C i ~ V L i m i ~ s

Volume XVIII Number 10

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Pratt Institute Center for Community and
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Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Board of Directors
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Project
Beverly Cheuvront. former City Limits
Editor
Errol Louis. Central Brooklyn Partnership
Mary Martinez. Montefiore Hospital
Rebecca Reich. Housing Consultant
Andrew Reicher. UHAB
Tom Rohbins. Journalist
Jay Small . ANHD
Walter Stafford. New York University
Doug Turetsky. former City Limits Editor
Pete Williams . Center for Law and
Social Justice
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2jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
One in 12 Children!
W
hen you're talking about poverty, reality is easily obscured. Just
ask the homeless men and women who have become advocates,
or the activists who have worked to win new housing for the
homeless and fix the shelter system. Many of them have given
up trying to argue that homeless people are not by definition pathological
or psychotic.
During the last two years, nearly every time an article about homeless-
ness has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Wall
Street Journal and many other newspapers and magazines, the reporters
have either explicitly or implicitly assumed that most homeless people
are in dire circumstances as a result of mental illness, drug addiction or
some other character deficiency. As we've said in this space before,
accepting that premise is the easiest way to avoid responsibility for
dealing with social and economic inequities in our city.
Last month, some progress was made when The New York Times
reported that a new University of Pennsylvania study found homeless-
ness to be far more common in New York City and Philadelphia than
previously believed. The Times reporter noted that "the sheer volume of
people who became homeless ... suggest[s] that regional economic prob-
lems, not just the behavior ofindividuals, are a factor."
Wow. Economics might just be a factor behind homelessness. Isn't that
a revelation.
It's astonishing how easy it is for this city's opinion-makers to be so
oblivious to simple truths. In fact, the findings ofthe Pennsylvania study
comprise an emphatic call to rearrange our priorities in dealing with
homelessness. Researchers found that one in12 African-American chil-
dren in New York City have spent time in a homeless shelter! And the
pace at which families are becoming homeless is picking up speed.
Now let's see how many reporters and pundits bother to take note of
reality and change their assumptions.
* * *
November's article on the Job Training Partnership Act included the
comments of Department of Employment spokesperson Beverly
Cheuvront. We should have noted that Cheuvront is also a former editor
of this magazine, and as such serves on our board of directors. As the
article's content itself should make clear, board members have no control
over the editorial content of the magazine; they serve only in an advisory
capacity. 0
Cover design by Karen Kane. Photo by Steven Fish.
INSIDE
TIlE MA
A Message to You, Rudy 6
Benchmarks by which to measure the Giuliani administration's
commitment to communities.
FEATURES
Driven to Failure 16
Missed deadlines. Shortsighted programs. Recalcitrant politicians and a
governor on the sidelines. Does anyone really think New York can comply
with the Clean Air Act? by David U. Andrews and Andrew White
Divided We FaIl 22
Co-op ownership sounded like a dream come true for some residents of
public housing projects and other low income New Yorkers. Now they're
not so sure. by Steve Mitra
PROFRE
Starting from Scratch 8
Bargain Village, a flea market in Harlem, is offering the homeless a way
out and a leg up. by Cynthia Asmann
PIPELINES
Code of Denial
10
Orthodox Jews are struggling with the fact that religious households are
not immune to domestic violence. by Hanna Liebman
Toxins for Dinner
14
When it comes to eating Hudson River fish, what you don' t know can
kill you. by Peter Ortiz

Cityview
Renters Must Strike Back
Review
A View from the West
DEPABTMmTS
Editorial
Briefs
A Melrose Tale
HolJ8in8 is the Key
Fre8b Start
Terminal Jitters
2 Letters
Professional
4 Directory
4
4 Job Ads
5
26
by Amy Bachrach
28
by Errol T. Louis
29
30,31
27,31
10
16
22
CITY UMITSIDECEMBER 1993/3
BRIEFS
A MELROSE TALE
last month, the new Melrose
Commons Urban Renewal
Project in the South Bronx, a
redevelopment plan that
sprouted directly from the orga-
nizing efforts of neighborhood
residents, became the official
proposal of the city's depart-
ments of Housing Preservation
and Development (HPD) and
City Planning. Now the plan has
its seven-month journey
through the city's uniform lana
use review process, or ULURP.
"It is beautiful. It's such a
relief/' says Dolorinda Lisanti,
who has lived in the South
Bronx community for 28 years
and was one of the first to dis-
cover in the late 1980s that her
home was slated for demolition
under the guidelines of an
earlier city plan that would have
bulldozed the homes and busi-
nesses of hundreds of peOple.
She worked with others in the
neighborhood to organize Nos
Quedamos ('We Stay"), the
local group that took control of
the planning process and even-
tually won the support of Bronx
Borough President Fernando
Ferrer.
"To see a community come
together like this, it's beautiful,"
says Usanti.
Melrose Commons spans 36
acres and, under the new plan,
will include 65 separate devel-
opment sites, ranging from one-
and two-family homes to block-
long, seven-story apartment
buildings. Unlike the city's origi-
nal plan, the proposal includes
housing for low income house-
holds and little displacement of
current residents. Originally, 78
families and 80 businesses were
to be moved out of the area;
now, if the current plan is ap-
proved, about 55 families and
51 businesses will have to
move, but most will be given top
priority for new homes and
stores within the community,
according to the planning
department.
lastspring and summer, Nos
Quedamos held community
planning sessions and, with the
pro bono assistance of Petr
Stand from Magnusson Archi-
tects and Lee Weintraub from
Weintraub and DiDomenico,
drafted a preliminary plan.
During August and September,
4/DECEMBER 1993/CITY LIMITS
the group negotiated with plan-
ners from city agencies and
ultimately collabOrated with
them to draft the current pro-
posal.
Highlights include a new
''Town Center" where most of
the major streets intersect; the
area includes a pedestrian mall
and retail stores as well as a
community center in the now-
abandoned landmork Court-
house on 1 61 st Street.
If the proposal is approved
by local community bOards, the
bOrough president, the City
Planning Commission and the
City Council, HPD can l?egin
taking bids on pieces of tfie
project within a or two.
However, mony of the designs
for housing developments in the
proposal do not fit into any
current government housing
programs, so it may be 10
years or longer before the entire
project is completed.
"Planning and development
is not a reactive process," says
Weintraub. ''You can't just say,
'There's a two-story house pro-
gram, so let's build two-story
houses.' The decision was made
here early on that there is no
program for all of this. But when
the program comes along the
plan is here." Andrew White
HOUSING IS THE KEY
To the surprise of few
housing advocates, preliminary
results of an as-yet unreleased
study indicate that formerly
homeless families are better off
living in public housing rather
than in buildings owned and
managed by the Department of
Housing Preservation and
Development
The study by Beth Weitzman,
a professor at New York
University, looks at 169 families
who moved out of the shelters
and into permanent housing in
1992. All of them were deemed
to be especially at risk for
returning to homeless ness
because of their past experienc-
es; some, for example, were
young mothers who had grown
In Bushwick, members of EI Puente, a WIlliamsburg commu.-., group, and
students of Bushwic:k High School recently umeiled a 205-foot mural called
"LMn' In Peace." The painting Is Intended as a respoIIM to the "Rest In Peace"
murals that dot the nelghbortlood, memorializing Individuals who died vioIentIJ
on the streets.
up in foster care; others were
of domestic violence or
had a history of drug abuse.
Weitzman set out to
determine whether or not
intensively focused social
services could help stabilize
families once they leave the
homeless shelters. Half of the
families in the study took part in
an intensive case management
(ICM) project funded bY the
Edna McConnell Clark Founda-
tion and run by four community
groups in Harlem, the Lower
East Side and the Bronx. The
other half did not.
Final results from the
research are still being ana-
lyzed. Initially, however,
Weitzman found that the
experiences of families who
went through the ICM program
and those who did not were
relatively similar. But she found
significant disparity between
families who moved into public
housi ng and those who moved
into city-owned, in rem
apartment buildings. In rem
buildings are properties taken
from landlords who fail to pay
property taxes; most are located
in troubled neighborhoads and
are in very poor physical
condition.
While only a few of the
families returned to the shelter
system, those who did were all
residents of in rem housing, not
public housing, Weitzman says.
Those in in rem housing also
had a much higher rate of
instability in general, she adds.
"Projects have a bad
reputation, but among people
coming out of a shelter, they feel
like they've hit the jackpot when
they get a place in public
housing," she says.
Families in the ICM pro-
grams receive three months of
very close attention from
caseworkers who have small
case-loads of only three or four
families (See City Umits, April
1993).
Weitzman's which is
due to be released this winter,
will look at the impact that ICM
had in terms of helping families
through counseling and
community support as well as
concrete services such as getting
children into school or hooking
up the telephone.
This month, the city's
Department ot Homeress
Services (DHS) expects to begin
funding nine new ICM pro-
grams for families moving out of
the shelters and into permanent
housing, and will take over
funding from the Edna
McConnell Clark Foundation for
the four already in place.
Andrew White
FRESH START
After 15 years of turmoil,
tenants in four city-owned Park
Slope buildings are forming a
mutual housing association to
take ownership of the properties
and commence, they hope, a
new era of stability.
"In many ways it's been a
long and frustrating process,"
says Brad Lander, executive
,
1
director of the Fifth Avenue
Committee (FACl, a nonprofit
housing and economic develop-
ment group that organized the
tenants.
In December, the buildings
will be leased to the new South
Brooklyn Mutual Housing Asso-
ciation, which in turn will rent
them to the current tenants. Next
summer, the mutual housing
association is expected to pur-
chase the buildings, Lander
says, and the resiaents will
remain as renters.
Ownership and manage-
ment responsibilities will be
shared by the tenants, FAC and
the neighborhood residents. The
association will have a nine-
member board, four elected
from among the tenants, two
others from the community, one
from an apartment waiting list
and two from the membership
of FAC.
The buildings had been in
city ownership for about 10
years when, in 1989, they were
slated for a $1 million renova-
tion under the city's Private
Ownership and Management
Program (POMP). ''They were in
such bod shape that people
were afraid to come in to make
repairs," soys Madeline Garay,
who has lived in one of the
buildings since 1977.
The city hired Kay Manage-
ment Group to do the work with
the intention of selling the prop-
erty to them. But tenants were
not happy with Kay's previous
record, so they and FAC suc-
cessfully lobbied the Department
of Housing Preservation and
Development (HPD) to hire John
Touhey of Turf Companies in
Kay's place. Lander says that
Touhey wanted eventually to sell
the buildings bock to the tenants
as cooperatives.
But along the way, the ten-
ants started having misgivings.
"What people wanted was long
time security, affordability and
succession rights; they didn' t
feel comfortable going the co-
operative route," says Lander.
''The mutual housing concept
started getting kicked around in
1992."
At the some time, Touhey's
contract to rehabilitate the
buildings ran into trouble. In
July, 1993, Touhey and the city
agreed to terminate the POMP
contract because ''Turf was
For the second year In a .-, AllIance for the EnvIronment In
WlUlamsburg staged a "toxic mile" demotlltlallo.l along the route of the New
Yortl CIty Maraa- to protest poIuIIon in the neilhbortlOOd as well as the c:itJ'1
plan to build an incinerator at the Brooklyn Nny Yard. Members of the Jewish
and latino COIIIIIIUIIitIe displaJed IIfe..sbe ......, effigies and presented a
"toxic theater."
financially overextended," ac-
cording to Cassondra Vernon,
an HPD spokesperson. The city
then proposed that FAC take
over the buildings, Lander says,
but tenants decided they pre-
ferred to go ahead with the
mutual housing association.
Now, the association is
expected to hire a developer to
finish the remaining city-funded
rehabilitation work. When that's
complete, the buildings are
theirs. Steve Mitra
TERMINAL JlnERS
Development plans for the
Terminal Urban Re-
newal Area (ATURA) in down-
town Brooklyn are shifting
again. Forest City Ratner, the
organization that took control of
the project in 1992, is focusing
on short-term retail development
schemes to get it off the ground
this year.
Forest City, the developer of
the nearby Metrotech complex,
plans a 500,000 square fOot
shopping complex for the
ATURA site at Flatbush and
avenues. Construction
of a 155,OOO-square-foot
Bradlee' s discount department
store is slated to begin this
month, and Forest City is look-
ing for a tenant for a proposed
60,OOO-square-foot "regional
supermarker'-about twice the
size of a normal city supermar-
on
Avenue.
A 1 986 plan by Rose Asso-
ciates-which has since bocked
out of the a
vast office and retail complex,
two parking garages, a 10-
screen cinema and several
hundred units of middle income
housing. Local opponents joined
together as the ATURA Cooli-
tion, and filed a number of
lawsuits delaying the project.
The office development has
since been shelved due to a
slack market.
Members of the ATURA
Coolition concede that they see
improvements in the new plan;
for example, the developer
dropped its original proposal
for an eight-story l,OOO-car
parking garage in favor of two
smaller underground facilities.
But they argue that the develop-
ment will hurt businesses on
nearby Fifth Avenue as well as
along the recession-bottered
Fulton Mall, and they soy it will
worsen traffic and pollution
problems in the neighborhood.
The group is ambivalent
about Brad lee' s, but is strongly
opposed to the regional super-
market. "Irs too huge," says
Felicia Wilson, whose block of
South Elliott Place would be-
come a dead end facing the
store's bock wall . "It would
destroy the intimate character of
the neighborhood."
Forest City chief operating
officer Paul Travis angrily dis-
misses the coolition as "a bond
of crazy radicals with no stake
in the community." He argues
that the Pathmark in Gowanus
didn't drive nearby stores out of
business and soys the alterna-
tive is "small, overpriced extor-
tionate stores that make the
poor pay more."
