February 1991 New York's Community Affairs News Magazine $2.

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E T H I C S D I L E M M A D V O I C E O F T H E S O U T H B R O N X
B U S I N E S S I N C U B A T O R S : M E R E G I M M I C K R Y ?
City Limits
Volume XVI Number 2
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2/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMns
I j'" "';' '3 ,
Fonward Progress
K
eeping local and global events in perspective is never easy, but
with war raging in the Middle East it's more difficult than ever.
Nonetheless, by the time this reaches you, war just might be over,
while our local problems continue unabated. Either way, City
Limits must keep doing its job.
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FEATURE
Creative/Page 6
Shame of the City 8
Our annual tally of terrible landlords.
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial
Forward Progress ..................................................... 2
Briefs
Bank Board Concerns ............................................. .4
Cooper Square Deal .................... .................... ......... 4
Bronx Brouhaha ....................................................... 5
Profile
Creative Advocacy ... ............ ............ : ....................... 6
Pipeline
Incubating Small Business ................... .............. .. . 17
Cashing In? ...... ... .. ........ ... ....................... ........ ... .. ... 20
Shame/Page 8
Book Review
Loudmouths. Lies and the Welfare State .............. 23
Letters .............................................................. .......... 24
Incubators/Page 17
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/3
11:;'1"11
BANK BOARD
CONCERNS
Advertising executive
Caroline Jones has an important
new client--Bankers
Trust Company. But
Jones is also a member
of the New York State
bank boord, which
regulates state-chartered
banks like Bankers Trust.
Her business relationship
with the bank raises
serious ethical concerns
among banking watch-
dogs.
public members is to have [bank
board] members who have no
financial interest in the banks
they regulate."
Roger Hayes, a community
reinvestment advocate from the
Jones was appointed
to the 15-person bank
boord as a public
member by Gov. Mario
Cuomo in September
1988 and reappointed
last May. Public mem-
bers are supposed to
represent the interests of
New Yorkers at-large,
ensuring that state-
chartered banks meet
their commitments under
state law. She is one of
eight public members.
The bank boord' s duties
include ruling on
requests by banks to
Caroline Jones: Raising ethics concerns.
open or close branches and
monitoring their community re-
investment performance.
"A public member should not
be affected by or involved in
any banking business," says
State Sen. Franz Leichter, a
member of the Senate's banking
committee. "The idea of having
Community Service Society,
agrees, noting that in light of
the current bOnking crisis
regulators should be particularly
vigilant. "Anyone dealing with
bOnks should be super clean."
Jones failed to return
repeated calls from City Limits.
In December Caroline Jones
Advertising, Inc., announced
that it had won a contract from
Bankers Trust to create a
national advertising campaign
to recruit business school
graduates. The amount of the
contract was not dis-
closed.
A transcript from the
most recent bank boord
meeting is not yet
available. But Claire
Sykes, a spokesperson for
the state banking depart-
ment who was at the
meeting, cannot recall
Jones mentioning her
new relationship with
Bankers Trust. "Appar-
ently this arrangement
was discussed with the
state ethics boord," says
Sykes.
A source at the state
ethics boord does not
recall Jones asking if the
contract would be a
conAict of interest with
her duties as a bank
boord member. Accord-
ing to state conAict-of-
interest rules, though,
Jones is not prevented
from doing business with
the banks she regulates
because her state position is
only a part-time post.
Still, some banking critics like
John Kest of the Association of
Community Organizations for
Reform Now, which has chal-
lenged a number of bank
actions with regulators, remain
concerned. "It's absolutely a
1111000.
13
12
11
10
NYC Home.e .. Family Count
(In Shelter System)


7


4
a
2
1
o
o December 30, 1989
December 30, 1990
* Includes adults in special residences
4/FEBRUARY 1991/Cnv UMITS
T ....
.........
Source: NYC Human ResouJCes Administration
moral and ethical conAict. It puts
right out front what we've
believed goes on behind the
scenes," says Kest, referring to a
cozy relationship between
banks and regulators.
The bank board has long
been criticized for failing to
playa strong role in regulating
New York' s state-chartered
banks. "In all the years I' ve
been in the legislature I can't
say I've seen it play an aggres-
sive role," says Leichter.
Leichter also points out that
even if Jones recuses herself
from any votes concerning
Bankers Trust--one of the
largest banks chartered by the
state--her votes on other bonks
could affect Bankers Trust.
The Jones issue arises at the
some time the state banking
department has reduced its
scrutiny of some of the banks it
regulates. Instead of in-depth
reviews of their books, many
banks will now undergo what is
known as Tier 3 reviews in
which state officials will rely
heavily on the banks' own
reports and audits. Last month,
Crain's New York Business
reported that no clear rules exist
for which banks qualify for
these scaled-back reviews,
leaving the decision open to
political manipulation. 0 Doug
Turetsky
COOPER SQUARE
DEAL
More than 30 years after city
officials planned to bulldoze a
large part of the Cooper Square
neighborhood, the Dinkins ad-
ministration and the Cooper
Square Committee have signed
a historic agreement to build or
renovate nearly 1,000 apart-
ments and a community center.
"The benchmark of this
agreement is the city becoming
partners with a community
organization for community
revitalization," soys Department
of Housing Preservation and De-
velopment Assistant Commis-
sioner Kathleen Dunn, who
played a leading role in
finalizing the deal.
The agreement is the
culmination of a long struggle
by Cooper Sguare residents to
stop the city from demolishing
large numbers of city-owned
buildings in the area and
displacing many of its poor and
working class residents,
explains Zandile Sithole,
preservation coordinator for the
Cooper Square Committee. In
1959 the city designated the
Cooper Square community an
urban renewal area and
planned to raze many local
buildings.
There are several compo-
nents to the new $32.8 million
Cooper Square plan. One
component calls for the
renovation of 430 aportments in
30 occupied and vacant city-
owned buildings. These
apartments will be reserved for
low and moderate income
families and the buildings will
be owned and managed
collectively under the Cooper
Square Mutual Housing
Association. Another component
of the plan will create 560 new
apartments: 56 for low income
families earning less than
$19,000; 56 fOr moderate
income families earning up to
$32,000; 224 for families with
incomes up to $53,000; and
224 market rate units.
In addition, the plan calls for
the construction of a community
center that will include day-care
facilities, a gym, swimming
pool, and girl's club. The Liz
Christy Bowery/Houston
Garden, located on a city-
owned lot and long threatened
with destruction, will also be
preserved.
"It has been a major struggle
to get this agreement," says
Council Member Miriam
Friedlander, who's district
includes Cooper Square.
Friedlander recalls that the
community has struggled with
several mayoral administrations
to see the plan come to fruition.
In a City Hall ceremony to
sign the Memorandum of
Understanding for the Cooper
Square plan, Mayor David
Dinkins said, "It makes the best
of the resources available to us
and strengthens the already
strong social fabric of this
vibrant community."
With the city's cancellation
or postponement of the Tibbett
Gardens and Melrose Commons
projects-two self-contained,
middle income developments
that have faced strong local op-
position-the Dinkins admini-
stration may be signaling a new
approoch to community
revitalization.
"This [Cooper Square]
agreement is important because
if it can go through a lot of
other agreements can go
through," says Friedlander. 0
David Hatchett
BRONX BROUHAHA
Tenants in six Bronx
buildings are protesting the
city's decision to switch a
management contract from a
local nonprofit housing corpora-
tion to one of the borough's
largest for-profit management
companies.
Officials from the city's
housing department say that
excessive delays in rehabilita-
tion led them to withdraw their
contract from BUILD Inc. for a
number of buildings and
reassign the bolance of the
renovation work to Ralph
Langsam Associates, which runs
more than 150 properties in the
Bronx.
BUILD was named manager
of the buildings with the
eventual gool of turning them
over to tenant ownership.
Tenant leaders challenging the
management switch say tile use
of a for-profit mallager to
complete the renovation work
threatens this promise.
Five of the buildings involved
have submitted applications
with the city to instead enter the
Tenant Interim Lease program
(TIL) and one has applied to the
Community Management
Program (CMP). Both TIL and
CMP enable tenants to manage
their own building.
BUILD Inc., which stands for
Bronx United in Leveraging
Dollars, was created by the
NQrthwest Bronx Community
and Clergy Coolition. The
organization received a $7.2
million Private Ownership and
Management Program (POMP)
contract in 1988 to manage
and renovate 16 drug-plagued
apartment buildings in need of
major repairs.
Cooper Square proiect: A community plan moves forward.
Nearly three years later, nine
of the buildings are not
completely renovated. This past
summer BUILD leaders realized
that the money they received
from the housing department for
repairs-$15,000 per <:J'part-
ment-would not be sufficient.
They requested more m o n ~ y ,
but housing department officials
turned them down, and decided
to hand the management
responsibilities over to Langsam
Associates. Three of the
buildings decided to accept
Langsam as manager.
While tenants in most of the
buildings say they were
dissatisfied with BUILD's per-
formance, they also note that
they wish the housing depart-
ment had included tIlem in
decision-making regarding their
future. ''They weren't selling
alternatives to the tenants. They
were selling Ralph Langsam,"
says Delcine Stewart, a resident
of one of the buildings retaining
BUILD as manager.
Joon Wallstein, the director
of the Division of Alternative
Management Programs in the
housing department, maintains
that the switch is temporary and
at the end of renovations the
tenants will still have the option
to own their apartments.
'We've made a commitment to
the tenants .. . that at the end
they'd have the TIL option," says
Wallstein.
But Stewart says tenants are
skeptical about this promise
because it is not bocked up by a
binding legal contract. 'We
know if Langsam got in this
building, he'd buy it before we
even got a chance to," says
Patricia Bazemore, acting
president of the 2055 Davidson
Avenue Tenants Association.
Ralph Langsam Associates
has held 33 other POMP
contracts with the city and they
have bought all of these
buildings following the comple-
tion of city and state funded
renovations. When asked about
the company's intentions for
these nine buildings, Langsam
agent William Coughlin says
HPD asked them to manage the
buildings as a favor, noting, "1
have nothing to really gain
from this." Coughlin declares
that Langsam Associates would
only attempt to buy the build-
ings once the tenants had been
given first option. "1 w?uldn' t
want to end up managing a
house full of irate tenants," he
says.
As City Limits goes to press,
the housing department is
holding hearings on regula-
tions fOr the POMP program.
Tom Go!:lan, director of the
Union or City Tenants, says the
key issue is how much say
tenants will have over whether
they can take their buildings out
of POMP and into a tenant-
ownership program. City
Council Member Archie
Spigner, chairman of the
council's housing committee, is
also holding hearings on the
program. 0 Tracey Tully
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/5
By Karen R. Brown
Creative Advocacy
South Bronx People for Change combines feisty
activism and religious faith.
T
he South Bronx is internation-
ally renowned as an urban
wasteland, but for the people
who live in the area it is simply
home, a place to sleep, work, raise a
family and build a better future. At the
heart of this struggle is South Bronx
People for Change, a feisty church-
based community group that
aims to ensure dignity and
the South Bronx
and Its CItIzens.
The organization's most
recent success was the reo-
pening of Fire Engine Co. 41,
a turn-of the century firehouse
on 330 East 150th Street. As
well as letter-writing and
lawsuit-filing, People for
Change conducted nightly
prayer vigils in front of the
firehouse for 600 consecutive
days. They also demonstrated
at the fire commissioner's
house, held a 115th birthday
party for the firehouse and
constructed a mock graveyard
with tombstones memorializ-
ing South Bronx residents
killed in fires since the
firehouse's closing.
Mary Meade, a People for
Change member who helped
lead the protests, recalls, "We
spoke to everyone, and had 50
people at all the parades and
functions-the Firemen's
Ball, the Polaski Day parade,
the Columbus Day parade.
You name it, we were there.
We were right behind them
and we drove them crazy!"
strategies based on data from a South
Bronx needs survey compiled from
door-knocking at 1,500 apartments.
The scope of this activity suggests
a sizeable staff and office space but
the organization's headquarters at 603
Morris Avenue in the Christopher
Court housing complex consists of
Ramirez views the small space and
loose organizational structure as
central to the group's philosophy. "We
don't go out and do organizing like
other groups," she says, explaining
that the core of People for Change's
work takes place within eight church-
based social action groups. Church
members within these groups deter-
mine which issues to organize around,
and how the organizing should be
done. People for Change staff mem-
bers oversee up to three campaigns
each, but their primary function is
nurturing local leaders who can even-
tually work on their own.
