a ceramic artwork
entitled "Life Among the Ruins."
That work has been expanded
by artist Dina Bursztyn into a
30-piece show, "Gargoyles to
Scare Developers and Other
Public Artifacts," and will be on
display during the month of
October at the offices of the
Urban
Assistance Board at 40 Prince
St. in Manhattan.
Bursztyn lived on the Lower
East Side for eight years and
describes herself as a victim of
the neighborhood's
gentrification. "I have a
personal desire to contribute to
the community which for many
years was my home. The project
stems from my conviction that
art can playa vital role in
everybody's life. I want to
expand the concept of a decent
living to include cultural richness
in day-to-day living, to keep
dreams alive."
A tenant leader who knew of
Bursztyn's gargoyle project
brought it to the attention of
Cindy Colter, UHABs director of
training. Curious about the
project, Colter invited Bursztyn
to present a slide show to UHAB
staff. Susan Wefald, UHAB's
director of administration,
echoed staff response,
describing Bursztyn's project as
"a successful effort to combine
Art against sp.culation: )ina
8ursztyn's anti-d.",./ope . gargoyl.s
are an display at til. Urban
Hom.st.ading Assistanc. 80ard.
art and politics."
A native of Argentina,
Bursztyn draws on Latin and
Central American culture and
"my own fantasies and
imagination to articulate a New
York mythology," she says. The
pre-Columbian-style masks
reveal hands, eyes and mouths
mixed with the bricks and
mortar of apartment buildings.
Her shrines, like the "Blessing of
Light Before Entering a
Subway," are dedicated to
protectors of street performers
and illegal immigrants.
Following the exhibition at
UHAB, the pieces will be
distributed among Tenant
Odober 1987 CITY LIMITS 5
Interim Lease buildings for
display. For further information
about the exhibition at UHAB,
call 212-226-4119. OBruce
Caldwell
HUD WINS WAGE
CUTS
The U.S. Department of
Justice recently supported the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development's
contention that construction
workers on some urban
development projects do not
have to be paid "prevailing
wages," as required under the
Davis- Bacon Act. HUD had
objected to Department of
Labor rulings that supported
paying prevailing wages to
workers on projects receiving
Urban Action
Grant or Community
Development Block Grant
funds, even ifthe federal money
was not earmarked for
construction work.
HUD brought the inter-
department dispute to the
Justice Department, where
Assistant Attorney General
Charles Cooper found that
prevailing wages only need to
be paid when federal money is
allocated specifically for
construction. The Department of
Labor believes prevailing
wages should be paid on all
UDAG and CDBG projects,
even if those funds only go
towards site acquisition,
materials and architectural or
engineering studies.
The Davis-Bacon Act, passed
by Congress in 1931, prevents
contractors from undercutting
prevailing wages in a given
area by bringing in workers
from another section of the
country willing to work for less.
The act was passed at a time
when federal public works
projects proliferated and
Congress wanted to ensure
local wage scales were paid by
private contractors on the jobs.
The prevailing wage is
determined by the Labor
Department and is based on the
rate paid to 50 percent of the
workers in each trade in a given
county or metropolitan area.
In praising the Justice
Department's decision, HUD
Secretary Samuel Pierce Jr.
says, "This opinion has a major
impact on reducing costs on
these (community development)
projects, some of which were
not economically feasible when
prevailing wages were required
for the whole construction
project. Costs can now be cut by
as much as 20 to 25 percent. "
But critics charge there's no
basis to Pierce's savings
estimates. Jim Riley, counsel to
the House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Labor
Standards, says that when
Davis-Bacon was suspended
under former President Richard .
Nixons wage freeze, savings
amounted to less than one
percent.
'They act as if this is nothing
but a jobs for union members
act," charges Terry Yellig,
general counsel for the
AFL-CiO. He believes the Justice
Department's decision is
consistent with the Reagan
administration's anti-union
philosophy. Riley adds, "Its
certainly an attempt to undercut
(union) wages."
Justin Logsdon, assistant to
the Secretary for Labor
Relations, says, "The money
being freed up can now be used
to provide more employment
opportunities in some depressed
communities. Also, many
projects which had been on
hold pending the decision can
now move farward." Logsdon's
deputy, Ken Bolles, cites three
UDAG projects - in Geneva,
New York; Sparta, Tennessee
and Provo, Utah - that could
not proceed if prevailing wages
had to be paid.
But Yellig calls Logsdon's
statements "hypocritical." HUD
is claiming more UDAG projects
can now be advanced, he says,
while for years the agency and
the Reagan administration have
been pushing to end the federal
community development
programs.
Challenges to the Justice
Department decision on
Davis-Bacon are planned. Says
Riley, "The ball game isn't over
as far as that ruling." OD.I.
Brooklyn
Re-Funded
The Brownsville Heritage House
suffered a painful cut in city funding
in 1984. But the Heritage House,
which provides programs in ethnic
culture and general education for the
youth of the beleaguered Brownsville
community, struggled to survive.
That perseverance paid off. The Com-
munity Development Agency re-
cently notified Heritage House it
would receive $64,000 for Fiscal Year
1988.
The CDA originally defunded
Heritage House because of problems
in staffing and programming, at least
some of which stemmed from in-
adequate funding. John Donahue, a
spokesperson for CDA, says the
agency "recognized a rejuvenated
program that community boards ral-
lied behind."
Much of that rejuvenation can be
credited to Jack Harris, the executive
director, and Harvey Hill, program
coordinator. Their shoestring agency
offered reading and math classes as
well as popular photography and a
rap workshop focusing on literary de-
vices like alliteration and rhyme.
Janet Gadson, district manager of
Community Board 16, calls it "one of
the most enriching programs of its
kind."
Brownsville Heritage House was
founded in 1981, shortly after the
death of local activist Mother Gaston.
Her vision of Brownsville included a
cultural center to encourage achieve-
ment based on a common heritage as
well as to preserve the spirit and his-
tory of the black and Hispanic com-
munity.
Despite the renewal of CDA funds,
House remains under-
funded. The New York City Youth
Bureau also has defunded the center.
That agency did not return phone
calls concerning why its funding had
ceased. DNora Fitzgerald
The Bronx
Divine Intervention
For months, South Bronx People
for Change has been demanding that
the Department of Housing Preserva-
tion and Development stop demolish-
ing and start rehabbing empty build-
ings at affordable rent levels for local
folks. One July morning, a People for
Change delegation leafletted outside
HPD's 100 Gold Street headquarters,
issuing a "demolition order" for the
building. Later that afternoon, 50
people sought a meeting with HPD
Commissioner Paul Crotty to discuss
his previous commitments to stop de-
molitions (see City Limits, April
1987).
According to People for Change
staff member Blanca Ramirez, HPD
had an inventory of some 1,200 vac-
ant, city-owned buildings in the
South Bronx community (Boards
One through Six) as of May, 1986. De-
molitions reduced that number to
705 by April of this year. People for
Change members argue that de-
molished buildings pave the way for
new construction that is too expen-
sive for South Bronx residents.
Accompanied by a crew from Chan-
nel 41, People for Change representa-
tives were greeted at the door of 100
Gold Street by security guards who
tried to keep them out. "We went
around them," says Ramirez. Most of
the group made it to the ninth floor,
but were locked out of the HPD offi-
ces. "They wouldn't let us in, not even
one or two, to make an appointment,"
recalls Margarita Garcia, a People for
Change leader. "So we sang and
prayed and gave testimony. When the
police threatened to arrest us, we de-
cided to leave."
The demonstrators then headed to
City Hall, but no one alerted Crotty,
who was on his way out. Seeing the
protesters, he darted into City Hall,
where he met Sister Joann Faillace, a
People for Change member who had
gone inside to make a phone call. "We
nearly walked into one another," says
Sister Faillace. "I asked him why he
wouldn't meet with us. He said,
' Write me a letter.' I said that we had.
He said, 'Call me,' and he hurried on
his way."
"We have a letter from the commis-
sioner saying that he would come
back and meet again," says Sister
Faillace. "It'll just take a little more
pressure before we get our meeting."
Tent City
Further uptown in the North
Bronx, three community groups
banded together to set up a Tent City
on September 11 and 12.
"We have to sleep out now, or we'll
be sleeping out permanently," says
Andrew Laiosa of the Mosholu Wood-
lawn South Community Coalition.
Affordability is the issue here, too.
In the neighborhoods of Fordham
Bedford, Bedford Park and Mosholu
Woodlawn, the problem is not demol-
ition but rehabbing, with costly Major
Capital Improvement rent increases
passed on to tenants. Co-op conver-
sions that result in purchase prices
well beyond the means of the tenants
also are becoming common.
"Our local and state officials have
to know that we understand this prob-
lem and that we hold them account-
able for our situation," Laiosa says.
The local groups plan a series of
follow-up activities this fall , includ-
ing public hearings, meetings and a
voter registration drive.DLois Harr
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PHONE I
Manhattan
Going Home
After almost two years of court bat-
ties and negotiations, tenants from a
fire-damaged building in Manhatan
Valley may be closer to returning to
their homes. The December, 1985, fire
at 139 West 109th St. killed one el-
derly tenant and displaced 14
families. Tenants, with the assistance
of Greg Watson of the Tenant Takeover
Team, Council Member Carolyn
Maloney, attorney Douglas Kellner
and former Department of Housing
Preservation and Development litiga-
tion attorney Carol Steinberg, filed
papers in Housing Court im-
mediately after the fire to get repairs
started.
