HELEN ROSENTHAL

Council Member, District 6

Manhattan

DISTRICT OFFICE
563 COLUMBUS AVENUE, AT 87
TH

STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10024
(212) 873-0282

CITY HALL OFFICE
250 BROADWAY, ROOM 1744
NEW YORK, NY 10007
(212) 788-6975

www.council.nyc.gov


THE COUNCIL
OF
THE CITY OF NEW
YORK


CHAIR
Contracts

COMMITTEES
Finance
Housing and Buildings
Cultural Affairs
Community Development
Oversight and Investigations

September 30, 2014


Lilliam Barrios-Paoli
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Vicki Been
Commissioner
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
100 Gold Street
New York, NY 10038

Dear Deputy Mayor Barrios-Paoli and Commissioner Been,

Thank you for taking an early lead on halving the number of units at 316 West 95th Street
otherwise known as Freedom House. As a follow up to the recent approval of a 4 year, $16
million contract for Aguilar Inc. to operate a 100 unit shelter, Im asking for your help to ensure
that the 100 units that DHS will no longer use, be made available as rent regulated units
immediately.

We could really use these 100 rent-regulated, single room occupancy (SRO) units for the
working class residents seeking permanent affordable housing in my district.

What tools to do we have to urge the Podolsky family, principals of RB Estates and 330
Continental LLC that own The Pennington and The Continental respectively, to make these units
available to the public as rent-stabilized apartments? Does the City need additional tools to
sanction the landlords if they try to rent the units at market rates? Please let us know what steps
we can take together to maintain this affordable housing.

As you know, the Upper West Side is losing our rent regulated units hand-over-fist. Its all we
can to provide legal services to stem the tide. According to NYUs Furman Center only 43.4% of
the UWS rental units are rent-regulated today, a drop of 25.3% from just 5 years ago. Rent-
regulated SRO units are a preservation priority for this community and the return of these units
should be considered in your neighborhood strategy for preserving housing on the Upper West
Side as part of Mayor de Blasios Housing New York Plan.

Thank you for your ongoing cooperation and commitment to community engagement on
designing equitable housing opportunities for all New Yorkers. My office stands ready to assist
you and your staff to work with the building owners to make these units available as soon as
possible.

Please feel to reach out to Marisa Maack, Ahmed Tigani, or myself, at 212-788-6975 with any
questions.

Yours Truly,


Helen Rosenthal

cc: Mayor Bill de Blasio
Alica Glenn. Deputy Mayor for Housing & Economic Development
Gibert Taylor, Comissioner, NYC Department of Homeless Services
Elizabeth Caputo, Chairperson, Manhattan Community Board 7
Penny Ryan, District Manager, Manhattan Community Board 7