Belief in God
The starting point for this
organizing method is a
straightforward belief in God.
"Faith has always been the
foundation upon which we
build our political skills,"
states Ramirez. People for
Change is an ecumenical
organization that includes
Catholics, Methodists, Epis-
copalians and Baptists. As
Ramirez puts it, "All are re-
ligious people ... who believe
God is on our side to change
the South Bronx, and with-
out God, we can go nowhere."
People For Change mem-
bers say that faith combined
with "power analysis" and
social action is behind all their
activities. Power analysis is
provided by a week-long
training seminar that focuses
on how institutions can ei-
ther oppress or empower
people. Social action skills
are also taught at the semi-
nar-how to prioritize issues,
negotiate with public officials
and interact with the media.
Over the years South Bronx
People for Change members
have organized a wide array
of creative campaigns to im-
Semng the South Bronx: From left to right, Ana Collado, Michele
Stein, Odalys Diaz, Blanca Ramirez.
One People for Change ac-
tivity that exemplifies their
unique melding of religious
and political elements is the
Way of the Cross for the South
prove their eight local neighborhoods.
There have been sit-ins to save build-
ings from demolition; protests to
demand improved postal service;
tenant organizing in city-owned build-
ings; as well as petitions and commit-
tees demanding more police on foot
patrol to fight drugs and better street
lighting on a main street in Hunts
Point, to name just a few efforts. One
of their current projects is planning
6/FEBRUARY 1991/Crrv UMITS
just two small rooms, one computer,
three phones and bursting rolodexes.
Hand-written signs offer tips for sur-
viving hectic organizing sessions:
"Call a 10-minute break when brains
turn to mush" and "Get out of New
York for two days." Four staff mem-
bers work from this space: Ana Col-
lado, Odalys Diaz, Michele Stein and
Blanca Ramirez, director of People for
Change since 1985.
Bronx, a march in which each
station of Christ's journey on the Via
Doloroso is associated with a problem
in the South Bronx. For example, at
the point in the ceremony in which
Jesus is said to be stripped of his
clothes, the march's leader draws an
analogy to the denial of basic govern-
mental services. The event is ex-
tremely popular, says Ramirez. "We
can easily get 400 people to walk with
us and sing."
Out of the Ashes
South Bronx People for Change
emerged in the 1970s when church-
workers and members from the South
Bronx Catholic Association met to try
and save the community from the
ravages of arson and abandonment.
The organization was formally
founded in 1979 with the strong sup-
port of then Vicar of the South Bronx,
Father Neil Connolly. Connolly re-
cruited three Jesuits-the late Mar-
jorie Tuite, Harry Fagin and Larry
Gorman-with the goal of developing
local leadership.
As social action groups train new
leaders, this goal is constantly being
met and and South Bronx People for
Change continues to move forward.
One of their greatest challenges is
ensuring community involvement in
the rehabilitation of 722 units of low
income housing in the Highbridge
section. The apartments are located
in 23 city-owned buildings that were
slated for demolition by the housing
department in the late 1970s. Back
then, People for Change fought the
city and saved the buildings from the
wrecker's ball.
The new housing is being funded
by the city and overseen by the Arch-
diocese of New York and the Highbr-
idge Community Housing Develop-
ment Fund. South Bronx People for
Change is the local sponsor, a vaguely-
defined role that usually involves
providing general community cheer-
leading. When People for Change was
first named as sponsor, Ramirez was
excited about participating in the
bricks-and-mortar rebuilding of the
community. These days, some of her
enthusiasm has dimmed and she's the
first to admit that working side-by-
side with the city and a housing de-
velopment organization creates nu-
merous tensions.
Not surprisingl y, People for Change
has pushed the traditional bounda-
ries of the sponsor relationship, de-
manding increased child care and the
hiring of more local workers to do
construction. Regardless of bureau-
cratic and budgetary constraints,
Ramirez remains firmly committed to
her vision of developments planned
and created by South Bronx residents.
As she underscores, "We stand for
having the community meaningfully
participate in all decisions affecting
their future. " 0
A researcherat the Families and Work
Institute in Manhattan, Karen R.
Brown is a freelance writer interested
in housing issues.
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H
OF THE
TV
Busted walls, broken boilers and bad landlords.
BY LISA GLAZER AND
MARGARET MITTELBACH
W
hile researching candidates for this year's
roster of reprehensible landlords, we came
across a few very familiar names-some of
the exact same landlords we wrote about
last year! Even when landlords incur 'the
wrath of city, state and federal officials (not
to mention media infamy) they can still conduct business
as usual.
Much of the blame for this situation lies with the insti-
tutions that attempt to enforce the city and state housing
laws. All too often these bureaucracies are so overwhelmed
and inefficient that they've become a key part of the
problems they were created to solve.
One of the most obvious culprits is housing court. On
any day of the week, a visitor can see slipshod justice at
work in the court's dingy, depressing hallways. With just
30 judges and more than 300,000 cases annually, there's
little time for thorough review of intricate disputes.
But an overworked court is only part of the problem.
The legal system has many avenues for delay, which
means that landlords with shrewd lawyers can drag out
cases interminably. Tenants, who rarely have attorneys,
often continue to pay the rent while living in ramshackle
buildings and it can take months or even years before fines
or jail terms are imposed on negligent owners.
The results can be seen in the stories that follow. All too
often, tenants have to use their own money to mend
broken ceilings and crumbling walls and provide their
own warmth through the winter with electric heaters or
gas stoves. In a city with a perennial housing crisis and a
housing bureaucracy out of control, they must simply
make do on their own.
Sabharwal the Slumlord
P
ritipall Sabharwal is an elusive individual, a man
who owns a number of New York real estate corpo-
rations and businesses but always seems to be over-
seas. But tenants in his buildings have no problem
describing his identity-Slumlord.
8/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
Originally from India, Sabharwal drives a red Jaguar
and lives in an imposing stone mansion in the leafy New
York suburb of New Rochelle. He and his relatives and as-
sociates own at least 12 buildings, mainly in the desolate
East New York section of Brooklyn, and most of them are
in a chronic state of disrepair, with broken windows, holes
in the walls and intermittent heat and hot water.
The majority of the tenants in these buildings are poor
and working class African-Americans and Latinos, and
they often have to use their own money to purchase appli-
ances' repair broken ceilings and even secure locks on
their front doors. "He is really the worst large landlord I've
ever seen," says Jim Provost from Brooklyn Legal Services.
"It seems to me he thinks he is invulnerable. The unique
thing is his total disregard for the law."
For his crimes as a landlord at 888 Belmont Avenue, a
two-story house that had 44 housing code violations, in-
cluding no heat and hot water for 99 days, Sabharwal was
fined more than $60,000 last year by Judge Margaret Tay-
lor, who also sentenced him and his managing agent,
Sukhdev Singh, to jail. Singh spent one day in the Bronx
House of Detention but Sabharwal-who never appeared
in court-was a fugitive from justice for months. It wasn't
until the Westchester sheriff seized and sold his second
car, a white Mercedez-Benz, and the housing department
started proceedings to take control of his $735,000 man-
sion that Sabharwal paid his fine and started to make
repairs. To this day he has never met face to face with the
legal services or housing department lawyers working on
this case. "In my view this is one of the true outlaw land-
lords," notes Richard Wagner, supervising attorney from
Brooklyn Legal Services.
The saga of 888 Belmont still isn't over. Another one of
Sabharwal's employees, Barrington Chong, was recently
indicted for intimidating one of the witnesses living there
and offering her money to recant her court testimony
about poor conditions in the building. If Chong is found
guilty, he faces up to four years in jail.
The litigation at 888 Belmont has led to tangible im-
provements-there are now just 12 housing code viola-
tions in the building, which is how Sabharwal eventually
managed to avoid spending time in jail. However, none of
the original tenants still live there. According to Wagner
from Brooklyn Legal Services, the landlord harassed the
)
tenants out of the building. After the court
case, Sabharwal wrote a letter accusing one of
the tenants of defrauding welfare-and sent it
to the Human Resources Administration as
well as the police and the C.I.A. And in a
sworn affidavit, Adelaida Rivera gives a chill-
ing account of how Sabharwal made it clear
that he wanted her neighbors out of the building. Accord-
ing to the affadavit, a local drug dealer was paid to kick
down the door and order them out.
The city's housing department is currently battling
with Sabharwal over conditions in a string of six dilapi-
dated buildings-116 and 120 Van Siclen, 325 Jerome
Street, 750 Glenmore, 324 Bradford and 869 Liberty
Avenue. The landlord recently agreed to pay a fine of
$70,000 and ifhe doesn' t pay up he could be liable for $4.8
million. There are currently more than 650 housing code
violations in the buildings and if he doesn't fix them, he
faces hefty fines. The city has spent more than $10,000
making emergency repairs to these buildings.
City Limits recently visited a number of Sabharwal
buildings and each one was shamefully maintained. At
750 Glenmore Avenue, a three-story brick building, the
front door lacked locks and an intercom. The living room
in Dominica and Carlos Rivas' second floor apartment was
cozy-but only because a gas stove provided heat. In a side
room, where the couple's daughters were sleeping, the air
was frigid. For the last two months, the family of five has
stopped paying their $600 rent. "We don't like to owe
money but we're not going to pay-there's no heat in this
house," says Dominica Rivas, speaking in Spanish.
A neighbor, Phyllis Stovell, has tried to mend a broken
window by covering it with thick plastic and done her
own makeshift plumbing job beneath her sink. But she's
no electrician and has to use a flashlight to show a visitor
to the bathroom, which has no light socket. A widow with
three children, Stovell works for a bus company to support
her family. She struggles to make ends meet as her utility
bill goes up and up. "I have to keep the oven on to keep
warm," she says. "We haven't had any heat since the
winter began. "
Next door, at 752 Glenmore Avenue, two young couples
Architec:lural digest: Landlord Pritipall Sabharwal lives in
a Westchester mansion. His East New York tenants
endure broken doors. holes in the walls and intermit-
tent heat and hot water.
are sharing an upstairs apartment. One new-
born baby lives in the apartment and another
is on the way. In one bedroom, the windows
are covered with peach satin curtains trimmed
with white lace and the baby lies on a soft
coverlet atop a double bed. Above the baby,
the tile ceiling is on the verge of collapse.
Downstairs, the Martinez family complains of
intermittent heat and hot water and display
broken ceilings they've repaired themselves with heavy
brown cardboard and duct tape. In recent months, they've
been unsure who to complain to-a savings and loan has
taken control of the building because mortgage payments
weren't made.
Not far away at 853 Glenmore, a two-story home, Doris
Wynder's apartment has cracked plaster, a rotting wood
floor and a moldy ceiling. "You get nowhere when you
complain," she says. "Sabharwal ' s leaving the country
every other month." A few doors down, another Sabhar-
wal property, 870 Glenmore, has a steady line of cars
stopping in front. Speaking in hushed tones, neighbors
say the building is "hot" and police from the local precinct
confirm these observations. When asked about the build-
ing, Sargeant Patrick Marshall from the 75th Police Pre-
cinct gives a weary laugh. "In the past month we' ve made
25 arrests in and around that location for narcotics viola-
tions," he says. "The activity centers on that building."
When tenants in some buildings complain about condi-
tions, they are told that the landlord is short of cash
because rents in the building don't cover the costs of
upkeep. But for someone who is meant to be having hard
times , Sabharwal can be generous: In recent years he
donated a total of$2,564 to the New York State Republican
Party. (Sabharwal seems to be a keen supporter of the
G.O.P-he once put off a court hearing because he had to
go to Washington for a "Republican convention.")
As well as real estate, Sabharwal also has another
enterprise: hair oil. Known as "Miracle Goodbye Bald-
ness, Inc., " the company is based at 40 Brewster Terrace--
Sabharwal's home address. An advertisement placed in
the October 31 edition of the New York Post promises that
the hair oil is "the long awaited method for luxurious,
thicker and healthier hair." City Limits made numerous
calls to try and order a vial of the elixir, but messages were
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/9
not returned.
Very little is known about Sabharwal, but some sense of
his character can be gleaned by reading a letter he wrote in
April 1990 to Judge Taylor. Referring to the judge as
"Hon'ble Her Highness," he begs for sympathy by explain-
ing, "In case I am in Jail for one night, my entire family will
be ruined. I have grown up daughter of marriagble [sic] age
whose life would also be equally jeopardized .. .! beg your
honor with FOLDED HANDS to pardon me."