Landlord Peter Pantelidis eventu-
ally was served a contempt order for
failure to initiate repairs on the build-
ing. But now he is near to signing a
negotiated settlement with the ten-
ants, which includes an agreement to
repair the building, to keep rents
under regulation and to make pay-
ments of $4,000 to each tenant for
damages. Four families who were
burned out of the adjacent building
during the blaze will be relocated to
other apartments in the immediate
area.
Howard Graubard of Council
Member Maloney's office says the set-
tlement "sends a signal to landlords
that they cannot take advantage of
tragic consequences to liquidate a
building of its tenants."
Greg Watson adds: "Landlords
should always be held responsible for
maintenance of buildings in a fire-
safe condition and for the repair of
those that are fire-damaged. Fires,"
he continues, "cannot be used as a
way to uproot tenants from a neigh-
borhood."
Tour Guide
As City Limits goes to press, several
city council members have decided
to take a tour of Manhattan Housing
Court. The Citywide Task Force on
Housing Court, currently developing
a legislative agenda to reform the
court, encouraged all council mem-
bers to join Archie Spigner's Commit-
tee on Housing and Buildings tour.
As an incentive, the task force for-
warded copies of its report "Five-Mi-
nute Justice: Ain't Nothing Happen-
ing But the Rent" to all council mem-
bers.
Public Housing Campaign
Despite a Sunday afternoon down-
pour, more than 300 people crowded
St. Theresa's Church on the Lower
East Side to identify issues troubling
residents of public housing. The
meeting was the start of a campaign
organized by the Interfaith Commu-
nity Concerns and several public
housing tenant associations.
The large gathering consisted of
tenants from four major housing de-
velopments in the area: the Vladeck,
Smith, Rutgers and LaGuardia
houses. Tenants identified elevator
service, police security, drugs, tenant
selection, garbage collection and gen-
eral maintenace as major problems
needing attention.
ICC organizers hope issues
will provide a nucleus to spark de-
mands for greater commitment from
the federal government for public
housing. Tenant leaders have already
set up meeting dates with several
elected officials in attendance at St.
Theresa's. For more information, call
ICC at (212) 962-1850. OMary Breen
Queens
Putting Differences Aside
Spurred by the recent controversy
over Quality Housing zoning changes
and Bayside infill- which allows
developers to replace single-family
homes with multiple-unit dwell-
ings - homeowners and tenants in
Queens are putting aside their tradi-
tional differences to address their
growing concern over zoning and de-
velopment issues that impact on all
borough residents.
Homeowners are worried about in-
creased density and its impact on ser-
vices. Tenant advocates are con-
cerned that any development create
affordable housing without further-
ing displacement of current resi-
dents. And both groups want to main-
tain some community control over
zoning and development issues.
In northeast Queens, groups repre-
senting both tenants and homeown-
ers are striving to develop a common
agenda, that combined re-
sources and political clout will cause
the powers that be to listen to them.
The concept of a common agenda
started when some Queens tenant
leaders attended a homeowners rally
in Bayside over the infill issue. A
series of exploratory meetings occur-
red soon after, and groups decided to
sponsor a convention on "The Impact
of the Housing Crisis in Northeast
Queens." At this convention, resi-
dents of Flushing, College Point,
Whitestone, Bayside, Fresh Meadows
and Glen Oaks would come together
to learn more about zoning and hous-
ing issues, to share information, or-
ganize talent and resources and begin
to formulate a common agenda.
A provisional steering committee
has been formed, including Bob Har-
ris of United Civic Association, Ber-
nice Segal of Glen Oaks Tenants As-
sociation, Bruce Bernstein of Flush-
ing Preservation Council, Lois Mitch-
ell, a Bayside homeowner, Florence
Fisher of the Queens League of
United Tenants, John Bell, a Mitchell-
Lama tenant representative, and a
member of the 65th Avenue Civic As-
sociation.
Some tough questions facing the
group will be whether deep-rooted
differences can be put aside and com-
promises made in areas where in-
terests are divergent.
A date for the convention has not
been set, but the steering committee
will meet on Thesday, October 6. For
more information on the upcoming
convention, contact Bruce Bernstein
at (718) 762- 4361.oIrma Rodriguez
Five-Day Training Retreat
for organizers and
housing specialists
Sponsored by
National Training for Trainers
(T4T) Coop
Oct. 26-31, 1987
in New York City
Learn an effective method for
working with and
organizing people.
Advance registration and
tuition required.
For more information call
Cindy Colter at URAB,
212-226-4119.
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSSTAND
8etvveen the Lines
BY ROBERT HAYES
IT'S NO MEAN TRICK FOR ED-
ward Koch to carve out the high road
for his administration's housing
policies. But the mayor and his men
(and women) managed, once more,
to hoodwink nearly all of the City
Hall press corps in its coverage of the
administration's plan to build 20
transitional shelters in all five
boroughs.
Virtually none of the press picked
up on the saner critiques of the
mayor's plan. The Times' editorial en-
dorsing the mayor's plan focused
only on community opposition-
NIMBY ("Not in My Back Yard"). "Op-
pose the mayor," the Times said, "and
we are surrendering to the tyranny of
a narrow minority." If nothing else,
the Times editorial board should have
Newsday's Viewpoint section on its
required reading list. At least News-
day ran a Claire Schulman column
explaining her position.
But all the public read about was
NIMBY. It's not that NIMBY was not
a factor - but it was not the only fac-
tor. Better than anyone, the mayor
knows how simple-minded the city's
mass media can be. Create two sides,
and the third side will not be heard.
As usual, the press bit. Typical of the
follow-up coverage was Suzanne
Daley's Times piece "Go-Ahead for
Shelter Plan Generates Visions of
Ruin." The first quote in the lead B-
One story: "All of us will be run out,
because we'll be at the mercy of crim-
inals and drug dealers."
Rather than reading Newsday's and
the Times' analyses on how the
mayor's Board of Estimate victory re-
established his political supremacy,
there really was another angle. Why
not rebuild abandoned buildings?
**
Who says no one at the Times has
a sense of humor? Somewhere, be-
hind the gray suits, is Woody Allen.
A 1,000-word B-One story by reg-
ional correspondent Eric Schmitt re-
ported on "high tensions" over a fam-
ily shelter in Lake Ronkonkoma. Re-
porter Schmitt did his part finding
the requisite redneck quote: "They've
imported all the coloreds from all
over because some do-gooders
thought it would be a good idea," one
local said.
But layout did even better. A one-
column shot of 26-year-old Louis
DeLeo ran with his quote on the
hotel: "I think their building should
be burned down - they live like
slobs." Mr. DeLeo was pictured in a
baseball cap with a considerable beer
belly hanging out of his shirt.
**
The Times should make some effort
in the housing area, if only to com-
pensate for that weekly advertising
supplement for luxury developers
called the Real Estate section.
Not surprisingly, Real Estate's re-
cent sentimental profile of the old
United Nations school at First Avenue
and 51st Street failed to note that
more than 100 women face imminent
eviction as another developer bids on
the site.
Three years ago, the women were
put out on 36-hours notice for the
benefit of a developer. A year later,
when the developer defaulted, the
building came back to the city and
the women moved back in.
**
A plaudit for Times reporter Leslie
Wayne, whose page one story celeb-
rating the fifth anniversary of Wall
Street's bull market actually captured
some balance.
To go with the orgiastic comment
of Paine Webber's chief executive:
"What we are seeing is the largest cre-
ation of wealth since the 19th cen-
tury," the Times got the Rev. William
Sloane Coffin's response: "The bull
market has sharpened the difference
between solid poverty and flam-
boyant luxury."
The Times' reliance on the River-
side Church's senior minister was
particularly welcome given that the
city's tabloids had engaged in some
virulent Coffin-bashing earlier in the
summer when Coffin announced that
he was leaving Riverside after a dec-
ade at its helm.
Particularly nasty was a piece by
Cal Thomas, Daily News columnist
and Moral Majority p.r. man, which
seemed intent on getting back at
Coffin for coining the "Pass the Loot"
phrase to describe Jim Bakker's PTL
Ministry.
It's easy to see why Coffin isn't
liked. Speaking on the bull market,
he said, "These financiers don't. pro-
duce anything. They make millions
of dollars in a most non-creative fash-
ion. They don't make products. They
just shuffle papers very brilliantly."
New York will miss Bill Coffin.
**
Story of the month goes to reporter
Roger Ricklefs' page one story in the
Wall Street Journal headed "Wiped
Out: AIDS Victims Find That a Death
Sentence Leads First to Poverty."
In a grueling piece, Ricklefs de-
scribes the torture of AIDS that goes
beyond an assault on the victims'
health. As Ricklefs put it: "Before
AIDS kills people, it often makes
them paupers. "
He profiles a Brooklyn man who
contracted AIDS, lost his job, went
broke, and moved in with his brother,
who in turn lost his life savings and
his girlfriend of six years as he cared
for his dying brother.
Brilliantly, Ricklefs brought the
story home for the Journal's readers
by reporting how few of the new jobs
created in the United States during
the past 10 years provide health insur-
ance.
**
The Journal compensated for its
quality reporting two weeks later in
publishing Donald G. Smith's col-
umn headed "Requiem for a Town
Drunk." Smith praised the value of
street people: "We did our homework
because we didn't want to wind up
like Irish Bill," Smith writes.
"We minded our parents, did our
chores, saved part of our allowance
money, and memorized the Gettys-
burg Address for the same reason."
**
Headline of the Month: The New
York Post on the report of the Mayor's
Commission on the Year 2000-
"City Faces a Housing Crisis in the
Year 2000. " D
Robert Hayes is counsel for the Coal-
ition for the Homeless. This is the
first of a regular column by him on
mass media coverage of housing and
community development issues in
New York.
