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UPPER WEST SIDE ODYSSEY:
An Illustrated Thumbnail History
From the Lenape Indians to the Present
   Jim Mackin, Upper West Side Historian
   Founder and Guide of Weekday Walks
Thursday, April 22, 2010 6-8pm
Free event -- All Welcome!
American Youth Hostel
   Amsterdam Ave at 103 Street
Sponsored by:
=> Park West Neighborhood History Group
=> Columbus-Amsterdam Business Improvement District
For further info: 212-666-9774
DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE

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POETRY READING -- FEBRUARY 22, 2010

PWV resident Irving Polsky announces a poetry reading at Eretz Kosher, 692 Columbus Ave. at 94th St. on Monday, Feb. 22 [2010] at 7:30pm.
   His late brother's poems and essays from the book "Thoughts of Being" will be read on topics ranging from the Holocaust, to relationships from his Viet Nam war experience to teenage angst.
MORE INFO AND POSTER HERE

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NY Times January 26, 2010
Fallout Is Wide in Failed Deal for Stuyvesant Town
In the beginning, investors and lenders could not get enough of the record-breaking $5.4 billion deal to buy the largest apartment complexes in Manhattan: Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
    Now, three years later, they cannot get away from it fast enough.
    The partnership that bought the 80-acre property on the East River announced on Monday that it was turning the keys over to its lenders after it defaulted on its loans and the value of the property fell below $2 billion.
    Yet in walking away, the partners, Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, have left tenants in limbo and other investors with far bigger losses. STORY CONTINUED HERE - PDF
www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/nyregion/26stuy.html?hp

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NY TIMES JANUARY 25, 2010
Ruling Could Mean Lower Rents for 300,000 Tenant
By CARA BUCKLEY
To most renters in New York City, it sounds like a modest, even enviable, rent increase: pay an additional $45 if your monthly rent happened to be less than $1,000 and you had been living in the same apartment for more than six years.
   But to the City Council, and advocates for New York’s lower-paying tenants, the increase issued by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board in 2008 amounted to what they called a “poor tax.” And in a ruling that came down last week, Justice Emily Jane Goodman of State Supreme Court in Manhattan agreed.
>> CONTINUED HERE >>

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784, 788, 792 COLUMBUS AVE MCI RENT INCREASES
[NEW INFO: SCRIE / DRIE]
On Jan 31, 2008, the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) approved a further increase of 75 cents per room in the basic monthly rent of rent-stabilized apartments at 784, 788, and 792 Columbus Avenue. This increase, for hallway carpeting, was granted in response to a PAR (“petition for administrative review”) filed by the PWVTA and a PAR filed by the landlord of rent increases previously granted by DHCR for roof, boiler/water tank, and elevator upgrades but denied for other items, including hallway upgrade. The PWVTA challenged the amounts previously approved.

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MARKUS LEAVES RENT GUIDELINES BOARD
Marvin "Markup" Markus leaves the RGB,
Tenants Wonder What's Next

Marvin Markus stepped down as Chairman of the Rent Guidelines Board this past week. During Markus's tenure at the RGB, the board approved some of the highest rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments in years, and repeatedly punished long term tenants who have lower rents with minimum increases - known commonly as a 'poor tax' - earning the chair the nickname "Marvin Markup".
    The departure of Markus from the RGB doesn't necessarily mean that the RGB will start giving tenants relief. All five of the board's public members have stated that they fundamentally don't believe in the system of rent-regulation - which should disqualify them from serving on the RGB.
    Mayor Bloomberg's should not consider any of the RGB's current public members for the post of chair, and should appoint a chairperson with a concern for maintaining affordable rents. Unfortunately, the power to appoint members of the RGB rests in the hands of the mayor alone. Our reform bill in Albany would change this, by requiring the mayor to submit his candidates to the City Council for approval.

    We are watching the situation and will inform members of actions to take as things develop.

Extracted from Metropolitan Council on Housing newsletter 1-15-10

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Sue Susman sends tenant leaders a book review:

Hi, all.
I just finished reading "Going Public, An Oranizer's Guide to Citizen Action" by Michael Gecan - a gift meant to make the rounds of the tenant leaders in the building where I live.
    Gecan, of the Industrial Areas Foundation founded by Saul Alinsky, notes that what any organization should strive for is power - rather than working solely on a single issue. Only with a large base can we confront power in the private and government sectors.
    We have begun that through various efforts in this neighborhood, and I hope we can develop it further. One way to develop it further, he notes, is to get to know one another as people and as supports for one another and resources for particular struggles.
    Along that line, Gecan cites a remarkable person whose strength, dignity and force of effort played a crucial role in the development of the Nehemiah Houses and in the relationship of the East Brooklyn Congregations with many of our elected officials.
    That person is the Rev. Heidi Neumark, then working out of a church in the South Bronx and now the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church on 100th Street.
    So those of us who were impressed by Pastor Neumark's planning efforts and speech at the shopping cart rally before the construction began on Columbus, can now know - if we didn't then - that we have a truly wonderful person - and resource- in our midst.
    Once people in my building finish reading it, we can lend it out to others - and it's available at the NY Public Library.

- Sue  sue.susman@gmail.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
uws mailing list uws@save-ml.org http://save-ml.org/mailman/listinfo/uws_save-ml.org

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PWVTA ANNUAL MEETING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009 7:30pm
PS163 – 163 West 97th Street
BOROUGH PRESIDENT SCOTT STRINGER
Changing development prospects for PWV
=> 163 PTA Plan: school building, housing, parks and parking
=> Membership business: set dues for 2010, new business
All Park West Village residents welcome!

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Tenant Leadership Training
on Lobbying & Advocacy
Learn how to be a leader in the fight for rent reform

Monday, February 15, 2010 beginning at 11 AM
St. Francis College, 182 Remsen St., Brooklyn
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, to Borough Hall, R to Court Street

>> SEE FLYER HERE >>

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NY TIMES Feb 3, 2010
Riverton Houses in Harlem to Be Sold in Foreclosure
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
A state judge on Tuesday ordered the foreclosure sale of the storied Riverton Houses, a middle-class Harlem enclave that ran into trouble a year ago when its new owner failed to make good on optimistic revenue projections and defaulted on his mortgage.
   Justice Richard F. Braun of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered the sale of the complex...
>> CONTINUED HERE >>

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NO MAHS CONFERENCE MARCH 27, 2010
NO MORE “AFFORDABLE” HOUSING SCAMS:
TOWARDS COMMUNITY CONTROL OF LAND IN NEW YORK CITY
Saturday, March 27th  9:30 – 5
Hunter College/CUNY, West Building, 8th Floor
68th and Lexington Ave
NO MAHS is a forum for housing
activists, tenants, squatters, community
organizers and homeless people to
discuss how to secure land and how to
access and preserve truly affordable
housing and community space, through:
• Direct action
• Land trusts and land banking
• Community planning
• Participatory budgeting
RSVP and more info call 212-650-3328
communitylandnyc@gmail.com
conference flyer and THE CALL

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Met Council on Housing

Annual Assembly

Thursday, January 14, 2010 7-8:30 pm

UAW Region 9A

256 West 38th Street, 12th Floor, Manhattan

 

Speakers:

State Senators Liz Krueger and Tom Duane

NNYC council members Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander

 

for more information contact:

Mario Mazzoni  mario@metcouncil.net

 PWVTA INFO: Clare Dockery Action@PWVTA.org

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TENANTS RALLY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009
CITYWIDE TENANTS DEMONSTRATION
            City Hall -- 1pm
DOWNLOAD & POST FLYER HERE
from Giti Dadlani gdadlani@tandn.org
Tenants & Neighbors, 236 West 27th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001 212-608-4320 ext. 316
Become a member of Tenants & Neighbors today!
www.tandn.org/get_involved.html

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West Side Tenants Conference
Saturday September 26, 2009 10am-4pm
5th Annual West Side Tenants Conference will be held at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, Lowenstein Building, 113 West 60th St at Columbus Ave.
Workshops include:
    How to find affordable housing
    The economic crisis and housing
    Navigating DHCR
    Stopping illegal hotels
    Organizing your building
    ...and much more!
The conference is free, free childcare is available, and free breakfast and lunch is available for all participants.
More information and to RSVP, call 212-541-5996 x24 or email events@hcc-nyc.org

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THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
A History by Chief Robert Holzmaier
Thursday, October 8, 2009  6pm
Bloomingdale Library, 150 W. 100 St, 2nd Floor
FREE EVENT Columbus-Amsterdam B.I.D.
[Business Improvement District] 212-666-9774
Columbus-Amsterdam-BID.org
Presented by Park West Neighborhood History Group
DOWNLOAD FLYER TO POST!

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PWV PICNIC SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
RAIN Saturday, but SUN SUNDAY!
September 13, 5pm to 7pm
PARK WEST VILLAGE PICNIC!
FOOD! FUN! FAMILIES! FRIENDS!
SEE POSTER HERE -- TO POST! 

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PWVTA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 7:30 pm. MORE INFO call PWVTA Hotline: 212-662-2610 or write us at Info@pwvta.org

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Bloomberg.com November 9
Tishman Nears Restructuring, Sale of Stuyvesant Town (Update1)
By Hui-yong Yu, Jonathan Keehner and Oshrat Carmiel
Tishman Speyer Properties LP and BlackRock Realty, the owners of Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town- Peter Cooper Village, moved closer to restructuring $3 billion in debt on the apartment complex as the property verges on default,... MORE HERE

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More stories on the J-51 Decision, with URLs supplied by Sue Susman:

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Catching A Chill? Don't Freeze - Organize!
Heat season in New York City has begun. The law requires your landlord to provide heat at the following levels from October 1 through May 31: From 6 am to 10 pm:
If the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, the inside temperature must be at least 68 degrees everywhere in your apartment. From 10 pm to 6 am: If the outside temperature falls below 40 degrees, the inside temperature must be at least 55 degrees everywhere in your apartment. Hot water at a minimum 120 degrees at the tap must be provided 24 hours a day, year round.
If you are not being provided adequate heat or hot water, please see the Met Council fact sheet on how to restore service:
http://metcouncil.net/factsheets/heathotwater.htm
From MetCouncil October 3, 2009

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Rents throughout city will be going up; board OKs 3-6% hike starting Oct. 1
BY Adam Lisberg and Celeste Katz, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Wednesday, June 24th 2009, 4:00 AM
Rents can be jacked up as much as 3% on one-year leases and 6% on two-year leases starting Oct. 1, according to new city guidelines adopted after a raucous meeting Tuesday.
    As is often the case, neither tenants nor landlords left the final vote of the Rent Guidelines Board - which oversees about a million rent-regulated city dwellings - completely happy.
    "It's not unexpected - it's what they do every year. It's a farce," said Manhattan tenant Jeannette Burns, 64, of the vote to allow rent hikes.
Burns, an unemployed social worker who has lived in her sixth-floor walkup since 1971 and pays $735 per month, called the increases "a really huge hardship for everybody."
    In the case of tenants who've been in their regulated apartments six ears or more, the board gave landlords the option of boosting rents up to 3% or by $30 per month - whichever is greater - on one-year leases, and by 6% or $60 for two-year leases.
    Board member Ronald Languedoc, who represents tenants, unsuccessfully called for a rent freeze during the clamorous meeting at Cooper Union in Manhattan.
    "If in no other year, this is the year for a rent freeze," said board member Adriene Holder, who seconded the motion. "New York City renters are struggling. . . . Renters' hardships have increased."
    Just as infuriated tenants claimed the harsh economic climate justified a freeze, sign-waving building owners said the same hard times threatened to put them under and they needed the right to charge more.
    "I'm so deep into the process that another $5 or $10 isn't going to make it, but \[the vote\] does help a lot of these landlords who do have these $200 rents, $300 rents," said landlord Tom Diana, 48, who owns an eight-unit Brooklyn building and said one tenant skipped out on him, leaving him $9,000 in the hole.
    Last year, the nine-member rent board approved maximum increases of 4.5% on one-year leases and 8.5% on two-year leases.
After last night's split vote, board Chairman Marvin Markus called the new rules "fair and equitable."
    "The key issue for us is the poor owner and the poor tenant," Markus said. "Everything's considered. It is a balancing act," he added. "This is a job that's going to be criticized no matter what decision we reach."
    Politicians who had called for a rent freeze included city Controller William Thompson, a Democrat who is running against Mayor Bloomberg, as well as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, one of Bloomberg's most consistent allies.
Bloomberg has said he stays out of the board's operations because the body exists to keep political influence out of rent regulation.
    But tenant advocates say that's a bogus argument, because Bloomberg appoints all nine members - two to represent tenants, two for landlords, and five putatively neutral members.
ckatz@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com

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PWVTA MEMBERSHIP MEETING
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 7:30 PM
Election of officers
Ryan Health Center, 110 W. 97 St.
MEETING NOTICE HERE
HALL CARD TO PRINT AND POST HERE!

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REPORT ON MAY 5 RGB PRELIMINARY VOTE:
NYTimes 5-6-09: Rent Board Proposes Increases
FULL STORY HERE

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RENT GUIDELINES BOARD
HEARINGS BEFORE JUNE 23 VOTE
ON RENT INCREASES
PUBLIC MEETING: Thursday, June 4, 9:30am-12:00pm
Department of City Planning, Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street
Clare Dockery, PWVTA Outreach and Action Committee Chair, reports: The public can testify at the RGB meetings on Wednesday, June 17, 10 am to 6 pm at Cooper Union, and on Monday, June 15 4 pm to 10 pm at Hostos Community College in the Bronx (450 Grand Concourse). Also, the public is encouraged to participate in the Real Rent Reform Campaign to get the NY State Senate to pass a package of tenant friendly legislation in this sesssion,(before June 22, 2009). Phone banking, and lobbying in Albany are among the activities needed.
CONTACT HHN: Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer, Housing Here and Now, 212-979-6238 Ext 203, Cell 302-545-5961, Fax: 212-979-6997 jon@housinghereandnow.org http://housinghereandnow.org/
FULL RGB SCHEDULE HERE

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WEDNESDAY APRIL 15 7PM
FORUM ON PREDATORY EQUITY
at Central Park East #1 School
Madison Ave at East 106 St.
More info: Tenants & Neighbors
Call Pat Coleman at (212) 608-4320 Ext. 306
www.tandn.org
DOWNLOAD - PRINT - POST FLYER HERE!

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REPEAL VACANCY DECONTROL!  HOME RULE NOW!
Tuesday, March 24
Stated meeting of the City Council 1:00 pm – c. 4:00 pm City Council Chambers City Hall, 2d Floor
MORE INFORMATION: Michael McKee, Tenants Political Action Committee 11 Park Place, Suite 814 New York NY 10007 (212) 577-7001 mmckee@tenantspac.org

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URGENT APPEAL FOR MONDAY, MARCH 16!
URGENT REMINDER from Michael McKee: The article below in Sunday's New York Times shows why tenants must show up in large numbers at the public hearing tomorrow (Monday, March 16) at the City Council,
beginning at 10:00 am and running until late afternoon. Location: City Council Chambers, second floor, City Hall.
PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, MEMBERS AND COLLEAGUES.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/nyregion/15stuytown.html?pagewanted=print

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MCI INCREASES CONTINUED FROM HOMEPAGE
The landlord challenged exclusion of the hallway upgrade.
     In a decision that consolidated the two petitions, DHCR denied the PAR filed by PWVTA, thereby confirming the rent increases for roof, boiler/water tank, and elevator upgrades, and DHCR approved the landlord’s PAR in part, thereby reversing DHCR’s earlier denial of a rent increase for hallway carpeting.
     By the time this report is distributed, your rental bills will probably reflect the new basic rent along with a retroactive charge.
     The only way to challenge a PAR decision by an administrative agency is to file an Article 78 petition in the state Supreme Court within 60 days of the decision. An Article 78 challenge is very expensive. To analyze the likelihood of success, PWVTA retained a tenant law firm to review the file and relevant law. Our counsel’s opinion was that it was unlikely that PWVTA could win an Article 78 challenge. The Executive Board will vote on whether to pursue an Article 78 petition at its next meeting, on March 17.
      Because the administrative path has reached its end, all rent-stabilized tenants except those on SCRIE or DRIE must now pay the additional rent increase and all retroactive amounts due (limited, however, to a maximum of 6% of base rent per month). Tenants on SCRIE or DRIE are exempt from MCI increases, provided they inform the appropriate agency, but they will be required to pay an additional security deposit for the MCI.