When City Limits tried to visit Sabharwal at his West-
chester home, a woman, speaking through an intercom,
said he was out of town. His lawyer, John Pelosi, refused
to comment. Numerous calls to Sabharwal's Queens office
eventually led to a brief interview with Allen Sony, the
director of the hair oil company. Sony said Sabharwal was
selling most of his buildings and was in India attending
his mother's funeral. He added that Sabharwal was recently
diagnosed with "blood cancer," caused by "harassment by
public aid attornies."
Obstfeld's Obstinacy
B
y her own account, landlady Regina Obstfeld is a
poor old woman, an Auschwitz concentration camp
survivor who can barely eke out a living thanks to
tenants who wreck apartments in the Brooklyn
buildings she owns. She makes frequent appearances in
Brooklyn's housing court, where she is fond of asking
rhetorically, "Why are you trying to hurt me?"
But even a cursory look at Obstfeld's buildings reveals
a dramatically different picture. Obstfeld, along with her
husband Leib, owns a dozen buildings, with five currently
involved in court cases with the city. Yet, when brought
into housing court by tenants and attorneys for violations
of the housing code and repeated disregard for court
orders to make repairs, the petite, white-haired Obstfeld
meekly tells the court that conditions in her buildings are
just fine.
A pre-Christmas visit to 544 Hemlock Street, however,
uncovered the true level of care and maintenance that
Regina Obstfeld affords her tenants. In the same building
where she had claimed only hours earlier in court that
conditions were up to par, City Limits found crack vials
and beer bottles littering the stairs to the roof and a dead
mouse-repeatedly stepped on-decomposing on a lower
landing. The building'S "backyard" was crammed with
old garbage and reeked so strongly of human urine and
feces that the stench permeated the inner stairwell.
A look inside the apartments of 544 Hemlock Street
showed the derelict conditions continuing unabated. In
apartment 22, two-year-old Raymond Morales slept as his
mother, Carmen, pointed out the lead paint chips peeling
off her living room's baseboards. "Sometimes I come in
and the baby's peeling them off and putting them in his
mouth," she says. "Mrs. Obstfeld said the painters were
supposed to come by, but they never did."
In other apartments in this East New York walk-up,
problems range from faulty electric wiring to leaking
ceilings to gaping holes in walls. Although Obstfeld signed
an agreement in court with tenants on May 22 to correct 60
violations, including eight the city classifies as immedi-
10/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
ately hazardous, many remain uncorrected. City officials
filed a separate suit against Obstfeld, and she signed a
court agreement to correct 317 housing code violations
throughout the building. But she failed to follow through
and on December 5 she signed a second agreement, prom-
ising to make emergency repairs and provide much needed
heat and hot water. A city inspection following this
second agreement reveals that Obstfeld fixed 120 viola-
tions-but there are still 394 violations, including 37 new
ones.
In an interview, Obstfeld denies responsibility for the
problems in the building. She claims she makes repairs
"over and over again" and that her tenants are "just
careless." She says, "The violations aren't created by me
or by my super but by my tenants." And she insists that
any lead paint violations are taken care of in just two or
three days.
Yet Obstfeld's record of violations seems rather persis-
tent. Along with the Hemlock Street building, city offi-
cials are suing Obstfeld for a total of nearly 700 housing
code violations that could lead to civil penalties of up to
$160,000. She is also facing contempt charges for alleg-
edly failing to make repairs at 315 68th Street and is facing
$20,000 in fines. The case is now awaiting a decision by
housing court judge Gerald Bank. An additional contempt
case against Obstfeld for failing to make court-ordered
repairs at 1397 East 2nd Street was supposed to come
before Judge Bank but the court has somehow lost the file
and it has yet to be found.
"We're tired of her games," says Evelyn Ramos, a tenant
at 544 Hemlock. "She lives in the court room. Every judge
knows her and she's always given some kind of exten-
sion."
But landlord-tenant court is not the only arena where
Obstfeld has proven her obstinacy. After four and half
years of legal acrobatics, she was found guilty of aiscrimi-
nation by the city's Human Rights Commission in June
1989.
This verdict stemmed from an incident in 1984 when
Edwin Negron, a city-employee of Puerto Rican descent,
expressed interest in renting an apartment in Obstfeld's
building at 8224 Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst. She sug-
gested he look at another one of her buildings, 1501 East
10th Street in Flatbush, which turned out to be a graffiti-
smeared, ramshackle hole, where many occupants were
minorities.
Negron turned down this offer and signed a lease for the
apartment in the Bensonhurst building and gave Obstfeld
a check for $700 as a deposit. But two days later she told
him she couldn't rent him the apartment after all because
of an "emergency in the family." A few weeks later, the
apartment on which Negron held the lease was rented to
a Russian-Jewish couple.
Despite the decision, Obstfeld continues to declare her
innocence and insists she simply didn't think Negron
could afford the rent. "In my life I was always fighting for
human rights," she says.
Although Negron was ultimately awarded $10,000 in
damages by the city's Human Rights Commission, Ob-
stfeld has refused to pay up.
"Her modus operandi is to drag things out. She's quite
willing to go to court," explains Roy Pingel, a human
rights specialist for the city who has worked on both
discrimination and housing cases involving Obstfeld.
"After a while, tenants get tired of fighting."
Nick's Knack
V
irginia Guzman is one of the last tenants
remaining in a small South Bronx walk-
up. Her rent is just a little over $300, and
in New York, that may not sound like
much. Then again, she doesn't have a kitchen or
bathroom-the landlord demolished them.
For Guzman, landlord Nicholas Chimienti's
promise of an all-new kitchen in her railroad
apartment at 342 E. 148th Street turned into a
three-month-long nightmare, with no stove, toi-
let or shower. While her kitchen was merely
stripped of utilities, her bathroom was trans-
formed into a dank skeleton of exposed beams.
Guzman needed a court order to get Chimienti's
construction crews moving again.
Although Guzman's situation may seem
unusual, she is not alone. Chimienti has allowed
a number of his 51 buildings to fall into virtual
ruin, and in some cases, paved the road to ruin '
himself by beginning major renovations and
then stopping in the middle-often for months at
a time.
The excuse that tenants say Chimienti usually
gives is that he has temporarily run out of
money-which may, in fact, be the case since
two of his buildings were briefly taken over by
the city for failure to pay property taxes last year.
Still, Chimienti claims he has never been over-
extended. His favorite line, according to tenants,
remains, "I'll take care of it."
.'.
, ~
Adopting a work-a-day attitude, Chimienti
usually sports flannel shirts and jeans rather Debris from above: The ceiling in this bathroom at Nicholas Chimienti's 2645 Morris
than suits and ties. More often than not, he Avenue has been crumbling for months.
represents himself in court proceedings-of
which there are many. Nearly a third of Chimienti's
buildings are involved in litigation with the city because
of extensive housing code violations.
As for his promises to tenants to "take care of it,"
according to the most recent city records available, there
are a whopping 9,688 housing code violations at
Chimienti's properties, with one 48-unit building, 1146
Ogden Avenue, winning the prize for decrepitude with
904 violations.
In an interview, Chimienti disregards such facts as
evidence of bad landlording. "If you have a hole in your
blouse and you don't fix it for three weeks, does that make
you a slob?" Chimienti asks rhetorically. "Does that make
you a bad person?"
The fate that has befallen the tenants of his two Harlem
buildings may be Chimienti's most stunning escapade to
date. Conditions were so bad in his 21-unit building at
238-240 E. 106th Street that the five remaining tenants
petitioned the city to install a court-appointed administra-
tor to manage the building and fix the 303 housing code
violations. To fend off this action, Chimienti argued that
the tenants should be temporarily relocated because the
roof of the building was threatening to collapse.
First he offered to put the tenants up at his building
around the corner, 251 E. 105thStreet, a partially boarded-
up tenement with 205 housing code violations. When the
tenants, with the advice of attorneys from the Community
Law Office, turned down this offer, Chimienti agreed to
pay to have them housed for three months in another
property owner's unsold condos across the street-just
until he could finish the needed repairs in their building
and they could move back in. That was nine months ago.
To date, the repairs at 238-240 E. 106th Street have not
been completed, and Chimienti has stopped paying the
tenants' rent at the neighboring condos. All five now face
eviction, with rents more than twice as high as they paid
Chimienti.
Chimienti says the repairs have stopped at 238-240 E.
106th Street because his contractor defaulted. "We're all
stuck in a dilemma," he says of the situation involving the
unfinished repairs and the five tenants who can't afford
rent at the condos. "I offered to move the tenants to my
other buildings, but we have these liberal legal aid socie-
ties. They think we're all Dracula landlords."
Tenant advocates say Chimienti was one of the first
investors on the scene when the Bronx property market
began to boom in the early 1980s and speculation was
rampant. Chimienti, himself, boasts he made a good profit
from the real estate upsurge. Toward the end of the
decade, though, he ultimately bought some of the borough's
worst buildings with the hope of turning them around-
perhaps for quick cash. What turned around, however,
was the market. And the bust has left Chimienti with
several properties desperately in need of repair.
One such building is 2645 Morris A venue in the Bronx,
which he purchased in 1986 and then obtained a Federal
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/11
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation loan-ostensibly to pay
for renovations. But Chimienti now faces contempt charges
for his alleged failure to fully comply with court-ordered
repairs.
"We're living like absolute animals," says tenant leader
Irene Baldwin. Last June, city inspectors found 56 "C"
violations-conditions city law requires repaired within
24 hours-and as of August Chimienti owed more than
$6,000 to the city for emergency repairs made at Morris
Avenue. One of the more glaring violations is in apartment
3F, where a gaping three-foot-wide hole in the ceiling
hovers over the bathtub. Tenant Joyce Bhuggoo says that
for three months she, her husband and three children have
been unable to take a shower in their home.
When asked to comment generally about poor condi-
tions in some of his buildings, Chimienti says he tries to
make timely repairs, adding that he became a landlord as
a way to give something back to the community. He notes
that when he bought the two East Harlem buildings, both
were filled with drug dealers he has since forced out.
"With all good conscience, I really don't feel I'm a neglect-
ful individual," he says. "I cherish human life. If a boiler
breaks down, I get down there myself and fix it. If you
think you can do a better job [at 2645 Morris Avenue],
here, take the deed. I'll make you all heroes."
Doctor of Despair
O
nce a relatively quiet, working-class building in
predominantly Spanish-speaking Washington
Heights, 551 W. 175th Street is a scary place to live.
And it's been that way ever since Dr. Anil Agarwal
became the landlord four years ago.
The Manhattan North Narcotics Unit has made numer-
ous arrests in the building since Agarwal bought it and the
Manhattan district attorney's office has brought four cases
to court t6 kick out crack-dealing tenants. Although an
"advertisement" splattered in graffiti across the building's
lobby, "se venda cocaina aqui" sold here) was
recently painted over, tenants say drugs are still readily
available.
But none of these doings seem to concern Dr. Agarwal,
who, according to what's known as the Bawdy House Law,
is responsible for stopping-or helping authorities stop-
the drug business in his building. Instead, tenants and at-
torneys say Agarwal is happy to accept rent from anyone
who pays in cash.
"He's one of the absolute worst landlords I've ever dealt
with," says Kenneth Rosenfeld, the director oflegal serv-
ices for the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corpora-
tion. "This idea of putting drug dealers into the building
is disgusting."
Fearing their drug-dealing neighbors, none of the ten-
ants City Limits spoke to wanted to be quoted by name.
"I've lived here for 10 years and everything was okay
before Agarwal-Agarwal gives us a hard time. He doesn't
give us anything," says one woman tenant. "It's dangerous
here. I'm afraid for my little girl."
Dr. Agarwal's phone number is not listed and repeated
calls by City Limits to his attorney were not returned.
While families in the six-story walk-up try to steer their
kids clear of the dealers and work with the police to elimi-
nate the drug trafficking right outside their doors, Dr.
12/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
Fast -= Landlord Ani! Agarwal makes haste to avoid being photo-
graphed in housing court.
Agarwal has busied himself with other concerns, namely
squeezing as much profit out of his two Washington
Heights buildings as he can. Although Agarwal is not
known for making repairs in his buildings, he is famous
for leaving his signature mark: the empty space where the
boiler used tobe.
Rather than simply providing central heating as the law
requires, the doctor has deduced that ifhe installs individ-
ual boilers in each apartment, tenants will have to pay for
their own heat and hot water. So, while ignoring the 336
housing code violations, including 55 classified as imme-
diately hazardous by city inspectors, Agarwal's workmen
began laying pipes and measuring baseboards for these
individual heating systems.