PEOPLE
Ruth Young Organizes
for Housing Justice
BY DENISE BARRICKLOW AND
DOUG TURETSKY
"MAYOR KOCH BAFFLES ME," PRO-
claims Ruth Young. Young, who be-
came the organizer for the Housing
Justice Campaign in August, is con-
founded by the. mayor's effort - and
the Board of Estimate's acquies-
cence - to build more shelters for
the homeless.
"Communities are realizing that
shelters are not the answer," she says,
noting the heavy controversy that sur-
rounded Koch's proposal. "It's not
communities pitted against the
homeless - that's been played up
and I think it's not true. It's not just
that the community doesn't want the
shelters in their back yard - the
homeless don't want them either. You
can't pit the homeless against the
community because they are part of
the community."
Young's' words reflect more than
just the professional organizer or ac-
tivist's passion. For Young, homeless-
ness is something she experiences
every day. As a 16-month resident of
the Brooklyn Arms Hotel, one of the
city's 57 welfare hotels, Young has a
personal interest in housing for the
homeless.
"I've had a trip to Russia offered to
me; I've been on the Donahue show;
and I've had many job offers. But no
one has offered me a place to live,"
says Young, adding that she must
spend another two months in the
hotel before becoming eligible for a
city-owned apartment (see page ).
Young, who is 37-years-old, is the
mother of six children ranging in age
from nine to 21. Born and raised in
the Bronx, she says she "did the
whole Bronx bit." After graduating
from Roosevelt High School, she
went to Bronx Community College.
Later Young attended Corning Com-
munity College and the College of
New Rochelle.
Young's last home was a basement
apartment in the West Bronx, com-
plete with faulty wiring that was cost-
ing her $200 a month in electric bills,
a collapsed ceiling and "waterbugs
and mice for neighbors." Young
fought for reI?airs and tried to meet
the rent with a public assistance
check that was $92 a month less than
rent. A missed date in housing
court - because of a son's asthma at-
tack - resulted in the family'S evic-
tion from the apartment and later arri-
val at the Brooklyn Arms.
The eviction came on the heels of
what Young describes as a "rough di-
vorce" and a period of "trying to put
my life together." She seems to have
never hesitated. "My mother indoctri-
nated me at an early age that you
never give up," says Young.
Her mother also taught her to speak
her mind and take part in community
work through church groups and the
Jackson Democratic Club. Recalling
she was "always considered the
rebel" in church youth groups, Young
never fails to join a demonstration for
something she believes in.
Another legacy from her mother,
who died five years ago, is boundless
energy. Young's mother worked in a
Board of Education lunchroom for 20
years and did domestic work on the
side. At the age of 60, she went back
to college. Now Young plans to enter
a special program at the University
of New Hampshire to finish her BA
and go on for a masters degree in com-
munity and economic development.
But her schooling must be squeezed
into weekends between her work for
HJC and raising her children.
For Young, this schedule is part of
what makes her work for the Housing
Justice Campaign "such a unique
situation." As a homeless mother, her
organizing activities, which began
with Parents on the Move (see City
Limits, JunelJuly 1987), provide an
"opportunity to reach out to other
people in similar situations." But
Young sees herself as model for those
who are not homeless as well, "re-
minding people that you are just a
paycheck away from the same situa-
tion."
Building more temporary shelters,
says Young, will not help the home-
less. "I think creating more shelters
is just a Band-Aid on the problem."
"We all understand there is a need
,
Housintl Justic. Ruth '"ntI:
A hom.l ... moth.r with s/. child,.,. Is spearh.ad.
ing fII. cifrw/d. dri.,. lor afIonla&'. housing.
for something to be done right now,
but we've already got a solution:
There are enough warehoused build-
ings and apartments to get everyone
off the streets," she continues, citing
the city-owned stock of 5,600 residen-
tial buildings. "If we started re-
habilitating some of the housing
stock we already have, at least we
could put them [homeless families]
somewhere. With Koch's. plan, we've
got two years' transition time before
the temporary housing is even com-
pleted. What are we going to do in
the meantime?" she asks.
Young and the Housing Justice
Campaign are not going to wait for
answers to that question from city
officials. HJC has begun a series of
meetings with community groups
and residents to identify the issues
confronting neighborhoods through-
out the city. Building the campaign
neighborhood by neighborhood, HJC
will present city officials with both
demands and solutions from the gras-
sroots.
"It's going to be a long struggle,"
admits Young. But even if she suc-
ceeds in finding an apartment for her
family she remains committed to
housing justice " ... as long as there
are homeless people and people who
can't find affordable housing." D
Denise Barricklow was an assistant
editor for the Village Voice and a free-
lance writer.
PROGRAM FOCUS
Renovating City-O\Yned Apa
Is Anyone HOn1e?
BY DOUG TURETSKY
A RECORD-SETTING 3,635 CITY-
owned apartments were renovated by
the city's Department of Housing Pre-
servation and Development for home-
less families in Fiscal Year 1987. But
thousands of families living in shel-
ters and hotels remain shut off from
the apartments, many of which may
still be vacant.
Less than 30 percent of the apart-
ments renovated by HPD in FY '87
were rented to homeless families by
the Human Resources Administra-
tion, the city agency responsible for
the bulk of the homeless population.
Of the approximately 1,800 apart-
ments turned over to HRA, just 1,075
were rented. HPD completed renova-
tions of 697 apartments in May and
June. Even if all these apartments
were put on the HRA roles so close
to the end of the fiscal year, it
wouldn't cover the entire gap. Nor
would it explain why apartments
completed in May were still vacant
on June 30.
In fact, HRA receives only 51 per-
cent of HPD-renovated apartments.
The Partnership for the Homeless re-
ceives approximately seven percent
of the renovated units for its homeless
rehousing program. Forty-two per-
cent of the renovated city-owned
apartments remain with HPD.
The Department of Housing Preser-
vation and Development kept more
than 1,520 apartments for what it
terms its own homeless population.
These units are reserved primarily for
those who have lost their apartments
because of fires and families that
must be relocated from other build-
ings because of vacate orders. Says
Robert Moncrief, deputy commis-
sioner of HPD's Office of Property
Management, "It sometimes seems
that HRA has the heaviest load, but
we have quite a burden, too."
But a March 1987 report by the
Manhattan Borough President's Task
Force on Housing for Homeless
Families indicated that just 13 per-
cent of the city's homeless popula-
tion fell into the HPD <;;ategory. The
result: 42 percent of renovated city-
owned apartments are withheld for
13 percent of the homeless, with the
vast majority of the homeless popula-
tion ineligible for the apartments
until they've been in the hotel system
for 18 months.
The Task Force report concludes:
"The distribution of rehabilitated
units in this fashion suggests that
families homeless for reasons of fire
or vacate order are considered by the
city to be more deserving of housing
than families for which HRA has re-
sponsibility. "
Beat the Numbers
The 3,635 apartments renovated by
HPD this year actually exceeded the
target number by 31 units. It also well
surpassed the 1,095 units renovated
in Fiscal Year 1986. Likewise, 365
more families signed leases for HPD-
renovated apartments in 1987 than
the previous year. Despite these in-
creases, the city failed to keep pace
with the growth of the homeless
population. In June, 1987, 779 more
families lived in the shelter system
than in the preceding June. The
number of new families in the system
was more than twice the number of
additional families the city was able
to rehouse.
Although HPD renovated more
apartments than targeted, the agency
also failed to meet its quota for the
Partnership for the Homeless. Peter
Smith, president of the Partnership,
says he hopes HPD can make up the
shortfall with the current year's reno-
vations.
Rehabbing the in rem apartments
is only the first part of the job. The
second is making sure the apartments
are quickly occupied by homeless
families. This process also appears to
be fraught with problems.
HPD acknowledges that during the
course of the four-year old effort to
renovate city-owned apartments,
nine percent of the more than 11,000
completed apartments remain un-
rented. The reasons given by HPD in-
clude vandalism of apartments after
they're completed, squatters taking
them over, and extensive drug or
other activity in the building or on
the block that makes the apartments
uninhabitable by families.
But many critics believe the
number of unrented apartments is
higher and that the reason some
apartments are vandalized is because
it takes the city so long to rent the
apartments to the homeless. Accord
ing to Ann Ormsby, a spokeswoman
for the Human Resources Administra
tion, the agency usually rents apart
ments to families one week to 10 d a y ~
after receiving notification from HPD
tl;1at the unit is renovated. Lynn
Guggenheimer, an HPD spokeswo-
man, says that a study done by her
agency last January found the average
time between completed renovation
and rental to be 17.5 days. But a draft
audit by Comptroller Harrison Gol-
din's office portrays a much different
picture.
Released in April, 1987, the audit
found that less than 40 percent of the
apartments repaired and rented in
1986 were leased within one month
of completion. Nearly 21 percent of
the apartments repaired in Fiscal Year
1986 - 398 units - were still vacant
as of January, 1987 (six months after
the fiscal year ended).
The agencies admit there have been
problems with timely rental of the
apartments in the past, but contend
better interdepartment coordination
has solved the problem. They also
argue that statistics reflecting the
number of apartments renovated and
rented are misleading because the
numbers are constantly in flux.
Angela Curiale, manager of the
comptroller's Office of Policy Man-
agement, disagrees. She says despite
extensive media coverage of several
Bronx buildings containing repaired
but unrented apartments, follow-up
visits by Goldin's staff several weeks
after the reports found the apartments
still vacant. Such experience, argues
Curiale, reflects the truth in the
audit's findings.