Note to SCRIE and DRIE tenants: To inform the appropriate agency make a copy of the MCI rent increase notice, put your SCRIE or DRIE docket number on it, and mail the copy with your docket number to Department for the Aging, SCRIE Program, 2 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10007-1392, or NYC Department of Finance, DRIE Exemptions, 59 Maiden Lane, 20th floor, New York, NY 10038.
     After the SCRIE or DRIE agency has been notified of your particular MCI rent increase, the City will give the owner a tax credit equal to that increase. You should not pay any additional rent for the MCI rent increase, even if the owner bills you for it by raising the base rent and charging arrears. Ignore any increase in base rent and don't pay any arrears for the MCI.

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PWVTA MEMBERSHIP MEETING
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 7:30 pm.
Ryan Health Center, 110 W. 97 St.
AGENDA: Membership business, set dues for 2009, new business.
⇒ Community Board 7 Chair Helen Rosenthal: "Your Community Board:  How it works for Park West Village"
⇒ Executive Director Marjorie Cohen, Westside Crime Prevention Program: "Security for the Park West Village Neighborhood and you"
BRING YOUR CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS!    
ALL PWV RESIDENTS WELCOME, BUT ONLY PWVTA MEMBERS CAN VOTE -- JOIN OR RENEW AT DOOR!
Door opens 7:00pm -- come early, meet neighbors, enjoy hospitality & cookies!
MORE INFO call PWVTA Hotline: 212-662-2610 or write us at Info@pwvta.org

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P.I.E. Adds Larry Gluck to Predatory Equity Watchlist

The Mitchell-Lama P.I.E. Campaign (Protections for tenants, Incentives for preservation, Enforcement from supervisory housing agencies) has created a watchlist of predatory developers who use private equity money to purchase and deregulate affordable housing, and has added Larry Gluck of Stellar Management to the top of that list.

To date, Stellar Management has acquired and bought out 16 Mitchell-Lama buildings totaling over 4000 units, immediately increasing rents to market-rate or attempting to do so by citing a loophole in the rent laws called "unique or peculiar" circumstances. (See article titled "U&P Update.) Stellar has also acquired two large rent stabilized developments, Park West Village in the Upper West Side and Riverton in Harlem, and other affordable housing in Maryland, San Francisco, and Texas.

Gluck has been able to purchase and convert so many Mitchell-Lama and rent stabilized buildings because of his access to private equity money. Partnering with the Rockpoint Group and the Westbrook Group, Stellar Management has purchased buildings like Riverton using equity from the funds and financing from the German American Capital Company, an arm of Deutsche Bank. Like other predatory buyers, Gluck is betting that he can maximize the return on his investment if apartments can be rapidly deregulated. This creates the pressure to replace low and moderate income tenants with a higher income tenancy or to flip the building to another predatory buyer for a greater sales price. The end result either way is the loss of affordable housing.

Banks like German American Capital are willing to put their money in bets like these because they don't ultimately hold the loans to the buildings. Just like the single-family sub-prime crisis, the banks are securitizing these risky loans and selling them to larger banks or other investors. In the case of Riverton, German American worked with Citigroup to sell the loan to the public.

The P.I.E. Campaign in the coming months will be organizing a campaign to call for greater regulation and accountability. To get involved, contact Amy Chan at amy@tandn.org.

from: TENANTS and NEIGHBORS
April 29, 2008

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-- PREVIOUS NEWS ARCHIVED --

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PWVTA MEMBERSHIP MEETING WITH ELECTION OF OFFICERS
MONDAY, MAY 19, 7:30 pm, Ryan Health Center. MORE INFO call PWVTA Hotline: 212-662-2610 or write us at info@pwvta.org MEETING FLYER AND CANDIDATES HERE!

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PWVTA ALL-TENANTS MEETING
TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 7:30 pm, Ryan Health Center 110 w. 97 St.
REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES AND NEEDS:
PWVTA HISTORY - WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY - RENT STRIKE - RENT OVERCHARGES - RENT GUIDELINES BOARD - GUEST SPEAKER Jenny Laurie of Metropolitan Council on Housing.
MORE INFO call PWVTA Hotline: 212-662-2610 or write us at info@pwvta.org
DOWNLOAD & PRINT MEETING FLYERS HERE

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MetCouncil NEWS
Can Tenants Take The August Heat?
The Latest from Albany
On Thursday, August 6, the New York State Senate convened to pass an extension of mayoral control over the New York City schools - the first so-called "controversial" piece of legislation that the Senate has taken up since the June 8 coup by Pedro Espada and the Senate Republicans.
    There has been no vote on any of our pro-tenant bills yet, and promises by Senate Democrats to pass these bills this session are still unfulfilled. Our Senators will return to Albany in September...
FULL NEWS HERE

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West Side Spirit August 5
By Matt Joseloff
Columbus Sq. Labor Fracas
Rats and pigs are the newest tenants of the Columbus Square rental complex, along Columbus Avenue in the upper West 90s. The giant inflatable rodent, which at press time had been replaced with a cigarsmoking pig, are both the handiwork of local labor unions protesting the switch to non union workers at the construction site. Codevelopers the Chetrit Group and Stellar Management made the change at the beginning of July.
PDF CONTINUED HERE

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Sue Susman sue@janak.org: "...keep pressure on our legislators - and on the Governor to call a special session with tenant bills. (If he calls a special session, he gets to present the bills he wants.)"
The NY Capitol News article 7-27-09 by Sal Gentile reports the inside story in
Senate Democrats Face Foreclosure On Housing Legislation
Advocates claim promises, Monserrate rumored as new Housing chair in post-coup order
FULL STORY IN PDF HERE!

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Housing Here and Now July 20
TENANTS KEEPING THE FIGHT ALIVE
SEE HERE: www.housinghereandnow.org/

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Met Council Reports July 24

Senate Adjourns With
Tenant Legislation Still Pending

Last week, the State Senate adjourned for the summer without voting on any so-called controversial legislation, including our platform of rent reform bills.

    We are expecting the Senate to re-convene sometime in August or September to address a limited set of bills that were sidelined during the weeks-long dispute over the Senate leadership following the June 8 coup by the Republicans and Pedro Espada.

    Over the past year, tenants have done a tremendous job of pressuring Democrats to make good on their promises to help tenants...
PDF CONTINUED HERE

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RENTERS PAY & CAN'T STAY
NY POST May 8, 2009 By DAVID SEIFMAN
Nearly 600 tenants a month are getting slapped with eviction notices in the city after their landlords default on their mortgages, according to figures released yesterday.
     State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) said stunned tenants are often given only three to 10 days to pack up, which is why he has introduced a bill that would extend the grace period to 90 days. The bill has passed the Senate and is awaiting action in the Assembly.
     "These are people who paid their rent on time, played by the rules, maintained these properties, and one day they wake up and a marshal is at the door ready to evict them," Klein said.
     From December 2008 through April 2009, 2,907 eviction notices were served on tenants in foreclosed homes in the five boroughs, according to Klein.
     A spokesman for Deutsche Bank, cited by Klein as the No. 1 eviction server, said it acts solely as a trustee for investors and doesn't have the power to instruct agents managing the properties as to what to do.

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RELIEF FOR RENTERS
NY POST May 1, 2009 By DAVID SEIFMAN
Mayor Bloomberg predicted yesterday that hikes for rent-stabilized tenants will be a "lot lower" this year than last year's 4.5 and 8.5 percent. "My guess is that they'll have a lot lower increases because [landlords'] costs have gone down and they can justify it," Bloomberg said, but the Rent Guidelines Board will decide this month.

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Landlords will pay the 'green' April 23, 2009
NY Post 4-23-09 By DAVID SEIFMAN
Top city officials pledged yesterday that rent-stabilized tenants won't have to pick up the tab when landlords are forced to make their buildings more energy efficient.
    "Since these retrofits pay for themselves, we see no reason that landlords should, over time, charge tenants for them," said Rohit Aggarwala, Mayor Bloomberg's point man on the project.
    Tenant advocates expressed concern that the mayor's initiative, which will require owners of older buildings with more than 50,000 square feet to make energy-related capital improvements, would add up to $275 a year in rent to each apartment in residential buildings that fall under rent-control laws.
    Under the state housing code, landlords are allowed to pass on the cost of certain capital projects to their rent-stabilized tenants.

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RE THE ABOVE:
A greener building may spell rent hike

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Sent from Michael McKee:

Tenants can't find a friend in New York state capital

Monday, March 30  BY Barbara Ross, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 

Related News Articles below:

New York State Senators who got big landlord bigs

A limitless line of lobbyists still pulling strings

This was the year tenant advocates were waiting for: a Democratic-controlled Senate coming in to make long-awaited changes in the state’s rent laws.

Until now, their biggest obstacle was history.

Now, it seems, their biggest hurdle is money — tons of it — going from landlord groups to key lawmakers.

>>CONTINUED HERE>>

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City Council launches attack on state-enacted rent regulations
BY Frank Lombardi DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER March 12
Saying the time is ripe in Albany, City Council leaders launched an attack Wednesday on state-enacted rent regulations that have been a bane for tenants and a boon for landlords. Led by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a group of Council members joined more than 100 tenants and housing advocates on the steps of City Hall to announce the introduction of legislation calling on the state Legislature to repeal vacancy decontrol and to kill a state law that allows Albany to set rent regulations for the city. STORY CONTINUED HERE

REPEAL VACANCY DECONTROL!
HOME RULE NOW!

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WPP REPORT February 26, 2009

Westsiders for Public Participation Back in Court

On February 3, 2009, the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) denied WPP's claim that the mixed-use building at 808 Columbus Avenue has been constructed in blatant disregard of pertinent zoning laws, and thus not "as of right."
     On February 26, 2009, Westsiders for Public Participation, Inc., sued the BSA in New York State Supreme Court for arbitrary and capricious abuse of administrative discretion in making that determination, and demanded that the Court annul the building permit for 808 Columbus Avenue.
     The developer, 808 Columbus Avenue LLC, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Hearing dates will be announced as they are calendared.
SEE LINK TO WPP HERE:

http://westsiders4public.blogspot.com/

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MTA backtracks on huge
Access-A-Ride hike
NY Daily News Monday, March 23 BY PETE DONOHUE
The MTA is shelving an unpopular plan to more than double the fare disabled riders pay for door-to-door van service, the Daily News has learned.
FULL STORY HERE

MTA approves massive fare hikes

BY ALFONSO A. CASTILLO alfonso.castillo@newsday.com
Newsday.com 2:06 PM EDT, March 25, 2009
With time having run out to balance the MTA's budget amid an unprecedented fiscal crisis, the MTA board reluctantly voted Wednesday morning to approve massive fare hikes in public transit. In a series of identical 12-1 votes, the Metropolitan Transportation Association's board raised subway, bus and train fares, increased bridge and tunnel tolls, and enacted plans for severe service cuts. FULL STORY HERE

2009 NYC Transit Service Rationalization Program to Balance the Budget [termed the "Doomsday Budget" and eliminating the M10 bus on weekends]  DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE
WARNING: HUGE FILE WITH CITY BUS AND SUBWAY ROUTES

HELP SAVE OUR BUS!
SIGN THE PETITION NOW!
www.PetitionOnline.com/cash4mta/petition.htm

NO NO. M10 BUS?
The MTA public hearings January 14 revealed severe service cuts in train and bus service, including our M10! To restore MTA funding, write Albany legislators, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Governor David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and MTA Chair MTA CEO H. Dale Hemmerdinger. More info: www.MTA.info.
 → Daily News reports  MTA HEARINGS
 → The West Side Spirit reports
       STIMULUS FUNDS MAY HELP
Community Board 7 Transportation Committee
MORE INFO DUE HERE FOR WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP!

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Newsday.com 1:35 PM EST, February 2, 2009
Online database of construction
plans to be launched
BY MICHAEL FRAZIER michael.frazier@newsday.com
The city Department of Buildings is making it easier for residents to challenge any developments going up in their neighborhood by creating an online database of construction plans, officials said Monday.
    New York will become the first city in the nation to place diagrams of proposed new buildings so the public can view the size and scale, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration said.
    The new measure will go into effect March 9.
[MORE HERE]

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NEWS WE CAN USE FOR
PARK WEST VILLAGE

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND DOB COMMISSIONER LIMANDRI ANNOUNCE ONLINE DIAGRAMS OF PROPOSED BUILDINGS AND A NEW DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE PROCESS
[CLICK HERE FOR PRESS RELEASE]

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PWVTA letter 12-30-08
to Board of Standards and Appeals
DOWNLOAD PDF HERE

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TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIAN
ENGINEERING EVALUATION
DOWNLOAD PDF HERE / EXTRACTS - CONCLUSIONS

SUPPLIED BY WESTSIDERS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

additional links to pertinent information:

BP Stringer testimony to BSA 12-16-08:

Assemblymember O'Donnell testimony to BSA 12-16-08

Open Space Schematic - Park West Village

CB7 Resolution May 1, 2007 -- 808 Columbus Avenue

WPP UPDATE 12-19-08

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STRINGER LETTER TO PWV RESIDENTS
From: Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer
Date: Tue, Dec 16, 2008
Dear Neighbor: This morning, members of my staff joined Park West Village residents at the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals hearing on 808 Columbus Avenue.
     Many of you have followed this case closely and know that today's hearing addressed two of the four concerns that I brought to the Department of Buildings in July 2007 regarding the development's compliance with NYC zoning law. You can read the testimony I submitted today at: BP Scott Stringer TESTIMONY HERE
     The final parameters of this development remain uncertain, and it is therefore as important as ever that Park West Village residents have their voices heard and their needs considered.
     My motivation in addressing this issue has never been solely about upholding the letter of the law; it has been about having open, transparent government processes that serve the public.
     I will continue to fight for this principle and for the residents of Park West Village to have a place at the table.
Yours sincerely, Scott M. Stringer
Manhattan Borough President

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Westsiders for Public Participation

PWVTA CONTRIBUTES

The PWVTA Executive Board voted to make a contribution to the Westsiders for Public Participation, and to urge PWVTA members to join with other members of the community to support WPP’s legal action with individual contributions.
Your checks should go to:
Westsiders for Public Participation, Inc., P.O. Box 20093, Park West Station, New York, NY 10025, or online: http://snipurl.com/westsiders.

     WPP President Paul Bunten, an Associate Member of the PWVTA, said: "We’re grateful for this message from the heart of our community. You’ve really helped us plan for something bigger than we’ve been.

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COMMUNITY BOARD CHAIR HELEN ROSENTHAL EXPLAINS CB7 ROLE FOR PARK WEST VILLAGE
At the PWVTA Membership meeting November 11 CB7 Chair Helen Rosenthal explained the many roles of the Community Board in monitoring and serving the neighborhood, including transportation, health services, schools, open space, recreation facilities, sanitation, public safety, and more!
     She noted that several CB7 members live in Park West Village, and invited other residents to attend meetings and view upcoming events at their website: http://www.nyc.gov/mcb7.
MORE NEWS HERE!

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Photo by Sue Brisk. All rights reserved.

Helen Rosenthal and Marjorie Cohen compare notes after PWVTA Membership Meeting November 11, 2008 [CLICK TO EXPAND]

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MEMBERS LEARN OF
WCPP SAFE HAVEN PROGRAM
At the PWVTA Annual Membership Meeting November 11, 2008, members heard Marjorie Cohen, Executive Director of the Westside Crime Prevention Program, speak of their Tamar Lynn Safe Haven Program, which helps to keep our kids safe on our streets.
     The Westside Crime Prevention Program (WCPP), founded in 1980, is an independent community based not-for-profit organization that works to keep the Upper West Side of Manhattan safe for everyone who lives, works or goes to school in the neighborhood.
     WCPP focuses on promoting mutual respect and understanding between police and our community; fostering young people’s development through conflict resolution, mentoring and social and educational programs; directly involving constituencies in crime prevention efforts; and responding to crime in ways that reflect the concerns of our culturally and economically diverse and vibrant neighborhood.
     The WCPP works to achieve these goals through education, advocacy, and collaboration with organizational and individual community stakeholders.