According to local housing law, a landlord can only
remove a central heating system and replace it with indi-
vidual units if a building is being converted, substantially
rehabilitated or completely vacated. And this replace-
ment can only be done with the approval of the city's
buildings department.
Although Dr. Agarwal was ultimately stopped from
completing his project on 175th Street, he managed to fin-
ish the job at 945 St. Nicholas Avenue. Agarwal had the
boiler removed and installed electric heating units in each
of 22 apartments. According to their attorneys, tenants'
electric bills jumped by as much as $200 amonth. Housing
court judge Jerald R. Klein signed an order last month that
the installation of the new systems was illegal and that the
boiler would have to be replaced. He also ruled that the
tenants be given a rent abatement to compensate for the
increased utility bills.
In 1989, Agarwal was taken to court by a group of his
tenants from drug-infested 551 W. 175th Street-includ-
ing one woman who is now in protective custody after her
life was threatened by the drug dealers-for failing to
correct hundreds of violations. According to court rec-
ords, conditions had gotten so bad that tenants went
without hot water for weeks at a time. As well as holes in
floors, walls, and ceilings in apartments throughout the
building, the bathroom ceiling in one unit had completely
collapsed. Most of the window frames were rotting out,
and shoddy repairs had left the walls of some apartments
looking like patchwork quilts.
Agarwal signed an agreement with the city and the
tenants in August 1989 saying that he would hire a court-
approved manager to oversee repairs and collect rents. He
agreed to rent abatements for at least three months and to
stay away from the building. He also agreed that if the rent
roll could not cover all the needed repairs, he would
provide the manager with up to $15,000.
Despite the intimidating drug activity, the manager
installed new windows in several apartments, got the heat
and hot water functioning and worked with police to
remove some of the drug dealers from the premises. But
instead of paying the repair money, in April of 1990
Agarwal filed for bankruptcy, claiming that he could not
afford to pay for any of the needed repairs. He and his
attorneys further requested that the city's legal action
against him be dropped.
This request was denied, but relief for the tenants has
still not arrived. The Agarwal case has dragged on in court
for close to three years, and the doctor now faces contempt
charges as well as thousands of dollars in civil penalties
for violating the court order. Fortunately-for Agarwal-
he is represented by some of the shrewdest landlord
advocates in New York.
A small, nervous man with a penchant for handwring-
ing, Agarwal is an active participant in the Small Property
Owners of New York (SPONY), a group dedicated to
upholding and expanding the rights of the city's "small"
landlords. In court, he is usually represented by other
members of the SPONY cabal, such as Harry Greenbaum,
himself a member of this year's City Limits landlord roll of
shame.
For the doctor of despair, it's fitting company.
Lord of the Low Life
T
ran Dinh Truong seems to prosper in strange and
seedy environments. A shipping magnate in pre-
Communist Saigon, he provided supplies to the
Americans in South Vietnam then departed with
two suitcases filled with gold and rumors of a CIA connec-
tion. Today he owns residential hotels, mostly in the
sleazy Times Square section of Manhattan.
The owner of the Kenmore, Carter and Longacre hotels,
and the one-time manager of the infamous Times Square
Hotel, Tran has made a significant contribution to New
York City's low life. Most of his hotels have at some point
been rife with filth, drug dealing and prostitution. Those
who have suffered amid these conditions include some of
the most vulnerable members of society: homeless fami-
lies, the mentally ill and elderly men and women. "The
record here is shameful. A trail of misery follows all his
operations," says Steven Banks, a homeless advocate from
the Legal Aid Society.
Tran's assistant, La Tran, counters that his boss tries to
run reputable establishments and can't stop people from
the periphery of society from staying inside. He says
homeless families are "very difficult to control" and
portrays Tran as a hardworking and honest gentleman
who has been targeted for harassment by city officials and
inspectors. "We consider ourselves the victims," he says.
A review of recent history suggests otherwise. One of
the most egregious examples of Tran's landlording took
place at the Times Square Hotel, which he ran for 14
months between December 1988 and January 1990. The
hotel's owner went broke and Tran told a federal bank-
ruptcy judge he had the financial ability to manage and
eventually purchase the property. Despite the vocal pro-
tests of city officials and homeless advocates, Tran was
given interim control of the building-and a worst case
scenario soon unfolded.
As the city failed in its attempt to close down the
welfare hotels, the number of homeless families placed in
the Times Square leaped from just 12 to more than 200.
Tran received up to $2,640 a month for each squalid room,
even though at one point the hotel had more than 1,100
housing code violations, including dangerously high levels
of lead paint, which can lead to brain damage in young
children.
For homeless families as well as the numerous longtime
tenants who live in cramped rooms and share communal
bathrooms, Tran's management made its mark on every
aspect of their lives. According to a report by an independ-
ent examiner appointed by the bankruptcy court, mainte-
nance staff at the hotel was reduced from 59 to 22 and
linen cleaning and bathroom-washing declined dramati-
call y. Garbage sometimes festered for up to a month before
being picked up and numerous suspicious fires were
reported. Much worse, the examiner reported frequent
gunshot firings as well as the sale and use of crack in full
view of young children.
One longtime resident, Laura Engle, looks back at the
time and says, "It was an act of courage to come home from
work." The independent examiner even noted persistent
rumors that the hotel's basement was being used for illegal
arms dealing.
La concedes that security was lax at the Times Square
but counters that Tran spent more than $1 million upgrad-
ing the hotel. He blames most of the problems on the
homeless families that were staying there: "They stand
around all day, breaking doors, stealing from people, we
cannot control them."
After extensive legal wrangling, the city took control of
the Times Square and in recent months a previous owner
has restored it to civility-the lobby is quiet and two
security guards request identification from visitors. A
similar city action may take place at another one ofTran's
hotels, the Longacre at 317 W. 45th Street. Builtin 1920by
financier Vincent Astor, the building was for many years
a women's residence, a safe haven for students, career
women, elderly ladies and weekend visitors. These days
the hotel admits not only men, but just about anyone off
the streets.
Drug dealing in the hotel became so pervasive that the
city's Office of Midtown Enforcement recently filed a
lawsuit to try and wrest control of the building from Tran.
Court papers note that in just 10 months, the police made
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/13
15 arrests in the build-
ing and confiscated
more than 600 vials
of crack. Shirley Peck,
a tenant activist who
has lived in the build-
ing since 1979, says,
"We used to sleep
with our doors open
and come out in the
hallways in our paja-
mas. Then it got so it
was unsafe to go to
the bathroom." Since
the lawsuit was filed,
drug activity in the
building has cooled
Tran's first hotel
purchase was the
Opera Hotel on the
Upper West Side.
Ruben Englard, a
senior attorney from
MFY Legal Services,
recalls that back in
1978 so many poor
tenants were locked
out of their rooms
that the office filed a
If) lawsuit on their be-
~ half, which they
Ii won. "It seemed to
~ me that he felt he
~ could do whatever he
down, but tenants Drvgoverdose: Shirley Peck surrounded by bags of crack vials, pipes and other
who patrol the hall- paraphernalia collected at Tran Dinh Truong's Longacre Hotel.
wanted regardless of
the law," says
Englard. ways say there's still
a swift prostitution business being conducted through the
night. La vehemently denies this charge.
Other Tran problems are less obvious. One Longacre
tenant, Debra Deal, was paying $45 a day-$l,350 a
month-for a room she shared with a friend. After she
challenged the rent, state housing officials decided she
was overcharged and the owner of the Longacre was
ordered to pay her a whopping $83,612. (The decision is
currently being appealed.)
Three smaller overcharge cases have been won at an-
other one of Tran's hotels, the Kenmore at 145 E. 23rd
Street. Like the rest of Tran's properties, the 22-story
building with 621 rooms is hardly a paragon of cleanliness
and safety. On a recent visit, an elderly bag lady slept in
the corner of the lounge area on a ripped vinyl chair while
teenage boys with glazed eyes roamed the hallway. The
stench of excrement from the first floor men's bathroom
filled the air.
Alan Ainsworth, an 83-year-old who survives on a
veteran's pension, regularly walks up six flights of stairs
to his room because few of the hotel's elevators work. The
city is currently battling Tran in criminal court to try and
force him to fix a slew of fire safety and elevator violations.
"It's rather unusual for us to go to court but here the
violations keep going on and on and on," says Vahe
Tiryakian, a spokesperson for the city's Department of
Buildings. A June inspection report filed by the city's
housing department notes more than 100 housing code
violations.
The other hotel that Tran owns, the Carter on West43rd
Street, seems quiet in comparison to his other properties.
Today it is a moderately-priced tourist hotel with a glitzy
front lobby but in the early 1980s it was a shambles.
Hundreds of homeless families were placed in the build-
ing and maintenance declined so steeply that one judge
noted, "There is no excuse for keeping families in places
of crumbling plaster where filth is the watchword of the
day and the vermin outnumber the humans." The city
took Tran to court when he failed to correct 333 outstand-
ing violations and he ended up paying a fine of$10,OOO for
114 of those violations. The bar in the hotel, the Rose of
Saigon, was also shut down by the police because it was
a den of drug dealing and vice. The hotel was eventually
restored to order, but it is not known if any permanent
tenants remain.
14/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
This attitude seems to continue. The independent
examiner at the Times Square found numerous irregulari-
ties in the way the hotel's finances were reported. One of
Tran's managers, Tariq Pervez, pleaded guilty to attempted
bribery in May 1990 after being charged with offering an
undercover investigator $300 to overlook fire safety viola-
tions. Bac Tran, Tran's son, was found guilty last month of
two separate charges of bribery-on one occasion he
slipped $310 to buildings department inspectors and on
another occasion he gave one of his employees $100 for an
undercover investigator at the Longacre. He now faces up
to seven years in jail.
Handing out money or gifts to certain individuals may
just be one of Tran's attributes-in 1989 the landlord took
Daily News reporter Tom Robbins (now on strike) out to
lunch at Windows on the World. During the course of their
buffet meal, he offered the investigative journalist dinner
at Tavern on the Green, a trip to Florida and a lifetime
parking place under one of his midtown hotels!
Needless to say, Tran did not attempt to bestow any
favors on the staff of City Limits. Despite repeated re-
quests, he refused to even be interviewed. His associate,
La Tran, would not comment on rumors that Tran has
connections to the CIA but did describe his employer's
beginnings in the United States. "I know him from the first
day he purchased the hotel," says La. "He worked 16 to 18
hour days picking up garbage. Back home he had a butler,
two to three cars, he never had to do that kind of work. He
is honest, smart and very hardworking. He even contrib-
uted two helicoptors to charity to help starving people in
Ethiopia!"
Tran's generosity is impressive but misplaced. If he's
interested in charity, why not start at home?
The Grinch That Froze Christmas
F
or most people, Christmas is the season of generos-
ity. But for Abdul El Taieb, the owner of apartments
in fast-gentrifying Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, it might
as well be called the season of stinginess. His tenants
spent the holiday without heat or hot water.
Here's the story behind this Christmas nightmare: When
a decrepit 50-year-old boiler serving six neighboring build-
ings on the corner of Nevins and Bergen streets was re-
moved on November 7,
the tenants ended up
without any heat or hot
water for more than a
month. Some tenants re-
corded temperatures as
low as 15 degrees inside
their apartments, and one
elderly woman even re-
sorted to heating her bed-
room with a hot brick that
she had warmed up in
her apartment's oven.
When asked in court
to explain the lack of he at,
El Taieb-an immigrant
from 'Yemen who also
owns a travel agency-
said he was in the process
ofinstalling six mini -boil-
ers, one for each small
building.
asked." He adds, "The buildings have been separated
since they were built, and the only thing they had in
common was the boiler." El Taieb, who bought the six
buildings as a unit but has separate mortgages for
each, says he wants to eventually sell them sepa-
rately.
Even as the travel agent cum landlord asks for
higher rents, tenants say conditions in the build-
ing remain deplorable. There are serious problems
throughout the buildings and a recent visit found
broken bannisters held together by duct tape, tin
ceilings corroded by leaks in the roof and stair-
ways so off-kilter that they resembled conditions
on an earthquake fault line.
Although El Taieb says he does "all the repairs
all the time," he still faces criminal and civil con-
tempt charges for allegedly failing to comply with
a January 1990 court order to make extensive
repairs. According to court papers, out of 76 vio-
lations ordered corrected by the court in the six
buildings, 52 remained uncorrected in October.
"He treats us like garbage," says Yolanda Cin-
tron, who has lived at 139 Nevins for seven years.
"He doesn't care what happens here."