Vandalism of the vacant apart-
ments has also meant some dupliciti-
ous bookkeeping by HPD. Robert
Moncrief acknowledges that during
the four years of the renovation pro-
gram HPD counted some 200 to 300
individual apartments as renovated
more than once. The Department of
Housing Preservation and Develop-
ment kept the tally of repaired apart-
ments by counting when a work crew
completed a job. If one apartment was
renovated then vandalized and re-
paired again, HPD records would
show two completed rehabs although
only one apartment was actually
made available. Moncrief says HPD
recently adjusted its recordkeeping to
prevent this double counting.
Problems counting, renting and
distributing the renovated apart-
ments aside, HPD did repair nearly
twice as many city-owned units in
1987 than in the previous year. Peter
Smith believes HPD has done a
"heroic job." He says that additional
staffing and reorganization of HPD
procedures has significantly im-
proved the agency's ability to pro-
duce renovated apartments. "You're
into a major housing production pro-
gram and you have to do it like a major
program," says Smith, who in previ-
ous years had been critical of HPD's
efforts.
Questions concerning HPD's as-
sessment of when a renovation is
complete persist, although Ormsby
says just one to two percent of the
apartments given to HRA are found
to be uninhabitable. Smith also says
a relatively small number of apart-
ments listed as completed still re-
quire significant amounts of work.
But that offers little comfort to cri-
tics looking at the city's renovation
goals for this year. Initially HPD
targeted 4,000 apartments for comple-
ted renovation in 1988. The deal
struck by Manhattan Borough Presi-
dent David Dinkins and the Koch ad-
ministration during negotiations over
the city-wide shelter plan calls for an
additional 1,000 renovated in rem
apartments this year. The new goal of
5,000 apartments is 1,365 more than
HPD renovated in '87 and more than
four and half times the number of
apartments it renovated in ' 86.
HPD officials admit that in the past
they have renovated the apartments
that need the least work and take the
shortest amount of time to complete.
As a measure of the extent of work
needed, Moncrief says it initially
took about $6,000 to renovate apart-
ments for the program; now it costs
$12,000 to 15,000. The stock of apart-
ments needing relatively little work
is nearly exhausted. Given the city's
past performance, renovating 5,000
apartments for the homeless will be
a Herculean job for a city administra-
tion many critics believe is not really
commited to the task. 0
Since 1980, the Housing Energy Alliance for Tenants Cooperative Corp. (H.E.A.T. COOP) has provided low
cost home heating oil and energy use reduction services.
The H.E.A.T. Coop has targeted for services the largely minority low and middle income neighborhoods of the
Bronx. Brooklyn. Manhattan and Queens. H.E.A.T:s general purpose is to provide assistance and services that lead
to neighborhood stability.
As a proponent of economic empowerment for revitalization of the City's communities. H.E.A.T. remains committed
to assisting newly emerging managers and owners of buildings with the reduction of energy costs (long recogntzed as
the single most expensive area of building management). H.E.A.T. has presented tangible opportunities for tenant
associations. housing coops. churches. community organizations. homeowners and small businesses to garner
substantial savings and lower the costs of building operation.
Through the primary service of providing low cost home heating oil, various heating plant services and
energy managenMnt services, H.E.A.T. members have collectively saved over 1.5 million dollars. . '
W>rKing collaboratively with other community service organizations with similar goals. and working to establish Its
viability as a business entity, H.E.A. T. has committed its revenue generating capacity and potenlialto providing
services that worK for and lead to stable. productive communities.
If you are interested in learning more about H.E.A.T. or if you are interested in becoming a H.E.A.T. member. call
or write the H.E.A.T. office.
Housing Energy Alliance for Tenants Coop Corp.
853 Broadway. Suite 414. New York. NY. 10003, [212] 505-0286
1
(
FEATURE
Heartbreak Hotel
BY BEVERLY CHEUVRONT
T
imes Square Motor Hotel ten-
ants like Pat Carden were
pleased when a well-respected
and wealthy charity, Covenant House,
purchased their down-at-the-heels
SRO in late 1984. When conflicts first
began to surface, "I just thought they
were inexperienced at running a
hotel ," Carden remembers. "We
thought we would get along with
management, and they did do some
good things."
Two years later, she helped form
the Professional and Career Tenants
Association. In a 1986 letter com-
plaining about staff rudeness and ser-
vice problems, the association "com-
mended the hotel for providing better
security, better exterminators, bring-
ing in a new deli and hiring extra
Father Ritter can't go around taking
people's home away from them."
When Covenant House bought the
ageing, 735-room hotel at 255 West
43rd St., it was straightforward about
its intention to speculate with the
city's largest SRO. It would hold the
hotel for five to 10 years as the Times
Square redevelopment project ad-
vanced, then sell it for a profit that
would be used to endow Covenant
House's work with runaway and
homeless youth. "Our desire was to
build a safety net under those kids,"
explains Covenant House spokesman
John Kells.
To finance the operating costs of
the Times Square Motor Hotel-
which Covenant House claims is los-
ing the agency more than $3 million
annually - it planned to convert a
C
ovenant House, an international
. charity group, bought a Times Square
SRO hotel and soon advertised it for
tourists as "the hotel with a heart." Evic-
tion and harassment of the SRO residents
quickly followed.
people to run the elevators," Carden
says. _
Last June, Carden made a frantic
call to the militant Columbia Tenants
Union for help, which organized the
Times Square Motor Hotel Tenants
Union, then initiated a rent strike.
In a much different tone, this new
group drafted an August 17 letter to
Father Bruce Ritter, Covenant House's
charismatic leader. "Harassment and
deceit are polluting the premises,"
the letter states .. ~ church-owned op-
eration should adhere to the com-
mandments of the good Lord above."
Says Carden: "We've been ignored,
lied to and threatened. There is a de-
liberate campaign to drive us out. The
whole issue is that we are not going
to leave - this is our home and
portion of the hotel for tourists, hostel
youth and homeless families.
That plan brought a barrage of criti-
cism from housing advocates, public
officials, community leaders and ten-
ants, who claim that permanent resi-
dents are being harassed into leaving,
evicted unfairly, and tricked into
moving from rent stabilized rooms in
an attempt to empty permanent
rooms for higher-paying transient
guests.
Agencies that once placed clients
in the Times Square hotel say they
are being told that rooms are unavail-
able. And permanent tenants, who
have been watching new TVs being
rolled in and fresh paint being
applied to tourist rooms, were in-
furiated last spring when chairs were
removed from the main lobby and
they were ordered to use a basement
entrance and separate elevator, out of
view of the transient guests.
Some advocates are angry because
they say Covenant House promised
not to house homeless families, even
while it was doing so. Even American
Youth Hostels is annoyed with the
way the hotel operates and markets
its independent hostel and is
threatening to take legal action.
Reports of frail elderly people, ex-
mental patients and disabled tenants
made homeless through evictions
prompted Beth Gorrie of the Coali-
tion for the Homeless to term Ritter
"the Simon Legree of non-profit hotel
management.' :
1
provide permanent solution:
Covenant House is cliarged with harassing permanent SRO t
Ironically, the hotel advertises its
tourist services as "the hotel with a
heart. "
stin Committed
Although the permanent popula-
tion has dropped from 490 to 350
since Covenant House took over, the
agency maintains that it is committed
to preserving low-cost housing for its
residents. It flatly denies that tenants
have been harassed or unfairly
evicted.
But housing advocates are skepti-
cal. Covenant House paid $17 million
for the Times Square Motor Hotel. It
also owns adjoining property along
the east side of Eighth Avenue and
on to the south side of 44th Street,
and according to a New York Times
report last March, the entire as-
semblage could bring as much as $40
million.
In the Times article, Ritter com-
plained that the city's moratorium on
SRO conversions has trapped him
with the huge annual loss on the
hotel's operation, and grumbled that
"I think we have a right for some sur-
cease from New York City." In addi-
tion, "we naively thought that Times
Square redevelopment would come
to pass," says hotel manager Larry
Wenger. "When we bought the hotel,
we had queries from private real es-
Square would redevelop and that the
hotel would be so valuable that de-
velopers would want it even with ten-
ants," replies Wenger. "We thought
that our ownership would help these
residents buy some additional time,
while C()Venant House had the prop-
erty, to find suitable alternatives."
But while Covenant House expres-
ses surprise at the problems of operat-
ing an SRO, even Mayor Ed Koch
warned it against purchasing the
hotel. In an October 16 letter - at
least a month before Covenant House
bought the hotel- Koch cautioned
Ritter that "since my administration
recognizes that this type of housing
is a viable resource, the city's policy,
when and where possible, is to pre-
serve it for both present and future
occupants."
The mayor noted that the hotel "is
substantially occupied by permanent
residents, many of whom are on fixed
incomes" and offered to help the
agency look for alternative space. "If,
however, you are still interested in
purchasing the Times Square Motor
Inn, I ask that you try to devise a plan
which will preserve the maximum
number of units for permanent mod-
erate income housing for singles," he
wrote.
Even earlier objections came from
some of Covenant House's advisory
board. Initially, the agency intended
to use part of the hotel for offices.
Responding to that plan in a Sep-
tember 24, 1984 letter, Gale Brewer,
executive assistant to Council
Member Ruth Messinger, and Yvonne
Morrow, district assistant to Senator
Manfred Ohrenstein, underscored
the need for low income housing in
New York City.
"It is distressing to us to discover
that an organization which has done
so much to address the needs of
homeless youth seeks to convert val-
uable housing to office space," they
wrote. "We note the offer of Covenant
.nants to moire room lor high-paying tourists.
tate developers every day. Now it's
down to a whisper."