Officials of the city's Eco-
nomic Development Corpora-
tion (EDC) say the large size of
the project is needed to lure
shoppers with cars to the area.
The regional supermarket, they
soy, would resemble the
Cropsey Avenue Pathmark,
which draws customers from
neighborhoods along the Belt
Parkway. Increased traffic could
be accommodated by widening
streets and adjl,.lsting the timing
of traffic lights, says EDC senior
project manager Sonya Horton.
Housing development at the
site is also slated to begin soon,
with 53 three-family houses to
be built in the first phase of the
project beginning next month.
The houses, sponsared by the
New York City Partnership, will
sell for about $225,000, and
will each include two, two-
bedroom apartments expected
to rent for about $800 apiece.
People making a maximum of
$53,000 a year will be eligible
to buy the houses, according to
Partnership project manager
Jody Casso Buyers will have to
make a 5 percent down pay-
ment, and make mortgage
payments of roughly $2,000 a
month.
Also in the plan are another
213 units of middle-income
housing and a 113-apartment
building at and Carlton
avenues for low income senior
citizens. Federal funding for the
seniors' housing was rejected by
"Reagan-Bush holdovers" in the
federal Department of Housing
and Urban Development, says
Representotive Major Owens,
but he hopes to reverse that
decision.
Meanwhile, develorment of
new office space is stil a possi-
bility in the future. EDC's Horton
soys that if Bradlee's kick-starts
the project, the office towers
may become economically
viable. Steven Wlshnl.
CITY UMITS/ DECEMBER 1993/5
A Message to You, Rudy
Benchmarks for a new administration
I
n his election night speech,
Mayor-elect Rudy Giuliani
adopted a conciliatory tone. He
promised New Yorkers that no
community would be ignored in his
efforts to improve the quality of life in
the city, whether or not they had given
him their support.
Communities-and not City Hall-
are where some of the most inspiring
innovations in government originate;
they are also where the hard realities
of New York life are played out. But
for neighborhood ideas to be realized,
they often need government support.
As the mayor-elect prepares to move
into Gracie Mansion, it's important
that he understands how neighbor-
hood people will measure his accom-
plishments and failures. City Limits
asked dozens of community activists
around the city to help draw up a list
of a few small but important programs
and projects that will be benchmarks
by which to judge Giuliani's respect
for the residents oflow income neigh-
borhoods. From their recommenda-
tions, we offer some of the most notable
of many important items that depend
on the support of the new mayor, yet
can easily be lost in the grand pro-
nouncements and City Hall intrigue
of a new administration.
~ BEACON SCHOOLS
During the last three years, a num-
ber of public schools have been open
late into the night and throughout the
weekend, offering all sorts ofcommu-
nity activities including recreation,
counseling, education for adults as
well as young people, even job train-
ing. These are the Beacon Schools,
whose primary goal is to give young
people a productive alternative to the
streets.
Today, more than 100,000 New
Yorkers in 37 communities take ad-
vantage of the services offered by the
Beacons, whose after-school services
are operated by community-based
nonprofits such as Alianza Domini-
cana in Washington Heights and Good
Shepherd Services in Red Hook. The
schools' successes have made them
indispensable.
a/DECEMBER 1993/CITY UMITS
"Asking them to be shut down is
like asking a church, synagogue or
mosque to be shut down," says Richard
Murphy, commissioner of the Depart-
ment of Youth Services.
The 37 Beacon Schools will cost
$18.5 million during the 1994 fiscal
year, which ends next June 30th.
Murphy's department hopes to add
28 more schools to the roster, increas-
ing the budget by $14 million during
the 1995 fiscal year. This is a sound
investment. The rate at which young
people are becoming involved in vio-
lent crime is increasing rapidly. If we
are to maintain safety on our streets
and keep the criminal justice budget
under control, we must offer what-
ever opportunities we can to help
young people find positive value in
their lives.
~ THE 197A PLANNING
PROCESS
Community residents' voices are
often the last and the least heard in the
planning and development of their
neighborhoods. Most of the time, city
agencies and real estate developers
make policy without them. But the
planning process authorized under
clause 197a of the City Charter is
designed to change that.
According to the charter, commu-
nity boards are authorized to draft
comprehensive plans for neighbor-
hood development with the input of a
broad cross section of residents. These
plans include zoning recommenda-
tions, guidelines for new residential,
retail and industrial development, as
well as parks and other amenities.
"They are very much a community's
plan. That's what's so important about
them," says Doug Turetsky, Deputy
Director of Policy and Budget in Man-
hattan Borough President Ruth
Messinger's office.
The first 197a plan, produced by
Community Board 3 in the South
Bronx, was approved by the City
Planning Commission in 1992. Many
others are in the works.
The 197a plans are pure'ly advisory.
Mayor Dinkins expressed his inten-
tion to honor them as closely as
possible; Mayor Giuliani should do
the same.
~ MELROSE COMMONS
A stunning change of direction
occurred in the Bronx in 1993, when
one of the city's' most controversial
neighborhood redevelopment
schemes was scrapped and rewritten
by the people living in the commu-
nity. Now the city's housing and plan-
ning agencies have adopted the
neighborhood's plan as their own (see
"A Melrose Tale," page 4.)
The result is a model for future
urban renewal efforts, and as such it
shouldn't be allowed to sit unnoticed
on a shelf downtown. At this point,
there is no cost estimate for the entire
project, with its 2,600 units of hous-
ing for low, moderate and middle
income families as well as retail space
and community facilities. But the
incoming mayor's support is critical,
because new and innovative housing
programs are needed to finance the
development work. For the pieces of
the plan that fit within existing city
programs, contracts could be bid on
as early as next summer or fall .
~ URBAN HORIZONS/P.S. 235
A proposal to convert the long-
abandoned Morrisania Hospital in the
South Bronx into a thriving commu-
nity institution, including low income
housing, a health clinic, a public
school, a day care center and career
training programs, is awaiting action
by city government. The project is a
joint venture of the Women's Housing
and Economic Development Corpo-
ration (WHEDCO), the Institute for
Urban Family Health and the parents'
association of P.S. 235, a bilingual
school for 700 children in grades pre-
K through 8.
Last summer, the Urban Horizons/
P.S. 235 proposal was endorsed by
the local community board and a task
force of representatives from several
city agencies. Twenty million dollars
in tax credits and state and private
grants has already been lined up for
the project. But the city has yet to

approve a $3.5 million loan or to give
WHEDCO control of the site. The
project has apparently been held up
by the city's Department of Housing
Preservation and Development, which
must sign off on the site transfer.
The Morrisania Hospital has been
empty for almost 20 years, a blight on
the face of an already battered com-
munity. Urban Horizons represents a
new, comprehensive approach to
neighborhood revitalization and the
Giuliani administration should move
quickly to ensure that the project
moves forward.
FORT WASHINGTON
ARMORY
The image of more than a thousand
homeless men sleeping on cots in the
bleak, cavernous space of the Fort
Washington Armory became a
national symbol of the cruel treat-
ment of homeless people during the
1980s. But a visionary proposal to
turn the armory in Washington Heights
into 200 units of housing for low and
mod-erate income people, as well as
day care and community facilities,
retall stores and a regional sports
center, seeks to banish that image
forever.
The project, still two years away
from construction, needs about $30
million in low-interest city loans,
which the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development has
tentatively agreed to, according to
Ellen Baxter, director of the Commit-
tee for the Heights-Inwood Homeless,
which conceived of the project.
Necessary private backing is contin-
gent on the city loans, so the mayor's
support is essential. "We're hopeful
that the city's commitments will be
honored," says Baxter.
THE COMMUNITY
CONSULTANT PROGRAM
The Department of Housing Preser-
vation and Development's Communi-
ty Consultant Program funds neigh-
borhood groups to provide housing
services to low income tenants and
home owners. These services include
education, counseling and tenant
organizing as well as assistance in
fighting evictions in housing court.
Yet the program has long been treated
like a stepchild by the Dinkins admin-
istration: its budget has shrunken
steadily during the last four years,
from $4 million to $2.2 million.
The program's low cost is dispro-
portionate to its impact, argues John
Broderick, facilitator of the Commu-
nity Consultant Coalition, an associa-
tion of neighborhood groups. "This is
basically a homelessness prevention
program," he says. By hel ping prevent
evictions, community groups keep
families off the streets and out of the
shelters, something any mayoral
administration should be grateful for.
The return on investment is obvious:
every family in the shelter system
costs the city at least $30,000 a year,
more than the salary of a single com-
munity consultant staffer.
THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE
TAYSTEE .JOBS
Ever since the Stroehmann Corpo-
ration shut down the Taystee bakery
plant in Flushing last year, former
employees have been working to start
a bakery of their own. Many of the 300
laid-off workers formed a coalition
with community leaders that is
currently seeking a site for a new,
plant in one of the city's
low income neighborhoods. If all goes
well, they will begin operations in
early 1995.
But the coalition needs the support
of the city government. So far , the
Dinkins administration has been
helpful, says Ken Pajak, the project
manager and chief executive officer of
the bakery-to-be. The mayor gave a
grant of $1 0 ,000 to the project. He also
vowed to hand over the $780,000 that
the Stroehmann Corporation had won
in tax breaks before leaving town-
money that Stroehmann must give
back. "We' re counting on that
$780,000 for the project to succeed, "
says Pajak. He adds that the cash will
be used to leverage more money from
banks and is needed by next summer.
The city has said that the money
will be collected from Stroehmann
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CITY UMITSIDECEMBER 1993/7
By Cynthia Asmann
Starting from Scratch
Bargain Village is an entrepreneurial incubator for
teenagers and homeless men and women.
I
never thought I'd end up in a shel-
ter," says Sandra Windley. "It was
just a domino effect." Once she lost
her job, Windley says her home
was the next thing to go. So she has
spent the past few weeks in the
Kingsbridge Women's Shelter in the
Bronx.
Standing behind her table at Bar-
gain Village, a weekend flea market
operated by homeless New Yorkers
and located at the corner of 124th
Street and Frederick Douglass Boule-
vard in Central Harlem, Windley care-
fully arranges and rearranges a selec-
tion of pants, shirts, dresses and
lingerie she hopes to sell today. Much
of the clothing is used and each gar-
ment sells for only a dollar or two, but
thanks to Marshall England and the
Bronx Homeless Task Force, it's all
Windley's to sell.
"We are based on the theory of
what you call 'empowerment,'" says
England, the driving force behind the
market, one of several projects initi-
ated by the task force he founded to
help homeless New Yorkers get back
on their feet.
jewelry. Vendors keep all of their prof-
its, are provided space rent-free and
currently pay nothing for the mer-
chandise; the task force pays for the
goods sold at the Harlem market and
what it takes to be their own boss, to
teach participants that the entrepre-
neurial dream of independence and
self-reliance is within everyone's
grasp.
The vendors who enter the pro-
gram and stick with it are those who
can see a future in it, England ob-
serves. And they possess one more
crucial attribute, something that all
too often gets drained out of those
who have wound up in the shelter
system: motivation.
"That's. the difference between us
and some other homeless activist
groups," England notes. "Most home-
less advocacy groups put more
emphasis on attacking government,
which is necessary. But while that
means doing something for the home-
less, it does not mean the homeless
doing anything for themselves. That's
where we come in."
AIr( u_pIoyed homeless adult can become a vendor at Bargain WIage, a flea martlet
created by Marshall England (aboe, right), director of the Bronx Homeless Task Force.
To expect any assistance from gov-
ernment agencies, says England, is to
wait too long for too little. "There's no
need for us to try and fool ourselves,"
he observes. "They're going to give
[the homeless] the minimum at best,
so why not try to give them some basic
training so they can move up from
that point?"
Any unemployed homeless adult
is eligible to become a vendor at Bar-
gain Village; a similar market, manned
entirely by teenagers, operates during
the school year at P.S. 55, located at
st. Paul's Place and Third Avenue in
the Bronx. Open weekends from 10
a.m. to sunset, the markets offer
everything from fuzzy dice to costume
8/DECEMBER 1993/CITY UMITS
funding from the city Department of
Youth Services provides for the mer-
chandise sold at P.S. 55.
Something in Return
For everything England gives he
expects something in return, he says.
Teens who want to workatP.S. 55, for
example, must obtain from their
parents a list of housing code viola-
tions in their apartment buildings so
that action may be taken against the
landlord to see that necessary repairs
are made. They must also master a list
of business terms, such as fixed assets,
accounts payable and working capital,
in order to participate. And all
vendors, youth and adult alike, are
required within 30 days of joining
Bargain Village to bring in someone
else to the market and help them set
up their own business. "I use people,"
England freely admits.
As he envisions it, the markets
offer vendors the opportunity to learn
"My own experience in the shel-
ters has shown me that motivation is
key," says James Robinson, a resident
of the Harlem-One shelter on Frederick
Douglass Boulevard and an active
Bargain Village participant. "The guys
in the shelter need to be encouraged to
get out and get involved. Getting them
involved is the hardest part.
"You have to invest time, and a lot
of people are not happy with that
idea," Robinson explains, deftly lay-
ing out the potential pitfalls facing
any entrepreneur, regardless of their
business or background. "But once
they see what's going on," he says,
"they become interested."
Working Weekends
During a recent visit to the Harlem
market, sales were sluggish at the
tables of the dozen or so vendors.
Still, no one complained about busi-
ness being slow or the quality of the
merchandise.
For some, like Kontessa Ruiz, Bar-
gain Village is an opportunity to do
something productive outside the
shelter. Ruiz, who lost her job and
subsequently her home during a pro-
tracted court battle to gain an order of
protection against an abusive former
lover (she was fired for taking too
many days off to go to court), now
works weekends as a Bargain Village
vendor.
"It's better than sitting in the shel-
ter thinking about everything that's
going wrong in my life," Ruiz says.