Though EI Taieb
signed a court order on Traveling man: Landlord Abdul El Taieb at his
November 28 agreeing to downtown Brooklyn travel agency.
But EI Taieb maintains otherwise. In court he
told Judge Taylor that he had "sympathy and
remorse for the tenants who have been inconven-
ienced" by the lack of heat and hot water during
provide heat and hot
water by December 7, that day passed without any of the
new boilers being installed. On December 17, he was
convicted of civil contempt by housing court judge Mar-
the Christmas season.
garet Taylor and subsequently spent two days in the Bronx H I La
House of Detention. Judge Taylor also fined him $56,250 arry 5 W
for failing to provide hot water for 35 days and heat for the
30 days the temperature dipped low enough for it to be
required by law.
Although the tenants finally got a new boiler on the day
after Christmas, the saga at these 14 Boerum Hill apart-
ments is far from over. The EI Taieb case is more than just
a seasonal problem: It's illustrative of the potentially dev-
astating difficulties facing low income tenants in small
buildings that fall through the cracks of the state's rent
regulations.
EI Taieb bought the six two- and four-unit buildings,
13.5-1/2 Nevins, 137 Nevins, 139 Nevins, 141 Nevins, 251
Bergen and 253 Bergen in 1987 and immediately jacked-
up the rent. Despite sharing the same boiler, the buildings
had never been subject to rent regulation by the state
Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR)
because they have separate addresses and each contains
less than six units .
. According to legal aid attorneys representing them,
tenants who had been paying $270-$300 per month re-
ceived letters from El Taieb asking that they either begin
paying $550 or leave. Although one or two tenants moved
because they could not afford the higher rents, the major-
ity of them organized and petitioned DHCR to redesignate
the six adjacent buildings as a single rent-stabilized 14-
unit entity.
The state housing agency agreed in 1989 and placed the
buildings under rent-stabilization rules. But EI Taieb has
since petitioned DHCR to reconsider its decision. In an
interview, El Taieb says, "The tenants are just buying more
time using the DHCR to avoid paying the rent we've
L
egal eagle Harry Greenbaum often lends his exper-
tise to property owners in landlord-tenant court.
Tenants in the lawyer's own ramshackle properties
attest to his skill-at using every legal avenue pos-
sible to avoid making repairs.
This habit is starting to cost Greenbaum, who is facing
fines from housing court and a sanction from a federal
judge who decided that Greenbaum and his lawyers "toyed
with the justice system with the manifest hope of delaying
all proceedings."
This decision is the most recent result of extensive
litigation concerning 21 Arden Street in Inwood. In the
past year, Greenbaum has attempted to drag legal battles
from housing court to state supreme court to federal
district court, but to this day the five-story, 16-unit build-
ing still has hundreds of housing code violations and lacks
such basic amenities as a lock and doorknob on the front
door.
On a recent visit to the building, garbage was piled
outside and the walls were festooned with graffiti. In a first
floor apartment, the sink was held up by a wooden plank
and the window in a bedroom where three children and a
grandmother sleep was covered with plastic, cardboard
and wood to keep out the cold. Upstairs, in apartment 23,
there was a three-foot hole above a double bed and an
entire wall of the kitchen was eroding. Referring to the
landlord, Pedro Delacruz says, "He's a lawyer so I guess he
finds loopholes for not fixing the building."
In response to numerous phone calls from City Limits,
Greenbaum refused to comment on conditions at specific
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/15
buildings, saying only, "I am not involved in real estate
management." When asked about his role as the landlord
of at least three buildings, he added, "People may own
buildings for investment purposes. You can write what-
ever you wish regarding the circumstantial material you
have found. I will not comment."
The legal hullabaloo surrounding 21 Arden Street started
after a fire in January 1989 damaged the apartment of
Felipa Polanco, a 76-year-old widow from the Dominican
Republic. When Greenbaum failed to fix the apartment,
Polanco moved in with relatives but went to housing court
to try and force the landlord to make repairs. On January
23,1990 Greenbaum signed a consent order to restore the
apartment and some work was begun but never com-
pleted.
From this point it gets complicated, and here's a very
condensed version of events. Acting without a lawyer,
Polanco and her daughter went back to housing court and
asked Judge Jerald Klein to hold Greenbaum in contempt
of court for not fulfilling the consent order. After a variety
of delays (including an attempt, later withdrawn, to con-
solidate the case in state supreme court) Greenbaum next
declared the corporation that owns the building bankrupt.
By this time, Polanco had gone to Harlem Legal Services
for help, and she and her lawyer decided to continue the
contempt motion, but press Greenbaum individually be-
cause he was registered as the managing agent for the
building at that time.
Greenbaum then removed the case to federal district
court. The basic rationale was that he lives in New Jersey
and the tenant is a resident of New York, which makes the
case appropriate for federal court. This was not accepted
by Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy because, among other
reasons, the city's housing department was involved in
the case but Greenbaum's lawyers omitted this from their
papers. In his decision, Duffy stated, "To delete the DHPD
[Department of Housing Preservation and Development]
as a party to this action ... constitutes a gross misrepresen-
tation of the truth." He also declared, "the law permits
some delays, but lies and the filing of sham and frivolous
papers are beyond the pale." Duffy noted that while
Greenbaum was refusing to make repairs to Polanco's
apartment in state Supreme Court he was also declaring
bankruptcy based on the substantial expense of repairs.
The judge meted out a sanction of $5,000 each to Green-
baum as well as his lawyers on the case, Michael Kane and
Ronald Hariri. (Hariri also represents the Rent Stabiliza-
tion Association and the Small Property Owners of New
York.)
The tale isn't over yet. Greenbaum and his lawyers are
contesting the decision, litigation is bound to
continue ... and FelipaPolanco is still living with relatives.
As the same time as this was going on, the city's housing
department brought a lawsuit trying to make Greenbaum
fix more than 300 housing code violations throughout the
building. Once again, Greenbaum failed to make repairs
and after his lawyers in this instance, Malave and Gib-
bons, removed themselves from the case, Judge Klein
recently slapped Greenbaum with civil penalties of more
than $300,000, which he's contesting.
Numerous tenants at two other Greenbaum buildings,
516 W. 174th Street and 513 E. 13th Street, do not hold
their landlord in high regard. At the 174th Street building
in Washington Heights, it took nearly a year of court
hearings and consent agreements before Greenbaum
iI/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMn5
Kitchen chaos: Pedro Delacruz inside 21 Arden Street, where landlord
Harry Greenbaum has declared bankruptcy.
removed numerous hazardous "c" violations, which are
supposed to be fixed in 24 hours. Today the building
finally has a front door and a lock, but the newly installed
mailboxes don't work and tenants have to walk to the
181st Street post office to receive their mail. In apartment
17, the kitchen window has a jagged hole and recently
applied paint is already peeling. Diogenes Abreau, a
community organizer from Northern Manhattan Improve-
ment Corporation, says that litigation dragged on for so
long that many of the tenants became discouraged.
At Greenbaum's East 13th Street building, conditions
are so bad that the city brought a comprehensive lawsuit
to force Greenbaum to fix 190 housing code violations at
the six-story, 28-unit building. After consent orders and
adjournaments, the repairs still weren't completed so
Judge Klein fined the landlord $20,000 for contempt of
court. Greenbaum is still paying the fine and the problems
in the building continue. A December inspection found
246 housing code violations and tenants say that despite
the installation of a new boiler, heat and hot water remain
erratic. Carmen Kolodzy, a visiting artist from Germany,
l\ses an old Village Voice to fill a gap between her win-
dows in apartment 24 and points to the crumbling tiles
around her sink and bathtub. "To me it's very strange," she
says. "Maybe that's the way it goes in America." Down the
hall in apartment 27 is Rose Stockton, an actress who
spends much of her time as a housing activist. She sums
up the tenants' view of Greenbaum in a single word:
"Weasel!" 0
Thanks for translation and research to Ricky Flores, Isa
Brito and von Nardroff

By Mary Keefe
Incubating Small Business.
Business incubators for small companies are the latest
craze. Are they just another gimmick?
J
ust across Powell Street from the
Seth Low public housing project
in East New York, drab concrete
blocks are rising to form a cavern-
ous one-story building. Most of the
30,000-square-foot structure, with its
20-foot-high ceilings and sheet metal
walls, will remain unfinished inside.
Welcome to the city's first
business incubator, set to
open early this year.
that people will focus on the word
incubator and the sexy phrase of the
day rather than focus on the benefits
that the concept of incubators can
create," warns Janelle Farris, an eco-
nomic development specialist for
Manhattan Borough President Ruth
Messinger. Projects must be conceived
setting a new tone. David Smith,
commissioner of the city's Office of
Business Development (OBD) says his
office "is trying to recognize the his-
torical importance of small businesses
and pay more attention to them than
has happened in the past because they
are a source of job growth and future
big business." As a part of that "we
will be working aggressively to de-
velop, encourage and site incubators
in the city," says Smith.
Other than the East New York proj-
ect, little is concrete. The Public
Development Corporation (PDC), a
city agency that often acts as the city's
developer, spearheaded
that incubator and se-
lected the East New York
Local Development Cor-
poration (ENYLDC) as the
manager of the new facil-
ity. The city has spent
$1.34 million on the proj-
ect -matched by a federal
grant.
There will be several
5 ,OOO-square-foot spaces
and two or more smaller
areas. Marketing to po-
tential tenantmanufactur-
I ers has started and will
g soon intensify. Rent will
be $4.50 a square foot-
close to market rent in the
area. Companies will have
Business incubators are
meant to nurture small and
start-up businesses and
increase their chance of
success. Since the large
majority of new businesses
fail in the first five years,
the idea is to give them a
boost in the earl y years and
eventually to "graduate"
them out of the incubator
as healthi'er, stronger em-
ployers. Usually sponsored
by government agencies,
nonprofit groups or uni-
versities, incubators pro-
vide space at reasonable
rents, shared office staff,
office equipment and other
amenities. The best incu-
Building growth: Jeff Stern outside the East New York business incubator. access to shared office fa-
cilities and a conference
bators offer expert business advice
and access to financial assistance.
Incubators have been up and run-
ning in other parts of the country 'for
more than 20 years. There are some
400 of them, although about 65 percent
have been open only four years or
less.
The Dinkins admimstration has
already initiated feasibility studies
and called for an incubator in every
borough. The state Urban Develop-
ment Corporation has targeted funds
to incubator projects and will soon be
sending out requests for proposals.
And the New York City Partnership
jumped in with a November incuba-
tor conference that attracted 170
people.
It's clear that the stability and
growth of small businesses, especiall y
manufacturers who pay higher wages,
is important to the future job market.
Small businesses deserve support-
but are incubators the best strategy for
public investment? "The danger is
with "an eye to the future and an eye
to how it will relate to the economics
of the city," she says, adding that
agencies sometimes evaluate projects
only in terms of how they will affect
their own bottom lines.
Incomplete Information
Hard data on incubators is hard to
come by. A study commissioned by
the National Incubator Association
gives a lot of information about the
location of incubators and what serv-
ices they provide-but that's about it.
Data about success rates is much more
confusing because of the wide variety
of locations-many are in rural areas
and small cities-and types of busi-
nesses involved. And what role incu-
bators could play in a city like New
York is even more complicated.
While the Koch administration had
a reputation for courting major devel-
opment projects and slighting pro-
grams focused on small business, the
Dinkins administration seems to be
room. An incubator
manager and advisory board will
provide business advice to tenants,
according to Jeff Stern, the director of
ENYLDC, who estimates he will have
to raise about $90,000 a year for oper-
ating expenses.
Plans for other incubators in the
city are progressing. PDC, OBD, the
Manhattan borough president's office
and the Del Barrio Local Develop-
ment Corporation are exploring alter-
natives in East Harlem. A garment
industry incubator is also being dis-
cussed, according to Smith. Part of
the redevelopment of the Audubon
Ballroom site in Harlem is slated to be
an incubator. William Wallace, direc-
tor of the Latimer Woods Local Devel-
opment Corporation in downtown
Brooklyn, is lobbying for a 9,000-
square-foot incubator for high-tech
businesses that would be located on
the second floor of a building owned
by the state Department of Labor at 11
Metrotech Center. James Heyliger,
director of the Small Business Devel-
CITY UMIJS/FEBRUARY 1991/17
opment Center at York College in
Queens, wants to find a city-owned
building in Queens that could be
renovated and used as an incubator
for minority- and women-owned
construction companies.