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Founded to serve the community that is contiguous with Community Board 7, from West 59th Street to West 110th Street, Riverside Park to Central Park. Over the years, as their programs have grown and gained success, they have been asked to bring their projects to Harlem, the Lower East Side and the Bronx as well.

WCPP WANTS PEOPLE TO RECOMMEND NEIGHBORHOOD STORES THAT WOULD MAKE A GOOD SAFE HAVEN LOCATION. 
Please call 212-866-8603. For more info: www.wcppny.org

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WEST SIDE SPIRIT MAY 8:
REPORT: WESTSIDERS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

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NEW YORK SUN MAY 6:
City Revokes Permits For Major Development

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OFFICIALS SPEAK AT WPP MEETING MAY 22
REP. RANGEL TO JOIN WPP LAWSUIT

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ELECTED OFFICIALS TO JOIN WPP LAWSUIT

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NEW COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION FORMED:
WESTSIDERS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

LAWSUIT DEMANDS
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

A lawsuit filed April 11, 2008, in the NYS Supreme Court seeks Environmental Review of the proposed development on both sides of Columbus Avenue between 97th to 100th Streets.
     The suit seeks an injunction to stop construction, pending a review of the zoning violations and all environmental issues. Substantial modification of the project may be required. The inaction of New York City's Department of Buildings is called negligent.

     On April 14 residents filled the Second Presbyterian Church to ask questions and show support for the lawsuit filed by local resident Paul Bunten against the Department of Buildings (DOB) and the developers of the proposed buildings.
     Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer spoke in support, and took the DOB to task for its lax oversight of developers. Residents cheered the prospect of finally getting input on the project’s effect on open space; access routes for vehicles and pedestrians; recreational facilities; contextual planning for the community; air quality; and noise.
     The goal of the lawsuit is to achieve full public participation in all of these matters -- and more.
     Residents formed an organization to volunteer and contribute to moving the lawsuit forward: Westsiders for Public Participation, PO Box 20093, Park West Station, New York, NY 10025. Checks to: “Westsiders for Public Participation”.
Community contact: Paul S. Bunten • paul.bunten@gmail.com • (212) 932-2239.
SEE NEXT STORY BELOW BY THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR FOR A REPORT OF THE APRIL 24 MEETING.

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COLUMBIA SPECTATOR April 25, 2008
Activists of Park West Village Unite in Lawsuit
www.columbiaspectator.com/node/30721 

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JUNE CRUISE REPORT!
Big 8mb file - ENT to next photo, ESC to end
Hear Smokey Robinson: Cruisin'

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CRUISE AROUND MANHATTAN!
Saturday, June 7 11:30am to 2pm Bateaux New York Cruise Serving lunch on glass-enclosed boat for sightseeing cruise to music! Exciting fun for friends & neighbors! More info in the PWVTA information flyer here, or write cruise@pwvta.org.

 

The ship we sail on: The Bateaux New York

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NEWSLETTERS

PWVTA NL May 2010

PWVTA NL April 2010

PWVTA NL March 2010

PWVTA NL February 2010

PWVTA NL January 2010

PWVTA NL December 2009

PWVTA NL November 2009

PWVTA NL October 2009

PWVTA NL September 2009

PWVTA NL Summer 2009

PWVTA NL June 2009

PWVTA NL May 2009

PWVTA NL April 2009

PWVTA NL March 2009

PWVTA NL February 2009

PWVTA NL January 2009

PWVTA NL December 2008

PWVTA NL November 2008

PWVTA NL October 2008

PWVTA NL summer 2008

PWVTA NL June 2008 - corrected 6-1-08

PWVTA NL May 2008

PWVTA NL March 2008

NOTE REPLACEMENT OF OBSOLETE ARTICLE IN THE FEBRUARY 2008 NEWSLETTER FRONT PAGE BY THIS:
Final PWV Rent Overcharge Report 121.07.doc
PWVTA NL February 2008

PWVTA NL December 2007

PWVTA NL Summer 2007

PWVTA NL May 2007

PWVTA NL March 2007

PWVTA NL May 2006

PWVTA NL March 2006

PWVTA NL January 2006

PWVTA NL November 2005

PWVTA NL October 2005

PWVTA NL September 2005

PWVTA NL June 2005

PWVTA NL May 2005

PWVTA NL February 2005

PWVTA NL November 2004

PWVTA NL September 2004

PWVTA NL June 2004

PWVTA NL Feb-March 2004

PWVTA NL December 2003

PWVTA NL October 2003

PWVTA NL July 2003

PWVTA NL April 2003

PWVTA NL January 2003

PWVTA NL October 2002

PWVTA NL June 2002

PWVTA NL February 2002

PWVTA NL July 2001

PWVTA NL January 2001

PWVTA NL May 2000

PWVTA NL June 1996

PWVTA NL March 1996

PWVTA NL February 1993

PWVTA NL December 1992

PWVTA NL November 1992

PWVTA NL Summer 1992

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REPORT: VALENTINE’S PARTY AND FUNDRAISER FEBRUARY 13, 2008   With all the construction changes and problems facing tenants and owners, we welcomed the chance to get together and socialize with neighbors we haven't seen in a while.
   We entered the room amid a sea of red balloons with streamers joyously hanging from the ceiling. We enjoyed Chinese, Indian, and MiddleEastern food, topped-off with Lois Hoffmann's Special Chocolate Pound Cake near the end of the evening.
   Entertainment included quizzes modeled loosely on NPR's program Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! [• below] presenting us with chuckles and chortles. Contestants were awarded prizes from neighborhood merchants -- a delicious platter of food from Mani Market and a gift basket from Columbus Natural Foods. A bottle of rosé champagne from Columbus Avenue Spirits was awarded as a door prize.
   What a good opportunity to have fun while raising funds for the work of the PWVTA -- we expect to repeat these get-togethers often, based on popular demand!

• Quiz example: Who said it? ~ about the Columbus Avenue construction:
“The construction of 4 buildings on Columbus Avenue in the former Park West Village is a great boon to the neighborhood.”
• A) Mayor Michael Bloomberg
• B) Diana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg’s mistress
• C) Moe Aziz, Gotham construction manager
• D) Ratatouille, the rat who is the star of the movie that bears his name.

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SEPTEMBER 2007:

   CLICK FOR BENEFIT INFO & COUPON!  

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[top]

Paterson Needs Pushing On Another No-Brainer Tenant Bill - Call him today!

Governor David Paterson needs to hear from you that he must sign an important bill outlawing a pervasive form of housing discrimination. Today is the deadline for him to sign or veto the bill. CALL HIM TODAY!
...CONTINUED HERE!

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 Join Met Council on Housing in Albany
Tuesday, August 3
Met Council on Housing will be going to Albany on Tuesday, August 3, for a our final push this year (we hope!) to pass real rent reform legislation in the State Senate. Our van will be leaving from the Upper West Side of Manhattan Tuesday morming. Please email Mario at mario@metcouncil.net or call 212-979-6238, extension 200, if you would like to join us.

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When Senators Return to Albany, Will They Pass Our Tenant Bills? New York State's budget is now months late, and the Senate, Assembly, and Governor must eventually agree on a budget before leaving Albany for the year. Our pro-tenant legislation stands the best chance of getting passed if the Senators who care about tenants tell their leader that they will refuse to allow tenants to be pushed aside yet again. Call your State Senator with a simple message: Senator __X__, I am a tenant in your district, and I have been waiting for decades for the Senate to finally do something for tenants. I need you to take a stand and refuse to vote for a budget deal until the Senate has brought crucial rent reform legislation to a full vote. To find out who your Senator is, and to get the phone number for his or her office, go to http://www.nysenate.gov/senators Call the New York City district office of your Senator first (212 or 718 area code) Please remember: We still need people to be on call to head up to Albany when the Senate finally returns there. We do not know when this will be, but to add your name to the priority list for the call, email: mario@metcouncil.net

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Tuesday, July 13th [2010] 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Upper West Side Town Hall Meeting
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
Goddard Riverside Community Center 593 Columbus Avenue (between 88th and 89th Street)
Also inviting: Congressmember Jerrold L. Nadler, Congressmember Charles B. Rangel, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, State Senator Bill Perkins, State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried, Assemblymember Daniel J. O’Donnell, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, Councilmember Gale A. Brewer, Councilmember Inez E. Dickens and Community Board 7
RSVP at 212-669-4462 or events@manhattanbp.org
DOWNLOAD & POST FLYER HERE! 

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13 Tenants Arrested Demanding State Senate Pass Rent Reform: Now We Need Your Help! Thirteen tenant activists were arrested in a civil-disobedience action this past Monday, July 12, while protesting the Senate Democrats' failure to pass pro-tenant legislation as they prepare to wrap up their second year in the majority. Following a protest at City Hall Park of over 200 tenants, including many Met Council members, we marched to 250 Broadway, where many Senate leaders have their offices, and blocked the entrance. The message was simple: Don't come home from Albany until you've passed our tenant legislation! Getting arrested to make our point was a big step. Now, we're demanding equally bold action on the part of our Senators. Please, call your State Senator today and give him or her this message: Senator __X__, I am a tenant in your district, and I have been waiting for decades for the Senate to finally do something for tenants. I'm furious that the corrupt members of your party who are in the pockets of landlords are being allowed to set the agenda. I need you to take a stand and refuse to vote for a budget deal until the Senate has brought the package of rent reform legislation to a full vote. To find out who your Senator is, and to get the phone number for his or her office, go to http://www.nysenate.gov/senators Call the New York City district office of your Senator first (212 or 718 area code). Please remember: We still need people to be on call to head up to Albany when the Senate finally returns there. We do not know when this will be, but to add your name to the priority list for the call, email: mario@metcouncil.net

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The New York State Senate is on the verge of finally passing pro-tenant legislation... But we need YOU to help make sure that it happens! The hard work of tenants like you over many years is on the verge of paying off. After unrelenting pressure from housing and community groups, the faith community, and labor unions, the New York State Senate is close to finally passing a package of pro-tenant bills. The message is finally resonating: promises made over many decades to reform the rent laws once Democrats gained control of the Senate MUST BE KEPT! We've waited long enough! A package of pro-tenant bills is nearing a vote in the Senate, but the political landscape can shift quickly. We must be present in Albany to make sure that our Senators pass this pro-tenant legislation before they go home for the summer. There is absolutely no way of knowing when a vote may happen - particularly as the legislature is consumed by a very contentious budget fight that continues to drag on. Different groups in the Real Rent Reform campaign are making trips to Albany every day to ensure that we are a strong and steady presence. Met Council on Housing is gearing up to go to Albany this Thursday... Go to Albany with Met Council on Housing this Thursday, July 1, 2010  We will be leaving around 7:15 AM and will return in the evening. The trip is free of charge. We will decide on a pickup location based on the responses of tenants who express interest in the trip. If you can come, let us know! We're close to winning victories, and we need to keep the pressure on! RSVP to Mario: 212-979-6238 x200 mario@metcouncil.net

 

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Sue Susman reports:
You're needed in Albany on Tuesday!
There is a possibility that some housing bills will be passed by both the Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday of this coming week [June 28-29, 2010]. So we need people up in Albany to make that possibility grow.
IF YOU CAN GO ON TUESDAY, JUNE 29, please contact Mary Tek, mtek@tandn.org, 212-608-4320, ext. 316.
   Governor Paterson has played a constructive role - ensuring that the legislature takes seriously the need to renew the rent laws a year early. (Rent regulation would expire in 2011 - and we hope it will be renewed THIS YEAR until 2018.)
   Assembly Housing Committee Chairman Vito Lopez and Speaker Sheldon Silver have also been constructive as the Assembly considers various housing bills.
Make your presence felt - and head on up to Albany.
 - Sue
aff-hous@save-ml.org
http://save-ml.org/mailman/listinfo/aff-hous_save-ml.org

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010:
MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL McKEE:
Thanks to everyone who called, faxed or emailed Governor David Paterson, who last night signed the Loft Law extender/expander.
The bill is now Chapter 135 of the Laws of 2010.
   There is a three-way agreement that the Legislature will pass a chapter amendment in the next few days. This was a deal made shortly before midnight after hours of negotiations with the Bloombucks administration, which at the last minute had asked the Governor to veto the bill.
   While not all details of the chapter amendment are known yet (more detail later), the Legislature agreed to raise coverage from buildings with two illegal residential units to three units. They also agreed to make Quick Draw, the video lottery game renewal of which has been linked with Loft Law extenders since the Pataki administration, permanent. Chapter 135 makes the Loft Law permanent – without a “sunset” clause – thus freeing loft tenants of the uncertainty of sweating out whether the law will be extended for another period of time.
   The other major change in Chapter 135 is to expand coverage to newer buildings. Under the original Loft Law, only tenants who have been in occupancy since 1981 (a year before enactment of the law) were protected. The new law will bring rent and eviction protections to tenants who can prove residential occupancy for 12 months or more in 2008 and 2009.
   Without this change, these tenants would have continued to be subject to arbitrary eviction and arbitrary rent gouging. These buildings now must go through a process of legalization, bringing them up to fire and safety code standards. Upon completion of this work the apartments will become subject to rent stabilization.
   Thanks go to Assembly Housing Chair Vito Lopez and Senator Martin Dilan for their efforts to enact this new law. And congratulations to Lower Manhattan Loft Tenants (now a city-wide organization despite its name) for a terrific job of navigating the murky waters of Planet Albany, and to the newly protected tenants who mounted a successful lobbying campaign. Stand by for details of the chapter amendment.

Michael McKee, Executive Director
Housing Here and Now

[Monday June 21] URGENT

Governor Paterson has until midnight to sign or veto the Loft Law. His staff reports that no decision has been made on whether to sign or veto, and the administration of Mayor Mike Bloombucks has issued a formal memo asking for a veto.
 
Call, fax or email the Governor. Urge him to sign this bill!

 

A5667-C expands coverage of the Loft Law to protect tenants who moved into illegal loft dwellings in recent years (the current law protects only tenants who have lived in their lofts for 30 years or longer). The bill also makes the Loft Law permanent.

The Loft Law gives rent and eviction protections to tenants who are otherwise uncovered by the rent laws. These are units in manufacturing or commercial buildings that are not zoned for residential use – but many landlords have nevertheless rented them to people who are desperate for a place to live. The Loft Law provides a mechanism for these buildings to be legalized – brought up to fire and safety codes – while preventing the landlords from evicting the tenants. Once the building is legalized, the apartments go into rent stabilization.

As strange as it may seem, Governor David Paterson, known as a pro-tenant legislator during his years in the Senate, is still threatening a veto of the 2010 Loft Law. He has to act today – by midnight.

New York City is still protesting the areas that are covered, the number of units required, and other points. The loft tenants’ position is that the Governor should sign the bill and let the Loft Board sort things out. The City had years to address this situation and failed to do so.

Ask Governor Paterson to do the right thing and sign the 2010 Loft Law.

 

There are three ways to get your message to the Governor.
 
TELEPHONE: Call the Governor's office at 518-474-8390. This phone number sometimes has an interminable wait time.

FAX: You can also dash off a quick letter and fax it to Governor Paterson’s Counsel’s Office. The fax number is 518-486-1921.

EMAIL: E-mail the Governor by visiting - www.state.ny.us/governor - this will take you to the Governor's home page and in the navigation on the left side of the homepage there's a link to "contact" and from there another link to "e-mail the governor."
SIGN A5667-C, THE 2010 LOFT LAW!