Others, like Windley, see it as a
business opportunity. "It's a stepping
stone. When I was in the working
world I planned on being an entrepre-
neur. I studied up on it, read, went to
seminars. This is like on-the-job train-
ing. By the time I'm economically and
financially ready to go into my own
business, this will have been a good
experience for me."
All of the vendors at Bargain Vil-
lage hope they can make a better fu-
ture for themselves. England is bank-
ing on the idea that once they get
bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, their
days at the shelters will be numbered.
Starting a Company
I.K. Benny has been in the shelter
system for six months; he lost his job
managing a McDonald's in midtown
Manhattan and could no longer afford
the rent for his apartment. With
England as his mentor, Benny has
already started his own company-
Maychic Trading Co.-complete with
business cards and sales pitch, and
has been scouring the city on foot,
looking for wholesalers who can offer
the best prices for the merchandise he
sells at the market. Currently he is
selling a variety of items, including
videotapes, audio cassettes and sun-
glasses, and would like to find a manu-
facturer who will go into partnership
with him to produce T-shirts and sweat
suits he has designed.
Benny has also been recruiting men
from the Franklin Men's Shelter and
the Harlem-One shelter, where he is a
resident, to man tables at the market.
"My company helps them," he ex-
plains. "I buy the merchandise and
they can have it on credit, and pay me
back later." Benny and a few other
shelter residents have even spun off
their own organization, called the
Homeless Self-Help Group, which
helps its members job-hunt, write
resumes and prepare for interviews.
Benny's is the very sort of regenera-
tive thinking that England believes
will make Bargain Village a success.
"There are some things people have to
do for themselves," Benny says.
"What's great about Bargain Village
is that the people here don't care who
or what you are," says vendor Mark
Eaton, aWards Island shelter resident.
"Y ou can just walk in off the street. It' s
a decent way of making cash."
The idea for the market, explains
England, came out of the realization
that a home is not the only thing a
homeless person needs. "Can you
imagine what it's like to help some-
one get into an apartment, and then
they lose it? Women kept coming back
[to the shelters] ashamed to tell me
that they were back. [They lose their
"The answer to
homelessness is not
a home. It's a job
and a home."
housing] because they can't pay the
rent. So they wind up back in the
shelter. I said to myself, 'This is a
whirlwind. This is not going to stop.'
That's why I say someday, someone is
going to tell the true story about home-
lessness. The answer is not a home.
The answer is a job and a home and
the wherewithal to maintain both."
The Bronx Homeless Task Force is
just one of many projects England has
initiated over the years through a larger
umbrella organization he founded
called the League of Autonomous
Bronx Organizations for Renewal, or
L.A.B.O.R. Established in 1965 and
made up of a consortium of commu-
nity groups, churches and representa-
tives from Bronx Community Board
3,L.A.B.O.R. runs a food pantry, which
distributes free canned food and fresh
vegetables twice a week, operates two
day care centers, a youth program and
"empowerment schools," in addition
to the flea markets.
The schools, which offer classes
two times a month at a number of
locations around the city including
the Kingsbridge Women's Shelter and
Kings County Hospital, have been
developed on the same premise that
guides the markets-that people need
to develop a variety of skills in order
to learn how to advocate for them-
selves and survive on their own.
Clas'ses at Kingsbridge, for example,
have focused on how to lobby for
better food and sanitary conditions at
the shelter and an imfroved intake
process for mentally il residents.
No Lights, Leaky Roof
England, who gave up his job as a
social worker at a residential facility
for the mentally disabled in 1988 to
devote himself full time to L.A.B.O.R.
and the Bronx Homeless Task Force,
hopes that by working at the flea
markets, participants will not only
earn much needed money, but self-
respect as well.
The process, England admits, can
be a slow one. Bargain Village's
"warehouse," for example, based in a
former gas station, has no lights and a
leaky roof that makes operating on
rainy days impossible. England is
currently trying to raise the money
necessary to repair the roof and get the
electricity turned on, but he is con-
vinced that once those matters are
addressed, Bargain Village will be a
self-sustaining money-maker.
"Mr. England is genuinely con-
cerned about people and the com-
munity, and that's why he's been so
successful," notes Nouk Bassomb, a
resident of the Franklin Men's Shelter
who spends much of his time at the
market trying to recruit members for
the Homeless Self-Help Group. The
organization recently received a small
grant from the Citizens Committee for
New York City to help publish its
newsletter, "The Homeless Tribune,"
of which Bassomb is the editor, and to
print flyers to publicize Bargain
Village. "Homeless people are not
helpless," Bassomb points out. "We
want to be known as people who are
trying to do something." =
Cynthia Asmann is a former City
Limits intern.
Advertise
in City Limits!
Call Faith Wiggins
at (917) 253-3887
CITY UMns/DECEMBER 1993/9
By Hanna Liebman
Code of Denial
Victims of domestic violence in traditional Jewish
homes face a complicated escape.
T
here is no sign, no bell. But for
a particular group of women,
there is a glimmer of hope
behind the nondescript parlcing-
lot entrance to the Transition Center
in Far Rockaway, Queens. This is a
shelter for battered women, a familiar-
enough resource to most
people-but not for a
Hasidic Jew like 25-year-
old Rebeccah, who, with
her 3-year-old son, has
decided she must get
away from her abusive
husband. The center is
the only such shelter in
New York City that can
accommodate the
myriad complications
surrounding her deci-
sion to leave.
Rachel Pill, theOrtho-
dox social worker at the
Transition Center, occa-
sionally clucks her
tongue in sympathy as
she talks on the phone
with Rebeccah, a mem-
ber of the Lubavitcher
Hasidic sect in Crown
Heights, Brooklyn, who
has been married four
years to a battering hus-
band.
facility for Orthodox women. So Pill
and Harris set these women up in
private homes with families who have
volunteered to house them until they
can find a more permanent place to
stay. At the same time, the center's
staff helps them get on public assis-
organization for it, or a shelter.
Absolutely no."
This sort of denial means that a
woman from the Orthodox Jewish
tradition-especially the more ex-
tremely close-knit Hasidic segment-
faces tremendous religious and
cultural hurdles in dealing with abuse.
If she follows her initial instinct to
reach out to a trusted rabbi for advice,
often she will be told her troubles are
her own fault, counselors say. If she
seeks services outside the community,
she confronts language barriers-
many Orthodox women speak Hebrew
or Yiddish as their first language-
and the difficulty of
adhering to Jewish di-
etary restrictions. Even
if she gets the help she
needs, she risks perma-
nent exile from the reli-
gious community in
whose midst she has
always lived.
"There is a very men-
acing force that is acti-
vated against women
who disclose any indica-
tions of social problems
within the community,"
says Amy Neustein, a
victim-turned-advocate.
Harris agrees: "These
women have the same
options as the regular
population [of battered
women], but they don't
have the option to use
them."
Erasing Identity
"Rebeccah, are you
ready? I have a place for
you to go." A pause, but
not a long one, and then:
Battered Orthodox Jewish WOOIeII who leave their husbands risk being exiled
from their community.
"I sit in a famine-
laden exile," says
Neustein, who went
through a harrowing
court case some years "Y ou 've got a lot of guts,
Rebeccah. I'm very impressed."
It's been 13 years since the center
opened its doors and became the first
city-funded shelter in the nation to
offer kosher meals. But only now are
people really becoming aware of the
issue of domestic violence in the
Orthodox Jewish community, says
Barbara Harris, the center's director,
"It's coming out. Women realize it's
not a shocker to come forward and
say, 'I need help.'"
Rebeccah will be directed to a safe
house this afternoon. Since the center's
55 beds are city-funded, they are open
to all women, so sometimes, like now,
there are no openings in the kosher
10jDECEMBER 1993/CITY UMITS
tance, locate apartments, pursue their
cases in court and access a wide range
of services.
Deeply Cloistered Problem
Advocates note that the hush-hush
tendency of the Orthodox community
has made domestic abuse a deeply
cloistered and dangerous problem. Yet
leaders in the community say publicly
that domestic violence is not an issue.
"In the Hasidic world, that problem
does not exist that much," says the
wife of the Grand Rebbe SmelkaRubin,
who is the spiritual leader of the
Sulitza Hasidic sect in Far Rockaway.
"Not to an extent that you need an
ago over custody of her daughter.
Neustein lost the case, but subse-
quently obtained a Ph.D. and estab-
lished Help Us Regain the Children,
an advocacy group based in the Man-
hattan Beach section of Brooklyn that
offers legal assistance to Orthodox
women and also functions as a lobby-
ing and public relations organization.
"These women are blackballed,"
says Neustein. "They can't remarry,
their children are taken away, they
lose viability, access to food, clothing,
shelter, money," even access to their
synagogue. One woman, Neustein
says, was banned from the neigh-
borhood butcher shop, the only place
,
j
1
to buy kosher meat, after pub-
licly reporting a rape. It's an
insidious process, Neustein ex-
plains. The woman's victim-
ization caused a ripple whose
ultimate effect was to erase her
identity. On top of being raped,
she was now a woman who could
no longer buy food for her home.
Often, blame for domestic
abuse is placed squarely on the
victim: first, for the abuse, and
second, for her decision to con-
sult with professionals or courts
outside the Orthodox group, says
James P. Yudes, a family law
specialist based" in Springfield,
New Jersey, who has handled
hundreds of domestic abuse
cases from within the Orthodox
population in his 18 years of
practice.
hear a sympathetic voice. Ebron
also says she gets calls from
women seeking advice. Most
don't call back for three or four
months, if they ever call back at
all.
The city has an estimated
250,000 Orthodox Jews, accord-
ing to Ebron's organization. Yet
the Transition Center remains
the only shelter in New York
City with kosher facilities.
That raises serious problems
for many women. For one thing,
since the shelter is open to any-
one who needs help whether
they are Orthodox or not, even
rabbis sympathetic to abused
women may urge them not to go
there. The mentality is, "Don't
use the [non-Jewish] courts or
shelters," explains one coun-
selor. "Because of the Hasidic
community's basic concept that
things are resolved within the
community, their tendency is
going to be to ostracize the abused
spouse," Yudes adds. "The hus-
band will stay and be self-righ-
teous," while the wife is faulted
for renouncing her own people.
en And for Orthodox women
~ from Far Rockaway, it's simply
~ not safe to go to the center. "For
~ most [non-Orthodox] women,
____ '---.... ~ they leave and sometimes the
''Orthodox women are reallzJng It's nola shocker to come forward husbands look for them, some-
and say, 'I need help,'" says Barbara Harris labove), director of times they don't. But in the Or-
the Transition Center in Far Rockaway. thodox community a husband
"I moved into his house, his
neighborhood," remarks a woman
who says she left her husband when
she was eight months pregnant be-
cause he repeatedly beat and abused
her. But the community "sees him as
a role-model father deserted by his
wife," she says. "I feel very disillu-
sioned."
A woman who leaves an abusive
husband is likely to be shunned by
her community, even her friends,
advocates explain. The community
may have difficulty accepting that a
seemingly charming man, one who
gives to the synagogue and dobbins
(prays) with the rest of them, could be
the perpetrator of such ungodly acts
as battery and sexual assault. Mean-
while, the men remarry, often fairly
quickly, says Yudes; but a woman,
under traditional Jewish law, may not
remarry unless her former husband
grants her a get, his permission to do
so. In some cases, Yudes says, courts
have been able to compel a man to
compl y with his former wife's request
for a get.
The possibility of complete exile
means that an Orthodox woman may
be more fearful of confronting her
abuser than other women. At the same
time, an Orthodox woman is not raised
to live on her own outside a family.
She often lacks job skills or hasn't
used them in a long time, advocates
say, and, according to Pill, "Every-
thing [financial] is in his name .... [The
women] walk in here with the clothes
on their backs."
If an Orthodox woman leaves her
home, she almost automatically be-
comes destitute and is in immediate
need of public assistance, says Jackie
Ebron, director of crisis intervention
for the Metropolitan New York Coor-
dinating Council on Jewish Poverty.
Rarely Make a Stand
It's no wonder, then, that Orthodox
women tend to wait from eight to 15
years to report the abuse, about seven
years longer than women in the non-
Orthodox population, according to Pill
and other counselors. In fact, they
have found that Orthodox women
rarely make a stand if the abuse is
restricted to themselves; it's only when
their children are abused that these
women can justify breaking up the
family.
Yet the number of women willing
to take that step appears to be rising.
Pill says her organization has been
inundated with calls in recent months ,
and she receives about a dozen calls a
week from women who jus"t need to
always looks for her, always,"
says Pill. "The entire community gets
involved in this." Husbands in Far
Rockaway who suspect their wives
have gone to a shelter can find the
Transition Center with relative ease.
Men can also look for their wives
through the schools. There are only a
few Jewish day schools in the city,
says Pill, and the children have to be
placed at one of them.
"We had an incident two years ago
where the husband walked into one of
the schools with a fakeliece of paper
from the court, hande it to a secre-
tary, and she handed over the chil-
dren, " Pill recalls. "He kidnapped the
children. Because if a father walks in
and says 'I want my children' and he
looks respectable, there is no concept
that he shouldn't have the children."
Now area schools have become
partners with Transition Center,
learning how to cooperate with court
protection mandates.
Pill adds that it isn't always easy to
allay the fears of the safe-house
providers. The family awaiting
Rebeccah'sarrival wants to know what
might happen if the woman's husband
finds her and shows up on their
doorstep in a rage. Pill explains that if
the man locates her, he would most
likely be conciliatory, abject, the utter
CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/11
picture of charm. He would beg for
Rebeccah to return to him and make
shalom bayit, or peace in the house.
Dirty Laundry
The majority of abused Orthodox
women will return to their husbands
at some point, often simply because
they feel so isolated and uprooted.
