HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let's paint a wonderful New Year and for ourselves and our neighbors with: 

(1) Repeal of vacancy decontrol so we don't lose more affordable housing than can be built (and so owners are less tempted to harass tenants)

(2) Rent regulation for ALL tenants - so even market rate tenants can count on lease renewals at reasonable rates  (and the freedom to complain about service cuts)

(3) Enforcement of city and state rent protections without the current years-long wait

(4) An end to (now unending) rent increases for Major Capital Improvements (MCIs) and Individual Apartment Improvements (IAIs)

(5) Home rule over rents and evictions - bring control back from Albany to city politicians accountable to tenants!

(6) A better Rent Guidelines Board (this one can be aided by the mayor-elect although criteria for selection are set by the state)

(7) No more 7.5% mandatory increase for rent controlled tenants  (not in our building)

(8) Repairs for public housing without imposing luxury buildings in their midst

(9) Permanent affordable housing for the homeless, the poor, the middle class,  and for our children and for those moving into NYC.  

(10) A unified tenant movement, 100,000 tenants strong. 

Happy New Year one and all !

Celebrating the New and the Old

As we ring in the New Year, check out photos of the old lobby mural, painted by former tenant Myron Morris with the help of many neighbors, including children in the building.   The photos, provided by Chaim Zlotogorski (son of our late neighbor Abram Zlotogorski), and others show the mural that presented a view of the neighborhood then, just after our building was built and as Tower West next door, were being constructed. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Summary of the Nov. 20, 2013 General Tenants Meeting

Click here for the Summary.  

-      With a surprise visit by Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President (& NYC Comptroller-elect)

Click on "read more" below for a more detailed summary. 

Our building isn't under HUD rules

Claiming the "sequester" made them do it,  the federal government's Housing and Urban

Development agency issued rules in July 2013 ordering some tenants to move to smaller apartments.  This applies to tenants in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, administered through the City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development.  It does not apply to tenants in Central Park Gardens. 

Since our building never received a HUD mortgage and we did not get "enhanced vouchers" when we left Mitchell-Lama, this does not apply to our building.   (It's possible that a few tenants receiving Section 8 in this building may be subject to those rules.)

Rent stabilized tenants in our building may stay in their apartments even if their household has shrunk.  

Protect Yourself as a Tenant!

PROTECT YOURSELF AS A TENANT! 

Owners like Larry Gluck of Stellar Management make a LOT of money from market-rate apartments.   To do that, they have to get rid of the tenants paying affordable rents.  That hurts our community and deprives current and future residents of affordable homes.   So Stellar’s attorneys at Kossoff and Unger are calling tenants (even on Thanksgiving weekend) with a “carrot” (a small amount of money to find another home) and a “stick” (a reason they might go after you legally).  

STELLAR OFFERS MONEY TO GET YOU TO LEAVE YOUR APARTMENT

The money is never enough to live on and much less than Stellar will be getting for your apartment.  If you want to stay in your apartment, contact us.  If you would be willing to move for enough money, negotiate through a lawyer or representative. Click on “read more” below for details. 

STELLAR THREATENS TO TAKE YOU TO COURT OR NOT RENEW YOUR LEASE

• Do you own property  elsewhere or travel? It’s ok if you live here 183 days or more each year.  Keep records!
• Pay your rent on the 1^st of the month, or get help with it.
• Roommates are ok – but tell Stellar if they’re here 30 days or more.
• If you’re trying to get a lease in your own name after the person named on the lease leaves, contact us!

Keep a copy of your lease and rent bills, and CONTACT US.

Click on "read more" for details. 

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY! 

Stop the Sunset of Afforadble Housing! Wed., Nov. 20 General Tenants Meeting

Landlords are dragging rent stabilized tenants into court to "free up" apartments for higher-paying tenants - because state law lets landlords de-regulate vacant apartments that are "improved" to at least $2500 rent.  (But only the first new tenant can challenge it!)  We have to change the state law or watch as rent regulated homes disappear into the sunset. In the meantime, protect yourself and your apartment!