 

Michael McKee

Executive Director

Housing Here and Now

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Protest at Jeffrey Klein’s Home Friday, June 18th, 2010
Come to a protest outside the home of State Senator Jeffrey Klein, who is working as hard as any Democratic Senator to block the bill to repeal vacancy decontrol from coming to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Meet at 11:30 AM at the corner of Williamsbridge Road and Rhinelander Ave
⇒  March to Klein's home at noon, for a press conference to follow.
IF TRAVELING BY SUBWAY: Leave plenty of travel time, and read the instructions carefully: There are two different #5 subway lines. You can take any #2 or #5 to East 180th street, but after that, the #5 splits off into two completely different sections. After East 180th street, make SURE you are on the #5 to Eastchester / Dyre Avenue, NOT the #5 to Nereid Ave. The nearest stop to Klein's home is Pelham Parkway on the Dyre Ave / Eastchester #5 train. See the attached flyer for clear subway and walking directions.
From the Pelham Parkway station, walk down Williamsbridge Road (about 4 long avenues) until you reach the corner of Rhinelander Avenue.

REAL RENT REFORM
Mario Mazzoni <mario@metcouncil.net>
Keep my cell with you. 646-642-2507

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT MAP!

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Wednesday, June 2
Metropolitan Council on Housing
Workshop on winning rent-law reforms
One month left to win protenant legislation in Albany this year!
Wednesday, June 2
6:30 - 8:00 PM
500 West 52nd Street, #2E (just west of 10th Ave.) Subway: C/E to 50th St, 1 to 50th St - N/R/W to 49th St)
• Updates on our campaign activities
• Education on our legislative platform, and the roadblocks to reform that we are facing • An opportunity to learn about the many ways you can become more active!
For more info: mario@metcouncil.net - 212-979-6238

DOWNLOAD, PRINT & POST THIS FLYER NOW!

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Tenant Lobby Day April 27
Report from the West Side Neighborhood Alliance forwarded by Sue Susman April 28 [2010]:
Storming Albany: tenants target Espada & other senators
West Siders and tenants from across the city filled 8 buses to Albany on Tuesday for the first Tenant Lobby Day of this legislative season.  WSNA and other housing groups are pushing for a series of bills to protect affordable housing, but thus far our efforts have been blocked by Senators Pedro Espada, Jeff Klein and a few other politicians.
   On Tuesday, tenants struck back at Sen. Espada by storming his Albany office and delivering a mock eviction notice. The embattled senator has been charged with ripping off tax-payers, and both the patients and workers at the health care center he runs.
   One group Espada is not ripping off is the landlord lobby – who has been showering him with cash to prevent our pro-tenant bills from seeing the light of day.
   Take action: Contact Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson to demand that he remove Pedro Espada as chair of the Senate Housing Committee!  Email your letter to Sampson@senate.state.ny.us or call his Albany office at 518-455-2788.
Join us next Monday [2010] for the official kick-off the 2010 version of our campaign to win real rent reform.
What: Press conference to announce our push for Real Rent Reform
When: Monday, May 3rd, at noon
Where: Steps of City Hall - 1 Centre St.
  Meet HCC organizer Bennett Baumer on the steps of City Hall at 11:45am.
  You can RSVP to Bennett at BBaumer@hcc-nyc.org or 212-956-2585.
See you around the neighborhood!
Lucas Shapiro & Jackie Del Valle, Community Organizers
Housing Conservation Coordinators
Not yet a WSNA member? JOIN WSNA HERE
uws mailing list uws@save-ml.org http://save-ml.org/mailman/listinfo/uws_save-ml.org

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TENANT LOBBY DAY April 27
SEE PHOTOS HERE
FROM TENANTS & NEIGHBORS

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xxxxxxRGB VOTES PRELIMINARY RENT INCREASES
"The Rent Guidelines Board approved increases of 2 percent to 4 percent for one-year leases and 4 percent to 6 percent for two-year leases, among the lower range of increases the nine-person panel has recommended in recent years. After public hearings on June 15 and June 17, the final increase will be set at a meeting June 24..." [NYTimes 5-5-10 CONTINUED HERE]

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NYTIMES May 6
ANHD REPORT: RENT CAPS TO EXPIRE ON NEW HOUSING
The Bloomberg administration made a proud announcement earlier this week: It had reached the 100,000 mark in its ambitious plan to create or preserve 165,000 units of moderate- and low-income housing by 2014.
   But according to tenants’ advocates, the city stands to lose an even greater number of similar units in the coming decades, erasing the gains, because the rent caps on those units will expire.
   In a report to be issued on Friday, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development,...
⇒CONTINUED HERE

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HEAR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DISCUSSION:
Rafael Cestero, commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Ron Moelis, co-founder and vice chairman of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) and CEO of L+M Development Partners, talk about the NYS Affordable Housing conference and strategies for producing affordable housing in a dramatically different economic environment...
⇒ CONTINUED HERE...
WNYC April 28 Brian Lehrer Show

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RENT GUIDELINES BOARD HEARINGS
Bloomberg appoints Scheinberg RGB Public Member

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NY Times February 17, 2010
Espada’s Bill on Rent Limits Draws Criticism From Tenant Groups
By CARA BUCKLEY
Pedro Espada Jr., the State Senate majority leader, introduced a housing bill on Wednesday that he described as a major lifeline to New Yorkers with lower incomes, and that a tenants’ group denounced as a “Trojan horse.”
   Mr. Espada’s bill would freeze rent for 10 years for an estimated 750,000 people. But critics say it would also allow landlords who had improperly removed apartments from rent stabilization...
⇒STORY CONTINUED HERE 

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STOP SENATOR ESPADA'S REAPPOINTMENT!
WRITE NOW!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael McKee Date: Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 9:50 PM
Subject: Sample email to Senate Leader John Sampson protesting Espada appointment as housing committee chair
...SAMPLE EMAIL TO SENATOR JOHN SAMPSON RE PEDRO ESPADA’S RE-APPOINTMENT AS HOUSING COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Use your own words. The following is simply a model. If you helped elect Democratic Senators in the last few years (phone banking, door knocking, making contributions, etc.) then by all means add that information. -----------------------------------------
Senator John L. Sampson
Senate Majority Conference Leader
New York State Senate
Albany, New York 12247
BY EMAIL: sampson@senate.state.ny.us
Dear Senator Sampson:
I write to protest in no uncertain terms the re-appointment of Pedro Espada as chair of the Senate Housing Committee.
   Apart from the fact that Senator Espada is an embarrassment in every way, as chair of the Housing Committee last year he successfully torpedoed every single piece of pro-tenant legislation. He has proven himself to be a landlord stooge.
   Tenants worked hard to help the Democrats become the majority in the State Senate. Being stuck with a landlord puppet as Housing Committee chair is a bitter reward for our efforts.
   If you do not pass real rent reform legislation this year, legislation that takes back lost tenant protections and re-regulates apartments that we have lost in the last 15 years, you will not be the majority in 2011. And you will not have any help from me.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
_____________________________________
uws mailing list uws@save-ml.org http://save-ml.org/mailman/listinfo/uws_save-ml.org

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URGENT -- ALERT FROM MET COUNCIL
PHONE SEN. SAMPSON NOW! SEE HERE!

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SUNDAY, May 9 STREET FAIR  Amsterdam Avenue
W. 96-106 Sts. 11am-6pm.
Sponsor Valley Restoration, LDC.
For info 212-222-2600
The West Side Spirit -- March 18
CAR-FREE AMSTERDAM
Sundays in May
Taking a page from the “Summer Streets” program that closed off Park Avenue to automobile traffic, a business group wants to block off Amsterdam Avenue for a few Sundays in May.
    The Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District (BID) is close to getting the avenue approved for the city’s “Weekend Walks” program.
    If the mayor’s Street Activity Permit Office approves the plan, Upper West Siders will be able to stroll down the middle of Amsterdam Avenue, between West 106th and 110th streets, on three consecutive Sundays: May 9, 16 and 23.
    People could sample food from local restaurants, shop at small businesses in the area and discover neighborhood organizations and service providers. There are also plans to have music performances and art displays during the day.
    “It’s going to be a chance for a community celebration and community education,” said Peter Arndtsen, the BID’s district manager. “We hope to bring people together and let people know about organizations that exist in the neighborhood and how to get involved in them.”
    The plan has already received support from Community Board 7, the Department of Transportation and the 24th precinct, Arndtsen said.  MORE INFO HERE

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Thursday, May 6
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
THE FUTURE OF MANHATTAN VALLEY:
FOLLOW-UP PRESENTATION
The final presentation by the Pratt students will take place Thursday night, May 6
Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell presents
THE FUTURE OF MANHATTAN VALLEY: FOLLOW-UP PRESENTATION
co-sponsored with Columbus-Amsterdam BID, Pratt Institute & Municipal Art Society
Recently, nearly 140 participants attended Assembly Member O’Donnell’s Manhattan Valley Visioning event, including representatives of small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, block and tenant associations, and individual community activists.
Please join us as the Pratt students present their report based on this successful community meeting.
Thursday, May 6
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Church of the Ascension; 221 W. 107th Street (bet. Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue)
Please call Assembly Member O’Donnell’s Community Office at 212-866-3970 with any questions or concerns.

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ASSEMBLY MEMBER DANIEL O'DONNELL presents
THE FUTURE OF MANHATTAN VALLEY:
A COMMUNITY VISIONING EVENT
co-sponsored with
Columbus-Amsterdam BID, Pratt Institute & Municipal Art Society
Assembly Member O'Donnell is convening a community conversation and needs your input!
Discuss Manhattan Valley, its many strengths, and what improvements you’d like to see.
    The goal is to get a clear picture of what we can all do together to make this vibrant community even stronger.
    Community members of all ages are welcome. Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors! Youth are encouraged to participate -- all perspectives are important!
Saturday, March 6  3:00–5:00PM
(Doors open 2:45 PM)
Red Oak Apartments; 135 W 106 Street (bet. Amsterdam and Columbus Aves)
Spanish translation services will be provided. Children welcome.
PLEASE RSVP to 212-866-3970
PRINT and POST FLYER HERE!

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Crain's November 16
Big development hit with Stuy-Town ruling fallout
The fallout from a crucial court case which found that the owners of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village had illegally raised rents has begun.
    A group of 11 tenants at London Terrace Gardens has sued their landlord on the same grounds that brought success to their brethren at Stuyvesant Town: Owners of rent-regulated complexes can't raise rents while receiving special tax breaks awarded for making major building renovations. The case against London Terrace Gardens...
⇒CONTINUED HERE

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Columbia Spectator Wednesday 11-11-09 by Sam Levin
Construction on Columbus feared unsafe

For some Park West Village residents, walking home can be a frightening experience.
A month after city officials cleaned up a collapsed shed at the construction site on 97th Street, a group of locals say they still don’t feel safe.  STORY CONTINUES HERE>>

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Crane partially collapses at Columbus Square
STORY BEGAN THURSDAY OCTOBER 8

From CB7 District Manager Penny Ryan:
DOB has provided us with the following information:
An approximately 15ft section of the sidewalk shed was irreparably damaged and will need to be brought down.
    This was a mobile crane that was coming down and being demobilized for the evening. As it approached the ground the boom accidently hit into the sidewalk shed at the street level.
There was minimal damage and no injuries.
    Currently we are issuing a SWO, and the Crane Unit inspectors are moving the crane out of its currently location in order to inspect for damage. Scaffold Safety team inspectors are inspecting the shed.
    Per OEM (Office of Emergency Management): The crane is being removed. The sidewalk shed will be repaired by this evening.
    I will continue to follow-up and keep you posted.

Penny Ryan
pryan@cb7.org

STRINGER AND MARK-VIVERITO STATEMENT:
Statement from City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on today's crane accident on 97th and Columbus:

Earlier today, we learned of a crane accident in Park West Village. Our offices remained in constant communication with the Department of Buildings (DOB) as developments came in on the accident. We also communicated with the Office of Emergency Management, who was coordinating with DOB and the city Fire Department.

The DOB has informed us that as the crane was being demobilized at the end of the work day, it accidentally hit the sidewalk shed, causing some minimal damage, but no injuries. We immediately called for a stop work order, which the DOB issued shortly after the accident. The DOB also sent its Crane Unit inspectors to move the crane and inspect the area for damage, while the Department’s Scaffold Safety team inspected the shed.

Both of our offices will continue to monitor this situation very closely to ensure that the DOB takes the appropriate steps following this accident to protect the residents of Park West Village and the surrounding community. To that end, we will request that the DOB issue an open, transparent report to the public regarding today’s accident, which should outline the cause of the accident and the steps they will take to prevent a similar incident’s reoccurrence.

With the history of construction-related accidents at Park West Village, the Department must continue engaging with the residents and the surrounding community to reassure them that they are taking all necessary steps to address today’s crane accident, and avoid future construction safety issues. We will continue to work closely with DOB to ensure that they do.

Office of Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito
250 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
212-788-6960

COLUMBIA SPECTATOR 10-9-09 STORY HERE

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372 CPW Concierge Eugene Amankwah
Named "Building Worker of the Year" by WestSide Spirit

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Paul Bunten Wins Westy Award!
West Side Spirit salutes neighborhood stars in October 8 edition excerpted here. The newspaper is online here.
READ THIS AND MORE: He started the [Westsiders for Public Participation] group, he said, out of "a fundamental personal belief in the value of public participation in community-based planning." . . .

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PWV Flea Market
Sunday, October 25, 2009 11am to 4pm
behind The Vaux - 372 Central Park West (97 Street)
Stop by!  Look!!  Shop!!!   LOTS OF GOOD STUFF
FREE TOO!  ALL WELCOME!
DOWNLOAD FLYER TO POST >>HERE>>

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Uh oh... "...landlords and developers began to sound the warnings that commercial real estate would be the other shoe to drop..."
SEE ELIOT BROWN'S COLUMN -- The Other Shoe -- IN THE OBSERVER September 29
LINK HERE or see PDF HERE

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NYTimes September 27
808 Columbus Avenue RENT STRATEGIES

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By JOSH BARBANEL

Published: September 25, 2009

WITH the economy sluggish and rents falling, new rental buildings have been offering ever larger incentives to tenants and their agents. But Columbus Square, the complex of five new glass rental buildings going up on the Upper West Side on and around Columbus Avenue between 97th and 100th Streets, is raising the stakes.

808 Columbus Avenue

The developers, the Chetrit Group and Stellar Management, have already been offering free rent and broker fees in the first two buildings to be ready for occupancy. Last week they sent brokers an e-mail blast with the subject line, in capital letters: “$1,000 agent bonuses plus three months’ free rent."  CONTINUE HERE

 

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ANCHOR TENANT WHOLE FOODS -- MAYOR'S INTENT: http://gothamist.com/2009/09/24/city_trying_to_help_supermarkets.php

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This from our Assemblymember...
From: Daniel O'Donnell <odonnelld@assembly.state.ny.us>
Date: Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Subject: September 2009 - Monthly Update from Assembly Member O'Donnell

#############################################
O'DONNELL NEWS -- SEPTEMBER 2009
#############################################
Community Office: 245 West 104th Street • (212) 866-3970
O'DONNELL CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE DOWNZONING OF WEST 106TH STREET SITE
On August 12, Jewish Home Lifecare (JHL) unveiled an agreement with The Chetrit Group to swap JHL's West 106th Street site for one in Park West Village.
    The West 106th Street site was cut-out of the sweeping 2007 rezoning when the Department of City Planning and the Upper West Side Rezoning Task Force recommended that much of the existing R7-2 zones bereplaced with contextual zoning designations. The land on all sides of this site were rezoned either R8A or R8B. In response to JHL's proposal to redevelop its nursing home facilities here, its site remained R7-2 which has no height limit and provides a significant Floor Area Ratio bonus for the inclusion of community facility uses.
    Assembly Member O'Donnell vigorously supported the community's call for the comprehensive rezoning to prevent inappropriate development and unequivocally opposed the exemption along West 106th Street, which the City Council ultimately approved.
    O'Donnell responded to the announcement of the plans: "The sole reason these parcels retained their original zoning is because Jewish Home Lifecare made the case that it needed the flexibility afforded by an R7-2 designation to develop a state-of-the-art skilled nursing facility. Now that the institution has announced the site will be used by a for-profit developer, the City Council must immediately eliminate the special cut-out and establish the full zoning plan as originally recommended by the city's Planning Department and the Upper West Side Rezoning Task Force."
    As regards the Park West Village site, O'Donnell is committed to the maintenance of existent open space and believes strongly that any proposed project must be carefully reviewed to ensure adherence to both the letter and spirit of the open space law. Additionally, every possible attempt must be made to mitigate the impacts of construction on this community that already has endured quality of life compromises throughout the current development project.