But with Times Square redevelop-
ment plans moving ahead once again,
Father Ritter may see his speculator's
prayer answered. Queries from pri-
vate developers should pick up and
Covenant House will be able to sell
at a big profit -leaving it to the
purchaser to eliminate the remaining
SRO units through the moratorium's
buyout clause.
Even without the moratorium, how
did Covenant House expect to sell a
tenanted SRO at great profit? "Father
Ritter believed in buying it that Times
House to continue to provide for the
current permanent occupants, but
this is simply not enough - not
enough from a not-far-profit organiza-
tion such as yours."
Noting that Covenant House has
provided numerous new services for
permanent tenants - such as space
for programs, a two-person social
work staff, recreational programs and
a thrift shop, manager Larry Wenger
his critics to "point to a
hotel that serves this population that
is better run."
But like Brewer and Morrow, tenant
advocates say they expect an agency
with Covenant House's reputation to
act with more benevolence than an
ordinary landlord. Started 16 years
ago, Coveriant House has grown to an
international agency with branches
in New York City, New Orleans, Hous-
ton, Ft. Lauderdale, Toronto,
Guatemala City and Panama City. Ac-
cording to its annual report, Covenant
House's revenues for Fiscal Year 1985-
86 totaled almost $33.5 million. The
report states that the agency "more
than balanced" its books that year,
with revenues exceeding expenses by
$4.3 million. It's three-page list of
donors reads like a Who's Who of
major U.S. corporations and founda-
tions.
A Reagan Favorite
Ritter himself has risen to national
prominence. A favorite of the Reagan
administration, Ritter was cited by
President Reagan as an "unsung
American hero." He served on
Reagan's Pornography Commission
and has been the recipient of count-
less awards and accolades.
"My understanding is that Father
Ritter bought the hotel as a profit-
making venture - he did not buy it
as a non-profit enterprise - and he
is acting just as badly as any other
landlord. He is creating another class
of homeless people who are mentally
frail, senior citizens and people who
need assistance," says Saralee Evans
of the Westside SRO Legal Services
Project.
The project has seen "a significant
increase in the number of evictions
and an even more significant increase
in the number of attempted evic-
tions" since Covenant House took
over the operation of the Times
Square Motor Hotel, Evans says.
"Real estate in the area will skyroc-
ket," she continues. "Their inten-
tions are clear, and none of it is be-
nevolent. "
Among her clients is a now-home-
less 77-year-old man who was evicted
for non-payment of rent after he lost
a part-time job and was no longer able
to meet his $450 per month rent on
Social Security alone. The hotel re-
fused Evans' request to move him to
a smaller room that he could afford
Tenant leader Jerry Ferber:
' ~ church-owned operation .hou/d adhere to the commandment. of the good
Lord above," he wrote.
and proceeded with the eviction, she
says.
That lack of willingness to help
marginal tenants stay in the hotel
typifies Covenant House's attitude,
Evans says. She has urged that hotel
management alert Crisis Intervention
Services and other support agencies
when an eviction is brought.
But a social worker, who asked not
to be identified and who had worked
at Times Square Motor Hotel during
its ownership transition, says the Co-
venant House management stopped
referring eviction cases to CIS. "The
social workers would leave for the
weekend and come back on Monday
to find that one or two more vulnera-
ble people didn't seem to be there,"
she says.
"We will talk to CIS, when we have
the approval of the individual," re-
plies Wenger, who insists that "we
have been extremely sensitive when
we deal with people in this situa-
tion."
Although cautious in its criticism,
even the Mayor's Office of SRO Hous-
ing is worried about the decline in
the hotel's permanent population.
Says Deputy Director Alan Kleinman:
"The city's position is that we strive
to preserve as many units (of SRO
housing) as possible. We have had
many discussions with Covenant
House over the years. Notwithstand-
ing these discussions, there has been
a loss in permanent units."
Evans and other advocates are espe-
cially concerned about the fate of
rent-stabilized rooms at the hotel. Ac-
cording to Bertha Hellman of Project
Find, there were more than 280
stabilized rooms when Covenant
House took over the operation of the
hotel- still a very small number for
a facility of its size. According to
Wenger, the number was always at
178.
They charge that tenants have been
persuaded to give up their stabilized
rooms without being fully informed
of their rights. Permanent tenants are
not being allowed to return to the pro-
fected rooms, which instead are of-
fered to transient guests for $55 a
night. One man, for example, says he
had to move out of his stabilized
.room so a leak could be repaired. He
claims he was promised another, but
once out, was neither allowed to re-
turn to his old room nor permitted to
move to a stabilized room.
Wenger, however, says that tenants
move out of the stabilized rooms only
by choice, usually to larger or redeco-
rated rooms. "The people who are in-
volved feel it's o.k.," he says.
Sacrificing People for Profit
The Metropolitan Council on
Housing, which also has a tenants as-
sociation at the Times Square hotel,
also is adamantly opposed to the loss
of stabilized rooms for low income
tenants. During a recent meeting ' to
discuss problems at the hotel, James
Harnett, Covenant House's executive
vice president and chief operating
officer, promised "to abide by the
law" in its use of stabilized rooms.
"It's not just a question of the law,"
responds Jane Benedict of Met Coun-
cil. "It's a question of what you're
doing to the composition of the hotel.
She charges Covenant House with
"sacrificing the people who have
lived here for years to make a profit."
Wenger attributes the drop in the
number of permanent residents at the
hotel to three major factors: death
among the predominantly elderly
population; normal moves out of the
hotel to live with family members or
to leave the city; and "40 or 50 legal
evictions," all but one for non-pay-
ment of rent.
Others point out, however, that not
only did evictions and moves in-
crease when Covenant House took
over, but that the agency began refus-
ing to take new referrals from groups
that had been placing clients at the
hotel for many years.
Fountain House, an agency that
serves ex-mental patients, reports
that it once referred 25 clients a
month to the hotel. "That number
started to drop almost the day he (Rit-
ter) took over," says a Fountain House
representative.
The Dwelling Place first began re-
ferring homeless women to the hotel
in 1977. "In the past, the most we ever
waited for a room was two days," re-
calls Sister Nancy Chiarello, whose
clients pay an average of $71.40
weekly for a room. By early 1986, it
became harder and harder for the
Dwelling Place to get people housed
at the Times Square. ''At the first slow-
down, we were told that the boiler
broke, so the hotel couldn't take new
tenants," Chiarello says. Later, it was
leaking pipes that kept permanent re-
sidents out.
While the Dwelling Place is still
able to place women at the hotel, it
is having to turn to other sources to
house its clients. Chiarello believes
this represents a deliberate attempt
to empty the hotel, but she is unsym-
pathetic with Covenant House's finan-
cial loss. "If you have empty rooms
and don't rent them out, naturally
you're going to operate at a loss," she
says. "You don't have to be a business
person to understand that."
Still others are unhappy with Co-
venant House's 'decision to bolster
rent rolls with homeless families. Ac-
cording to Wenger, the hotel will rent
up to 50 rooms a night, Monday
through Thursday, to women with
preschool children or pregnant
women. HRA spokeswoman Suzanne
Trazoff says the hotel charges almost
$92 a night for a family of four. mak-
ing its rates higher than most. It 'first
began taking families last March. she
says.
Kim McGillicuddy. youth coor-
dinator for Community Board Four.
was surprised to learn of that arrange-
ment. At a spring meeting. she says.
"Covenant House said they were not
going to have families there." McGil-
licuddy says that advocates for the
homeless are especially concerned
about the effects of short stays in
hotels because of the increased stress
on families. Others voiced concern
about placing families in SROs that
serve an adult population.
In its efforts to attract paying cus-
tomers, Covenant House has even
drawn the wrath of one of its com-
petitors, American Youth Hostels.
AYH Executive Director Elliott
Winick says his agency receives many
complaints from American students
who go to the hotel thinking it is an
affiliate, then are turned away be-
cause the hotel's policy is to accept
only foreigners. Winick says his
agency believes that the hotel's pro-
motions are misleading, and it is
"contemplating legal action, al-
though we are not anxious to do this."
Wenger says hostel youth pay $14
plus tax for a room shared with two
to six others. American youth are
excluded because "on several occa-
sions with American kids we've had
difficulties with robberies," Wenger
continues.
Tenants report problems with
foreign youth as well . According to
one spokesman for Met Council 's as-
sociation, hostel tenants often tor-
ment the more vulnerable permanent
residents. In one instance, they called
a woman names, then locked her out
of the bathroom.
Those who remain in the hotel are
frightened of being evicted and
angered by what they perceive as
humiliating relegation to second
class citizens in their own homes.
"Everybody's scared," says tenant Joe
Vickery, who stopped paying rent be-
cause of lack of services, then won a
subsequent eviction attempt.
Tenants like Vickery and Carden
say that staff hired by Covenant
House are rude and abusive to perma-
nent tenants, as part of what they
view as an attempt to harass them
from the hotel. Reports one former
tenant, who did move because of the
pressure from the staff, " . .. I had two
mice running madly up and down the
drapes. When I called the front desk
to inform them of my plight, they took
the whole thing as a joke and laughed
in my ear," he relates. " It took two
more calls to finally get someone here
to put down a mouse trap."
But the incident that set of the
biggest uproar was an announcement
that a front desk for permanent ten-
ants would be opened in the base-
ment, and that they would use an
elevator and entrance separate from
the tourists. They believe that man-
agement thinks the sight of poor, el-
derly and mentally disabled resi-
dents would be bad business for a
hotel that advertises rooms that are
"beautifully appointed and feature
all the modern amenities. "
Wenger said the plan was made be-
cause the lobby does not accomodate
large tours and permanent tenants at
the same time. Separate desks would
provide much more efficient service.
he says. That idea - along with sepa-
rate elevators for the permanent resi-
dents - was dropped after residents
objected. Chairs, however, will not be
returned to the lobby, another subject
of concern to the tenants. On the com-
plaints of staff rudeness, Wenger says
he has reprimanded employees and
promises "to watch the front desk re-
ally carefully. I do not want to have
anyone in the hotel treated discourte-
ously."