We ate, and drank, and awarded, and sang . . .

We ate and drank (see below for what neighbors brought), and awarded the founders of our tenant association, and sang.

Congressman Jerry Nadler came, spoke, and socialized (Manhattan Borough President-Elect Gale Brewer dropped by toward the end), and we all had a blast.

This Saturday: Come to our POT LUCK!

Cheer our Neighbor in this Sunday's NYC Marathon

Cheer our neighbor Debbie Gonzalez as she runs in this Sunday's NYC Marathon!

Follow the route. We can cheer her and the thousands of her co-runners by walking directly across Central Park to the park drive on the east side at 97th St.

Here are the parking rules and street closings - thanks to the office of Council Member (and Manhattan Borough President-to-be) Gale Brewer:

2013 Marathon Week Events

Street Closures and Parking Restrictions

Saturday, November 2

NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K 8:30 a.m.

Central Park (near West 67th Street)

Participants exit park onto Central Park West between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.

Street closures (vehicular traffic):

• Central Park South (Fifth Avenue to Eighth Avenue)

• Sixth Avenue from (West 34th Street to Central Park South)

• 42nd Street (FDR Drive to Seventh Avenue)

No parking:

• Central Park West (73rd Street–75th Street, east side of street): 6:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

• Central Park West (59th Street–66th Street, west side of street): 3:00–10:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 3: Marathon Day

Street closures (vehicular traffic):

• Central Park West (59th Street–77th Street): from 6:30 a.m.

• Central Park West (77th Street–86th Street): from 8:00 a.m.

• 79th Street Transverse: from 9:00 a.m.

• 65th/66th Street Transverse: from 10:00 a.m.

Cross-town traffic will be detoured south to 57th Street or north to 142nd Street. 86th Street Transverse

will be open.

No parking:

• Central Park West (59th Street–86th Street, both sides of street): 12:01 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

• 61st Street, 62nd Street, 63rd Street, 64th Street, 65th Street, and 66th Street (between Central

Park West and Broadway, both sides of street): 6:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

We hope that you’ll take part in the events by coming out to watch—if you’re not going to be running!

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

A Proposal for the Next Mayor

Our tenant association has joined with about 20 other groups to boil down many l -o - n - g affordable housing proposals into a single (two-sided) sheet.

 We'll be giving the winner the letter on Wednesday, Nov. 6th - the day after the election.  

Read "A Cure for the Tale of Two Cities: A Brief Affordable Housing Program." 

With the polls' strong preference for Bill De Blasio's election, the letter below is framed for him.   
The preamble cites things that Mr. De Blasio has repeatedly promised, including a rent freeze, so we generally did not repeat those things in the 3 categories: Preservation, Production, and Homelessness.  

Press Conf for Campaign Finance Reform & Better Rent Laws - Monday, 10/28 at 4 PM

PRESS CONFERENCE AT 4 PM (Moreland Commission at 5 PM) 

OCT 28 AT JAVITS CENTER ENTRANCE

(35th St. / 11th Ave.)

There is a direct link between our broken campaign system 

and the dismantling of rent regulation.* See the Oct. 27, 2013 

NY Daily News.

This is why we must fight for real campaign finance reform, 
including public financing and the closure of loopholes that 
allow the real estate industry to outspend everyone else.  COME: 

Press Conference / Moreland Commission 

Hearing

Monday, October 28th, ***4pm***

Jacob Javits Center Entrance, 

Near 11th Ave / 35th St

This Saturday, Oct. 26 - Trick or Treat in the Lobby

TRICK OR TREAT FOR THE TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION

SAT., Oct. 26, 2013

1:00-6:00  PM

In the lobby

Been meaning to contribute?

Come to the lobby table, leave a check, take some candy.

FUNDS, UNITY & SWEETS!