The state Urban Development Cor-
poration is gearing up a new program
to promote incubators for minority-
and women-owned small businesses
located in state Economic Develop-
ment Zones or other neighborhoods
with similar levels of poverty, unem-
ployment and deterioration. Spokes-
man Steven Vitoff calls the program a
pilot effort and says they are hoping to
"get two or three of these projects
rolling statewide in the current fiscal
year." Projects would be eligible for a
low interest loan of up to $650,000 or
half the project cost for construction
or renovation, machinery and equip-
ment. Smith says any city money for
incubators would "have to be consid-
ered on a case-by-case basis."
A Problem of Scale
But all this only begins to scratch
the surface of assistance needed. When
it comes to small business, especially
small manufacturers, there is a huge
"discrepancy between the scale of the
problem and the scale of public center
investment," says Richard Hatch of
the Center for Manufacturing Systems
at the New Jersey Institute of Techno 1-
ogy, who works with state economic
development agencies on strategies to
protect and expand manufacturing.
Hatch is cautious in his assessment of
the value of incubators in the city,
noting there is already a fair amount
of space available to manufacturers.
"When you look at what states and
cities do in the development arena, it
is in real estate development," Hatch
says.
Precise information about markets
is crucial-and very expensive to
obtain- for struggling manufacturers,
says Hatch. They need solid industry-
specific advice about things like re-
cruiting, training, operations and
shipping. And they need loans for
working capital, a key resource that's
difficult for a small business to come
by. The city has a micro-loan fund for
working capital loans to small busi-
nesses, but it totals only $1 million-
less that the city cash already invested
in the East New York incubator.
Togetherness
Smith from OBD acknowledges that
small businesses need more than a
roof over their heads. "An incubator
that is primarily a real estate develop-
ment projectisn't a terribly good idea.
On the other hand propinquity is a
real virtue, there is a value to having
folks co-located. Businesses in an
incubator relate to each other and that
is one of several things that helps
them succeed," Smith argues.
But the big danger is that public
agencies and politicians that like to
get credit for projects in a city where
land and buildings are major political
capital will rush into building incu-
bators, with little sense of an overall
strategy. While it sometimes seems as
if officials believe new jobs automati-
cally flow from new buildings, there's
little evidence this happens.
There are other options for promot-
ing job growth. Sara Garretson, who
runs the New York City Industrial
Technical Assistance Corporation,
part of a statewide network of organi-
zations that advises small manufac-
turers the way agricultural extension
services help farmers, offers some
advice.
She points to more "one-on-one
people-intensive kind of activity"-
experts in manufacturing helping
small companies work through prob-
lems. And she adds, "We need to
increase our investment in looking for
generic solutions in research, linkage
between resources and efforts to de-
velop industry- or geographic-specific
solutions," she says.
Hatch from the New Jersey Insti-
tute suggests several business centers
in all the boroughs where people could
get the kind of professional assistance
they need. Some people call such
plans incubators without walls.
Planning for the future of the city's
job market calls for solid strategy, not
gimmicks. The worst kind of token-
ism would be for city and state agen-
cies to get credit for encouraging
minority- and women-owned busi-
nesses in disadvantaged neighbor-
hoods with a few expensi ve buildings
involving a handful of companies,
while leaving those businesses and
neighl:forhoods struggling overall. 0
"COMMITMENT"
Since 1980 HEAT has provided low cost home heating oil . burner and boiler repair services,
and energy management and conservation services to largely minority low and middle income
neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn. Manhattan and Queens,
As a proponent of economic empowerment for revitalization of the city's communities, HEAT is
committed to assisting newly emerging managers and owners of buildings with the reduction of
energy costs (long recognized as the single most expensive area of building management) .
HEAT has presented tangible opportunities for tenant associations, housing coops, churches,
community organizations, homeowners and small businesses to gain substantial savings and
lower the costs of building operations.
Working collaboratively with other community service organizations with similar goals. and
working to establish its viability as a business entity, HEAT has committed its revenue gener-
ating capacity and potential to providing services that work for, and lead to, stable, productive
communities.
Through the prilNlry service of providing low cost home heating oil, various heating
plant services and -ro INlnagement services, HEAT members have collectively
__ -,
HOUSING ENERGY ALLIANCE FOR TENANTS COOP CORP.
853 BROADWAY. SUITE 414. NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 12121505-0286
18/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
If you are interested in "'ming more about HEAT,
or if you are interested in becoming a HEAT member,
calor write the HEAT office.
., Case 'in Point;
Willia'msburg Gourt
This 59lJni.t low Income housing develop-
ment, sponsored by the St. Nicholas
Neighborhood Corporation,
is located in Brooldyn's Williamsburg
sectioD.
They needed $360,QOQ 't,2, complete
their$7 million plus finimcihg package.
t Gould Brookly UhiC)h's Area Develop-
ment Fund Help?
Sure we could-with a little help from
our friends, thel"ow Jncome Housing
Fund and Bankers, Trust Company; They
'ach pledged $1 t9, match .
Brooklyn Union!s<tnvestm.ent.
We've found that tFie Area Devefop-
ment Fund is a working blueprintfor
change in the economic and social life
of New York. If your: company would
like to help as ha.s, Pfizer, Bankers Trust
Company and ,so others, talk to
Jan Childress atl{t18) 403-2583. 'totlll
find him working fora stronger New York
at klyn Union Gas,
Union Gas,
Naturally
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/11

By Larry McGaughey
Cashing In?
Trying to make money from co-ops created for
low income New Yorkers.
W
hen most people talk about
co-ops, they mean the kind
where landlords have con-
verted rental buildings so
apartments can be bought
and sold like private
homes. This can set off
spiraling housing prices
and the displacement of
lower income residents.
But when low income
tenants cooperatively
own their buildings, they
can hold down housing
costs and keep a firm
stake in their neighbor-
hoods.
of income for the building other than
monthly maintenance or special
charges. The share of profit from the
resale of apartments is especially
In the late 1970s, New
York City launched a
unique program giving
tenants the opportunity
to buy their tax-fore-
closed, city-owned build-
ings-usually for just
$250 an apartment. Thou-
sands of tenants in more
than 400 buildings have
become owners this way.
At a crossroads: Bronx co-op owners in front of their building.
Tenants became own-
ers of these buildings through the city's
Tenant Interim Lease and Commu-
nity Management programs. In both
cases, tenants own cooperative cor-
porations-Housing Development
Fund Corporations (HDFC) chartered
under state law-that administer their
buildings. HDFCs formed under these
programs have two important
restrictions: income eligibility guide-
lines for the tenant purchasers and
limitations on the resale of apartments.
But now the restrictions that keep
these buildings a resource for low
income New Yorkers are expiring,
posing important questions for ten-
ant-owners and city officials.
Losing Control
Many HDFC boards of directors
may not be aware that they risk losing
significant financial control over their
buildings. At jeopardy is the "flip
tax," which turns over as much as 50
percent ofthe profit from the resale of
an apartment to the co-op corpora-
tion. This money goes into a fund for
building repairs, and is the only source
2O/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMIfS
important since the city sold the build-
ings with no money set aside for the
repairs that are continually needed.
(Private market buildings converted
to co-ops have these reserve funds.)
The flip tax, which can be a substan-
tial source of funds given the initial
low purchase price, was conceived as
a fair way to share the increased value
of a well-run building.
A worst case scenario for buildings
can go something like this: A tenant
presents a signed sales contract dated
one day after the city's resale restric-
tions expire. The building'S board of
directors then learn that the co-op is
not entitled to any part of the substan-
tial profit from the sale because they
had not passed a new flip tax. And it's
too late to take action because any
limitations must be in effect before a
sales contract is signed.
A number ofHDFCs are now start-
ing initiatives to avoid this predica-
ment. For instance, the 530 Manhat-
tan Avenue HDFC voted to alter the
proportions on the share of profit,
with 40 percent now going to the co-
op and the rest to the selling tenant.
On the other hand, the Desperation
HDFC in Harlem voted to keep its flip
tax virtuall y unchanged. Desperation's
president, Flora Crane, explains that
by maintaining the original flip tax
they are best able to serve all the
tenants. "The corporation needs the
money to keep the monthly mainte-
nance payments low. It's the only
money we have for emergencies."
Who's Low Income?
Many tenants in these
co-ops also think the in-
come eligibility test for
buyers expires after 10
years. But it doesn't. As
long as the building re-
mains an HDFC it is re-
quired to provide hous-
ing "for persons of low
income."
But the original terms
for HDFCs are expiring,
meaning that city offi-
cials face some critical
policy decisions. The
most important, say ad-
vocates like Kerwin
Tesdell of the Commu-
nity Development Legal
Assistance Center
(CDLAC), is for the city's
Department of Housing
Preservation and Devel-
opment (HPD) to clearly
define low income.
Currently, HPD evaluates income
levels through something called the
Section 576 income test. Harry DeRi-
enzo of the Consumer-Farmer Foun-
dation, which is active in financing
low income housing, calls the Section
576 test "ridiculous" because it is
based on a multiple of a co-op' s
monthly maintenance charges rather
than any income cap. "If the mainte-
nance was high enough a purchaser
could make $100,000 a year and still
be considered low income," says
DeRienzo.
The housing department is explor-
ing changes in the income test. Insid-
ers say that Section 576 will likely not
be the exclusive test and one official
indicates that federal guidelines used
to determine who qualifies for Sec-
tion 8 housing subsidies may come
into play. (The federal guideline al-
lows incomes up to $20,000 for a
single person and $37,000 for a family
of eight.)
There are some HDFC tenants who
have no desire to continue any in-
come or sales restrictions. They look
forward to the expiration of these
restrictions as a time when the coop-
erative can shed its responsibilities
for providing housing for low income
families and "go private"-meaning
they can sell their apartment to whom-
ever they want and keep all the money
themselves. These tenants usually
assume that the conversion to a free-
market cooperative occurs automati-
cally. But this is not the case. Legal,
technical and political questions
abound, assuring that any conversion
will be slow and costly. And unlike
state Mitchell-Lama developments,
many of which have been trying to
convert to the private market for half
a decade, no legislation exists permit-
ting HDFCs to go private.
Technical Questions
The technical questions of conver-
sion carry sizable financial implica-
tions for the co-ops. Private conver-
sion will certainly mean the loss of
the real estate tax exemptions HDFCs
enjoy. MostapartmentsinHDFCshave
average tax bills of just $340 annually.
Additionally, if an HDFC dissolves
and sells the building to a new co-op
corporation, tenants could be subject
to a large capital gains tax, according
to tax attorney Albert Feuer. Various
transfer taxes-amounting to almost
13 percent of the building's market
value-also might have to be paid
following conversion. The financially
preferable alternative to an outright
sale would be to amend the co-op's
certificate of incorporation.
Whether HPD-whose consent is
required-will decide to permit such
conversions remains to be seen. Tes-
dell from CDLAC raises the question
of whether HPD could deny private
conversions altogether as a way of
protecting the city's investment in
low income housing. Other options
include placing a series of conditions
on conversions and delaying implem-
entation. City officials remain non-
committal. Housing
Felice Michetti says simply, "We are
in the process of discussing various
policy options on how to preserve the
affordability of HDFC housing."
But Andrew Reicher of the Urban
Homesteading Assistance Board,
which provides assistance to many
HDFCs , wonders if there may be
competing pressures on the city to
both maintain affordable housing and
increase real estate tax collections.
These two needs clash when it comes
to preserving these low income co-
ops. Reicher says there should be a
limit on the maximum apartment
resale price to "abide by the spirit of
the HDFC program."
As these co-ops created in formerly
city-owned buildings enter a period
of change and potential buy-outs, one
thing is clear: HDFCs that do not
maintain their original purpose of
providing low income housing do so
at their own peril. All HDFCs, what-
ever their future, must take the initia-
tive prior to the end of their restric-
tions if they want to be in control of
the process. To delay is to risk a costly
state of legal limbo. 0
Larry McGaughey is a housing attor-
ney who as an HPD consultant in
1979 helped formulate the Tenant
Interim Lease program.
" you're a not-lor-profit group
shouldn't you hnle wi'"
a not-lor-fees hnle?
Now, no-fee banking for not-for-profit groups.
How you can save. As a bank and neighbor
we'd like to help you save more so there'll be
more for the people and purposes you serve.
So, unless you maintain an exceptionally high-
activity, low balance account, you'll pay no
monthly maintenance or business fees and no
charges per check paid or deposited. No
mark-ups on checkbooks, regardless of your
activity level or balance.