Despite recent concessions, many
tenants remain frightened and angry.
"I get really annoyed when I see the
new TV s being rolled in for the trans-
ients," says Dennis Katz, a disabled
veteran who decided not to fight an
eviction that followed a delay in his
government check. He recently
moved from the hotel.
"Father Ritter should be in a gray
suit - don't let that collar fool you, "
Katz says.
Even Covenant House admits that,
in the light of financial losses and
scathing community criticism, the
purchase of the SRO "was a mistake. "
Says Kells, "The hotel has gotten us
into an area where he (Ritter) has lit-
tle expertise - housing. It was a
noble attempt to take care of the kids ,
but it was an attempt that looks like
it has failed." 0
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FEATURE
Bed-Stuy Restoration:
False Promises?
B
edford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp-
oration has been hailed as a model for
progressive community development. But
some charge it has diffused protest and
stymied more sweeping changes.
BY ERROL T. LOUIS & RENITA
E. MIMS
L
ast spring marked the comple-
tion of a development project in
Bedford-Stuyvesant. Ribbons
were cut by visiting congressmen and
photo opportunities abounded.
There was self-congratulation and
talk of economic revitalization by
Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Cor-
poration, sponsor of the good deed.
The project itself: the opening of a
Burger King restaurant.
What does fast food have to do with
community development?
The creation of 48 jobs is more than
welcome in an area where youth un-
employment is estimated at 60 per-
cent. But according to the New York
Times, all but seven of the jobs are
part-time, paying close to minimum
wage. Such achievements seem par-
ticularly modest when compared to
the high hopes that attended the for-
mation of Restoration in 1967.
At that time, Restoration was, as
one news story put it, "designed to
be the most sweeping and compre-
hensive rehabilitation effort ever
brought to bear on a single American
community." The nation's first com-
munity development corporation
(CDC) was to be an experimental com-
bination of political good will, busi-
ness expertise and grass-roots demo-
cracy. Indeed, Restoration remains a
model for some 3,000 to 5,000 similar
projects nationwide and is still the
largest. But after 20 years, questions
remain about whether Bedford-
Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. has
lived up to its original promise.
Restoration's history is impressive:
it claims to have brought $375 million
to the area in loans, grants and invest-
ments. In 1968, at its urging, mM
opened a manufacturing plant in Bed-
ford-Stuyvesant that employs 400
people. The most striking symbol of
the CDC's work is Restoration Plaza,
a block-long shopping mall and office
complex on Fulton Street between
New York and Brooklyn avenues that
is a visual and economic centerpiece .
of the neighborhood. The plaza is
now fully leased to more than 80 ten-
ants, including a number of shops, a
recording studio, a post office, the Bil-
lie Holiday Theater, utilities and a
supermarket/drugstore.
Restoration's housing efforts have
provided $60 million in mortgages
and renovated more than 3,000 units
and 40 storefronts. The $6.1 million
Fulton South AplUtments, one of the
last of the federal government's Sec-
tion 8 projects, was a Restoration ef-
fort (the 65-unit complex opened last
year).
"I would say that COCs, which
started as an experiment, have be-
come a successful model of how to
rehabilitate and rejuvenate a commu-
nity," says Restoration president Ted
Barnett. "There's no doubt that we've
made a tremendous difference."
The underlying assumption of a
CDC is that traditional marketplace
dynamics, managed along private-
sector lines, can be used to correct
the problems of low-income com-
munities - and still stay under the
firm control of the local community.
Accordingly, Restoration is struc-
tured as a corporation and places a
high emphasis on commerce.
"When we were putting Restora-
tion Plaza up, everybody thought that
was crazy," says public relations di-
rector Marcia Baird Johnson. "But the
point is there may be a large number
of low-income people in our area, but
they spend money, too. We are able
to provide a secure site where busi-
ness can thrive."
Misguided Premise
But this CDC approach has its cri-
tics. "The premise that you could set
up businesses that could be profitable
in the dead spaces of the urban eco-
nomy - spaces that had been vac-
ated by other businesses - was just
misguided," says Adolph Reed Jr., a
political scientist at Yale University
who formerly worked with a North
Carolina CDC. "If you measure CDCs
by a standard of job- and income-cre-
ation, 1 think the record runs from
mixed to negligible."
Moreover, as both critics and
friends of CDCs say, the CDC em-
phasis on business and housing de-
velopment, though important, does
not tackle many of the community's
worst problems head-on. Bedford-
Stuyvesant is still one of New York's
most troubled areas, with a housing
shortage, drug problem, and high un-
employment rate. Prostitutes do a
brisk business on the corner of New
York Avenue and Herkimer Street-
right outside the clean brick walls of
Restoration Plaza. This is still an area
with a median family income of just
$8,500.
Restoration wasn't intended to end
all that. "The Corporation has never
promised to make Bedford-Stuyves-
ant and the community wealthy,"
points out Restoration vice president
Thomas Morrison. Indeed, it would
be unrealistic to think one organiza-
Restoration head Ted larnett (seated) and Tom Morrison:
Tltey .ay it's a ".ucce .. ful morle/" for rejuvenation.
tion could turn around the lives of
all 300,000 residents of Bedford-
Stuyvesant.
Still, there is an unsettling question
about Restoration and other CDCs.
Much of the initial enthusiasm came
from communities convinced they
could dramatically expand grass-
roots participation in public life. In
retrospect, says Reed, "the idea that
CDCs could be viable roots for com-
munity empowerment was just
wrong - and, in some respects, what
was wrong was clear from the begin-
ning."
The origin of the nation's first CDC
is dated December 10, 1966, when
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy visited Bed-
ford-Stuyvesant and was appalled by
the social devastation - and im-
pressed by the anger of community
residents, who said they wanted ac-
tion, not another study of the neigh-
borhood. Kennedy assembled a cor-
poration that would merge the dol-
lars and expertise of the business and
financial world with the local knowl-
edge and dreams of the community.
The project took hold quickly, with
bank executives, politicians of both
parties and grass-roots leaders all
jumping on board.
That's the "official" version of the
story. An examination of newspaper
accounts - along with a few skepti-
cal articles like one by James Bailey
in a 1968 issue of Architectural Jour-
nal - offer a more sobering assess-
ment. According to these articles,
Restoration emerged from a series of
b a t t l e ~ whose origin and outcome
were dictated as much by realpolitik
as by liberal good intentions.
On Kennedy's 1966 visit, iUany
community leaders refused to tour
the area with him; in fact, they con-
fronted him at the end of his trip and
accused him of joining a long line of
politicians who had visited Bedford-
Stuyvesant, then left and done no-
thing.
Kennedy retreated and spent 10
months working out a plan for the
community. Local input came from
the Central Brooklyn Coordinating
Council, a federation of some 100 or-
ganizations. When he returned to
Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1967, the plan
was to create two groups: a non-profit
citizens' organization (Bedford-
Stuyvesant Renewal and Rehabilita-
tion Corporation) and a business-
men's organization (Bedford-Stuyves-
ant Development and Services Corpo-
ration). Local residents dubbed the
two groups the "Black Board" and
"the White Board."
The business group was chaired by
Andre Mayer of the Lazard Freres
banking house and included former
'freasury Secretary Douglas Dillon;
IBM Chairman Thomas J. Watson;
CBS Chairman William S. Paley, and
so on. It was clear from the start that
the corporate leaders were interested
in more than charity - in 1967, they
were openly worried about how far
urban rebellions might go. Corporate
magnate Benno Schmidt Sr. told his
friends the "Bedford-Stuyvesant con-
cept is the only thing that can prevent
a new civil war."
But "the concept" quiokly went as-
tray. Civil Court Judge Thomas R.
Jones, a former assemblyman, was
Kennedy'S choice to head the board
of Bedford-Stuyvesant Renewal and
Rehabilitation (the "Black Board").
Jones wanted to expand the 17-
member board to 50 or so members,
but community leaders and some of
Jones' fellow board members charged
him with trying to hand-pick the new
board people
In April of 1967, as the fighting con-
tinued, Jones resigned from Renewal
and Rehabilitation - then formed a
J,l8W group, the Bedford-Stuyvesant
Restoration Corporation, with the
backing of Kennedy, Senator Jacob
Javits and Mayor John Lindsay. Many
local antipoverty workers and grass-
roots organizers were shut out in
favor of Kennedy's choices. Protest
meetings were held, complete with
picket signs calling Jones an "Uncle
Tom."
Restoration was saved by Franklin
A. Thomas, its first executive direc-
tor, who is now president of the Ford
Foundation. By reconciling many of
the antagonists, Thomas helped cool
the controversy over whether or not
Kennedy had put hand-picked
people in what were supposed to be
community-controlled positions.
The fighting ended, but the issue
remains. Restoration's two original
boards have evolved into a 20-
member community board and the
Development and Service Corp.,
made up mostly of corporate and
political leaders from outside Bed-
ford-Stuyvesant. The planning that
takes place between ordinary com-
munity residents and men of power
is still a source of concern to some,
who fear that grass-roots organizers
will be co-opted by corporate profes-
sionals.