"Seven times out of 1 0 they go back to
the abuser because the outside world
is so foreign to them.-" says Ebron,
adding: "If they go back, they don't
come out again .... They will sign away
everything. "
For the moment, though, more
services are sorely needed. Safe houses
are only stopgap emergency measures
and don't foster a woman's indepen-
dence, and there is a need for more
shelters that have kosher kitchens and
are attuned to the special needs of
Orthodox women.
"Someone needs to cough up
money to make a safe place for Jewish
women to go, and this is a grandiose
idea right now," Pill laments.
She and Harris are working closely
with Project Tikvah (Hebrew for
"hope") in Rockland County, which
is establishing its own kosher shelter
in cooperation with the existing
Rockland Family Shelter. In addition,
they take every opportunity to try to
convince rabbis and others influen-
tial in the Orthodox fold to support
their efforts.
"One of the concerns has always
been washing dirty laundry in public.
But not dealing with it is washing
dirty laundry in public," asserts Rabbi
David Senter, an Orthodox rabbi who
is spearheading Project Tikvah, which
has just received approval on a grant
to hire a full-time Orthodox social
worker at the Rockland Family Shelter.
It's a start. But, Pill points out,
support groups need to be formed.
More Orthodox social workers have
to be trained to handle these cases.
Reporting abuse must engender
validation and services, not stigma,
Until then, secluded doorways in far-
flung neighborhoods will be their por-
tals to safety and understanding. 0
Hanna Liebman is a reporter at
MediaWeek.
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By Peter Ortiz
Toxins for Dinner
Many New Yorkers fish in the Hudson River
to put food on the table. Few realize it could be
a fatal mistake.
O
n almost any Saturday, Ysidro
Molina can be found at his
favorite fishing spot on a rocky
piece of Hudson River shore-
line in Washington Heights. A steep
20-foot slope separates the secluded
area, where Molina and his friends
have come to fish for years, from the
soccer fields of Inwood Hill Park.
"I come out here twice a week,"
says Molina, a 42-year-old custodian
at Bronx Community College, who
brought along his 3-year-old son on a
recent afternoon. -The cooler weather
is said to bring out more striped bass,
fishermen here say.
Fishing the Hudson has become a
popular sport for anglers like Molina
who regularly cast their lines into the
polluted river that runs down the
western border of the city to New
York harbor. But one man's pastime is
another man's poison when the catch
of the day may be laced with PCBs-
cancer-causing chemicals once used
in the manufacture of electrical trans-
formers, among other things. PCBs
have also been linked to decreased
birth w.eights and behavioral dys-
function in newborn babies. Environ-
14/DECEMBER 1993/CITY UMITS
mentalists are concerned that many
New Yorkers who fish the Hudson are
unaware of the dangers and are eating
their catch.
A recent survey by an upstate non-
profit group, the Hudson River Sloop
Clearwater, found that a large percen-
tage of city residents who fish in the
river-especially African-American
and Hispanic anglers-eat what they
catch, and most are unaware of the
toxins they are ingesting. The
Clearwater and other organizations
are now pushing the state to jump-
start its somnolent public education
efforts in an effort to get the message
out.
Toxic Discharge
In addition to PCBs, the Hudson is
host to many other toxins, including
thousands of pounds of methanol,
phenol and formaldehyde. In all, 99
companies located along the Hudson
discharged 4,934,942 pounds of the
toxic chemicals into the river in 1990
alone, according to the federal
Environmental Protection Agency.
Exposure to these toxins may cause
miscarriages, birth defects, develop-
mental delays, mental retardation and
other serious health problems.
Limited time and resources have
led researchers to focus their atten-
tion on the harmful effects of PCBs, by
far the most dangerous of the sub-
stances found in large quantities in
the Hudson's waters. In 1975, the state
health and environmental agencies
released advisories on the dangers of
eating PCB-contaminated fish after it
was discovered that two General
Electric plants north of Albany had
dumped 1.3 million pounds of PCBs
into the Hudson over a 30-year period.
Although the federal government
enacted a ban on the production of
PCBs in 1976 and GE was ordered to
stop its dumping by a New York State
court in 1977, the company has since
admitted releasing the carcinogens
into the river until the early 1980s.
The problem has not subsided in
recent years. In 1991, GE monitoring
stations, set up under court order,
began to document spikes in the levels
of PCB contamination. The increases
were due to high quantities of PCBs
leaching into the ground water and
hence into the river, according to
another Clearwater study, "Turning
the Tide: The Case for Toxics Use
Reduction," published in August of
this year.
"This release caused a 300 percent
increase in the PCB levels in fish
caught in the upper Hudson from 1991
to 1992," the study reported, citing
research by the state Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC).
No License Required
Residents of upstate river commu-
nities have been banned from fishing
in the Hudson for many years. The
state Department of Health (DOH)
advises lower Hudson anglers to con-
sume no more than one meal of fish
per month of a number of species,
including striped bass, northern pike,
walleye and bluefish. Some fish
should not be consumed at all, such as
American eel, white perch and carp.
This advisory is printed in the New
York State Fishing Regulations Guide,
which is sent to all licensed fisher-
men, and includes tips on how to
clean a PCB-contaminated fish for
safer consumption. It recommends
that women of childbearing age, in-
fants and children under age 15
"should not eat fish with elevated
contaminant levels"-which covers
every species listed in the guide.
But people fishing from the
!
riverbanks in New York City rarely
see the state guide, because no license
is required for fishing in the lower
Hudson. The only way they learn of
the toxins is by word of mouth or
through the local media. "We always
do a press release when new recom-
mendations come out," says William
Fagel, a DOH spokesman.
Environmentalists counter that
such press releases are inadequate,
given the ethnically diverse popula-
tion that fishes in the city. The
Clearwater survey of336 Hudson River
anglers found that only 30 percent of
Hispanic fishermen and women and
45 percent of African-Americans were
aware of the health advisory. The
survey also found that those who had
read the advisory were less likely to
eat what they catch or to give it away
to others to eat.
Most importantly, the survey found
that 77 percent of African-Americans
and 94 percent of Hispanics eat their
catch, and of those, nearly 87 percent
reported sharing the fish with others.
More than half said they share the fish
with women of childbearing age or
, children' underthe age of15. Many of
the anglers said that "food" was the
primary reason that they fish, echoing
the findings of a 1991 study by Bar-
bara Knuth, a researcher at Cornell
University, who found that minority
groups tend to eat a greater amount of
contaminated fish.
"The press releases on health advi-
sories are pretty spotty," charges
Bridget Barclay, principal investiga-
tor of the Clearwater survey, which
questioned people at 20 different sites
along the upper and lower Hudson.
"Sometimes papers pick it up and
sometimes they do not," she adds.
"And when they do, [the information]
is not complete." Knuth is also critical
of the health advisories themselves,
particularly of the DOH's warning to
women and children. "The real mes-
sage is they should not be consuming
fish from those waters," Knuth says.
"It does not state that directly."
Entirely Unaware
In Washington Heights, the failure
to communicate is very clear. "I give
the bass to my cousin. He eats it," says
Molina, who was entirely unaware of
the dangers of eating PCB-contami-
nated fish, including striped bass.
Environmentalists are calling for
the posting of health advisory signs at
popular fishing locations. Upstate
areas north of the Troy Dam, for
example, are marked with "no fishing"
signs (though the signs are not always
effective-some anglers continue to
fish this stretch of the river). But there
are currently no postings downstate.
"I think both DEC and DOH efforts
to inform people about health
advisories are a total failure," says
Anne Rabe, executive director for the
Citizens Environmental Coalition, an
Albany-based group. "We've been
asking for years that they put up signs
to warn people." Rabe's organization
is now working with DOH to improve
its outreach methods.
With the more diverse population
fishing in the lower Hudson, environ-
mentalists are calling for advisories to
be posted in several languages.
Michael Heiman, an associate pro-
fessor of Environmental Studies at
Dickinson College in Pennsylvania
and a consultant on environmental
issues in New York City, says that
English-only health advisories for New
York's multilingual population are of
little value.
"Non-English speaking' and low
income people will be the ones who
will be affected the most," says
Heiman. "They may not be aware of a
health advisory because it is written
in English."
Joonki Park, a 72-year-old Korean
immigrant, is representative of those
who may be at risk. Park frequents a
spot in the Spuyten Duyvil section of
the Bronx, where the Harlem River
meets the Hudson. "I share with my
wife," he says, smiling, showing off a
striped bass and an American eel he
has just pulled from the murky water.
The fish eaten by Park and others
can contain "a thousand or even a
@QDrn
million times more contaminants than
the water itself," Heiman says. PCBs
accumulate in the sediments of the
riverbed and work their way up the
food chain, adds Emma Sears, a
spokesperson for Clearwater. Eels,
for example, are bottom feeders, and
so tend to live their lives in the most
polluted part of the river, consequently
accumulating large levels of PCBs,
Sears says.
. "Over the course of months and
years, contaminants build up in fish,"
explains Dr. John Waldman, a research
associate at the Hudson River Foun-
dation for Science and Environmen-
tal Research. The process is called
"bioaccumulation," in which PCBs
build up in the flesh or tissue of fish
that eat other contaminated fish, even
though the actual concentration of
PCBs in the water may be minute.
Trying to Deal
Officials say they are trying to deal
with the problem. "We just received a
grant from the EPA to get information
out," says Lawrence Skinner, head of
contaminant monitoring programs for
the Division of Fish and Wildlife at
DEC. He outlines a program that will
train workers to go to sites along the
Hudson and establish personal con-
tact with fishermen starting next
spring. In addition, he says, paper
handouts with a summary of the health
advisory in several different languages
will be distributed. The handouts will
be available by the end of this year,
Skinner reports. D
Peter Ortiz is a New York reporter for
the Mainichi news organization of
Japan.
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CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/15
When it comes to complying with
the federal Clean Air Act, cutting
the number of cars on the road isn't
part of New York's equation. By most
accounts, the law is a lost cause.
BY DAVID U. ANDREWS AND ANDREW WHITE
ew York State is the gambler at the table, poker-
faced and confident. Billions of dollars are at stake, and the
state is betting that the federal government will fold its hand.
The wager is about enforcement of the Clean Air Act. In the
past, it was hardly a risky bet. States and cities across the
country routinely failed to meet required goals for improve-
ments in air quality, and federal regulators did little or
nothing about it; New York was one of the most egregious
offenders.
All of that was supposed to change, however, after Presi-
dent George Bush signed off on the 1990 amendments to the
clean air law. With his signature, the 20-year-old legislation
grew new, sharp teeth, authorizing federal regulators to place
heavy sanctions on states that don't comply on time. Now,
three years later, the deadlines are speeding past; New York's
failure to meet the new guidelines could spell fiscal disaster,
with the state losing billions of dollars in federal aid as well
as local autonomy in environmental and transportation plan-
ning.
The state is far enough behind in complying with the strict
1990 air quality standards that experts, both in and out of
government, say the only way New York can avoid such
draconian penalties is if Washington decides to ease up on
enforcement or change the law. Either that, or the state could
totally change direction and mount an all-out assault on the
primary cause of air pollution in New York City: cars and
trucks. It's a move that the administration of Governor Mario
Cuomo has been loathe to make.
Last month, Thomas Jorling, commissioner of the state's
Department of Environmental Conservation, asked the fed-
eral Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to relax the
rules; New York, he said, simply can't produce a plan for
reducing hydrocarbon pollutants as much and as quickly as
18jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
required by the law. His request was part of a newly-drafted
plan for reducing ozone smog, submitted November 15th to
the EPA. At press time, the federal response was still uncer-
tain.
The commissioner's action comes after years of slow
planning, with agencies at times working at cross-purposes,
state budget restrictions undermining compliance and, envi-
ronmentalists charge, a lack of leadership from the Cuomo
administration and obstructionism by members of the state
legislature.
"We are fast approaching a disaster," says Brian Ketcham,
who as a city Department of Environmental Protection em-
ployee in the early 1970s oversaw the drafting of the city's
first comprehensive clean air plan. He now works as a private
engineer on transportation issues. "The city and state have
done this with smoke and mirrors for 20 years," he says.
But if the federal government hangs tough, he adds, "The
state will have no choice but to buckle down and do this
properly."
It's been three years now since the Congress and President
Bush enacted the stringent amendments meant to ensure
states' compliance with clean air standards; there is still one
year to go before New York is required to file a final plan
outlining exactly how it will meet those standards in order to
dramatically improve air quality by the year 2007.
The state has adopted a broad selection of measures
designed to reduce air pollution, mainly relying on a tech-
nology-based approach emphasizing cleaner-burning gaso-
line, more fuel-efficient vehicles and improved smokestack
filtration devices, among other things.
em UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/17
But in terms of reaching the goals set out in the 1990
amendments, New York's track record is mediocre. For
example, during the last year and a half:
~ The state Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) failed to file complete interim pollution-reduction
plans on time and in a form that complies with the Clean Air
Act.
~ The state legislature missed a federal deadline for
passing legislation granting new powers to environmental
agencies, enabling them to enforce air quality laws (the
legislation was finally passed, nine months late).
~ Planners at the state Department of Transportation and
the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council allo-
cated more than half of newly available federal air quality
improvement funds for New York City to projects that almost
across the board will fail to reduce emissions, and could,
according to state environmental officials, have the long-
term effect of increasing pollution.
~ State officials have failed to come up with pollution
mitigation plans required by the 1990 law that will reduce by
15 percent emissions of volatile organic compounds, which
cause ozone smog, by 1996.
"The state as a whole has not looked at this seriously," says
Lee Wasserman of the New York Environmental Planning
Lobby, based in Albany. "There's been no leadership at the
executive level to bring these agencies together. It's a mess."
Even some state environmental officials blame Cuomo for
not taking a more prominent role in the
clean air battle, though they will not
criticize their boss on the record. They
Island as there are people. In New York City fewer than one
in four people owns a car, but the number is growing.