We cut the fees, not the service. Our
bankers are well known for their community
involvement. They know the financial needs of
not-for-profit groups - planning, budgeting,
cost controls, fund raising - and how to
allocate assets for optimum return. They're
always there when you need them.
Free booklet. Ask to see what we've done
and are doing for groups like yours. For the
bank branch nearest you and a free copy of a
descriptive booklet call 212-221-6056 in New
York City. Or 1-800-522-5214 outside NYC.
REPUBLIC
NATIONAL BANK
OF NEW YORK
MANHATIAN p WILLIAMSBURGH
SAVINGS BANK
Republic National Bank and The Manhattan Savings Bank are subsidiaries of Republic New York Corporation
Member FDIC
NP206
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/21
By Eric Weinstock
Loudmouths, Lies
and the Welfare State
"America's Misunderstood Welfare
State: Persistent Myths, Enduring Re-
alities, " by Theodore R. Marmor, Jerry
L. Mashawand Philip L. Harvey, Basic
Books Inc., 1990,268 pages, $22.95.
W
hen this young decade is con-
cluded, "America's Misun-
derstood Welfare State"
. should be regarded as one of
the most important books published
in the 1990s. This is unlikely because
the book's quiet common sense will
probably be drowned out by the shrill
voices that too easily capture public
attention.
The authors, professors of public
policy and law at Yale and a practic-
ing attorney in New York, provide a
comprehensive review of America's
social spending. While doing.so they
deflate commentators of the left and
(mostly the) right who consistently
attempt to pass off ideology as policy
analysis. By exposing the myths sur-
rounding welfare, Social Securi ty and
health care programs, the authors
convincingly demonstrate that much
of our national discourse on social
spending is not only in error, but
dangerous to our economic and po-
litical well being.
America's "welfare state" is much
larger than "welfare" alone, since most
people equate welfare with Aid to
Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC). The welfare state includes
two basic types of programs, social
insurance (primarily Social Security,
Unemployment Compensation and
Medicare) and means-tested benefits
(AFDC, Food Stamps, Section 8 hous-
ing, Head Start, Medicaid, etc.). Crit-
ics who contend that these programs
fail to eliminate poverty and therefore
should be dismantled miss a basic
fact: Means-tested benefits are sup-
posed to keep people poor in order to
avoid creating disincentives to work.
The ability of the conservatives to
set the welfare policy debate has shut
the egalitarian and populist goals of
shifting income and power to the poor
off our national agenda and kept
millions of citizens in poverty. The
authors do not discuss the flaws of our
underfunded, means-tested programs.
They merely note that if we were
22/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
serious about eliminating poverty that
a negative income tax-essentially
guaranteeing a livable wage-is the
most effective method with the low-
est administrative costs.
Myth of the Bigger Spender
The U.S. spends a smaller percent-
age ofits Gross National Product (GNP)
on social programs than almost all
other industrialized nations. By link-
ing all social spending with the un-
popular AFDC, conservatives have
forged a myth that poverty spending
is out of control. In fact, by 1987,
AFDC had declined from its 1976 high
of $21.1 billion (in 1988 dollars),
amounting to 4.2 percent of all federal
spending, to only $17.1 billion (in
1988 dollars)-just 1.7 percent of
federal spending.
In recent years the Social Security
system has also been the victim of a
number of myths created by both
conservative ideologues and neo-lib-
erals. In reality, Social Security is
America's most successful social
program in terms of public support
and its effects.
Social Security pensions, the au-
thors write, "keep more people out of
poverty than any other government
effort. They also support more of the
near poor than any other program-
indeed, more than all other programs
combined."
So why is Social Security under
constant attack? Conservative critics
of Social Security are motivated by
their desire to cut the federal budget
deficit without touching defense
spending. Since Social Security rep-
resents 20 percent of the budget, elimi-
nating it from cutbacks severely ties
their hands. To the neo-liberals, Social
Security is really welfare for the
middle class, benefiting the elderly at
the expense of children and the poor.
But Social Security was never in-
tended to be means-tested.
Boomer Security
The authors also provide much-
needed reassurance to the baby boom
generation, who thanks to an alarmist
press, are not expecting Social Secu-
rity to be around when they are ready
to retire. Based on current projec-
tions, Social Security costs will in-
crease from six percent of GNP to 10
percent in 2060. A four percent shift
in the GNP over 75 years should be
manageable.
The authors also lay to rest the
claim that Social Security funds will
be drained because there won't be
enough workers paying in to cover the
number of recipients drawing bene-
fits. If we examine the "dependency
ratio," the number of dependent
people (retirees and children) to the
number of workers in the U.S., that
fear is quickly squelched. As the au-
thors note, "In 2040, fifty years from
now, the dependency ratio will still
be lower than it was in 1960."
Social Security cost projections are
also based on the assumption that
medical costs will keep rising at their
current rates. The United States
spends a higher percentage of its GNP
on health care, more than 11 percent
in 1989, in comparison to other coun-
tries (eight to nine percent of GNP in
Canada, France and West Germany
and six to seven percent in Japan and
the United Kingdom) while leaving
30 to 50 million of its citizens without
health care coverage. The U.S. is the
only industrialized country without
national health insurance'.
However, even big business now
believes that national health insur-
ance may be needed. Insurance com-
panies have found it difficult to make
money providing health insurance,
corporate leaders like Chrysler'S Lee
Iacocca are finding that health insur-
ance costs are making American
companies less competitive and even
doctors are tiring of the medical bu-
reaucracy that interferes with the
quality of care. Because national
health insurance would actually re-
duce federal administrative costs,
there's still some hope for the pro-
gram to return to the national agenda
in this era of spiraling deficits.
By cutting a path through the jungle
of welfare myths, the authors have
cleared the way for concrete discus-
sion of reform. To further this process
they provide a list of rules for public
policy talk, including "projections are
not forecasts" and "comprehensive
reform is usually not on the agenda."
Words of wisdom indeed. 0
Eric Weinstock is the director of the
housing research project for the
Community Training and Resource
Center and an instructor of econom-
ics at Brooklyn College.
AHemative Controversy
To the Editor:
In its "Koch Redux" editorial and
"Path to Controversy" story (Dec.
1990), City Limits joins the chorus of
those condemning the city's "alterna-
tive housing pathways" program with-
out offering a realistic analysis of the
situation which prompted this new
policy or proposing any alternative
solutions.
The city cannot provide an apart-
ment to every ill-housed family seek-
ing one. This would be the case even
if the city's fiscal situation was not as
severe as it currently is, requiring cuts
well beyond what any of us could
have contemplated over a year ago.
Despite a major two-year effort to
relocate families from emergency to
permanent housing, the city's shelter
system is still bursting at its seams.
While limited affordable housing is
the major factor underlying family
homelessness, it has become appar-
ent that entrance into the shelter sys-
tem is at least partly driven by the
opportunities for housing available
through the shelter system.
If we are to ever get out of "welfare"
hotels and congregate shelters, then
the shelter system must only be util-
ized by families who have truly run
out of housing options. To redirect
families away from the system it was
necessary to increase the time spent
in shelters and allocate the best low
income housing to a lottery for
doubled-up families.
If, as some have suggested, we
make the same higher quality housing
units available to both doubled up
families and those in shelters, chances
of obtaining one of the better units are
increased by entering the homeless
system. So much for any incentive to
stay out. Others suggest we allocate
more apartments built by the city to
low income families. The higher in-
come programs are the ones bearing
the brunt of the city's capital budget
cuts and the mixed income projects
that are proceeding cannot succeed
from either a financial or social stand-
point unless an economic mix is re-
tained.
The alternative pathways program
is the most fair, balanced and reason-
able approach to a complex problem.
By providing only the most superfi-
cial discussion of the city's policy,
City Limits disserves both itself and
its readers and adds little that is con-
structive to the public discourse on
the important social issue of family
homelessness.
Nancy Wackstein
Director
Mayor's Office on Homelessness and
SROHousing
City Limits replies: We wish every
article and editorial in City Limits
could deal with every aspect of every
issue, but we, too, have a limited
budget-and limited space. We stand
by the way we reported and analyzed
the alternative pathways program. It's
a policy that relegates the neediest
New Yorkers to the worst of the city's
housing. We understand, as we clearly
stated in the editorial, that the city
has limited resources. But that is no
excuse for a policy that will create a
kind of class division among the
homeless. It's interesting to note that
Wackstein's rebuttal ignored another
important part of the editorial: the
section dealing with the city's place-
ment of some 500 families in hotels
that fail to meet court-ordered
standards.
Doing the Job
To the Editor:
I would like to clarify some com-
ments attributed to me in "Question-
able Benefits" (Dec. 1990), which, out
of context, give an erroneous impres-
sion. Reporter Mary Keefe notes that
the city's Department of Employment
(DOE) offers job training programs for
disadvantaged people, including
welfare reform recipients. She quotes
me saying that a broader range of
services and counseling is needed.
Keefe then implies that DOE doesn't
have the resources and money to
implement changes and thus is un-
able to effectively help the disadvan-
taged obtain employment.
If Keefe's point is that DOE and
other agencies need to do better, I
agree. But we are working to achieve
better service, including in-depth
assessment, counseling and work
readiness preparation. I think that
DOE's nearly 40 percent placement
rate of welfare recipients (compared
to the Human Resources Admin-
istration's 15 percent) shows we're
moving in the right direction.
To move beyond federal funding
limits, we are developing partner-
ships. For example, we are co-fund-
ing two programs for the homeless
with the Edna McConnell Clark Foun-
dation. One is a pilot-program for
homeless teen parents, combining
parenting and job skills training.
Another effort is underway in city-
owned housing for formerly home-
less people in the Bronx.
It is a complex and difficult task to
help long-term public assistance
clients make the transition from wel-
fare to the workforce, especially in
today's job market, but DOE has made
strides in meeting the challenge.
Julia Erickson
Associate Commissioner
NYC Dept. of Employment
Mary Keefe replies: Welfare reform
has overblown goals and nowhere near
enough resources to back them up.
With no increase in funding, city job-
training programs are caught in the
same bind. Erickson doesn't dispute
what she told me: DOE programs have
a limited capacity to serve welfare
recipients.
'Out By Christmas'
To the Editor:
I want to add some information to
your captioned photo in the January
1991 issue concerning the fire at 1724
Crotona Park East, where Inner City
Press/Community on the Move home-
steaders were ordered to vacate.
I recall the day Mayor Dinkins was
inaugurated and invited a group of
homeless men and women to sit in the
front rows at his swearing-in-some
of the homeless who worked on his
campaign and contributed money.
Among them were people living in
Inner City Press homesteader build-
ings in the South Bronx.
These people have worked for three
years rehabilitating a number of
empty, city-owned buildings, many
vacant for a decade. They have done
this with their own money, labor and
initiative. But the city seems to be
going to extraordinary measures to
remove these people. They sent 200
police armed with rifles to get them
out of 1724 Crotona Park East and
removed homesteaders from another
building where there was no fire. This
was followed by a fire, termed suspi-
cious, in another of their buildings on
Christmas eve.
Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer, who is reported to have ex-
pressed a desire to "get them out by
CITY UMrrS/FEBRUARY 1991/23
Christmas," has major development
plans for the Bronx that will lead to
the displacement of the most fragile
portion of the population and gentri-
fication bringing further displace-
ment.
Metropolitan Council on Housing
has written a letter to Mayor Dinkins
asking him to intervene and restore
homesteaders to the three buildings
in which evictions have taken place.
Though Met Council does not think
homesteading is the long-term solu-
tion to the housing shortage, neither
is eviction.
Gloria Sukenick
Metropolitan Council on Housing
Keep Plugging!
To the Editor:
I am writing to applaud the thor-
oughness of City Limits' article on the
Port Authority Gan. 1991). It's dis-
maying that they've been out of the
bridge and tunnel business-construc-
tion-wise-for six decades.
The Port Authority was invited into
the Hunters Point site. The city and
certain speculatory interests seem
intent on destroying New York's most
vibrant industrial district. Astonish-
ingly, the major civic groups, ever
obsessed with Manhattan south of 96th
Street, are silent.
In terms of the airports, the city has
long been at loggerheads with the Port
Authority. At the same time the city of
Newark has gained state-of-the-art
facilities. Where is the Metropolitan
Transit Authority? The city's deal-
ings with the Port Authority seem to
ignore the importance of the airports,
particularly to the economy of Queens
and as an underpinning of the city's
global prominence.
Keep plugging!
Bruce Rosen
Manhattan
Editor's note: City Limits wel-
comes letters from our readers.
We ask that you try to keep your
letters to 300 words in length.