In CDC-speak, business must be
"lured" into the neiRhborhood with
tax breaks and oilier incentives;
banks must be "attracted" with gov-
ernment or foundation guarantees be-
fore they will make mortgage loans;
investors must be convinced that sup-
porting job-training "is good busi-
ness" because it will payoff in a gen-
eration of useful workers. Alternative
conc.tions of development - a
... ~ l e homesteading
prograftl, r example, that is willing
to ffirt with civil disobedience - are
continued
*1; city ,F% COl ' 111'1'(
ant . harassment in a M8lnnamm
a continuing management role in apa.rtnl.ent" buildinal to buyout
the buildings, andSPRC's legal bat- SPRC's in iheprojects fol'
:O,OOO"Beroub d8cliiled.lnvok-
'Dep8ltment of 80 . and Urban man-
:r! .. .
been: 10 no avail. and a privete firm. prog-

rOduct of early Follow- m its management oper-
lug the nonprofit wisdom of alions " Widt a firm
times - and the urgings of the owned by Pbilip Rosenberg. to
foundations and governm,ent agen- form BP.(!.JBPC now manages Re-
des that funded them - the two ,toratiOB," S , . as well as
. onsplunged into joint DutJ).8ft)U Al.,
deVe ment ventures with for- thougli" tion" chlftl 18d Bar-
alliances nett. an direcfcir of the
were to be of mutual benefit, albeit .'. management
between unequal partners: the for., offtce. ClW'les smans, are 60th on
profit lmaines8 would ante up most the of directop.l-'rpgre&-
Of the;ltppfront cash and carry oyt to"be if I'
the co,ptractinB and, development the dri .... s Hat, .. asked
of vacan.t buildings;th6 nonprofit& specifies about B , . toration
were to provide loclil guidance and r8ferred all qUQ8tions to Rosen-
leamtlie financial and technical berg. ,
ropes:"More organt- Rosenbtrf .. "'. t,bd',<Jl$O mep. ..
zatiam. like SPRCr'" and Restora- ages .N.JUl ,JIl) ,NeWnfllm
=ttt:r t = Jrt
ina inCome and local employment set , contract he emerged
But fot SPRC. that plan has gone from "longtime contacts" with the
ddmaUCally
its oWl} empl . :," . cont".
1louble began 1984 'when p.troll6rdiSap , theciay before
of SPRC's mar- SPRC was cited byJhe city's hou'S- It was discoV8J:ed tbatsPRC's bank
.
theco-d ::;, e ner mClfl+'1
tractkfroDi S 'Jlan to ' pro Wilfredo Lugo. SPRC's di- giwn " LuJO to Roth and
a fil'Pl in whiehj.estoretlon it a rectOf. at the time,,, also paid the Neumann 'were loans. "Without
5Ow50 partner. '. . , . partners - Henry Roth and Joseph him. If said Barouh. have a
.iThe organip,tiqD has been de- Neumann - as much as $700,000 tough Ume tnaki,ng a case."
vastati:::. said SpRC litector : w
eh
7 u. -... ....... : .. ,,-. ,
tra resen , of . Neumann claim payments for the ..
income for our core ;p sel'VicesrLugoal80apparentlygave SPRC's contract to "'manage city-
Restoration spOkesWoman Mar- Roth and Neumann substantial owned buildinga. the city housing
cia Baird JohnsQ1\\. said that legal sway over the'project&, sign.. yaDked that. program
1'8tioa. ninvolvemeat with the ." jug SPRC's of attorn!>, out of tlyt communl!y.
it QIl "". interbit;ba@Js. #f forthe:;jointgeneral,:partnership'fu a new a" ltc:ation bJtiBifOultlast"
All we'w beeri asked to dols man- the dm:10pers in le 1986. spting. loss Section
age 'lwhile the dispute between The dispute C8meto a head after 8 ent contract, coupled
SPRC and its p&lt.a4ftis CODtiJlu- Lugo's departure early this year. As with the theft of its bank aCCOUtlt.
ins. Wt .... obvlOwllY not inteIeeted the new airector, Barouh was ap- has left the org8nization
in tIiem. '.. ..,' proached by (Roth was one
out of the byilie biDs ,;,,'
out of the question for CDCs.
"You get to talk this language of
grants and regulations which takes
you completely out of touch with re-
ality, the community, or what will ac-
tually work," says one frustrated CDC
worker quoted in activist Harry C.
Boyte's book, "Backyard Revolution."
Part of the Process
According to Restoration, commu-
nity and corporate input is well-ba-
lanced and the complexities of de-
velopment are an unavoidable part of
, the process. "In order for us to be able
to effect change, we have to have the
necessary expertise. Or if we don't
have it, we have to seek the necessary
expertise," says Barnett. "The lan-
guage changes, but the goal doesn't
change. I don't see any deviation from
our goals and our commitment to the
community. "
Still, Constance Mortell, a Chicago
community development consultant
working with Executive Service
Corp., cautions CDCs against getting
too business-like: "The busines
world's obsession with the bottom
line obscures a broader plan which
would include families and com-
munities," she says. "I think that once
you impose a hierarchical structure,
you get into titles, status ... you can
snuff out the spirit."
"The gap between people in the
community, whose needs you're try-
ing to address, and those trying to
finance solutions to the problems is
a big one," says Rev. Robert C. Strom,
a Chicago activist who heads Project
Life.
The nationwide expansion of CDCs
since the 1970s is due in large part
to the work of Franklin Thomas. In
20 years, the Ford Foundation has
poured $170 million into CDCs in the
form of grants and loans. In 1980,
Ford formed the Local Iniatives Sup-
port Corporation, launched wtih
$4.75 million from Ford and an equal
amount from six corporations. LISC
is a kind of "bank" that makes invest-
ments and loans to CDCs, enabling
them to expand their projects and at-
tract loans from other public and pri-
vate sources.
Such efforts are welcomed by Res-
toration, which had to cut two-thirds
of its staff, sell some of its sub-
sidiaries, and close two outreach cen-
ters in the early 1980s, when the
~ e ~ g a n administration eliminated
Fait food, Ilow redevelopment: Restoration's restaurant created 4' jobs, but
most are port-time and pay dose to minimum wage.
federal funding. That cutoff, plus the
end of the new contsruction under
the federal Section 8 housing pro-
gram, has made Restoration scale
back its activities drastically. Gone,
for the time being, are the grandiose
plans to reconstruct entire city
blocks,
Restoration was supposed to be
economically self-sufficient by
now - and even before the cutoff of
federal funds, Restoration's perennial
inability to generate sufficient funds
was a key charge by critics. Barnett
says that in its present, trimmed-
down state, Restoration makes
enough to pay its administrative
costs, through a combination of fund-
raising and the proceeds from partial
ownership of businesses like the
Burger King and the Pathmark in the
Plaza. Individual Restoration ac-
tivities are paid for on a per-project
basis, through government contracts
and private sources.
The kind of development CDCs rep-
resent isn't everyone's idea of the best
way to make social change. But
Johnson argues, "In a community as
large as Bedford-Stuyvesant. .. there
had better be more than one organiza-
tion that's in there doing something."
Others charge CDCs with ulti-
I!lately doing more for CDC officials
than for communities. "What the
CDCs provided was a leadership
strata in the black community con-
nected to the foundation circuit and
patched into the social welfare ap-
paratus," says Reed. "There's a
socializing function that these things
perform. You allow the leadership to
emerge, and then you socialize
them."
Under this theory, it is no coinci-
dence that ex-CDC leaders include
San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros,
Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode,
California Congressman Esteban Tor-
res, and a host of presidential appoin-
tees, especially under Jimmy Carter.
But Restoration, at least, is more
than just a training ground for com-
munity leaders to be groomed for ser-
vice in the political establishment. Its
job- and income-generating projects
have brought benefits too visible to
deny. And although Restoration was
originally designed, in part, as a way
to channel potential unrest into safe
channels, its subsequent develop-
ment has moved beyond the political
hardball of the founding days.o
Errol T. Louis is a graduate student
at Yale University. Renita E. Mims is
an account officer at Citicorp.
REVIEWS
A Tale of Gentrification
BY JEAN MORRISSEY
"SURVIVAL OF A SMALL CITY"
tells the all-tao-familiar story of gen-
trification - this time of South Nor-
walk, Connecticut - in an engaging
manner. The film, which recently pre-
miered at the Margaret Mead Film
Festival at the Museum of Natural
History, is a lively account of one
small city's journey from slum to
trendy community, complete with
fake gas lamps and expensive ice
cream. The conflict that slowly arises
between residents and developers
keeps the story moving from the rivet-
ing beginning to the disappointing
ending.
South Norwalk belv,. and after:
Norwalk Educational Opportunity
Now) points out that none of the com-
munity has been included in the pro-
cess and asks what will happen to
the people when the rents rise. Appa-
rently this question gets no consider-
ation, as we see in Part 11(1984-1986),
when the apartments of low-income
residents have been replaced by the
antique and specialty stores.
"Rebirth"
A remaining resident declares:
"They are right when they talk about
the rebirth of South Norwalk - they
murdered the old neighborhood. "
Whereas former residents were
mostly black and Hispanic, today we
see only white people strolling down
the now glisteningly restored
Washington Street and browsing in
shops that offer things "you can't get
anywhere else" - and probably don't
need either!
Since the roots of South Norwalk's
decay began with the large-scale de-
molitions of the 1960's urban renewal
programs, it opens appropriately
with a bulldozer knocking a house
down. The two-story woodframe
structure folds obligingly, like an ac-
cordian at the end of a whole note to
the strains of a horn solo.
of a Small City" examine. the eflect. 01 gentrification on tlti. once- de.%te community.