Congestion on the city's highways and avenues is as bad as it
has ever been, in spite of the economic slowdown.
These numbers help to explain why implementation of the
Clean Air Act has been a tortuous exercise from the start.
Missed deadlines and government-approved extensions have
been the name of the game since the law was enacted in 1970;
one of the very earliest mandates-a 90 percent reduction in
tailpipe emissions-took years longer to implement than
Congress originally required. And compared to today's
hurdles, that was a relatively simple step involving the
installation of catalytic converters and the downsizing of
new cars.
During the 1970s and '80s, even as controls on other
sources of pollution improved, the number of miles Americans
traveled by car exploded. And by 1989, more than half of the
nation's population lived in metropolitan regions that failed
to meet the federal air quality standard for ozone smog. On
sunny summer days, exposure to ozone can scar people's
lungs and send scores of asthma sufferers to the city's emer-
gency rooms.
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act require a 15
percent reduction in ozone smog by 1996 and a 3 percent
decrease each year thereafter; finally, by 2007, the state and
city will have to be in full compliance with federal air quality
standards. If the law is properly enforced, there can no longer
be several days each summer when ozone
levels far exceed the maximum of .12
parts per million, as there are today.
argue that strong political leadership is
necessary in the complicated and un-
popular effort to change people's driving
habits-and that's the only way, they
say, that the Clean Air Act will ever be
fully complied with.
"There's been no
leadership at the
executive level.
DEC officials are doubtful these goals
can be met, given the way things are
going now. "We expect we're going to
come up short," says Robert Hampston,
assistant commissioner of environmen-
tal quality. "When [planners) begin to
roll out the numbers on growth [of auto-
mobile use between 1996 and 2007), it's
In the meantime, they and their allies
outside government agree that DEC has
essentially been left to carry the clean air
It's a mess."
ball alone, with little involvement or
support from the transportation depart-
ment, the legislature or the governor's office.
"DEC is working night and day on this," says Richard
Kassel, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense
Council. "They are taking their job incredibly seriously. But
the mandates are just huge, and they're not getting any
support."
The number one source of pollution in metropolitan New
York is the internal-combustion-engine-on-wheels: cars and
trucks are responsible for an estimated 90 percent of carbon
monoxide in the urban atmosphere and upwards of 40 to 50
percent of the gases that cause ozone smog.
Across the region, car culture has almost reached the
saturation point, with nearly as many automobiles on Long
18/DECEMBER 1993/CITY UMITS
going to be a little more difficult."
The key factor in meeting federal re-
quirements is to control the number of
cars on the road, Hampston explains. The state Department
of Transportation, he adds, doesn't seem to understand the
implications.
"The transportation sector has mobility goals, to reduce
delays and make citizens as mobile as they want to be,"
Hampston says. Thus, rather than looking for ways to cut the
number of trips people take in their cars, the agencies respon-
sible for transportation planning are focusing their resources
on reducing highway and street congestion: clearing bottle-
necks, building and widening roads, adding carpool lanes,
putting up better signs and creating high tech "intelligent
vehicle highway systems"-that is, computerized control
systems that use radios, fiber optics, message boards and
dashboard consoles to alert drivers to traffic jams and direct
them to alternate routes.
Because easing congestion has the immediate effect of
improving air quality-cars and
trucks pollute less when they are
traveling at a moderately fast speed
than when they are standing still or
accelerating from a stop-transpor-
tation officials argue that their
projects are contributing to cleaner
air.
But DEC officials are not includ-
ing these measures in the pollution
reduction strategies they submit to
the federal government because a
few years after traffic congestion is
reduced, says Hampston, there will
simply be more cars on the road.
Traffic jams are a disincentive to
drivers. Take them away and more
people will drive; eventually, new
bottlenecks and traffic jams will
appear.
portation agencies are taking and
explains Tripp's fears.
CMAQ funding for New York
City over the next five years totals
roughly $450 million. More than
$233 million of that is slated to be
spent on new intelligent vehicle
highway systems, signage improve-
ments and similar projects. Less
than $50 million is allotted to
projects designed to reduce the num-
ber of cars and trucks on the road,
such as cross-harbor barge facilities
for freight transport, new ferry op-
erations, improved bicycle and pe-
destrian right-of-ways, traffic calm-
ing strategies and studies on the
potential impact of "congestion
pricing," which would, for instance,
levy new tolls on drivers coming
into Manhattan during rush hour
traffic peaks.
"You have the issue of whether
they are only providing more high-
way capacity and more encourage-
mentformore vehicles to be driven,
more miles to be traveled, "
Hampston explains. "Simply stick-
On the day the Cuomo administration submitted Its latest
clean air plan to the EPA, members of Transportation
AlternatIves __ lSbaled on East 42nd Street.
The remaining CMAQ money is
part of the budget of the Metropoli-
tan Transportation Authority,
ipg in a [carpool] lane and predicting it will reduce so many
vehicle miles traveled is not a permanent measure. You are,
in fact, creating additional capacity." Planners have to as-
sume, he says, that every additional mile driven causes a net
increase in emissions.
Wth much fanfare, the federal government took a new
direction in transportation funding in 1992 when Congress
passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
(ISTEA). The act was designed to allow states more discretion
than ever before in the allocation of federal highway money,
allowing some of it to be given to transit programs and air
quality improvement initiatives.
So far, under ISTEA, the federal government has provided
about $20 billion over six years to the tri-state region sur-
rounding New York City. About $8 billion of that money is
slated for improvements to the mass transit infrastructure,
including subways, commuter rail and buses. Most of the
remaining $12 to 13 billion is for highway spending, $2 to 3
billion of which is slated for projects to expand existing
highways, according to Jim Tripp, general counsel to the
Environmental Defense Fund. He contends the expansion
work will damage air quality, not improve it.
Officials with the New York Metropolitan Transportation
Council , the state-run, regional agency responsible for decid-
ing how to spend ISTEA money, dispute Tripp's assessment.
But a look at a list of specific projects funded by one large
segment of ISTEA money-the Congestion Management Air
Quality (CMAQ) program-reveals the direction the trans-
which will use it to fund construc-
tion of the new subway tunnel between East 63rd Street and
the Queens Boulevard line, and to pay for long-planned
improvements on subway tracks, stations and depots.
Asked why so much of the CMAQ money is going to
highway projects, DEC's Hampston expresses frustration
about the transportation planners. "I don't think they are
getting the message that the Clean Air Act...should be pur-
sued," he says. "They have no role [in the pollution-reduc-
tion planning process] because they are not offering any-
thing. "
federal air quality standards, New York City is
moderately out of compliance for carbon monoxide, which
causes heart strain, respiratory problems and impairs vision.
The city and its surrounding region are also considered
severely out of compliance for ozone smog-the worst of any
area east of California. And, according to state environ-
mental officials, federal regulators are soon likely to desig-
nate Manhattan as an area badly polluted with particulates-
that is, the sooty dust that spews from diesel trucks and buses,
incinerators and heating plants and causes lung damage and
heart disease.
Among the projects currently in the works to improve air
quality are a number of measures pushed by DEC and the
federal government, including new permit fees and pollution
control requirements for factories , incinerators and power
plants; new rules for capturing the vapors from gasoline
tankers loading and unloading their cargoes; and restrictions
on the chemicals used in dry cleaning and print shops and the
CITY UMITSIDECEMBER 1993/19
types of solvents used in paints.
On the transportation side, DEC plans include rigorous
new biennial emission control tests for every vehicle on the
road, the introduction of new, reformulated gasoline and the
adoption of California's low emission automobile standards.
A law mandated by the federal government and passed by the
state legislature in August, 1993-nine months later than
required by the Clean Air Act amendments-gave DEC the
authority to begin forcing large companies to mandate
carpooling, telecommuting or whatever else is necessary to
reduce by 25 percent the number of cars heading to work
between the hours of6 and 10 in the morning. Companies that
have more than 100 employees and fail to comply may
eventually face state fines.
Yet many of these proposals are still being challenged in
court and in the state legislature. Car manufacturers and
dealers don't want the California vehicle standards imposed
on them; petroleum companies have resisted the reformu-
lated gasoline rules; and members of the state legislature have
pressed for delays or the scrapping of both of these projects
as well as the emission control testing program.
"The legislature is very good at focusing on the interests of
individual industries without having a clue about the whole
picture," says Wasserman of the Environmental Planning
Lobby. "They fail to see the broader picture. "
Of course, the broader picture that looms down the road is
the prospect of federal
sanctions for noncompli-
ance.
information required by federal regulators. The first missed
deadline was in November, 1992, by which time the state was
supposed to have set up a number of new regulations,
pollution permitting procedures and forecasting methods. If
the state doesn't have all of those things in place by July 15,
1994, then the sanctions could kick in soon after.
Hampston says his agency has plotted a timetable that
should prevent EPA sanctions in 1994. But, he adds, there's
a very good chance the federal regulators will start the clock
ticking once again after they review the ozone reduction plan
submitted by the state last month. The real test will come next
fall, once the state' s final pollution reduction plan is sent to
the EPA.
But the question environmentalists are now asking is
whether the federal agency will ever really pursue the en-
forcement option, even if New York fails to reach the goals set
in 1990.
"The state could be gambling on the fact that if nothing
happens, the law will be rewritten," says Jon Orcutt of
Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle, pedestrian and transit
advocacy group. Politics may preclude strict enforcement,
Orcutt says. Once it becomes clear that the only way to
enforce the law is to get people out of their cars, Congress may
see fit to rewrite the law.
And although the EP A
may be strapped into levy-
ing the sanctions on New
York once it determines
that the state's plans are
inadequate, it can prob-
ably avoid making that de-
termination in the first
place, explains Michael
B. Gerrard of the Manhat-
tan law firm, Berle, Kass
and Case, which special-
izes in environmental
law.
The 1990 Clean Air Act
amendments include a
laundry listofmanqatory
sanctions for regions
judged in violation of
federal standards. If the
states don't comply, Con-
gress has given the EPA
the right to withhold fed-
eral highway mainte-
nance and construction
money, one of the single
biggest sources of public
works funding to states.
The law also enables EPA
to place restrictions on
development in non-
"What we .... finding Is u..t while un .... cIeIner ... the procress Is offset
"The history of Clean
Air Act enforcement over
the years has been much
more one of saber rattling
by more .... more .nd more people drlYlnc," ..,. the EPA's by Werner.
complying states and to impose its own pollution reduction
plan if a state fails to do so on its own.
Behind the strict new amendments was Congress' desires
"to remove the options for political influence" over environ-
mental enforcement, a problem that previously allowed
states to avoid difficult decisions and evade compliance, says
Ray Werner, chief of the EPA's Region 2 air protection
branch.
So far, New York has technically missed every deadline;
although the DEC has submitted the required pollution
plans on time, none have included all of the
2O/DECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
rather than saber thrust-
ing," says Gerrard. "The enforcing agencies have a well-
demonstrated capacity to blink. "
"I think the actual decision [to impose sanctions) could be
elevated from the EPA to the White House," he adds. "I think
it will involve politics of the highest order."
At the moment, two other states face the immediate possi-
bility of federal sanctions-California and Illinois. California
has failed to produce a new automobile emission inspection
and maintenance program required by the federal law, and
Illinois has resisted adopting an adequate plan requiring
large employers to reduce the number of employees commut-
ing in their cars at rush hour. Both states
have been threatened with penalties.
"I think the main thing to watch is how
the EPA acts in California," says David
Driesen of the Natural Resources Defense
Council. "That will be a big indication of
where they are politically." The California
legislature is due to convene in January; if
they fail to pass a new inspection and main-
tenance program and the EPA refuses to take
action, then environmental organizations
plan to file suit, Driesen says.
"You have to run out of solutions," says
Hampston. "You have to reach the point
where we don't have anymore cost-effective
options and [the transportation department)
doesn't have any more. Then you have to
look at changing lifestyles, changing the
way a driver pays for what he is doing.
"My wife drives to work. I drive to work.
We drive on the weekend. When it doesn't
cost you anything to do it, you tend to do it,"
he says.
But the EPA has internal problems as Transportation ..... neer lINn Ketcham
well. It is already behind in posting clean air up drhinc Is ............. bIy cheIIp.
Brian Ketcham and transportation activist
Charlie Komanoffhave put together a com-
plan explaining how the gov-
ernment could deal directly with the cost regulations that were due out months ago.
For that reason, says Peter Iwanowicz of the American Lung
Association of New York, few environmentalists really expect
the federal agency to take action here within the next few
years. "They are having enough trouble writing their own
rules," he argues.
1:e EPA, like the state DEC, recognizes that some pain is
necessary if the state is ever going to comply with the Clean
Air Act.
"What we are finding is that while cars are cleaner, and
factories are cleaner and a lot of the most polluting smoke-
stack industries are no longer with us in the northeast, the
progress is being significantly offset by more and more and
more people driving," says the EPA's Werner.
"As the degree of the problem increases," he adds, "the
measures that you have to look for are more expensive
usually, and in some cases, impinge, in some people's minds,
on people's lifestyles."
"The only way you are really going to improve mobility is
to reduce the number of vehicles trying to occupy the same
space," Hampston agrees. "You need education and disin-
centives. It's a bitter pill."
Obviously, politicians are not eager to tell people it's time
to stop driving their cars. This, environmentalists speculate,
is one reason why Cuomo has not taken an active role in
support of the Clean Air Act. If he did, he would have to
accept a new transportation agenda, and accede some of the
transportation department's responsibilities to environmen-
tal officials who have a clearer sense of the importance of
controlling automobile use.
Still, says Tripp of the Environmental Defense Fund, the
state could be moving forward in the meantime with simple,
small projects that would "begin to develop the institutional
pressure at DEC to take traffic control measures seriously."