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LATEST INFO ON LAND SWAP:
Columbia Spectator story by Sam Levin
www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/09/08/property-dispute-stirs-residents
Clare Dockery: "...no compromise is acceptable... disruptive construction, the influx of traffic on [her] street, and the lost view... I would like to see the land swap stopped.”
SEE FULL STORY HERE or PDF HERE to send to all our friends!

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THE STORY IN CRAIN'S:
Huge legal test on rent regulation looms for landlords
Crain's 9-9-09 or the PDF file HERE

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Monday, September 14, 7pm - Community Meeting
on JHL RELOCATION TO NEW 22-STORY PWV BUILDING ON 792 PARKING LOT
Meeting at Second Presbyterian Church 6 West 96th Street – Corner of Central Park West Entrance on South Side of 96th Street "At the Red Door" Doors Open at 7 PM
Westsiders for Participation, Inc., will hold a community meeting on Tuesday, September 14, for the purpose of encouraging public participation in *expressing* and *hearing* views about plans announced by the Jewish Home to relocate its current campus on West 106th Street to a new 22-story building within Park West Village.
    According to publicly released plans, this new building would be constructed on the south side of West 100th Street, west of Columbus Avenue, on open space that's currently a parking lot serving 792 Columbus Avenue. MORE INFO:westsiders4public.blogspot.com/

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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mass Mobilization: Tenants Return To Albany To Demand Reform Of Our Rent Laws!
Please Join Us!
New York State Senators will be returning from their summer recess and holding a one-day session on Thursday, September 10, 2009. The Senate is likely to meet only a few times before the November elections. Tenant and community organizations from across the city are planning a large, boisterous protest in Albany on that day to pressure our Senators to pass the rent reform legislation promised to tenants for many years.MORE INFO HERE!

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MORE THAN 185 CONCERNED CITIZENS AT THE EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING!
FOLLOW-UP MEETINGS PLANNED
Please revisit this website as we all get more info
or write: Scott Stringer at bp@manhattanbp.org, and from the BP's office: Corey Peterson, Community Liaison cpeterson@manhattanbp.org 212-669-4546, or City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito at mviverito@council.nyc.gov, or State Senator Bill Perkins at perkins@senate.state.ny.us.

Meanwhile, the best complete summary of past and presently planned pending political and community action is in the email post sent early Thursday by Sue Susman, whom you saw in the middle aisle up front taking very good notes! Here begins what she sent us:

From: Sue Susman <sue@janak.org>
To: upper <uws@save-ml.org>
Subject: [uws] This evening's meeting [8-19-09] on Jewish Home's land swap with Chetrit for Park West Village land
Hi, all.
About 200 highly motivated people attended the meeting that Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito called this evening at the youth hostel to discuss Jewish Home and Hospital's plan to swap land so that the Chetrit group gets land from 106th through 105th between Columbus and Amsterdam for a luxury high rise, and JHH gets to build a possibly 22-story nursing home in the parking lot behind 792 Columbus Ave.

Below are:
Brief Background
Current Issues
The Players
The Coming Chronology
Take Action

This will be posted on my website for the neighborhood, www.preservewpn.org, where you can find the West Side Spirit article of August 13th.  The Crain's NY article is at the bottom of this e-mail.

BRIEF BACKGROUND: As Borough Pres. Scott Stringer said, this was a bait and switch; Sen. Bill Perkins said we were hoodwinked, and all agreed that both JHH and Chetrit have a long history as bad actors.  JHH waited through 2 years of a rezoning process in the area covered by Community Board 7 to speak out and ask for an exemption to the new zoning rules.  Instead of being limited to 12-15 stories, it pulled the "helpless seniors" card and sought to remain under the old limit-less rule.  The goal: to build luxury housing ...CONTINUE HERE FOR FULL REPORT

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EMERGENCY MEETING
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19  7pm
NY-AYH Hostel -- Amsterdam Ave at 103 St
HELP NOW -- DOWNLOAD AND POST THIS FLYER!

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JUST IN -- NEW BUILDING
ON LAND SWAP!
The PWVTA Executive Board at a special meeting August 13 learned of a new plan for building on the existing parking lot immediate to the west of 792 Columbus Avenue in Park West Village.
   This involves a "land swap" between the current owners of PWV Acquisitions and the Jewish Home & Hospital Lfcr.
   Here's what we learned from the "Campus Redevelopment Update -- August 2009 of the Jewish Home Life care" report of the Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged, currently at 120 West 106 Street.
SEE THE FULL PDF REPORT HERE.

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MORE INFO ON THE LAND SWAP
AND NEW BUILDING
West Side Spirit  Augist 13, 2009
westsidespirit.com/?p=2942

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RAPID RESPONSE
FOR ALBANY ACTION
July 13, 2009
Larry Wood of Goddard Riverside writes (July 13 to Sue Susman sue@janak.org) that the Housing Here & Now / Real Rent Reform Campaign is "creating a 'rapid-response' list of folks who would be willing to join us in Albany via various busses once we learn the date for the specific Senate votes on the bills to repeal vacancy decontrol and save Mitchell-Lama.
    We hope to have at least 24 to 48 hour notice as to the vote and once we learn the date, we wish to bring up between 100 and 150 people in several buses. Manhattan-based groups are conferring on renting a bus that would possibly leave from a central location, like Columbus Circle, on the day of the proposed vote."
    So please sign-up for the Albany Vote rapid response team so HHN/R3 knows whom to contact once we get word on when the vote is scheduled. In the meantime we will organize smaller groups of 15 to 40 for lobbying trips for the days the Senate is scheduled to be in session prior to the vote."
    The Upper West Side van for this Wednesday is almost full -- but there are vans leaving from 236 W. 27th St. -- probably at 8 AM (rather than the 9 AM I had mentioned in my last e-mail).
    And we may need tenants ready to go up on Thursday. If you sign-up, you'll be notified Wednesday evening whether the trip is on or off. (It's possible the State Senate will finish its business late Wednesday evening and adjourn for the summer.)
    If you can help, please contact Giti Dadlani of Tenants & Neighbors, gdadlani@tandn.org, 212-608-4320, or Larry Wood, community organizer, Goddard Riverside Community Center, 593 Columbus Ave, NY NY 10024 212-873-6600 x304, fax: 212-595-6498 www.goddard.org   Work for Peace!

Met Council report July 11 by Rachel Rachlin

What Espada's Return Means
to Tenant Legislation

Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican conference more than a month ago sent Albany into turmoil, rejoined the Democrats on Thursday, July 9. This returned control of the state senate to the Democrats, and puts the legislators back to work after a five-week-long stalemate. The implications of his return for key tenant reforms, such as the repeal of vacancy decontrol, are unclear...
CONTINUED HERE

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Tom Robbins in Village Voice 7-1-09
Senate Coup Plotters’ Hidden Agenda
Tabloids call it a circus, but the lobbyists’ goal is to squelch reforms
By Tom Robbins
The tabloid version of the Great Senate Stalemate of 2009 goes something like this: Those bozos in the State Senate—who can’t be trusted even on a good day to get their lunch orders straight—brought the people’s business to a screeching halt over a petty internal dispute about who got to wield the gavel at meetings.
     There is just enough of a patina of truth to this comic-book description of the Albany shutdown to convince a lot of otherwise sensible citizens to lather up in rage. After all, this is the same corps of elected officials that has managed to incur a higher rate of criminal indictment than many of New York’s toughest neighborhoods. Who were these dolts? How dare they pose as leaders? Throw them all the hell out.
     Naturally, the biggest promoter of this tale is the New York Post, which quickly dubbed the standoff a circus and then gleefully provided a clown to wander the capitol halls. The Daily News also got into the act, firing up its readers with its “Don’t Pay the Bums” campaign. In these accounts, the fact that there are hugely important stakes for everyday New Yorkers... CONTINUED HERE:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-07-01/columns/senate-coup-plotters-hidden-agenda/

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Michael McKee reports
REPORT FROM ALBANY-LAND:
Wednesday evening, June 24, 2009
The power struggle between the State Senate Democrats and Republicans continues, with no apparent settlement in sight. With 31 Democrats on one side of the aisle, and 30 Republicans + one turncoat Democrat on the other, nothing can be accomplished without some kind of agreement between the two sides that would provide for bi-partisan power-sharing.
    The Democrats have made such a proposal, but the Republicans have stated that they will reject any deal unless the Democrats recognize that Pedro Espada, Jr. is the president of the Senate, and that Dean Skelos is the Majority Leader – in other words, that the Republicans are the majority even though they have only 31 votes.
    The Democrats have understandably refused to agree to those terms.
With neither side able to muster the magical number of 32 that would make it possible to establish a legal quorum and pass bills, no business at all has been accomplished since the billionaire coup d’état of June 8 in which Espada and Skelos were supposedly elected.
    Enter the Governor. It is hard to fathom what Governor Paterson thinks he is accomplishing by convening repeated extraordinary sessions of the State Senate alone, rather than calling both the Senate and Assembly into simultaneous special session. The state constitution gives the Governor the power to convene Senate-only extraordinary sessions for the purpose of confirming gubernatorial appointments to state agencies and boards, a function (advice and consent) that the constitution bestows on the State Senate.
    But if the purpose of an extraordinary session is to enact legislation, then it would seem that the Governor must convene both houses. An extraordinary session is a discrete session of the Legislature: for example, today was labeled Extraordinary Session II.
    All bills, even if they have already passed the Assembly, must be re-introduced, with new bill numbers, during an extraordinary session.
    For example, the Governor’s program bill to repeal vacancy decontrol and re-regulate decontrolled apartments is S.111. While we were unable to get a copy of the bill today – it was not available at the Senate document room as late as 4:00 pm even though the Governor placed it on the agenda of today’s 3:00 pm extraordinary session – it is apparently identical to our bill, S2237-A, by Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, et al.
    It is helpful, certainly, that the Governor introduced the bill, but we still have an uphill battle until we see this bill finally enacted into law.
    With only one house in town, it seems that no bill on the Governor’s agenda can become law, and many observers believe that the Assembly could not return to Albany later to pass these bills.
    For today’s Extraordinary Session number two, only the Democrats showed up in the chamber. The Republicans boycotted. Ignoring the fact that there were not the necessary 32 members present to establish a quorum, the Democrats called the session to order, read a statement into the record to the effect that the Governor must call both houses into extraordinary session simultaneously in order to enact legislation, then adjourned. None of the 11 bills on the agenda (including vacancy decontrol repeal) were taken up.
    The Governor reacted angrily, and late in the afternoon issued another proclamation convening a third extraordinary Senate session for tomorrow (Thursday) at 3:00 pm, with a completely different set of bills. Today the agenda included not only vacancy decontrol repeal, but also marriage equality and farmworkers’ rights. But these three bills are not on the agenda for tomorrow.
    Of course, until there is a resolution to the current impasse that would make it possible for the Senate to pass bills, it hardly matters whether the Governor calls both houses, or only the Senate, into special session.
    Personally, I think Governor Paterson is making a major political mistake by throwing his fellow Democrats under the bus. While he has no legal authority to impose a settlement between the two sides, he could state emphatically that the Democratic power-sharing proposal is a realistic and fair blueprint for a settlement, and that the Republicans are prolonging the impasse by insisting that the Democrats recognize Espada and Skelos as the leaders of the Senate. This was the gist of an excellent editorial in the Albany Times Union last week, which criticized both sides for spinning developments in self-serving ways, but praised the Democratic power-sharing proposal as a fair way out of the impasse.
    It is not hard to understand why the Republicans are holding out for total control. This power struggle is all about redistricting in 2011, following the 2010 decennial census. The party that is in the majority following the November 2010 election will control how the State Senate district lines are drawn for the next ten years.
    There are two ways that the Republicans have been able to hang onto the State Senate majority for so many years in the face of declining Republican enrollments: real estate campaign contributions, and the ability to gerrymander the district lines to favor Republicans.
    The Republicans know that time is not on their side. Every month New York State becomes bluer, and the gap between Democratic enrollment and Republican enrollment grows. If the Legislature were to establish a non-partisan method of redistricting in 2011, rather than drawing the Senate, Assembly and Congressional district lines itself – don’t hold your breath – the State Senate and State Assembly would be Democratic-controlled for decades to come.
    So there is an element of desperation at work with the Senate Republicans. They are desperate to regain control of the Senate infrastructure that might make it possible for them to win a narrow majority in the statewide election next November: the printing presses, the member item funding that they can pass out to their districts, the larger staff, and all the other advantages of being the majority.
    Not to mention the campaign contributions from real estate and other corrupt and not-so-corrupt forces that give big money to state politicians – and whose generosity since last November has largely been bestowed on the Senate Democrats after they captured the narrowest of majorities.
    In the midst of all this absurdity, the tenant movement has done a superb job of keeping our legislative priorities in the forefront of the debate over end-of-session issues. By mobilizing 30 to 50 tenants each day to travel to Albany to demonstrate outside the Senate chamber, and wearing our red Real Rent Reform Campaign T-shirts, we have managed to be highly visible and vocal, a constant reminder that we are not going away.
    A constant reminder that – in the words of one of our chants -- “Don’t go home until you save our homes!” The tenants who have traveled to Albany this week have been wonderfully diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, and in terms of geography. And they have been energized and determined.
    While other groups have been here for one day, we are the only advocacy group that has had such a presence in the Capitol every day this week.
(OK, to be fair, the three “Free Marijuana Prisoners” activists have been here every day as well.)
    We have to keep this up – which is stretching everyone’s resources and stamina. But our cause is just. And we have to keep our eye on the prize.
A week ago most people in Albany (especially the jaded press corps) believed that vacancy decontrol repeal was a non-starter.
    Now, because of our organizing and mobilizing, including the fact that we persuaded the Governor to introduce a Governor’s program bill mirroring the Stewart-Cousins bill, vacancy decontrol is considered something that will enter into end-of-session discussions. And we have other priorities.

    Come to Albany. Join the phone bank. Send a check.
  Do something.