In Part I (1979-1981), we see the
boarded-up stores, empty streets, and
the few residents and store owners
who stayed because they couldn't af-
ford to move elsewhere or simply be-
cause they had lived there all their
lives. Some of the older residents re-
call South Norwalk's brighter days
when streets were filled with shop-
pers and "we could walk anywhere
in safety." But in the neighborhood's
decline, an elderly female proprietor
of a boarding house must rely on her
dog and her ".38" for protection.
These residents clearly are ready
for a change, but why would anyone
else want to bother with South Nor-
walk? An artist tells of finding the
city by chance and "falling in love"
with it-the waterfront, lofts, conve-
nient distance from New York City,
and particularly the low rents. Appa-
rently the developers agreed.
At a planning meeting, renovation
into a historic area is discussed. A
well-dressed black man (not iden-
tified in the film but who I later
learned is chairperson of NEON-
The $650 price tag on a lamp dang-
les in full view as the store's pro-
prietor declares proudly, "I'm respon-
sible for the growth of the project. "
Outside, a bent-over man toting a
bulging plastic garbage bag makes his
way down Washington Street. Then
an expensively attired man standing
in front of his two-car garage pro-
claims: "If a bag man is panhandling,
it's my obligation to be generous."
This tpe of well-meaning, but pa-
troniziJ..lg, ,attitude is the response
those who've profited are
confronted with the effects of revitali-
zation on the indigenous population.
It seems as if they would like to be-
lieve they simply moved into an
empty city and and brought it to life.
The film ends on a puzzling note.
After hearing a legal services lawyer
testify that there are more people
needing assistance and living under
terrible conditions than he can possi-
bly help, a real estate agent declares
that this redevelopment is "an incred-
ible success story and very positive
for the people here."
Then a black woman states, "I don't
think any of us can say we're blame-
less." I can. I can say that the people
who were not consulted, the people
whose rents doubled and tripled, the
people who were driven out of their
homes by devious tactics-are
blameless. Why couldn't the filmmak-
ers say that as well since, judging by
the rest of the film, they seemed to
imply it?
I posed this and other questions to
Pablo Frasconi, one of the filmmak-
ers. He believed the ending to be ap-
propriate because this particular
woman (not identified in the film), a
city council member, had been a pro-
ponent of the revitalization plan.
There had been no grassroots organi-
zation formed to monitor the rehabili-
tation because no one foresaw the
damage to come and, Frasconi
pointed out, people were too busy
struggling to survive to become ac-
tivists.
The filmmakers provide us with a
very small focus - the drama of some
lives on one street in a small city-
which is fine. What is not provided
is the larger context surrounding the
events and the city. We hear the
names Norwalk and Stamford, and it
is implied that these are wealthier,
cities but their connection to South
Norwalk is not made clear. No boun-
daries are defined either for the city
or the revitalized area. There is a brief
focus on a sign announcing the offer-
ing of pricey newly completed con-
dominiums, but no mention is made
of them in the film.
Frasconi explained that the lack of
specific information was intentional.
"Survival of a Small City" was in-
tended as a narrative film that
" ... traded what we thought was a gen-
eral interest story for specific truths,"
he said.
The people chosen to speak for old
South Norwalk range from the desti-
tute to the middle class. Although
some profited from the revitalization,
mO,st were harmed by it. All are articu-
late and represent different segments
of life in the city-store owners, wel-
fare client, boarding house proprietor
and others. None of these people are
identified - with one exception.
And so, these "titles" were gleaned
from the content of their interviews,
as well as where they were inter-
viewed (Le. sitting behind a desk in
a real estate office, behind the counter
of a store).
This was another case of a trade-off.
The intent here, Frasconi informs,
was to allow the audience to put
themselves in South Norwalk (sort of
an ''Anytown, Anybody, USX'?) and
say to themselves, "Do I do this? Does
anyone I know do this?" But people
are not anonymous, especially on
film, and the need to know who
people are and where they fit in is
essential to understanding this story.
The technique of using a "fabric of
50 voices woven together" is skill-
fully and artfully done. The mes-
sage-that here is "a model of
changes going on" could be a stronger
one.
D
Jean Morrissey is an anthropologist
and a New York University graduate
student in ethnographic filmmaking.
providing complete architectural and engineering services to non-prom developers
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LETTERS
Surface Treatment
To the Editor:
Miriam Bensman's article about the
Participation Loan Program Uune/
July 1987) is good as far as it goes.
But with the shrinking supply of af-
fordable housing, analysis of PLP and
other city loan programs could profit-
ably be pressed much further. A use-
ful discussion should go beyond the
Regan report's charges of insufficient
monitoring. It should not stop at list-
ing shortcomings like shabby work-
manship. It should certainly not ac-
cept HPD's and CPC's simple defini-
tion of a successful program: spend-
ing lots of dollars and rehabbing lots
of units.
PLP carries with it social and
economic costs which are never offi-
cially tallied. These include tenant
displacement, the removal of afforda-
ble housing units and the excessive
public subsidy of private enterprise.
It is a safe assumption that if PLP
has upgraded 22,300 units, as
claimed by HPD, it has removed
22,300 units from being accessible to
the lower income groups formerly
served. So when advocates cite statis-
tics on the loss of low-rent apart-
ments in this city, PLP is one reason
why.
Another element which is omitted
in your article is the real cost of the
PLP program. The city contributes a
healthy sum in the form of man-hours
processing applications and monitor-
ing work. Property taxes on the reno-
vated buildings are abated for up to
20 years. The federal government con-
tributes uncounted dollars in Section
8 certificates. And all this public
money is pumped in for one reason:
to maintain the landlord's cash flow
and repay the bank at marrket rates.
An interesting analysis would show
the total public cost per rehabbed
unit, taking all these components
into account, not just the cost of one
percent PLP loans.
It was frustrating to read Bensman's
surface treatment of this important
housing rehab program. I think City
Limits' readers expect something
more.
Carol Smolenski
Queens
Bensman replies: The sidebar to this
article discussed the often-painful
rent increases and the way they par-
ticularly hurt people just above the
income threshold of Section 8.
Perhaps Smolenski objects to my hav-
ing written about one case where a
PLP seeins to work. I think it is impor-
tant for community organizers to
know how to make the best of existing
programs.
RESPONDING TO AN RFP?
PLANNING TO CREATE LOW-INCOME HOUSING?
Stili BumlnSl
To the Editor:
We are encouraged to learn that the
Department of Sanitation has drop-
ped the Inwood incinerator site to
second on its list of possible locations
in Manhattan. However, we consider
this development a minor victory in
what will apparently be a continuing
struggle.
The position of neighborhoods in
the Northwest Bronx and Northern
Manhattan which have been fighting
the incinerator plan has never simply
been "not in our backyards." We can-
not rejoice that a cancer-producing
facility may be built in someone else's
neighborhood. The choice of East
Harlem as the new priority site in
Manhattan further demonstrates that
the Koch administration, in coopera-
tion with big business, seeks to vic-
timize New York's poorer citizens.
Reducing the amount of waste and
recycling are. the most efficient, safe,
and economlC ways to process gar-
bage. Community pressure, indeed
outrage, must be focused upon those
politicians and businessmen who are
to risk increasing the likelihood of
cancer for New York City citizens.
Greg Faulkner
Al Chapman
The Bronx
WONDERING WHERE TO FIND GOOD, AFFORDABLE LEGAL HElP?
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summary of your legal needs to Debra BechJel at CDLAC.
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individual to organize tenant associations, negotiate with land-
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applications. Requires good interpersonal, writing & organizing
skills. Knowledge of NYC housing laws, loan programs recom-
mended. Prefer degree in planning or related field. Some evening
work. EOE. $18,000- $20,000. Write Kristine Haag, Exec. Dir.,
Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corp., 2541 Olinville Ave.,
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DIRECTOR. Peace and social justice org. seeks director for
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diverse activities of volunteers & staff. Experience in community
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MANAGING ATTORNEY. To supervise & manage 21-person Will-
iamsburg Office, Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. A. Requires expo
in landlord-tenant law, strong training & leadership skills, & ability
to work with collective decision-making. Must be be able to pro-
vide litigation leadership and support to the office's welfare,
medicaid & food stamp work. Ability to speak Spanish or Yiddish
helpful. Minorities, handicapped & women encouraged to apply.
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Dir. & Chief Counsel , Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. A, 260
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ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR. To direct, supervise & coordinate hous-
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adm. skills, commitment to community work, bilingual helpful
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SECRETARY. Clerk/typist. $13,000, good benefits. Some secre-
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to Elaine Chan, It's Time, 139 Henry St. , NY, NY 10002. (212)
962-3069.
RETAIL SERVICES COORDINATOR.St. Nicholas Neighbor-
hood Preservation Corp., a nonprofit development corp. in Will-
iamsburg-Greenpoint that manages the Grand Street Business
Improvement District and publishes Greenline seeks coordinator.
Resp. include: developing & implementing commercial district
marketing program (promotional events, sale campaigns, etc.)
& business mgt. & ad sales for Greenline. Requires BA degree;
advanced degree (marketing, MPA, planning) or expo a plus.
Valid drivers license, bilingual (Spanish, Korean) , helpful. Salary
based on expo Resume to: Michael Rochford, Dir. of Eco. Dev.,
St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corp. , 11 -29 Catherine
. St. , Brooklyn, NY 11211.
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Oct. 22:
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Introduction to Nonprofit Housing Development
The Architect &the Engineer in the Development
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Oct. 29:
Nov.5:
The Legal Aspects of Development
Financing Development Projects: Banks &
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The Role of Developers &Sponsors Nov. 12:
Workshops will be held at the offices of UHAB, 40 Prince St, Manhattan.
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These workshops are jointly sponsored by:
Chemical Bank and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board

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