Such projects could include bicycle lockers at the region's
major train stations, regional fare cards for mass transit and
an extensive network of bikeways for commuting and recre-
ation.
What will it take to make the state transportation planners
face the fact that people have to be lured out of their cars?
problem. Their proposal would revolutionize the way New
Yorkers pay for transportation, making drivers pay far more
than they do today and dramatically reducing mass transit
fares.
In "Win-Win Transportation: A No Losers Approach to
Financing Transport in NYC and the Region," Ketcham and
Komanoff evaluate the cost of car culture to the region. They
analyze what it costs to maintain roadways in the area, the
value of time lost to motorists stuck in traffic, structural
damage caused to buildings by truck vibrations, health care
costs of car accidents and other ways that driving taxes
society.
They conclude that motorists don't pay anywhere near the
full cost of their impact on the region. Since only two in five
New York City families own cars, this means that the
nondrivers end up heavily subsidizing the habit ofa minority
of city residents. Because driving is unreasonably cheap,
Ketcham and Komanoff argue, mass transit looks less attrac-
tive to motorists than if it competed with cars on a level
playing field.
Ketcham and Komanoff propose slowly raising permitting
fees and tolls for cars, increasing the price of gas, levying
"smog fees" based on the age and make of a driver's car, and
other schemes to finance mass transit and ultimately do away
with the subsidy for drivers. Essentially they propose to
double over a 25-year period what motorists pay for the
freedom to drive, phasing in the increases so that the metro-
politan area's economy-and its residents-can more easily
adjust to the changes.
Many of the government planners now working on air
quality consider the Ketcham and Komanoff plan to be far-
fetched; they and others argue that any increase in tolls and
fees is as unpopular as a tax increase and is politically
unviable.
But Ketcham responds that all of the technological inno-
vations now being proposed by the government skirt the real
issue. "Right now, alternative fuels are just a big silver
bullet," he says. "That's what the people want; they want an
easy solution." 0
David U. Andrews is a Manhattan-based freelance writer
whose articles have appeared in In These Times.
CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/21
Divided We Fall
Organizing new cooperatives for tenants of public housing
may take more work than the city is willing to do.
BY STEVE MITRA
.I
ust one year ago, Iris Cajigas lived with her two
daughters in a roach and mouse infested one-
bedroom apartment in the Hunts Point section
of the Bronx. The animal occupation was just
one of her concerns. "It was just too small for us.
It was no good," Cajigas says. "I had to convert my living
room into a bedroom to give my daughters some privacy."
Unable to find an apartment she could afford, Cajigas,
who works as a secretary, had decided her only option was
to wait for a slot in a housing project run by the New York
City Housing Authority (NYCHA); she had put her name
on the agency's waiting list many years before.
Since then, Cajigas' living situation has taken a decisive
turn for the better. She and her daughters are one of 716
families who will soon be eligible to purchase cooperative
apartments under a federally funded program that aims to
empower residents of public housing through home own-
ership. The apartments are in 39 formerly-abandoned
buildings in the South Bronx and northern Manhattan,
rehabilitated by NYCHA over the last two years with $63
million in federal funds.
Last spring, Cajigas moved into her new home-a three-
bedroom apartment with smooth hardwood floors, new
appliances and no mice or roaches. In accordance with the
program, Cajigas is currently a renter, but if all goes well,
she will be able to buy her apartment within a year.
22jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
It sounds like an ideal solution. The program Cajigas is
enrolled in is called MHOP-for Multifamily Homeown-
ership Program-and it is spoken of with pride and affec-
tion by NYCHA officials. It is the local version of a federal
program-Homeownership and Opportunity for People
Everywhere (HOPE)-which originated under the Bush
administration and touted home ownership as the key to
solving many urban problems.
But organizing a cooperative among people who have
never before owned their homes takes a great deal of work,
and many of the tenants are beginning to wonder if
NYCHA is truly committed to that kind of an effort. They
express a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the MHOP
program, their complaints ranging from inadequate heat
and hot water and lack of security, to not getting all the
amenities they were promised and being kept in the dark
about what to expect when the buildings become theirs to
own and manage.
While NYCHA officials say these are simply start-up
problems that every new program faces, some housing
experts say they have a deeper significance. Even though
MHOP is supposed to instill a sense of ownership among
public housing residents-which in turn is supposed to
change people's lives-NYCHA has done little to engen-
der such feelings, experts say.
Tenants, for example, have no management responsi-
bilities or rights during the year-long interim rental period
required by NYCHA before they can buy their apartments,
so they don't get the practice of expected to be between $9,000
working together as a cooperative and $12,000. No one's monthly
before the time comes to buy. In- payment will be more than 35
deed, NYCHA may be ignoring percent of their income.
critical lessons that other housing Before the buildings are turned
authorities have learned from fed- over to the tenants, at least 60
eral pilot programs developed in percent of the residents of a given
the mid-1980s, and disregarding cluster must approve the plan. In
the hard-won knowledge ofhous- the meantime, NYCHA has con-
ing groups throughout the city. tracted with the Urban Home-
"It seems like the city just came steading Assistance Board
into the area and moved people in (UHAB) to provide financial coun-
who didn't have to go through seling and management training
anything to get the housing. They ~ to the residents.
are just getting the benefit of what z
someone else has done," says ~ Growing Complaints
Carmelia Goffe, president of the JAn Rnllia (.bowel, who Is INchIng tenants how to nln their en But apprehension about the big
Brownsville Nehemiah Home- buildings, says they .rupprehellslYe about becoming owners. leap to ownership is growing
owners Association, whose 2,300 Iris CaJIps (facing pap, with daU8hter Marlal says HYeNA Is among MHOP residents, even
member families own homes built unresponsive to her complaints. though the vote is still many
during the last decade by East months away. The complaints are
Brooklyn Congregations, a group oflocal churches. "They strongly reminiscent of those expressed by residents in
won't get a sense of ownership." traditional public housing projects.
Even Cajigas, who is on the resident council of her In a building on Prospect Avenue in the Morrisania
building, says that her apartment "is fine just as a shelter. section of the South Bronx, Delores Spellman says she gets
But for a cooperative that I will own, I don't know .... " heat and hot water only sporadically on the weekends.
Other MHOP residents, such as Ingrid Herod, have also She also complains that since the building'S intercom
started having second thoughts. "When I first came here, system has been broken for weeks, some residents have
I fell in love with my apartment," Herod says. "Now I'm taken to leaving the front door open and anyone can walk
starting to get turned off.. .. I don't like it. It seems the right in. Yet when she tries to get the attention of NYCHA
Housing Authority is running an experiment on us." management, she says there is no response. "You'd think
Reducing Poverty
Jack Kemp, the former secretary of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), started the HOPE program in 1990.
A HUD brochure describing the initiative stated that home
ownership "plays a major role in helping change attitudes
and behavior and reducing poverty levels."
Under the HOPE program, state housing authorities
and tenant councils can apply for funds to rehabilitate
existing housing projects and sell them to residents as
cooperatives; funds are also available for residents' train-
ing and counseling. In New York-which has a third of the
total public housing stock in the country-NYCHA offi-
cials decided against privatizing the existing stock of
public housing in order to preserve affordable rentals.
Instead, they chose to rehabilitate smaller, more manage-
able vacant buildings. Public housing residents were told
late last year they could apply for apartments that they
would eventually own under MHOP.
The response was overwhelming: approximately 9,600
people applied for 716 apartments, according to Linda
Cappella, director ofNYCHA' s planning department. Resi-
dents of public housing who earned between 40 and 80
percent of the median income in their area were given first
priority, with those on the waiting list for public hous-
ing-like Cajigas-next in line.
People started moving into the apartments in five
building clusters in the Bronx and two in Manhattan this
past spring and summer. The buildings are now more than
90 percent occupied, according to Cappella, except one
set of buildings in Manhattan still partially under con-
struction. Purchase prices of the apartments will depend
entirely on the income of the occupants and could range
from as little as $250 to as much as $40,000; the average is
that if this was a model program [NYCHA] would want to
put their best foot forward," she says angrily.
Herod, a neighbor of Spellman, says that when she
applied for the program, she was promised there would be
an in-house laundry. As it stands now, there is none. She
says that she doesn't know where to turn to get answers to
her questions. Her building has a resident council, but
Herod says she is unclear as to its purpose. "Why are we
not getting what we are supposed to get?" she asks.
In another building, Stephanie Collins complains that
other residents throw garbage in the hallways and bang
holes in the walls. "It's just the people. Why do people do
this?" she asks with a mixture of hurt and despair in her
voice. She says that no one in the building has ever
confronted the tenants who are responsible. "You don't do
that. People start to ask: 'Who are you to say this?' People
don't realize this will be theirs."
Collins moved into the MHOP building this March from
a one-bedroom apartment in the Monroe Houses in Clasons
Point, a NYHCA project she calls "wild" with "many
shootings" where she had lived for four years. Still, she
says, "I don't want to buy something that I'll think later on,
'Oh my God, what did I do?'"
Delia Martinez, a neighbor of Cajigas who lives in a
West Farms Road MHOP building, says that several tenants'
apartments were burglarized this summer. "The lock was
removed, the apartment robbed, then the lock was put
back on and painted over. Now, that has to be an inside
job," she says. As a result, the residents now harbor a deep
distrust of one another, Martinez says.
Housing Authority officials concede that there is dis-
satisfaction among residents, but say the roots of the
problem have more to do with the newness of the program
and with staffing problems. Tom Pryor, deputy director of
CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/23
planning at NYCHA, says the agency's employees who
manage MHOP buildings also supervise the Housing
Authority's other developments. So "it is difficult to get
them between projects."
But Cajigas contends that every time she questions
NYCHA about her problems, the Housing Authority is not
responsive-even though she is a member of the building'S
elected resident management council, intended to be a
precursor to the cooperative board. "They're all passing
the buck," she says. "There is no coordination."
Spellman's fear is more basic: that the residents will be
saddled with a responsibility they will not be able to bear
at the end of the rental period. "When the time comes to
buy, all the responsibility will be ours. No one has brought
us together as a group to say what that really means."
No Management Rights
NYCHA's desultory management style may be the best
argument there is for selling the buildings to the tenants as
soon as possible, so that they can deal with complaints
themselves. But interviews with cooperative housing ex-
perts and with UHAB employees who are providing man-
agement training reveal a deeper problem that could
undermine the entire project ifleft unattended. According
to Juan Revilla, who heads the UHAB training project for
MHOP buildings, there is unenthusiastic attendance at
the classes. When tenants do show up, they invariably
express trepidation about where the program is headed.
Revilla says the dissatisfaction has everything to do
with NYCHA not being responsive to tenants' concerns on
the one hand, and on the other, the agency's failure to give
tenants the authority to fix problems on their own. For
instance, Revilla explains, even though UHAB has set up
resident councils in every building, they exist in name
only and are unable to resolve administrative issues,
which remain tightly controlled by NYCHA.
Yet when the time comes to buy, tenants are expected
to already understand the ins and outs of cooperative
ownership, and to be able to work together to keep the
buildings financially sound. Andrew Reicher, executive
director of UHAB, says this makes little sense.
"If I had to do the program, I would let tenants assume
full responsibility for the buildings when NYCHA is still
around, so it can help when they make mistakes," he says.
Reicher adds that another city agency, the Department of
Housing Preservation and Development, does precisely
that when they prepare to sell city-owned apartment
buildings to tenants under the Tenant Interim Lease pro-
gram. "It just makes sense to give them control as soon as
possible, when the resources are available," Reicher adds.
Since 60 percent of the tenants in each MHOP building
will have to approve the co-op conversion, the residents'
apprehension could be fatal to the program. "I don't think
many tenants are going to buy [their apartments] when the
time comes," Revilla says.
Ignoring Past Lessons
There have been many other experiments with first-
time home ownership among low and moderate income
tenants, both in the city and across the country. Experts
say that NYCHA is not heeding oflessons already learned.
In East New York and Brownsville, East Brooklyn
Congregations has fostered a remarkably stable commu-
nity of people, many of whom formerly lived in public
housing projects and who now own affordable rowhouses
24jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
in otherwise blighted and drug-plagued neighborhoods.
Their efforts have often been cited as one of the most
successful examples of urban organizing, and the secret of
their success, says Goffe of the Brownsville Nehemiah
Homeowners Association, is that the owners were able to
control their destinies from the outset.
"It's not an issue of propping people up in a crime-
infested area and saying, 'You are on your own,'" she says.
"You have to have a culture in which people get a sense of
ownership. That's what makes the difference, and that's
what develops leadership."
In the case of East Brooklyn Congregations, paid orga-
nizers made the rounds of the future homeowners even
before they moved in, explaining what was at stake and
preparing them for ownership.
Across the Hudson River, the Paterson Housing
Authority in New Jersey participated in a HUD pilot
program started in 1985 that transferred 242 apartments in
36 public housing buildings to the residents. Felix
Raymond, executive director of the authority, says that
residents were involved in every step of the project. Still,
it was a struggle because <?f the cynicism of public housing
residents. "We're dealing with a population that has
particularly low expectations of government," he says.
"Then they slowly saw some victories and they began to
see that execution was complex."
One of the valuable lessons Raymond says he learned
was the importance of community organizing throughout
the entire process. "There have to be a lot of resources set
aside for this kind of patient community development
effort," says Raymond. "You cannot just be parroting
something. The organization has to change its mind-set."
Valuable Opportunity
At the end of the first year, New York's MHOP residents
will be asked to buy their apartments. As required by
NYCHA guidelines, they've already been saving up for
their first payment by setting aside some money each
month in an escrow account, officials say. The New York
Mortgage Coalition, a partnership of 11 New York-area
banks, has expressed an interest in financing the mort-
gages, according to Cappella.