Michael McKee, Treasurer, Tenants Political Action Committee, (212) 577-7001, mmckee@tenantspac.org
 

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JOIN US SATURDAY, May 30:
Tenants will door knock and distribute leaflets this Saturday, May 30, in the districts of two State Senators who are withholding support for pro-tenant legislation:
State Senator Jeffrey Klein, Democrat, 34th State Senate District, Bronx/Westchester and
State Senator Pedro Espada,Jr., Democrat, 33rd State Senate District, Bronx.
    The street distribution and door-to-door canvass will take place from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm, this Saturday, May 30. Meet at the corner of East Fordham Road and Grand Concourse, southeast corner, at 10:45 am. (Take the D train to Fordham Road.)
    We will have a briefing, and people will be assigned to teams. It will be very helpful if you let us know in advance you are coming. Call (212) 577-7001 or email action@tenantspac.org.
    If you have a car and can take passengers, that will be very helpful. Call or email.
For more information, including travel details: Michael McKee, Treasurer, Tenants Political Action Committee, (212) 577-7001 mmckee@tenantspac.org

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Three weeks to go!
We have only three weeks left in the 2009 Albany Legislative Session. With one final push, we are on the verge of winning the strongest slate of pro-tenant legislation in decades. The repeal of vacancy decontrol, protection of Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 tenants, and reforms of rent increases for rent regulated tenants need us to step up and push them through.
Now is a crucial time for everyone to get involved. We need you!
Get involved by joining us in Albany, canvassing door to door on the weekend, rallying in the city, or phone banking in the evenings.
1. Come to Albany
Senate Housing Committee Vote Monday, June 8
We expect three crucial pro-tenant bills to be passed out of the Housing Committee on Monday. Join our vans going up to cheer the vote. Contact Jon Furlong for details: (212) 979-6238, ext. 203
Mass Mobilization for Floor Vote
We will be taking up 300 people when the repeal of vacancy decontrol finally comes to the Senate floor. Date to be announced
Daily Albany Trips Every day of the Legislation Session, Monday to Thursday, tenants and advocates are driving up to Albany to distribute factsheets to Senators entering the chambers. Join one of these trips! Contact Jon Furlong for details: (212) 979-6238, ext. 203
2. Canvass
Canvass Senator Carl Kruger in Brooklyn
Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7
Knock on doors in Senator Kruger's District, talking with tenants about current legislation. Contact Giti Dadlani for details (212) 608-4320 ext. 316.
Canvass Senator Jeffrey Klein in the Bronx, Saturday, June 6
We are going door to door in Senator Klein's neighborhood to talk with tenants about the importance of repealing vacancy decontrol. Contact Michael McKee for details: (212) 577-7001
3. Rally in the City
Rally planned at Brooklyn Borough Hall next week! Date to be announced.
4. Phone bank
Phone banking in the evenings Monday through Thursday!
Call tenants in key Senate districts and help get them involved by contacting their Senator. Contact Michael McKee for details: (212) 577-7001.
Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer, Housing Here and Now, Office: 212-979-6238 Ext 203, Cell: 302-545-5961, Fax: 212-979-6997 jon@housinghereandnow.org

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Columbia Spectator April 24, 2009 by Katherine Meduski
New housing rises in Park West Village

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NY Times April 9
Standoff Holds Up Deal on Housing Complex
By Charles V. Bagli
There is a high-stakes game of chicken going on over Riverton Houses, the storied middle-class housing complex in Harlem.
    Laurence Gluck, the residential developer whose company bought the tree-lined complex in 2005 and defaulted on a $225 million mortgage in October, says he is now willing to “do the right thing” and turn over Riverton’s seven buildings and 1,228 apartments to his primary lender.
    But, according to his lawyer, Mr. Gluck does not want to be forced into paying a second lender $5 million to complete the deal. It is money he contends that he does not owe, but according to a lawsuit he filed April 3 in State Supreme Court, the lender, Realty Finance Corporation, has refused to approve the transfer unless it is paid $5 million.
CONTINUED HERE

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April 7, 2009 NY Times
Stuyvesant Town’s Landlord Can Appeal Ruling on Rents
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
The landlord of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village got judicial permission on Monday to appeal a court ruling that it must repay certain tenants millions of dollars in rent overcharges at those complexes.
    The issue will now go to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
    On March 5, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled that the landlord, Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, had wrongfully deregulated thousands of apartments and raised rents beyond certain set levels at the two Manhattan complexes while receiving special tax breaks from the city.
CONTINUED HERE

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Boon for tenants bane for landlords
BY Barbara Ross, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, April 5

More than 300,000 New York tenants could reap the rewards of a major court ruling that bars landlords who got special tax breaks from pushing apartments out of rent control.
    The ruling found thousands of tenants have been overpaying for years and may be entitled to huge refunds. Landlords, who are appealing the case, worry that if the ruling stands, they could face bankruptcy while shelling out refunds and lowering rents.
     The ruling is rippling across major apartment complexes citywide from the Riverton Houses in Harlem to Peter Cooper/Stuyvesant Town below midtown. The exact figure is not known, but officials estimate 350,000 rent stabilized units exist in developments that get tax breaks called J-51.
►CONTINUED HERE

Stuyvesant Town J-51 decision!
www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2009/2009_01595.htm

STORY REPORT HERE: Daily News March 6, 2009

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Owners ask contractors for new bids...
See NY Times report April 1 HERE!

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March 2 from Housing Here and Now:

HELP WIN VACANCY DECONTROL!

Building Momentum!

We are all making strides to win the repeal of vacancy decontrol! With rallies across the city, three mass mobilizations of tenants in Albany and actions across the city, we are demanding the Senate step up and save rent-regulated housing. The bill is out – S2237-A – and now we need 9 more votes to win. The campaign needs everyone for mobilizing across the city, canvassing in the Bronx, and phone banking in Manhattan.

Get Connected!

It is up to us! To win vacancy decontrol EVERYONE must rise to the challenge. Tenants across the city are taking action throughout March to push every last Senator to sign on to the bill to repeal vacancy decontrol. Get together with your tenant association, community group, church or union and join in these district actions, or plan your own.

Vacancy Decontrol Mobilizations

We will be mobilizing: Find out more:
Jon Furlong, Housing Here and Now, (718) 246-7900 x273

Phone Bank in Manhattan
Two long-time tenant rights groups – Tenants & Neighbors and Tenants PAC – are phone banking from Manhattan offices into key Senate districts, encouraging tenants to get involved and speak out for the repeal of vacancy decontrol.
Volunteer for the phone bank:
Tenants PAC
11 Park Place, Suite 814 (between Broadway and Church Street. ½ block west of City Hall Park.)
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm for the next few weeks.
Call Michael McKee at (212) 577-7001

Tenants & Neighbors
236 W. 27th St., 4th Fl. Call for dates and times
Call Pat Coleman at (212) 608-4320 Ext. 306
We can win vacancy decontrol!
The bill will probably come to the floor to the floor of the Senate in April, after the state budget has been passed. We have about 6 weeks to move all the senators who have not signed on yet.
CONTACT: Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer, Housing Here and Now
jon@housinghereandnow.org 718-246-7900 Ext. 273
Cell: 302-545-5961

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NEW:  WRITE NOW!
A member of the PWVTA Executive Board sent the complete list of NY State Senators with their email addresses conveniently copied from the New York State Senate website. We can use it to email majority leader Malcolm Smith and others re current pressing issues, in particular need for enactment of Ravitch Commission recommendations re MTA, so we can avoid draconian cutbacks in service, and need for enactment of housing bills already passed by the State Assembly (these are currently being held up by Malcolm Smith and two other senate Democrats, Pedro Espada and Jeff Klein).
COMPLETE LIST ON RESOURCES PAGE HERE

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HUGE WIN FOR TENANTS
Appellate Court: Tishman Speyer
Wrong to Deregulate Apartments
see story here
Press Conference Sunday March 8th at 11 am 16th St & 1st Ave

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Crain's NY March 5, 2009

court deals landlords huge setback

Judges say Tishman Speyer must keep units rent regulated as long as they get tax breaks, derailing building owners' plans to deregulate units to pay off their mortgages.

STORY CONTINUED HERE
COUNCILMEMBER GARODNICK STATEMENT

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NY Times March 2, 2009
New York Tenants Could Benefit
From Foreclosure

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PARK WEST VILLAGE OWNER
Riverton in Trouble

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New York Times February 16, 2009
Tenants Call Landlord Expenses Exaggerated

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New York Times February 3
Assembly Passes Rent-Regulation Revisions Opposed by Landlords
By JEREMY W. PETERS
ALBANY — The Legislature on Monday took the first step toward a sweeping revision of the state’s rent-regulation laws.
    The Democratic-led Assembly passed a broad package of legislation designed to restrain increases on rent-regulated apartments statewide.
    The legislation would essentially return to regulation tens of thousands of units that were converted to market rate in recent years. In addition, the legislation would reduce to 10 percent, from 20 percent, the amount that a landlord can increase the rent after an apartment becomes vacant; and increase fines for landlords who are found to have harassed their tenants as a way of evicting them. [MORE HERE]

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New York Observer 2-9-09: Stabilization Mobilization!

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February 3 from Housing Here and Now:
TENANTS CHEER HISTORIC ALBANY VICTORY
Yesterday, tenants and housing advocates with Housing Here and Now cheered as the New York State Assembly passed the repeal of vacancy decontrol, and a whole package of pro-tenant legislation. Over calls for us to quiet down, nearly 50 tenants from New York City and Albany applauded & cheered as news of the vote came through on the Assembly session floor.
    This crucial victory comes following more than a year of hard work by the entire housing justice movement of New York City. We rallied throughout the city, we braved the snow in endless trips to Albany, we lobbied our legislators, and yesterday, the assembly heard our demands!
    The repeal of vacancy decontrol would halt the loss of tens of thousands of affordable apartments from New York City.
    The Assembly's passage of the repeal yesterday is a giant victory for tenants. The final vote count is still be calculated. At last count, the repeal of vacancy decontrol passed 91 to 52. Now, we need to keep the pressure on to carry the bill through the Senate!
NEXT STEPS
    Next, join Housing Here and Now on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 for the next mass mobilization to Albany to push the State Senate! We're headed up for Caucus Weekend, a key time where Democrats sets their agenda moving forward. We need a mass presence to show them we mean business, and that the repeal of vacancy decontrol has to be the top of their priorities.
GREAT WORK TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE LEAD!
Great work to all the groups that joined Housing Here and Now yesterday on the Assembly floor to represent tenants, including ACORN, Pratt Area Community Council, Mitchell-Lama Tenants' Association, Tenants & Neighbors, Tenants PAC, West Side Neighborhood Alliance and the Park West Village Tenants' Association.
    These folks turned out on short notice to show the Assembly that tenants are behind them in this key victory.
    Special congratulations as well to all the groups who took the lead on last week's Senate lobby visits in Albany and recent in-district lobbying, including the above groups and North West Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, New York City AIDS Housing Network, Community Voices Heard, Make the Road NY, New York Immigration Coalition, Catholic Charities of Queens and Brooklyn, Real Rent Reform Campaign, Bushwick Housing Independence Project, Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness, Voices of Women Organizing, Picture the Homeless, Chelsea Tenant Action Committee.
STAY IN TOUCH! STAY IN THE FIGHT!
For more information on the Albany mobilization on Saturday, February 14 or to RSVP, contact Housing Here and Now's new Lead Organizer: Jon Furlong. He can be reached at 718-246-7900 x273 or jon@housinghereandnow.org.

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An Urgent Appeal to
Park West Village Tenants
Our affordable housing has been under attack for over a decade, but we have a unique opportunity in 2008 to turn the tide, make more apartments affordable, preserve rent-regulated units, and get more protections for market-rate tenants.
New York City doesn't control our rent laws. The New York State legislature does.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PDF HERE!

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PLAINTIFFS FOUND FOR RGB
LONGEVITY RENT INCREASE LAWSUIT!
Floored by the rising cost of city rents, tenants and city officials converged on the steps of City Hall Tuesday [Sept. 17] to announce a lawsuit against New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board.
    The lawsuit, brought by the Legal Aid Society and Legal Services of New York, charges that the RGB exceeded its statutory authority—its authority to enforce the law or create rules to implement the law—when it imposed, according to a press release from the Legal Aid Society, “‘a poor tax’ against low-income tenants” throughout the city.
     The lawsuit specifically counters the adoption of the 2008 Apartment and Loft Law #40, which increases the rents of tenants who have lived in low-rent apartments for more than six years and pay less than $1,000 a month in rent. MORE HERE

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"Rent Destabilized" - podcast
WNYC.org Brian Lehrer Program May 12, 2008

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Michael McKee, May 25:
The next four weeks are crucial
FOUR WEEKS TO GO.
New York State Legislature Set to Adjourn on Monday, June 22.
We have four weeks remaining in the 2009 legislative session. Four weeks to win stronger rent laws.
    At this point, you should be asking yourself, “Do I want to help beat the real estate lobby?” If the answer is yes, ask yourself a second question: “What am I going to do in the remaining weeks to help win stronger rent laws?”
    You know what is needed: you can make a financial contribution, you can volunteer for phone banking, you can volunteer for door knocking, you can volunteer for trips to Albany – any or all of these things.
    Victory is by no means assured. We must put our shoulder to the wheel during the next few weeks.
To volunteer: (212) 577-7001 or action@tenantspac.org.
To contribute: Make your check payable to Tenants PAC and send to the address below.
Michael McKee, Treasurer, Tenants Political Action Committee
11 Park Place, Suite 814 New York NY 10007
(212) 577-7001 mmckee@tenantspac.org

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SEE Michael McKee's May 16 message
Urgent message on State Senator scandal
HERE!

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TENANT LOBBY DAY Tuesday May 12
Join Housing Here and Now in Albany
With less than seven weeks left in the legislative session it's time to push our leaders in Albany to pass pro-tenant legislation. Now that the senate has agreed on a plan to help the MTA, it's time they agreed on a plan to help tenants!
    Join Housing Here and Now, Real Rent Reform, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, the Working Families Party, and all our member groups as we call on our legislators to endorse a package of bills that would help tenants in public, rent-regulated, and Mitchell-Lama housing.
MORE HERE!

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URGENT INFO ON BUS TUESDAY:
The Manhattan bus for Tuesday's Tenant Lobby day in Albany will be leaving from 2549 Broadway (Broadway and 96th St., in front of the McDonalds) The bus will be leaving at 7:30 A.M. sharp!!
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Many thanks
Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer, Housing Here and Now,
jon@housinghereandnow.org
Office: 212-979-6238 Ext 203, Cell: 302-545-5961, Fax: 212-979-6997

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WHAT WE CAN DO NOW!

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ATTENTION MARKET-RATE TENANTS
AT 784, 788, & 792 COLUMBUS AVE:
YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO A LOWER RENT, REFUND OF OVERCHARGES, AND RENT STABILIZATION
In the past decade, hundreds of apartments in Park West Village, and tens of thousands in New York City, were deregulated because of escape hatches added to rent regulation in 1993 and 1997: high-rent vacancy decontrol and high-rent/high-income deregulation.
    Vacant apartments were deregulated if the owner claimed renovation costs that raised the legal monthly rent to $2,000 or more. Occupied apartments were deregulated when the legal rent reached $2,000 if household income exceeded $175,000 for two years.
    Many deregulated apartments are in buildings that got J-51 tax abatements, including 784, 788, and 792 Columbus Avenue from 1994 to 2006. Apartments in a building with J-51 tax abatements, except a co-op or condo, cannot be legally deregulated while the building gets J-51 tax relief.
    On March 5, 2009, in a case brought by tenants of deregulated apartments in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village against the owners (Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties, L.P.), the appellate division of the New York state supreme court issued a unanimous decision that rent-regulated apartments in buildings with J-51 tax abatements, except co-ops or condos, are not subject to deregulation. The court of appeals, the state’s highest court, will rule on the case in the fall...
CONTINUED HERE...
MEETING TUESDAY MAY 12 8PM
RYAN CENTER 107 W 97 ST.

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Join Us in Brooklyn
Saturday, April 4, 2009!.
Win Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol!
Tenants will assemble in the Brooklyn district of State Senator Carl Kruger, to alert his tenant constituents about the need to pressure him to support the tenant agenda in Albany.
    Senator Kruger, who has a large number of rent-regulated apartments, has so far refused to sign on as a sponsor of S2237-A, the bill to repeal Vacancy Decontrol. Perhaps this has something to do with the huge amounts of campaign contributions he has collected from landlords.
    We will door knock in apartment buildings, distribute flyers at subway stations, and recruit residents on the street to sign post cards. The material to be distributed will be in English, Russian and Spanish.
    This action will take place from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, this Saturday. This action is being coordinated by NYS Tenants & Neighbors and Met Council on Housing.
TO PARTICIPATE:
     ► Meet at 11:30 am at Tenants & Neighbors, 236 West 27th Street, 4th Floor (between 7th & 8th Avenues) to travel to Brooklyn together.
     ► Or meet at 11:45 am at Met Council, 339 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor (at Bleecker Street) to travel to Brooklyn together.
     ► Or meet us at 1:00 pm at Dunkin Donuts, 1903 Kings Highway (at East 19th Street), right outside the Kings Highway subway station. Take the Q or B train to Kings Highway.
LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING! Call Mario Mazzoni at Met Council: (212) 979-6238, ext. 200, or on his cell phone: (646) 642-2507. Or email him at mario@metcouncil.net. Or call Giti Dadlani at Tenants & Neighbors: (212) 608-4320, ext. 316. Or email her at gdadlani@tandn.org.
Message from Michael McKee, Treasurer, Tenants Political Action Committee 11 Park Place, Suite 814, New York NY 10007 (212) 577-7001 mmckee@tenantspac.org 

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Monday, March 30
Mayor's bill signing hearing

Intro 923 – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to extending the rent stabilization laws.