!I
OFFICE SPACE
AVAILABLE
For individual or small
organization. Share with
nonprofit women's organi-
zation.
$250/mo, including utilities.
24-hour access, freight
elevator, doorman. Very
safe, well-kept bldg in
Flatiron district.
Must be nonsmoking;
women's organization prefd
but not necessary.
Call Women's Health
Education Project:
212-633-0946
Bankers Trust Company
Community Development Group
A resource for the non ... profit
development community
Gary Hattem,Vice President
280 Park Avenue, 19West New York, New York 10017
Tel:212,850,3487 FAX:212,850,2380
24/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Manuals, guides, handbooks, pamphlets and fact sheets
available from City Limits' information clearinghouse.
TENANT AND HOUSING RIGHTS
"Tenant Rights Fact Sheets." Cover a wide range of topics. Some available in
Spanish. Community Training and Resource Center. Free
"A Tenant's Guide (0 Sublerting and Apartment Sharing." New York State
Tenant and Neighborhood Coalition. 24 pp. $9
"Housing Fact Sheets." Cover a wide range of (Opics. Some available in
Spanish. Metropolitan Council on Housing. Free. Send self-addressed enve-
lope with stamp.
"A Tenant's Guide to Housing Court." Includes information on holdovers,
eviction notices, nonpayment cases, etc. Separate borough editions, specify
which one required. Association of the Bar of the City of New York.31 pp. Free.
"When the City Forecloses: Community and Owner Options." A guide (0 the
tax foreclosure process. Association for Neighborhood and Housing Develop-
ment. 33 pp. $6
"A Guide (0 Redemptions and Releases. " Technical guide to how owners repay
back taxes. Association for Neighborhood Housing and Development. 24 pp.
$6
"Rehab and Rehab-Related Rent increases: The ABC's of MCI 's."
Guide (0 understanding and challenging Major Capital Improvement rent
increases. Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. $6
"Subsidized Moderate Rehabilitation Programs: Improving Housing for Ten-
ants." Detailed guide to city housing subsidy programs. Association of Neigh-
borhood Housing and Development. 75 pp. $25
"Tenant Fact Book." Overview of New York's Omnibus Housing Law.
Open Housing Center. 27 pp. $6.25
"Government-Assisted Co-Ops and Rentals." Outlines eligibility rules and
application procedures. Open Housing Center. 61 pp. $3.75
"Sexual Harassment in Housing." Defines sexual harassment in housing and
outlines what women should do if they are sexually harassed. City Limits. Free.
Send self-addressed envelope with stamp.
"Becoming a Cooperative." Outlines the steps involved in buying a city-
owned, tenant managed building. Available in Spanish and English. Urban
Homesteading Assistance Board. 106 pp. $7.75
"A Guide to Cooperative Ownership." How to meet the tasks and responsibili-
ties of owning a co-op. Available in Spanish and Enblish. Urban Homestead-
ing Assistance Board. 126 pp. $14
"Where You Stand." A shareholder's guide to cooperative ownership. Avail-
able in Spanish and English. Urban Homesteading Assistance Board. 24 pp. $2
"People Power." Comic book about how to do community and tenant organ-
izing. South Bronx People for Change. $2.50
ENVIRONMENT
"Making the Difference: Using the Right-to-Know in the Fight Against
Toxics." Shows how (0 use laws (0 acquire environmental data. National
Center for Policy Alternatives. $12.
POLICE HARASSMENT
"What You Can Do: If You Are the Victim of Police Abuse." Pamphlet on
citizen rights during stop, search or atrest. Citywide Committee Against Police
and Racial Violence. Free. Send self-addressed envelope with stamp.
ENTITLEMENTS
"Advocacy, Counseling and Entitlement Services (ACES) Manual." Guide to
26 government benefit programs. Community Service Society. 300 pp. $40
LEGAL RIGHTS
"Understanding the Law." A citizen's guide to the legal system. New York State
Bar Association. 210 pp. $9.95
"The Court of New York." Guide to court procedures, with a glossary oflegal
terms. New York State Bar Association. 51 pp. $3
"Managing Your Lawyer." A guide for tenant associations and cooperatives. 28
pp. Urban Homesteading Assistance Board. $2.
GOVERNMENT
"New York City's Development Review Process: A Guide to Participation." 24
pp. Municipal Art Society. $1.50
"Coping With City Hall." Pamphlet. Citizens Union Foundation. Free. Send
self-addressed envelope with stamp.
,-----------------,
ORDER FORM
To order, please include check(s) or money order(s) payable
to the publisher of the guide(s) or handbook(s) you are
requesting. Send this form to City Limits, 40 Prince Street,
NY, NY 10012. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.
Please send:
HOMELESS RIGHTS Ordered by:
"Reference Manual for Food, Shelter and Resources for the Homeless." Name
Includes explanations of public assistance programs and shelter rights. Coali- ------------------
tion for the Homeless. 163 pp. $11.50. Address ________________ _
PREGNANCY RIGHTS City, state, zip ____________ _
"Pregnancy Rights." Pamphlet covers health care and patient rights. Medgar Telephone _______________ _
Evers Center for Law and Social Justice. Free. Send self-addressed envelope
with stamp. L _________________ --'
The Clearinghouse Program is sponsored by The Public Interest Law Foundation
CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/25
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
Barry K. Mallin
Attorney At Law
A decade of service representing
community development organizations
and low income cooperatives.
56 Thomas Street
New York, N.Y. 10013
Telephone 212/619-6800
DEBRA BECHTEL - Attorney
Concentrating in Real Estate & Non-Profit Law
Title and loan closings 0 All city housing programs
Mutual housing associations 0 Coopertive conversions
Advice to low income co-op boards of directors
100 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 624-6850
architectural/engineering services for nonprofit dellelopers
o Building Evaluation and Inspection
o Feasibility Studies 0 Construction Supervision
o Preliminary Design/Scope of Work Studies
o Complete Construction Drawings & Specifications
Call John Harris RA. for an evaluation of your project's needs
458 BERGEN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11217 (718) 398-1440
BERNARD CARR ASSOCI.ATES
J-51 TAX BENEFIT EXPEDITING
Specialists in:
HDFC'S Gut Rehabilitation
Vacant Building Program Developments
CALL TODAY fOR A fREE CONSULTATION
1740 Victor Street, Bronx, NY 10462 Tel. (212)824-5044
WILLIAM JACOBS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
Over 20 years experience. Specializing in nonprofit housing &
community development organizations.
Certified Annual Audits Compilation & Review Services
Management Advisory Services Tax Consultation & Preparation
Call today for free consultation
77 QUAKER RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 215
NEW ROCHELLE, NY 10804
914-633-5095 FAX-914-633-5097
26/FEBRUARY 1991/CITY UMITS
COMPUTER-EASE
Got MAC Files but a PC Computer?
Got PC Files but a MAC Computer?
CITY LIMITS Can Solve Your Problems!
Just $10 to Convert a File
Many Programs Available - Quick Turnaround
Call CITY LIMITS: 212/925-9820
SMOLLENS and GURALNICK,
COUNSELLORS AT LAW
Specializing in representing tenants only in
landlord/tenant proceedings, cooperative
conversions, loft proceedings. We represent
sellers/buyers in house, condo and co-op closings.
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10038
2121406-3320
ARCHITECTURAL & PLANNING DIVISION
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Specialists In Nonprofit Housing
and Community Facilities
FULL ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
Zoning Analyses' Design Through Construction Documents
Inspection, Evaluation & Feasibility Reports
Contact Betsy Calhoun or Paul Castrucci, A.A. 212/226-4119
40 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012
WM. SHUBERT & COMPANY
Real Estate Appraisers
Excellent Quality
Prompt Delivery
Dedicated to Community Service
3190 Riverdale Ave., Bronx, NY 601-2200
TURF COMPANIES
Building Management/Consultants
Specializing in management & development
services to low income housing cooperatives,
community organizations and co-op
boards of directors
329 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
Rebecca Reich
718/857 -0468
WORKSHOP
STAFF ATIORNEY. The East side SRO Legal Services Project seeks
a full-time staff attny with at least 1 yr expo The project reps
individuals & tenant groups living in SRO hotels and rooming
houses. Staff attnys are responsible for individual & group repre-
sentation in court , at administrative & participating in
community outreach education programs. Salary pursuant to
collective bargaining agrmt, depending on yr of law school gradu-
ation. Resume: Olive Karen Stamm, Esq, Managing Attny, MFY
Legal Services, 223 Grand St, NYC 10013. Women, minorities &
handicapped encouraged to apply.
DEVELOPMENT COORDINATORIFUNDRAISER. Long Island City arts
organization with sculpture, performance, education, landscaping
& job-training programs looking for someone to expand existing
funding base as well as creatively work on existing projects. PfT,
wages/benefits negotiable. Letter: Socrates Sculpture Park, PO
Box 6259, L1C, NY 11106.
ADVOCACY DIRECTOR. Coalition for the Homeless seeks highly
motivated person to implementall NYC advocacy efforts, including
public education, direct action,lobbying, coalition building & policy
devlpt. Candidates must have 3 yrs exp in homelessness, housing
or related fields. Excwritten, verbal & interpersonal skills essential.
JD preferable, but not reqd. Persons of diversified ethnic, racial &
economic bkgrnds strongly encouraged to apply. Resume (no
phone calls) : CFH, 105 E 22 St, Rm 519A, NYC 10010.
HOMESTEADING COORDINATOR. Energetic self-starter to work with
future residents of church-sponsored self-help housing program.
Assist with training, program compliance, maintaining budgets,
follow-up with govt agencies & funders, learn devlptlconstruction.
College degree or equiv reqd. Good communication skills, bilin-
gual Spanish-English reqd. Computer literate. $24K + exc bene-
fits. EOE. Minority & women applicants encouraged. Resume:
LESCAC CDC, att: Director of Construction, 66 Ave C, NYC
10009.
TRAlNINGlTECHNICAL ASSISTANT SPECIALIST. Major social advocacy
organization seeks specialist to assist low/mod income tenant
associations in purchasing rehab & co-op of their privately owned
buildings. Organize & train tenants. Develop loan packages.
Resume: Personnel Department, Community Service Society,
105 E 22 St, NYC 10010. EOE.
r-----------------,
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CITY UMITS/FEBRUARY 1991/27
revitalization activities.
In the past two years, 115 community
organizations throughout our service area
were recipients of CAAP grants.
The East New York Savings Bank's
CAAP Grants Program for 1991 is open
to community-based, not-for-profit tax
exempt organizations located in Brooklyn,
Manhattan, Queens and Nassau County.
To obtain an application or for further
information, stop by anyone of our
branches or mail your request to the
address below.
Applications must be submitted by
April 12, 1991 for consideration.
At The East New York Savings Bank,
we put our money
where our neighborhoods are.
Kips Bay (East 31st Street & 2nd Avenue)
Fifth Avenue (West 32nd Street & 5th Avenue)
Park East (East 64th Street &3rd Avenue)
We are now accepting applications for our
Community Action Assistance Plan (CAAP) Grants Program.
THE EAST NEWYORK SAVINGS BANK MEMBER FDIC
THE EAST NEW YORK SAVINGS BANK Community Action Assistance Plan Grants Program
41 West 42nd Street New York, New York 10036 8th Floor
We believe that the continued success
of The East New York Savings Bank is
tied directly to the quality of life in our
neighborhoods. That's why, for the third
year in a row, we're renewing our commit-
ment to community organizations that are
striving to make our neighborhoods better
places in which to live and do business.
We're offering grants of $250 to $5,000
to eligible organizations which provide
essential neighborhood services, including
housing preservation and improvement,
youth, senior citizen, anti-crime,
substance abuse, neighborhood organizing,
arts and culture and commercial
Brooklyn:
East New York (Atlantic & Pennsylvania Avenues)
Park Slope (Flatbush at 8th Avenue)
Bay Ridge (5th Avenue & 78th Street)
Greenpoint (814 Manhattan Avenue)
Manhattan:
Sutton Place (East 57th Street &1st Avenue)
Lenox Hill (East 75th Street & 2nd Avenue)
Forty-Second Street (41 West 42nd Street)
Murray Hill (East 29th Street & 3rd Avenue)
Peter Cooper (East 20th Street & 1st Avenue)
Nassau County:
Great Neck (23-25 North Station Plaza)
Oceanside (12 Atlantic Avenue at Long Beach
Road)
Queens:
Forest Hills (101-25 Queens Blvd &67th Drive)
Austin Street (70-34 Austin Street at 70th Road)