But if the magic number of 60 percent isn't reached
when NYCHA asks the tenants to vote on whether or not
to go co-op, Cappella says that NYCHA will work with
residents for up to four more years to get them to buy.
Dissatisfied residents will also have the option to move
back into housing projects in the borough of their choice.
If, after four years, NYHCA has not succeeded in reaching
the 60 percent mark, the apartments will remain as con-
ventional rentals.
If the program fails, a valuable opportunity for home
ownership will be lost, some say. "Home ownership
changes everything. It gives people a sense of control over
their lives," says Reicher. "Overall, MHOP is a good
program. I hope it works."
But for NYCHA to succeed, it must follow the example
of other organizations in overcoming the residents' lack of
faith, according to a 1989 report commissioned by HUD to
evaluate pilot programs like the one in Paterson.
"Generally it's a tough thing for anybody to run a
cooperative, let alone low income people," says Bill Rohe,
professor of Urban Planning at the University of North
Carolina and one of the authors of the report. "Organizing
and training is key." 0
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er
CITY UMRS/DECEMBER 1993/ 25
By Amy Bachrach
Renters Must Strike Back
A
ttention, renters. Did you know
that you pay property taxes,
and at a much higher rate than
homeowners? Did you know
that despite the fact that you far out-
number people who own one-, two- or
three-family homes, it is these
homeowners who have historically
determined
property tax
policy in New
York City?
It's true. Of
the 51 City
Council dis-
tricts, a major-
ity of residents
in 29 of them
live in apart-
ment buildings,
either as renters
or as co-op and
condo owners.
Yet renters have been politically silent
on the issue, dangerously unaware
that they are affected by property tax
policy.
Unless this trend is reversed and
renters become involved in shaping
tax reform, there will be insufficient
pressure brought to bear on elected
officials to create a more equitable
formula for property assessment,
particularly in light of a new mayor
with the same Queens political base
as Council Speaker Peter Vallone. The
speaker has favored homeowners'
interests depite the fact that his dis-
trict is among those with a majority of
apartment dwellers. "Renters are the
wild card," observes Bill Thomas of
Mayor Dinkins' Department of
Finance,
The ABC's of Property Tax
New York City's property tax gen-
erated almost $8 billion in fiscal year
1993, or 46 percent of all tax rev-
enues. It is the only tax the city can
raise without approval from Albany,
making it invaluable in preventing
cuts to critical services such as low
income housing, more police on the
beat and funding for child care. But
every time we raise property taxes, we
Cityview is a forum for opinion
and does not necessarily reflect
the views. of City Limits.
26jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMns
exacerbate inequities in the system.
Property taxes are not based upon
the market value of a piece of real
estate but on an assessed value that is
a percentage of market value. This
percentage is different for various
classes of residential real estate.
Currently, Class I real estate, which
includes owners of one-, two- and
three-family homes, has an effective
tax rate of .846 percent, while Class II,
which includes all other residential
property-rental buildings, co-ops
and condominiums-has an effective
taxrateof2.46 percent of market value,
according to a study prepared for the
City Project by Hunter College eco-
nomics professor Howard Chernick.
In other words, apartment owners and
renters pay roughly three times as
much tax as homeowners.
Historically, this inequity devel-
oped because of pressure from
homeowners to keep property taxes
down, and became codified into state
law in 1983 when the state legisla-
ture decided that home assessments
could not increase by more than 6
percent in anyone year or 20 percent
Renters are
not aware that they
are paying unfair
property taxes.
over a five-year period. Meanwhile,
assessments of apartment owners' and
renters' properties were left to rise,
unchecked.
As a resul t, while in 1985, property
taxes amounted to less than one-fifth
of rent stabilized buildings' overall
operating expenses, according to Tim
Collins, executive director of the Rent
Guidelines Board, today, that figure
has grown to more than one-fourth.
Skyrocketing operating costs are the
single largest factor driving rent
increases.
"By 1991, the average rent stabi-
lized apartment dweller was indirectly
paying over $1000 a year in pr.operty
taxes," Collins says. Meanwhile, since
renters don't have equity in their apart-
ments, they can't deduct their share of
the property tax from their income
taxes, as homeowners can. So where
homeowners get a double benefit, rent-
ers get doubly mugged.
Reform Commission
Growing awareness of such extreme
inequities has led to the formation of
the City of New York Real Property
Tax Reform Commission, a joint en-
deavor of Mayor David Dinkins and
the City Council. The commission is
studying the property tax system and
is expected to generate proposals for
reform by December 31,1993.
The commission's first set of
borough-based public hearings were
held in October. Testimony was given
by the City Project and several other
good government groups, as well as
representatives of co-ops and condos
and apartment building landlords. But
there were very few who testified on
behalf of renters, and such an absence
in the future could mean renters will
continue to carry an undue burden of
property taxes. The next public hear-
ing is scheduled for December 13th;
failure of renters to testify can result
only in their interests continuing to
be ignored.
The City Project proposes the
following to insure that renters have a
greater say in tax policies:
Fairness. New tax structures now
under consideration would shift much
more of the tax burden onto
homeowners. Well-organized oppo-
sition to such a move would likely
jeopardize the passage of tax reform
measures. The City Project recom-
mends that tax relief be offered to
those with limited or fixed incomes.
Currently, a homeowner with an
income ofless than $18,000 is eligible
for such a break. Two years ago,
Manhattan Borough President Ruth
Messinger recommended that this be
raised to $40,000, to protect people of
moderate income, the working poor,
senior citizens and others unable to
afford dramatic increases in property
taxes.
Simplicity. The tax structure
should be easily understood, com-
puted and disputed. Not only are
renters unaware of the fact that they
are paying property taxes, they don't
know at what percentage it is being
computed and are consequently ham-
pered from challenging the numbers.
Whereas homeowners receive a tax
assessment bill from the city that they
have a right to dispute if they believe
it is too high, renters receive no such
bill. They should.
Stability. The real estate tax is
central to our ability to predict city
revenue because it does not reflect
economic shifts in personal or corpo-
rate income or sales. The city should
rescind the property tax freeze, put in
place in 1991 after fierce lobbying by
homeowners and businesses, to add
predictability to our services.
Sufficiency. The property tax
should raise enough revenue to fund
the services necessary to maintain a
decent quality of life for all New
Yorkers. Restructuring the tax
assessment formulas is one way to
address that.
What Can You Do?
This month, community groups and
tenant associations should attend the
December 13th hearing of the tax
reform commission and testify in
response to their proposals. They
should also organize fellow renters
and meet with local City Council
members and state legislators to urge
them to take the interests of renters
into account when the reform propos-
als are debated. 0
JOB ADVERTISEMENT
STAFF AnORlEY. Responsibilities: Staff attorney for a project established to protect tenants in
single room occupancy housing (I.e. rooming houses and hotels). The attorney will work as part
of a team with community organizers to represent tenants and tenant associations in court and
before administrative agencies, to educate SRO tenants about their rights to organize the
community to fight to save SRO housing. The staff attorney will provide legal advice and
counseling to individual tenants and groups of tenants. Requirements: Admitted to the New
York Bar. Two to three years experience in the practice of law, including concentrated practice
in the areas of tenant group representation or equivalent housing law experience, familiarity
with SRO housing issues preferred. Bilingual Spanish helpful. Salary: Nat'l Org. of Legal
Services Workers (UAW) Union Scale: $29K depending on admittance and experience.
Starting Date: 12115/93. Send Resume: Elizabeth Kane, West Side SRO Law Project, Goddard
Riverside Community Center, 647 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10025. EOE, MlF.
r-------------------------,
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From the spectacular sights of the circus to
the art of dancing to the skill of building affordable
housing, New Yorkers are always striving for a
prosperous, healthy community.
And through our CitiBuilders'" program, we'd
like to give New Yorkers credit for doing what they
do. And the credit they need to do it.
Whether it's for small businesses, community
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So give us a call today at (718) 248-8900.
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CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/27
By Errol T. Louis
A View from the West
"No Crystal Stair: African-Americans
in the Cityof Angels," by LyneJl George,
Verso, 1992, 243 pages, $24.95
hardcover.
S
ome of the sharpest, most pro-
vocative thinking about
American cities these days is
coming out of Los Angeles.
Even before the Rodney King case and
the 1992 riots, a number of West Coast
filmmakers, fiction writers and social
analysts were busy investigating the
stresses and strains running through
Los Angeles, asking what the trends
in the nation's second largest city
might mean for the country as a whole.
Steve Martin's L.A. Story lovingly
spoofed the emptiness of the city's
middle class, while director Ridley
Scott created a bleak, hyper-violent
21st century Los Angeles as the setting
for his science fiction cult classic,
Blade Runner. First released in 1983,
interest in Scott's apocalyptic vision
has not waned, as evidenced by the
release ofthe director's cut in 1992.
At the same time, the early 1990s
have seen West Coast rappers steal
the spotlight from their New York
counterparts with angry musical
montages of simmering, undiluted
violence.
And in 1990, Mike Davis of the
Southern California Institute of
Architecture thrust himself into the
front ranks of urban criticism with his
powerful book, City of Quartz, and a
subsequent series of articles and
pamphlets that dissect the bitter
political, social and symbolic struggles
for power that characterize modern
Los Angeles.
Strategy of Neglect
According to Davis, events like the
L.A. uprising and the recent defeat of
former Mayor Tom Bradley's liberal
coalition at the hands of a law-and-
order Republican candidate signal a
planned conservative strategy of ne-
glect and abandonment. In 1977, for
example, federal funds amounted to
17 percent of Los Angeles' budget. By
1985, the Reagan-Bush administra-
tion had cut federal support to just 2
percent of the city budget, at a time
when AIDS, crack and the decline of
manufacturing jobs made government
assistance more necessary than ever.
Enter Lynell George, an award-
28/DECEMBER 1993jCITY UMITS
winning columnist for the L.A.
Weekly, with her own exploration of
the city. While other cultural critics
have tended to go on the attack-Ice
Cube spits out profane indictments of
police brutality, Mike Davis marshals
ideology and statistics to expose the
motives of the Los Angeles power
brokers-George takes a more per-
sonal, conciliatory approach to the
problems of her hometown. No Crys-
tal Stair is a set of moody, thoughtful
essays on L.A.'s black community and
the future of the city.
George is the child of African-
Americans who migrated to the West
Coast during World War II, drawn by
A new approach to
understanding a
troubled city
jobs in the shipbuilding industry and
the promise of relief from the suffo-
cating racism of the deep South.
Although Los Angeles turned out not
to be a safe haven from American
racism, the city's black community
remained, and grew into the large,
diverse set of neighborhoods that out-
siders mistakenly lump together under
the name" South Central."
George has a reporter's command
of the facts. She leads off with an
analysis of the city budget, and shows
how political rhetoric about educat-
ing children and revitaliZing the city
has been accompanied by steadily
declining public funds for these
purposes. We learn, for example, that
the Reagan administration cut federal
funding for job training in Los Angeles
from $120 million in 1979 to $42
million in 1983.
But the soul of the book lies in
George's writings about the extra-
ordinary people who live in L.A.'s
neighborhoods. As a tour guide,
George is respectful but not patroniz-
ing: these are real people we are meet-
ing, yet this is not some romantic ode
to "the people."
The essays include a portrait of a
church's dedicated choral director and
his pivotal role in the life and vitality
of the congregation he serves, a tire-
less community organizer who works
with drug abusers, an independent
filmmaker who has strived to present
stories and images of black Ameri-
cans not regularly seen on movie
screens today, and a young rapper
intent on maintaining her integrity as
a performer and communicating her
message of self-respect to her fans.
Most chapters include probing black-
and-white photographs of George's
friends and neighbors, visual reflec-
tions of her word portraits.
A Healing Vision
What emerges, in the end, is a
healing vision that suggests that most
solutions to the major urban problems
lie within us. George's strength is that
she believes deeply in the power of
simple human decency, and she has
the courage to say so. This approach
has its limits, however. George is
adept at analyzing budgets and poli-
cies, for example, but she does it so
sparingly that we are often left hungry
for hard facts. Still, No Crystal Stair is
a new approach to understanding a
troubled city. George's strong, spiri-
tual voice supplements and even
challenges the hard-edged polemics
(a la Mike Davis) that often dominate
debates over urban policy.
Her handling of the issue of street
violence-for many of us, the urban
question-is typical of her approach.
She grieves at the way public officials
openly use stereotypes of black and
brown people for political gain, and
documents how declining city spend-
ing on social services has been
matched by the reckless, wildly
violent methods of the Los Angeles
police under their former police chief,
Darryl Gates. Finally, she offers a
redemptive suggestion that quietly hits
the mark.
"Looking from the inside, one thing
is clear above all else: local govern-
ment's whole policy toward South
Central has been a failure .... Solutions
to problems as old and intricate as
these don't come quickly: they are
complex and costly; they involve
setting people free rather than locking
them up."
Let the church say "Amen." 0
Errol T. Louis is the manager and
treasurer of the Central Brooklyn
Credit Union.
Running with the Enemy?
To the Editor:
I would like to clarify some of the
issues raised by the Industrial Areas
Foundation (IAF) in. your recent
articles about job training ("Job
Training Flap," August/September
1993, and "Out-of-Work Blues,"
November 1993).
We share a fundamental philosophy
with IAF that neighborhood-based
groups are best equipped to serve
people in their communities. They
understand the day-to-day struggles
their neighbors face, and they believe
deeply in bringing services that lead
to true empowerment. That is why the
Department of Employment-unlike
most other Job Training Partnership
Act entities around the country-
funds skills-training programs with
long-established and well-respected
community-based groups committed
to improving conditions in their neigh-
borhoods.
Moreover, community-based train-
ing ensures that federal dollars go
directly to neighborhood groups, re-
inforcing and building on their infra-
structure, thereby enabling them to
continue serving disadvantaged New
Yorkers.