Mayor's bill signing hearing Monday, March 30, at 4:00 pm. When people arrive at the Blue Room, they should find a mayoral staff member and sign up to testify in support of Intro 923. Come early, or at least come on time. The Blue Room is on the west side of City Hall, on the first floor – to your left when you enter the building. Elana Shneyer is preparing talking points for those who want to testify.
Michael McKee, Treasurer Tenants Political Action Committee 11 Park Place, Suite 814 New York NY 10007 (212) 577-7001 mmckee@tenantspac.org

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SUNDAY FORUM ON HOUSING
CB7’s Housing Committee is hosting a roundtable discussion entitled "NYCHA: The Next 75 Years" on March 29th from 2 - 3:30 p.m. at John Jay College.  NYCHA: The Next 75 Years
    Manhattan’s Community Board 7, covering the Upper West Side, in conjunction with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is pleased to invite you to observe a unique working panel discussion focused on “NYCHA: The Next 75 Years.” The event will take place on Sunday, March 29, 2009, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue at 59th Street.
    The working panel’s discussion will be led by Professor Nicholas Dagen Bloom of the New York Institute of Technology who recently authored Public Housing That Worked: New York in the Twentieth Century.
    The working panel will feature principals from key public housing stakeholder groups: federal, state and local elected officials, as well as NYCHA leadership, tenants, NYCHA workers and public housing advocates. Working panel members will be engaged in a round-table discussion with each other. Invited members of the public will observe the discussion from the perimeter of the room and will have designated opportunities to express their views.
    Professor Bloom will facilitate discussion blocks on the following vital topics: (i) How do we collectively and credibly re-cast NYCHA's image to build the political will its future financial support will require? (ii) If we aim for advocacy driven by data, not anecdote, what types of information will be most useful in “rebranding” NYCHA? (iii) How do we advocate together, not independently? (iv) What are the creative, enduring financial solutions to NYCHA's challenges? What is the new financial model?
Please let CB7 know if you plan to attend: Penny Ryan, District Manager, Community Board 7/Manhattan Phone: 212-362-4008

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ONE NEW YORK Rally for New York!
Speak out for Fair Share Tax Reform!
Thursday, March 5, 4:00 pm at City Hall
Momentum is growing for Fair Share Tax Reform across the state and in the legislature (see press release from Senator Pedro Espada).
Keep the momentum growing on March 5!

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FROM HOUSING HERE AND NOW
Friday  February 12, 2009
We still have room on our four buses, and the campaign to repeal vacancy decontrol needs crowds to set a clear impression in Albany for caucus weekend. This is the biggest mobilization for tenant rights this February, and we need you!
    Demand the Senate repeal vacancy decontrol and save rent-regulated housing! We need everyone this Saturday, February 14th for this crucial trip up to Albany. This weekend we need crowds to hand out flyers, put in a huge presence and make our voices heard.
    Room available on buses leaving from downtown Brooklyn, East Harlem and East Tremont in the Bronx at 7 AM on Saturday.
Please contact me to RSVP:
Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer
Housing Here and Now jon@housinghereandnow.org
Office: 718-246-7900 Ext. 273 Cell: 302-545-5961

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Have a Heart for Housing Justice!
Join Housing Here and Now for St. Valentine's Day in Albany! Tenants, housing advocates, and all those who care about the future of New York
    On Valentine's Day, Saturday, Feb 14 we're mobilizing to go up to Albany stand firm at the Democratic Caucus weekend. We are planning to do an indoor rally, a press conference, flyering around the capital, and will be attending the housing workshop at the conference with the hope of asking some direct questions of legislators.
    Our message? "Have a heart for housing justice!," calling on the State Senate to act fast to repeal vacancy decontrol and save rent-regulated housing.
    We are planning on reserving FOUR buses to make trip to Albany, leaving around 7 AM: -- Downtown Brooklyn -- Bushwick in Brooklyn with a stop in Jackson Heights, Queens -- Northwest Bronx -- East Harlem Come with us!
    Be a part of the greatest win for New York tenants in decades! Tell your neighbors, your community organization, your coworkers, and bring a group! Tell us if you are coming, and how many people you are bringing with you.
    If you can mobilize the people, we can book more buses. RSVP to me at jon@housinghereandnow.org or call (718) 246-7900 x237. Check out the flyer at http://www.housinghereandnow.org/pdfs/2-14-09_Albany.pdf
RSVP by contacting Jon Furlong, Lead Organizer Housing Here and Now to reserve space, or if you have any questions or concerns:
jon@housinghereandnow.org Office: 718-246-7900 Cell: 302-545-5961

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Housing Here and Now Legislative Advocacy Training and Membership Meeting
Tuesday, January 13, 6:00-8:30 PM
Grace Church, 86 4th Ave
Join New York's leading housing justice organizing groups for the next steps in the campaign to repeal vacancy decontrol and save rent regulated housing.
You'll join a team of other tenant leaders, housing advocates and community members from your Borough or County. Your team will get the training and information you need to push your State Senators to commit themselves to preserve rent-regulated housing.
We'll have a training on lobbying and legislative advocacy, followed with break-out groups from each Borough to plan next steps.
Then with your team you'll meet with State Senators whose vote is crucial to win the repeal of vacancy decontrol.
Please call Danielle at (646) 202-3962 or email info@housinghereandnow.org to RSVP and your questions and visions.

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Bronx Rally to Overturn Vacancy Decontrol CANCELED
FROM HOUSING HERE AND NOW
Thanks to everyone who poured out support for the rally in the Bronx scheduled for this Monday, December 29, 2008, for the repeal of vacancy decontrol. Unfortunately, we are CANCELING the event. Due to a number of factors, the State Senators from the Bronx we invited were unable to come.
     Housing Here and Now will still be holding a training on legislative strategy and lobbying to repeal vacancy decontrol on Tuesday, January 13,2009. The meeting will be at Grace Church, 6-8:30 PM. Enter at 86 4th Ave.
     At this meeting, we will have Borough-based break-out groups. The Bronx groups will be working on other effective strategies to assure the support of Bronx Senators to vote for the repeal of vacancy decontrol and to preserve rent-regulated housing. Write info@housinghereandnow.org or call (718) 246-7900 x247 to RSVP.
     Thank you to everyone who has been mobilizing for the rally on Monday, making calls, sending out emails, and had planned to come. We will be making cancellation calls tomorrow. Sincerely, Michelle ----------------------- Michelle O'Brien, Executive Director Housing Here and Now 2-4 Nevins St., 2nd Fl. Brooklyn, NY 11217 c. (347) 265-9307 l. (718) 246-7900 x247 michelle@housinghereandnow.org http://www.housinghereandnow.org

Bronx Rally to Repeal Vacancy Decontrol and Save Rent-Regulated Housing! CANCELED -- SEE ABOVE
Monday, December 29, 2008, 6-7:30 PM
Holy Family Church, Inc. at 2158 Watson Ave & Castle Hill Ave,
Bronx NY 6 train to Castle Hill Ave. station
Join Housing Here and Now in mobilizing a crucial end of the year rally to repeal vacancy decontrol and save rent-regulated housing!
     ACORN, Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, Community Voices Heard, New York City AIDS Housing Network and others are mobilizing to fill the room with tenants demanding the preservation of rent-regulated housing.
     We are inviting key State Senators from the Bronx, including Ruben Diaz, Sr. and State Senator-Elect Pedro Espada. Their votes are crucial for the repeal of vacancy decontrol. Bronx State Senators have many rent-regulated tenants in their district, and it's an important time for them to show their support to communities that elected them.
     We will ask them to commit to voting YES for the repeal of vacancy decontrol. To make sure they say yes, we need your help!
     Vacancy decontrol is the loophole through which New York loses tens of thousands of rent-regulated apartments every year. Housing justice groups from across the city have joined forces to make its repeal this year the top priority.
     Housing Here and Now, along with dozens of other groups, hosted the major citywide rally on December 9, where 13 New York State legislators signed on to repeal vacancy decontrol. Thank you to everyone who made this rally a great success. Now it's time to step up our work, and sign-on Senators who haven't committed yet.
     Following the Bronx rally, we're having a legislative strategy and advocacy training on Tuesday, January 13 at 6:00-8:30 PM. We are holding it at Grace Church in Manhattan -- enter through 86 4th Ave (near 11th St).
     We're organizing lobby visits with State Senators through the last three weeks of January. Flyer for the Bronx rally forthcoming here shortly. Call 646-202-3962 or email info@housinghereandnow.org for more information.

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RALLY HELD DEC 9
to Save Rent-Stabilized Housing!
REPEAL VACANCY DECONTROL!
NEW YORK IS OUR HOME!
A thousand tenants and allies joined to demand state politicians end vacancy decontrol and preserve rent-regulation -- by closing the vacancy decontrol loophole that the Urstadt Law allows!
     Vacancy decontrol is the greatest threat to New York's affordable housing. This winter, we can end it and save 100,000 rent regulated units on the verge of elimination.
     Through vacancy decontrol, landlords can take a vacant apartment out of rent regulation when the rent reaches $2,000. Location: Society for Ethical Culture 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West 1 train to 66th St; A, B, C, D to Columbus Circle
REAL RENT REFORM CAMPAIGN HERE
INFO FLYER TO POST  MORE INFO

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An Urgent Appeal to
Park West Village Tenants
Our affordable housing has been under attack for over a decade, but we have a unique opportunity in 2008 to turn the tide, make more apartments affordable, preserve rent-regulated units, and get more protections for market-rate tenants.
New York City doesn't control our rent laws. The New York State legislature does.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PDF HERE!

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PLAINTIFFS FOUND FOR RGB
LONGEVITY RENT INCREASE LAWSUIT!
Floored by the rising cost of city rents, tenants and city officials converged on the steps of City Hall Tuesday [Sept. 17] to announce a lawsuit against New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board. The lawsuit, brought by the Legal Aid Society and Legal Services of New York, charges that the RGB exceeded its statutory authority—its authority to enforce the law or create rules to implement the law—when it imposed, according to a press release from the Legal Aid Society, “‘a poor tax’ against low-income tenants” throughout the city.
     The lawsuit specifically counters the adoption of the 2008 Apartment and Loft Law #40, which increases the rents of tenants who have lived in a low-rent apartments for more than six years and pay less than $1,000 a month in rent. MORE HERE

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"Rent Destabilized" - podcast
WNYC.org Brian Lehrer Program May 12, 2008

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PWVTA HELPED DEC 9 RALLY SUCCEED --
FRANCINE BREWER RALLIED THE CROWD!
Mass City-wide Rally to Repeal Vacancy Decontrol!
More than one-thousand tenants and allies gathered in the auditorium of the Society for Ethical Culture at Central Park West in Manhattan on Tuesday, December 9th to demand that state politicians end vacancy decontrol and preserve rent-regulation. Hailing from all corners of the city and from nearby communities such as Yonkers, the boisterous crowd was a rainbow of tenant constituencies.
     The high energy rally was organized by the New York Is Our Home coalition, whose steering committee includes ACORN, Community Voices Heard, Make the Road NY, New York City AIDS Housing Network, North West Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, Tenants & Neighbors and the Working Families Party.
     Meant to pressure the state legislature to repeal Vacancy Decontrol, the mass meeting culminated in a photogenic moment when the 13 Senators and Assembly people (some represented by their staff) signed a huge poster board with the respective pledges: "By January 10, 2009, I will speak to the President of the Senate, the Housing Chair and the Governor and urge them to support the Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol" and, "We will make the Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol a top priority in 2009".
     Emceed by Pat Boon of ACORN and Gladys Puglia of Make the Road NY, the mass rally was addressed by powerful tenant voices. Francine Brewer, member of Park West Village Tenants' Association and Tenants & Neighbors, called out to greet T&N members in the crowd. Liz Gardner, President of the Van Buren Hall Tenants' Association in Sunnyside, Queens and a member of Tenants & Neighbors, gave the opening tenant speech and set the tone for the evening. Ms. Gardner described how increasing rent was making her continued tenancy more and more precarious. Gardner said that her landlord's "'mistakes' in his paperwork have one goal: to raise the rents as quickly as possible, to the hit the jackpot Vacancy Decontrol Figure of $2,000.
     Representatives of the offices of the following Senators and Senators-elect signed on to the pledge: Diane Savino, Jose Serrano, Liz Krueger, Eric Schneiderman, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Tom Duane, Daniel Squadron, and Joe Addabbo. From the Assembly, signers included representatives from the offices of Karim Camera, Jose Peralta, Linda Rosenthal, Hakeem Jeffries, and Dick Gottfried. Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Jose Marco Serrano, Tom Duane and Assembly Member Jose Peralta gave speeches.

ABOVE EXCERPTED: Biweekly E-Update from Tenants & Neighbors info@tandn.org December 16, 2008
Tenants & Neighbors Print Newsletter Available Online
http://www.tandn.org

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TUESDAY DEC 9 6:30-8:30pm
MASS RALLY to Save
Rent-Stabilized Housing!
REPEAL VACANCY DECONTROL!
NEW YORK IS OUR HOME!
Close the Vacancy Decontrol Loophole! Join a thousand tenants and allies in demanding our state politicians end vacancy decontrol and preserve rent-regulation. Vacancy decontrol is the greatest threat to New York's affordable housing. This winter, we can end it and save 100,000 rent regulated units on the verge of elimination. Through vacancy decontrol, landlords can take a vacant apartment out of rent regulation when the rent reaches $2,000. Location: Society for Ethical Culture 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West 1 train to 66th St; A, B, C, D to Columbus Circle
REAL RENT REFORM CAMPAIGN HERE
INFO FLYER TO POST  MORE INFO

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Tenants & Neighbors
2008 Annual Meeting and Conference
on November 15
The NY State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition will be holding our 2008 Annual Meeting and Conference, "From the Ground Up" Building a Grassroots Movement for Tenant Power," on Saturday, November 15 from 9:30-5:00 PM at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, 281 Park Avenue South at 22nd Street.
   Everyone interested in building a grassroots tenant movement is welcome. Spanish and Cantonese interpretation will be provided.
Admission
The admission fee is a suggested donation of $5 for members and $10 for non-members. (If you don't know if you/ your organization have paid your membership dues for this year, please email info@tandn.org.) If you can't afford the suggested donation, please come and pay whatever you can. 
Registration Information
Space is limited, so we strongly encourage you to pre-register by completing this form and mailing it/faxing it to us with your payment in advance of the meeting. If you have any questions, please call 212-608-4320 extension 6. We look forward to seeing you on November 15!
DOWNLOAD PDF FLYER HERE!

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Westsiders for Public Participation

COMMUNITY CONCERT
Saturday, November 8, 8pm

Marta Felcman, pianist, at Second Presbyterian Church, 6 W. 96 St. Suggested contribution, $10.

The remarkable Argentine pianist Marta Felcman will offer works of Brahms, Debussy, Rorem, and Schumann. Ms. Felcman has received critical acclaim for her sensitive musicianship and interpretive genius. Audiences appreciate her warm engagement and imaginative performances. See www.martafelcman.com.

This first benefit concert for the WPP is really meant for all of us to join together as neighbors in an evening of celebration and renewal!

    ARTIST INFO
  FLYER TO PRINT, DISTRIBUTE, AND POST!

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WATER MAIN BREAK AT
COLUMBUS & 97TH STREET -- AGAIN!
On Wednesday morning, November 19 at 11:16 a water main break occurred again near the same location as happened on October 30, at 97th Street and Columbus Avenue.
    The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), assisted by the FDNY, NYPD, ConEd, DOT, and the Department of Buildings (DOB) shut off valves that stopped the direct flow of water from the large main pipe to the rooftop water tank on 784 Columbus Ave. Fortunately, a hose was placed to the cellar pipe of 784 Columbus Ave leading to the rooftop tank, also connected to 788 Columbus Avenue to obtain water from that nearly Park West Village building.
    Security officers knocked loudly on every door of 784 Columbus Ave to warn of possible water shut-off. So far, no complete water stoppage has been reported at any of the three PWV rental buildings: 784, 788, and 792 Columbus Avenue.
    The break was smaller than the big one on October 30, and the flow of water in the street did not run across Columbus Avenue into the Tishman site as it had on October 30.

11-19-08 NIGHT SHOT OF WATER HOSE TO 784 COLUMBUS AVE
© Sue Brisk 2008  No reproduction or replication use of any kind unless authorized by PWVTA.

On Thursday evening, October 30, a sudden and severe water main break at Columbus Avenue and 97th Street caused a disruption in water supply to 784 Columbus Avenue.
   Once the roof tank reserve was tapped out, residents were without water until full service was restored the following afternoon.
    In addition, telephone service in 788 Columbus Avenue was briefly disrupted, then restored on Friday. Sidewalks buckled outside the 808 Columbus Avenue construction site.

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LEARN ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD:
Where does our water come from and go?
Thursday, November 6  6-8pm Bloomingdale Library
160 West 100th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues), Second Floor
The History and Future of Our Neighborhood's Underground Waters
   • The Old Streams   • Drinking Water  • Waste Water
From the 1800's Aqueducts on 100th Street, to the Gothic Water Tower on 98th Street and the Underground Streams still flowing under the new construction, our neighborhood has included notable structures above and below ground to direct our drinking, waste and natural waters.
Speaker: Kevin Bone, Author, Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of New York City's Water Supply
Invited Commentators from the NYC Bureau of Waste Water and the New York Public Library Map Division.
Park West Neighborhood History Group
Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District (BID)
For further information, call 212-865-3078.
FLYER TO PRINT AND POST, PLEASE!

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Wednesday, October 1
Mobilize - Real Rent Reform
CITYWIDE TENANT DEMONSTRATION
On October 1st the huge rent hikes approved this summer by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) go into effect. If you are a rent-regulated tenant and are worried about what high rents will mean for you, your family, and your neighborhood, please join tenants from across New York for a massive demonstration against these unfair increases.

With your help, we can win real rent reform that protects New York’s tenants!

    þ Protest the rent hikes
    þ Reform the RGB
    þ Victory for tenants in Albany

Wednesday, Oct. 1st 5:30pm
Harlem State Office Bldg Plaza
163 West 125th St. (just east of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd/7th Ave) A/B/C/D/2/3 to 125th St.
with live music!
MORE INFO HERE!  DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE

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Riverton Apartments Tenants Association
Saturday, August 23 PRESS CONFERENCE
REPORTED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AUGUST 25

THE NEWS: In 2005 Riverton Apartments were purchased by Predatory Equity developer Larry Gluck of Stellar Management with backing from Rockpoint Equity. They paid a very high price for the building with the specific goal of converting rent regulated apartments to Market Rate.
   The Wall Street Journal ran a story saying that Gluck and Rockpoint are going to default on their mortgage because they paid too much for a rent-regulated building.
   At the press conference we will call on elected officials and government agencies to put a stop to Predatory Equity. Specifically we will call on HPD, DCHR, and HUD to vet the sales of Tivoli Towers and Castleton Park before Gluck strikes again! This is the danger facing all Predatory Equity Sales!

For more information contact Andres or Amy at Tenants & Neighbors 212-608-4320 x316 or x301.

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REPORT ON WHOLE FOODS New York Times 8-5-08

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O'Donnell to Bloomberg:
DISMANTLE Kodiak crane at 808 Columbus Ave

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COLUMBIA SPECTATOR April 16
Park West Residents Rally Around Lawsuit
www.columbiaspectator.com/node/30496

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GlobeSt.com -- real estate site
Resident Files Suit Seeking Environmental Review  
see PDF here>> 

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COLUMBIA SPECTATOR April 14
Park West Village Resident Files Suit Against NYC Department of Buildings
www.columbiaspectator.com/node/30443

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NY TIMES April 9, 2008
City Blames Weak Rock for Fallen Wall
SEE STORY HERE

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PRESS CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY
Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer held a press conference Wednesday, April 9, 2008 outside 784 Columbus Avenue (entrance on W. 97th St.) to address the recently released Department of Building's investigative report of the retaining wall collapse at 808 Columbus Avenue. He shared his concerns around DOB's February 15, 2008 report.
BP STRINGER'S REMARKS APRIL 9

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STRINGER: SEE DOB REPORT

On April 7 Borough President Scott Stringer sent us the  Department of Buildings Report of their investigation of the retaining wall collapse at 808 Columbus Avenue this past summer. THE COMPLETE REPORT IS AVAILABLE HERE.
     HIS WORDS TO US: To summarize the most critical aspect of the findings: the piles (metal beams) holding the retaining wall were placed on unstable rock, contrary to the designs the developer's engineers submitted to DOB. The blasting that occurred on July 25, 2007 shook loose the piles and caused the retaining wall to collapse.
     The report concludes that "it is considered opinion of the investigators that the lack of proper observations and stabilization measures by the responsible supervising engineer throughout pile installation and further excavation allowed this failure to occur."
     While this news is deeply frustrating, it is unfortunately not surprising. We have known all along that fault may lie with the developer. I issued a press release immediately after the incident calling for the construction at 808 Columbus Avenue to remain halted until an investigation could determine the precise cause and individuals responsible for the collapse. DOB did not heed my request.
     My office then spent months trying to obtain information on the status of the report from DOB. Now, eight months after the fact, we are presented with the findings. I will refrain from writing a longer message today, but you will be hearing from me again shortly with a public response. SEE LETTER HERE>>

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O'DONNELL TO PARK WEST VILLAGE
Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell sent all residents of Park West Village the executive summary of the 808 Columbus Avenue report, as well as his response to Commissioner Lancaster.
   He stated in part: "...the report raises numerous questions and underscores my previously stated concerns about the appropriateness of lifting Stop Work Orders following the collapse of the retaining wall.
   I felt it was incredibly important for the residents to have access to the information contained in this investigative report and I will continue to advocate on behalf of the safety of the residents of Park West Village."
SEE FULL RESPONSE HERE>>

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Buildings department has emergency meeting in wake of crane collapse

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Department of Buildings’ Extension to Developers Set to Expire; WPP Case Heads to Board of Standards and Appeals

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NY TIMES May 27, 2008: Tenants Roiled by Challenges on Residency

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HOW LANDLORDS WEAKENED THE RENT LAWS
Report by Michael McKee, Tenants PAC

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CITY ADDING INSPECTORS FOR CONSTRUCTION SITES - NYTIMES 5-19-08

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NYTIMES MAY 9 by GRETCHEN MORGENSON:
PREDATORY EQUITY UNDERMINES AFFORDABLE HOUSING

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Neighborhood Forum on Preserving Local Businesses on the Upper West Side
Wednesday, June 11 7:00pm SEE PDF HERE

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Community story with Rev. Heidi Neumark -- NY TIMES May 19, 2008

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TUESDAY, MAY 6 Silent Auction and Reception by and for INTERFAITH ASSEMBLY ON HOMELESSNESS AND HOUSING

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PARK WEST VILLAGE ALERT ON CHURCH!
Pastor Heidi Neumark of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 168 West 100 Street held a Community meeting Thursday, April 3, 2008, to discuss the church, what will become of it, impact in the surrounding Park West Village neighborhood, etc. CLICK HERE FOR ANNOUNCEMENT LETTER

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BORO PRES SCOTT STRINGER FORMS
CONSTRUCTION WATCH TASK FORCE
AFTER MANHATTAN CRANE CRASH
NEW YORK POST OpEd 3-18-08  "...To help communities become the eyes and ears of construction safety, I have formed the Manhattan Construction Watch Task Force, set to begin..." SEE FULL STORY HERE

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Borough President Scott Stringer's 2-7-08 letter to Dept of Buildings PDF HERE

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Assembly Member O'Donnell seeks law to ban holiday construction work PDF HERE

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NY TIMES    DECEMBER 26, 2007
Offering Big Spaces, Amsterdam Avenue Is Catching More Retailers’ Eyes
The stretch of Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan used to be the homely cousin to the two strong shopping avenues that flank it: Broadway and Columbus Avenue. continued here...>>

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NY SUN    December 20, 2007
PROSPECTIVE STORES

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Park West Villagers and their neighbors are now living with the most extensive construction site in Manhattan since the Javits Center was built in 1986: http://radar.planetizen.com/node/46508

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BEFORE & AFTER VIEW
FROM 788 COLUMBUS AVE

Borough President Scott Stringer reported on October 31, 2007, the bad news:

     The Department of Buildings has issued a response to my July 27th letter. The letter is attached for your review, but the content can be summarized by this excerpt:
      "As discussed below, your complaints regarding open space, parking, curb cuts and use classification for this development do not raise a basis for rescission of the reconsiderations or revocation of the permit".

. . . more here     with this DOB response 10-24-07

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COLUMBIA SPECTATOR article October 30, 2007 by Sara Vogel, who was at the Whole Foods presentation event June 4 at PS163.

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Council Approves Plan to Limit
High-Rises on Upper West Side
NEW YORK TIMES Sept. 26, 2007: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/nyregion/26upperwest.html?ex=1348459200&en=002e64e48c0913bb&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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COLUMBIA SPECTATOR Sept. 7, 2007: "Construction of Whole Foods Irks CB7

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REPORT BY PRES. LOIS HOFFMANN
August 30, 2007:
"The City's Department of Buildings called to say that the Stop Work Order for 808 Columbus Avenue has been lifted. 'They' deemed everything okay to go back to work."
  We will continue to keep you advised.

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Borough Pres SCOTT STRINGER:
PWV NEWS UPDATE AUGUST 30, 2007
NOTE: To receive BP email alerts directly, write Jessica Silver at JSilver@manhattanbp.org

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WEST SIDE SPIRIT August 30, 2007:
"WORK PROCEEDS AT PARK WEST VILLAGE"

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WEST SIDE SPIRIT August 2, 2007:
"CONTROVERSY OVER COLLAPSE"

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AssemblyMember O'DONNELL:
LETTER August 2, 2007

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Archived Posted News — prior to August 1, 2007

CONFUSION AND DANGER!
The Department of Buildings Commissioner signed a note on 9/6/07 that the Stop Work Order dated 9/6/07 is rescinded. The DOB web site http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/bis/bis.shtml stated that there is a SWO as of 9/6/07 and a violation of the SWO issued on 9/7/07 when there was an inspection.
     Regardless of any possible violation of a SWO, men were working in Park West Village on Monday, 9/10/07. It was reported in 784 Columbus Avenue that boards were put down on part of the lobby hallway on the floor to the left of the elevators; the outer lobby door was removed and NOT REPLACED; and that a new inner door was installed and left wide-open with blocks, and unlocked.
    A 784 Col. resident reports on the FLAGRANT DISREGARD OF SECURITY for the building and tenants:
1. This is the most serious of everything that has happened for the past year. There were burglaries of apartments here reported during the hours our entire building was evacuated on the evening of July 25.
2. The security of 784 is nonexistent for long stretches of time while the building is unlocked because there is no door, and before that, during crew breaks, when they left the door wide open.
3. Security over the weekend of September 7-10 was also nonexistent, since there was no locked door—and a door missing—from Friday through Monday night.
4. Since the wall collapse, security has been very lax. For the past several days, it is nonexistent, as the building is totally open to anyone who decides to enter at any hour.
5. Clearly, our landlords do not consider tenant security a priority. These conditions create a pressure for many tenants to feel fearful and to move. This should be counted as harassment.
     No matter how many complaints, such deplorable conditions continue. Intervention by local elected officials and others is ignored.
     Nevertheless, please contact the PWVTA’s Quality of Life Committee at Quality@PWVTA.org and President Lois Hoffmann at President@PWVTA.org so we can continue to alert everyone!

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AssemblyMember O'DONNELL: LETTER TO DOB COMMISSIONER LANCASTER July 26, 2007

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NY1.COM REPORT August 1, 2007

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YOUTUBE BROADCAST REPORT

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YOUTUBE SPANISH BROADCAST REPORT

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CURBED BLOG REPORT HERE!

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RESIDENTS RALLY:
PWVTA PRESS RELEASE JULY 27, 2007

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Borough Pres SCOTT STRINGER: PRESS RELEASE JULY 27, 2007 and LETTER TO DOB BOROUGH COMMISSIONER SANTULLI

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STATEMENT RELEASED BY PS163:
PS163 Statement 7-25-07.pdf

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BLOG REPORTS IN THE GOTHAMIST:
gothamist.com/2007/07/28/uws_residents
  Report by Pres. LOIS HOFFMANN
gothamist.com/2007/07/27/residents_lodge
gothamist.com/2007/07/26/construction_si

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DAILY NEWS editorial July 28, 2007:
Falling down on the job

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DAILY NEWS report July 27, 2007:
hey_that_walls_gonna_fall

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NEW YORK POST report July 27, 2007:
collapse_fears_met_wall_of_resistance

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NEW YORK TIMES report July 27, 2007:
Collapse of Wall Under Apartment House Exposes Neighbors’ Anger

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CBS-TV Channel 2 July 27, 2007:
wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story

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NYTIMES.COM BLOG July 26, 2007:
cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/.../evacuated-residents-enraged-about-wall-collapse/

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Building evacuated after wall collapse

Eyewitness News (New York - WABC, July 25, 2007) - Hundreds of people are out of their apartments after a wall collapse on the Upper West Side Wednesday night.
     A retaining wall at a construction site collapsed and residents of a nearby apartment building located at 784 Columbus Avenue were evacuated. No injuries were reported. The wooden wall was holding back earth next to a corner of the apartment building.
     According to an eyewitness, it fell shortly after 8 p.m. Heavy construction equipment was then being used to dig up earth and put it at the bottom of the wall.
     The construction site runs along Columbus Avenue from 97th Street, where the 16-floor apartment building is located, to 100th Street, a neighbor said.
     Residents of all the building's 288 apartments were evacuated. They said the scene was chaotic, with scores of them hanging out in the streets around their building. They said they were concerned about the structural integrity of the building. (Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)  

Photo by Nina Berman [click photo to expand]  

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The New York Sun April 2, 2007 OPEN SPACES ARE CITY’S NEXT FRONTIER by Eliot Brown http://www.nysun.com/article/51608

The New Yorker February 5, 2007 EMINENT DOMINION by Paul Goldberger http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/skyline/2007/02/05/070205crsk_skyline_goldberger

The Real Deal, New York Real Estate September, 2006 GENTRIFICATION PEAKING IN MANHATTAN VALLEY by Marc Ferris http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/SEPTEMBER_2006/1157060985.php

The Real Deal August, 2006 HIGHER RENTS SHOVE SMALLER RETAILERS OUT by Eric Marx http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/AUGUST_2006/1154211646.php

The New York Observer June 9, 2006 UPPER WEST SIDE DOWN-ZONING by Matthew Grace http://therealestate.observer.com/upper_west_side

Tenant April 2006 CITY RENEWS RENT LAWS; WILL IT LEAD TO HOME RULE? by Jenny Laurie http://www.metcouncil.net/publications/apr2006.pdf

The Tribeca Trib October 2003 IPN TENANTS IN FACE OF WITH LANDLORD THEY FEAR by Ronald Drenger (an article featuring our landlord, Laurence Gluck)http://www.ipnta.org/press/press4.html

The Village Voice August 6-12, 2003 ZERO AT GROUND ZERO — City Leaves Key Tribeca Project Unprotected Against Speculators by Wayne Barrett (an article featuring our landlord, Laurence Gluck) http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0332,barrett,46037,5.html

Tenants & Neighbors 2003? TENANTS FIGHT DECONTROL AT PARK WEST VILLAGE by Tom Waters http://tandn.org/news.cfm?contentid=16

Gotham Gazettte March 9, 2003 RENT REGULATION by Robin Reisig http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20030309/200/305

The Village Voice June 26-July 2, 2002 INSURGENT ELDERS, Tenants Strike at Park West Village by Rivka Gewirtz http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0226,gewirtz,35977,5.html

Tenant May 2002 UPPER WEST SIDE RENT STRIKE by Clare Dockery http://www.tenant.net/tengroup/Metcounc/May02/may02.pdf

The New York Times June 9, 1985 CONDOMINIUM PLAN UPHELD BY COURT by George W. Goodman http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7DF1239F93AA35755C0A963948260

The New York Times May 27, 1983 CONDOMINIUM EFFORT STARTED BY DEVELOPER AT PARK WEST VILLAGE http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E2DB1F38F934A15756C0A965948260

Columbus/Amsterdam BID BLOOMINGDALE/MANHATTAN VALLEY CHRONOLOGY
http://www.columbus-amsterdam-bid.org/history-to.htm
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