Like IAF, we recognize the insuffi-
ciency of funds, which permits only
two to three percent of all New York-
ers eligible for services to receive them.
And we are both seeking to improve
the JTP A system as a whole.
I am concerned about IAF's pro-
posals for a voucher system for job
training, a system with many of the
same flaws as Section 8 housing
vouchers. As housing activists will
attest, just because a family has a
Section 8 voucher doesn't mean that
landlords will welcome them or pro-
vide excellent services. Likewise a
training voucher does not guarantee a
job-seeker a spot in a college program
or a vocational school, nor does it
ensure quality training.
To the contrary, a voucher system
will eliminate nonprofit community-
based job training, fostering vocational
schools as the primary alternative.
Community groups, with their usu-
ally fragile budgets, will not be able to
compete against for-profits, to whom
JTPA funds will be lucrative addi-
tional funding. At the same time,
neighborhoods will lose the economic
stimulus that comes with spending
training dollars in the community and
in encouraging local businesses to hire
from the neighborhood.
Count among the losers people with
the greatest deficits-high school
dropouts with low reading ability.
Unlike our community agencies, trade
schools and colleges are not required
to serve them. Under IAF's proposals
there would be no services available
for our neediest citizens.
And while many for-profit trade
schools provide excellent services,
IAF has clearly pointed out past abuses
among vocational schools. A vast new
monitoring system will have to be
created to ensure that clients are not
defrauded.
The real issue is that job training
programs are severely underfunded.
Since the mid -1980s, federal job train-
ing funds coming to New York City
have been cut by 80 percent, at a time
when the needs are reater than ever.
I hope that IAF wil join with us in
demanding that New Yorkers get the
resources they need to adequately
prepare for careers in this difficult
economy.
Josephine Nieves
Commissioner
Department of Employment
Addendum
To the Editor:
There are two factual errors in
Alexia Lewnes' otherwise great article
on the midwifery services at the North
Central Bronx Hospital (June/July
1993). First, she states that there are
just three nurse-midwifery schools in
New York. There is one more-the
Community-Based Nurse-Midwifery
Education Program-that has enrolled
some 60 New York nurses. And
second, the purpose of the two studies
mandated by the Professional
Midwifery Practice Act is to study the
incentives for and barriers to the
education of midwives, and to offer
proposals for programs which do not
require completion of a nursing
education to become a midwife.
Ruth Watson Lubic
General Director
Maternity Center Association
We want to hear what you have
to say! Send your letters to City
Limits, 40 Prince Street, New
York, NY 10012.
Your Neighborhood Housing
Insurance Specialist
F
N E W t f ~ K
INCORPORATED
We have changed our name and have become more
computerized to offer you quicker and more efficient
service than ever before.
For nearly 20 years, R&F of New York, Inc. has provided
insurance to tenants and community groups. We have
developed extremely competitive insurance programs based
on a careful evaluation of the special needs of our customers.
Due to the volume of business we handle, we can often
couple these programs with low-cost financing, if required.
We have been a leader from the start and are dedicated to
the City of New York.
For information call :
Ingrid Kaminski, Senior Vice President
R&F of New York, Inc.
1 Wall Street Court, New York, NY 10005-3302
(212) 269-8080, FAX (212) 269-8112
(800) 635-6002
CITY UMITS/OECEMBER 1993/29
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
Phlllning and Archileclure fur Ihe l\un-I'rulil
Specializing in
Feasibility Studies, Zoning Analysis & Design of
Housing, Health Care and Educational Projects
Magnus Magnusson, AlA
MAGNUSSON. ARCHITECTS
10 East 40th Street, 39th Floor, New York, NY 10016
Facsimile 212 481 3768 Telephone 212 6835977
DEBRA BECHTEL - Attorney
Concentrating in Real Estate & Non-Profit Law
Title and loan clOSings 0 All city housing programs
Mutual housing associations 0 Cooperative conversions
Advice to low income co-op boards of directors
100 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 624-6850
LPC DEVELQPMENT SERVICES
, ,:",'1:W::'. ' , L :"b
a project of Lexington Planning Coalition Inc.
Proposal Writing - Grantsmanship
Grass-Roots Funaraising Campaigns
Public & Private Sectors
JO YlARS nnRlrNC WITH MINORITY e80'S eOMMUNITlfS
1939 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10029
212-427-4927
Rolando Cintron
Director of Development
LAWRENCE H. McGAUGHEY
Attorney at Law
Meeting the challenges of affordable housing for 20 years.
Providing legal services in the areas of General Real Estate,
Business, Trust & Estates, and Elder Law.
217 Broadway, Suite 610
New York, NY 10007
(212) 513-0981
William .Jacobs
Certified Puhlic Accllunl,1Il1
Over 25 years experience specializing in nonprofit housing
HDFCs, Neighborhood Preservation Corporations
Cenifted Annual Audits, Compilation and Review Services,
Management Advisory Services, Tax Consultation and Preparation
Call Todar For A Free c-uIUfion
77 Quaker Ridge Road. Suite 215
New Rochelle. N_Y. 10804
914-633-5095 Fax 914-633-5097
30jDECEMBER 1993jCITY UMrTS
TURF COMPANIES
Building Management/Consultants
Specializing in management & development
services to low income housing cooperatives,
community organizations and co-op
boards of directors
230 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
John Touhey
718/857 -0468
C ommunity D evelopment Legal AsSistance Center
a project of the lawyers Alliance for New York, a organization
Real Estate. Corporate and Tax Legal Representation to Organizations
Tax Syndications Mutual Housing Associations
Homeless Housing Economic Development
HDFCs Not-for-profit corporations
Community Development Credit Unions and Loan Funds
99 Hudson Street. 14th FIr. , NYC. 10013 (212) 219-1800
COMPUTER SERVICES
Hardware Sales: Software Sales:
mM Compatible Computers Data Base
Super VGA Monitors Accounting
Okidata Laser Printers UtilitieslNetwork
Okidata Dot Matrix Printers Word Processing
Services: Network/Hardware/Software Installation,
Training, Custom Software, Hand Holding
Clients Include: ANHD, MHANY, NBS, UHAB
Morris Kornbluth 718-857-9157
David H. Grumer
Certified Public Accountant
25 West 45th Street, Suite 1401, New York, New York 10036
(212) 354 1770
Financial Audits Compilation and Review Services
Management Advisory Consulting
Tax Return Preparation & Advice
Over a decade of service to community and nonprofit organizations.
Change\IVorkers
171 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
(212) 674-1308 Fax (212) 674-0361
Changeworkers provides affordable project services
to not-for-profit organizations.
Fundraising Publishing Computing
Money Management Board Development
Concrete products, not abstract plans.
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
GINBERG & HABERMAN
Attorneys at Law
Formerly of Counsel to DHPD of the City of NY.
Engaged in the general practice of law including
representing individual tenants, groups and
associations in all legal matters.
6 West 32nd Street, NYC (212) 643-7183
PUBLICITY PLUS
CONTRACTS TRAINING FINANCING. PROMOTION
SELF HELP MATERIALS
Valerie White
PO Box 265 Huntington Station, NY 11746
718 279 5196
JOB ADS
TENANT ORGANIZER to organize tenants associations in Fort Greene, Clinton
Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Responsibilities: Improve bldg conditions,
develop leadership skills among tenants, liaison between tenants and
management where necessary; counseling, -information, referrals.
Requirements: community-oriented; self starter w/ knowledge of NYC
housing law and regs helpful; comm dev experience and bilingual (Spanish)
a plus; good communication skills. Salary low to mid 20s DOE. Excellent
benefits. Resume and cover letter to Vivian Becker, PACC, 201 DeKalb
Avenue, Brooklyn 11205; fax (718) 522-2613.
TRAINING DEVELOPMENT SPECIAUST. Promote low income housing through
self-help, by developing curricula and facilitating classes. Proposal writing
and computer skills required. Spanish a plus. Minority candidates encour-
aged to apply. Send resumes to: S. Kovan. c/o UHAB, 40 Prince Street, 2nd
Floor, NYC 10012 or Fax to: (212) 966 3407.
BUILDING MANAGER. Responsible for facility management/rent collection for
81 unit CR/SRO for homeless mentally ill. Supervise maintenance staff,
coordinate meal program, aid in tenant selection, collect rents. BNBS or
minimum three years' housing experience required. Salary approximately
$30k. Send resumes to: Progress of Peoples Development Corporation,
191 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
CASE MANAGER. Responsible for professional intervention with tenants of
36-unit residence for low-income families and work with neighborhood
family service center. Support of tenant's aSSOCiation, crisis intervention,
referrals, entitlements, group work. Applicant should be energetic, self-
starter. BNBSW. Spanish a +. Salary approximately $20k. Send resumes
to: Progress of Peoples Development Corporation, 191 Joralemon Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11201 .
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING JOBS AVAIWLE. Multi-ethnic, community--based,
grassroots organization seeks individuals to help empower tenant and
neighborhood groups to win affordable housing and safe streets. long
hours including evenings, exciting work. Salary $18k-20k. Spanish and
organizing experience helpful but not required. Women and minorities
encouraged to apply. Send resume to: Brien R. O'Toole, Executive Director,
NWBCCC, 103 East 196 Street, Bronx, NY 10468.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT for a university-based community devel-
opmenttechnical assistance training provider. Responsible for assisting the
program development associate in drafting proposals, reports and publica-
tions, conducting correspondence and coordinating special events such as
conferences, meetings, and international exchanges. Must have excellent
writing, communication and computer skills and be willing to take respon-
sibility for multiple tasks. B.A. required, some experience in community
development or related field desirable. Salary: mid to upper 20s + excellent
benefits. Must send writing sample, cover letter and resume to PICCED-
ClPD Search 379 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205. EOE.
SUPERlmNDENT for Special Needs and low-Income 123 unit apartment
building. Includes bright 2-bedroom unit at the historic Gouverneur Court,
621 Water Street. Salary negotiable depending upon experience, Resume
to Personnel Director, Community Access, 200 Avenue A, NYC 10009.
PROJECT MANAGER. A non-profit real estate development consulting com-
pany seeks a project manager to identify potential sites; review design;
assemble the development team; put together the financing package; gain
public approval; oversee construction; coordinate rent-up; and demon-
strate an ability to bring order, structure and control to large, complex
projects. The successful candidate must have experience in management
of complicated quantitative efforts, e.g. development of budgets/financial
analysis. Candidate must have a facility for managing political processes
involving numerous and widely varied constituencies. Compensation de-
pends on experience ($45k-$55k). Women and minorities encouraged to
apply. Send resumes to: The Community Builders, 100 North 17th Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19103.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. Community-based lower East Side organization
seeks community organizer to plan and carry out grassroots campaigns for
tenants' rights and neighborhood improvement, including anti-drug organiz-
ing. Qualifications: experience with and commitment to direct action orga-
nizing, a sense of humor, and willingness to work long hours. Bi-lingual
(English/Spanish) required. Salary $22-$25k. Send resume to: Executive
Director, GOlES, 525 East 6th Street, NYC 10009.
SOCIAL WORKER/COUNSELORS for Emmaus House/Harlem, an innovative
community of homeless people building new lives through work, supportive
community, education and services. Requirements: Experience with the
homeless and addiction issues a must. Responsibilities: One-to--one
counseling and case management. MSWforCounseling Supervisor, BS for
Counselors. Write: Fr. David Kirk, Emmaus House, P.O. Box 1177, NYC
10035. (212) 410 6006.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. Growing community land trust seeks Executive Director
to lead membership in housing development and community revitalization
projects. Applicants should be energetic, have excellent organizational and
administrative skills, relate well in culturally diverse setting. BA plus minimum
two years experience in non-profit administration. Salary $29k-$32k. Send
resume to REAPS, PO Box 340, Yonkers, NY 10705. Minority and women
candidates encouraged to apply.
PROJECT COORDINATOR. Community land trust seeks person with organizing
skills for membership development and training, technical skills to guide
planning/implementation projects. Applicants should have minimum two
years post high-school education plus two years in community organization
or related experience, relate well with different racial/ethnic groups, some
knowledge of housing development. Salary: $20k-$25k. Send resume to
REAPS, PO Box 340, Yonkers, NY 10705. Minority and women candidates
encouraged to apply.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT at Upper West Side non-
profit housing organization. Supervise property management operations for
900 units in 3 SROs and 3 elderly apt. buildings. Overall responsibility for
maintenance, rent collection, purchasing and budgets. Knowledge of Sec-
tion 8 procedures is a must. Minimum five years experience in property
management. Bachelor's degree. Salary: $45,000 plus benefits. EOE.
Resume and cover letter to: Deputy Director, West Side Federation for
Senior Housing, 2345 Broadway, New York, NY 10024.
CITY UMITS/DECEMBER 1993/31
Creating
An Economic
Development
Agenda For The
21 st Century
ADVANCING
COMMUNITY
REINVESTMENT
HOST
NEW YORK CITY
TECHNICAL
COLLEGE
300 JAY STREET
BROOKLYN, NY
Dr. Charles Meredith,
President
December 10, 1993
9:30am-5:00pm
8:30am Registration
For Information Contact
(718).260.4990
East Fulton
Street Group
Communiversity
is a
21 st Century
Partnership Initiative
Thinking Globally
Educating Locally
Education for Community
Development
Due to the generous support
of the financial participants of
the 21 st Century Partnership,
the conference fee for non-
profit organizations is
$15.00. General public
$5.00.
The conference fee
for corporations and
government agencies
is $30.00 unless
otherwise arranged.
I
EAST FULTON STREET GROUP
COMMUNIVERSITY
Investing Toward The 21 st Century
Community Reinvestment Conference
Co-sponsored by
National Community Reinvestment Coalition