city limits magazine, january 1981 issue

8/3/2019 City Limits Magazine, January 1981 Issue

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CITYLIMITSJANUARY 1981 $1.50 VOl.6 N O ~ 1


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A Lexicon 0/Jargon/or the 1980s1. While we have always and will continue to advocatethe protection of "civil rights," we will now refer tothis work as defending "individual rights." Anotheracceptable substitute might be "individual liberties."Continue to refrain from use of the term "civilliberties"; this one raises hackles with both pre- and postSkokie mindsets.2. Although the term "sweat equity" is still a useful andpopular shorthand for the development of "lowincome housing cooperatives," we should henceforthrefer to this approach as the "self-help home ownership initiative" program, encouraging more peopleto get into ownership of private property by becom

ing stockholders in housing corporations.3. Do not invoke the righteous position that more"citizen participation" is needed in this or that program. We are now about "local control" as an extension of the concept of "states' rights."4. Try to avoid referring to your group as a "CBO" or"Community-based organization" (communitysounds too much like communist). Think of yourselves as "neighborhood-based, boot-strap organiza-CITY LIMITS/January 1981 2

tions." Also "taskforces" are out, "action committees" are in, so are "teams" as in "we're all playingon the same team." Sports analogies of any kind arestill in, but try to avoid sissy sports like tennis andjogging. Football is definitely a gold-mine for suchcliches.

5. You may be dedicated to the "redistribution ofweal th" in the United States by fostering the development of alternative par ticipatory economic institutions at the local level, but keep it to yourself for thenext few years. You should now be working toward"putting Americans back to work in productivejobsin their hometown by giving them a stake in theAmerican way of ife."6. Don't put too much emphasis on "citizen monitoring" of public programs or agencies, except in terms

of "increasing productivity" or "improving efficiency" in order to get our" tax dollars worth" ofgoods and services paid for by "hardworking Americans." (N.B. The use of the word America in anyform, such as "the American way of doing things," isdefinitely in. Use it as frequently as possible in describing your organization.)Brian Sullivan


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The 'Improvers"Rage Over (Some) SubsidiesOur society appears to be on the verge of abandoning the goal of the Housing Act of 1949 to provide "a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family:' Although this goalhas never come close to realization , it has been therationale behind many housing and communitydevelopment programs.A combination of factors,including inflation, highenergy costs and interest rates, changes in familystructure and the aging of the housing stock, the1980s are already being referred to as "the decade of

the housing crisis:' Somehow, the illusion has beenfostered that the culprits in this problem are thepoor who have impoverished the rest of society andare therefore to blame.Presently, the federal Section 8 rental subsidy program is a popular scapegoat. The most recent accusation against it in New York is that it provides large,unjustified subsidies and creates heavy concentrations of poor people, thus breeding crime. It is saidalso to rob the private housing sector of its right toupgrade a neighborhood to higher rentals. Sucharguments ignore the fact that Section 8 subsidiesare paid directly to landlords, and are based on rentals set by the federal government to match locallyprevailing fair market rates. Also ignored is the factthat any new construction or rehabilitation doneunder the program automatically costs far morethan non-Section 8 programs with most of the inflated costs going to developers, architects andlawyers. The rent subsidies are then based on theconstruction costs and go into the pocket of ~ h e owner. The considerable tax benefits connectedwith investment in Section 8 housing go to high income persons seeking shelter for profits made elsewhere.But the true objection to Section 8 is not reallycosts. There has been little outcry over the enormous subsidies involved in the operation of Manhattan Plaza, one of the costliest Section 8 projectsever built. Similarly, no such deep felt rage isdirected at the tax abatements (another form of subsidy) given to developers of buildings like the Galleria, Olympic Towers, the Palace Hotel and new AT&Tand J. Walter Thompson buildings. Nor do the sameobjections arise to low valuations and substantialtax benefits permitted homeowners. So vastly does

government assistance to owners dwarf that allocated to low income renters that the deductionsallowed for homeownership in the past year alone isgreater than all the money ever spent by the federalgovernment on low income housing.We suggest that the real issues underlying theopposition to Section 8 and other housing programsare class and race. When the subsidy increases thenumber of white, middle class tenants, there is nooutcry. Yet, when subsidies provide housing for lowand moderate income people, many of them nonwhite, then indignant middle income tax payers areup in arms.Some Park Slope residents have been quite openand self-righteous in thei r claim that proposed housing using Section 8 rent subsidies will "change thebalance of the area" and have a "tremendous falloutin terms of crime:' In Manhattan Valley, developershave gone to court to claim that subsidized housingwill prevent the upgrading of the area. In both cases,neither set of opponents has acknowledged thatthe alternative they offer is wholesale displacementof people who, in many cases, were present in the

neighborhood before they were. continued on page 18

City Limits is published monthly except June/July and August!September by the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers.Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development and the Urban Homestea(ling Assistance Board. Other than editorials, articls in CityLimits do not necessarily reflect the opinion ofthe sponsoring organizations. Subscription rates: $20 per year; S6 ayear for community-based organizations and individUals. All correspondence should be addressed to CITY LIMITS. liS East 23rd St New York. N.Y. 10010. (212) 477-9074. S.Postmaster send change 0/ addresses to: 115 East 2Jrd Street. NewYork. N. Y. 10010

Second-class postage paid New York. N.Y. 10001City Limits (lSSN 0199-0330)Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom RobbinsAssistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susan BaldwinBusiness Manager . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carolyn WellsDesign and Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louis FulgoniCopyright 1980. Al l rights reserved. No portion or portions 0/ thisjournalmay be reprinted without the express written Permission 0/ hepublishers. CoYer pboto by Robert Wersan3 CITY LIMITS/January 1981


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Community Group Profit-SharingGovernment subsidized housing development yields some hefty profits fordevelopers, banks and investors. Many community groups have come up with away to leave some of that profit in the neighborhood. However, neither the groupsnor the developers appear happy at being told how and what to share.

James L. Robinson, architect/developer, in one o f he abandon ed buildings to be rehabilitated in his Hamilton Heights NSA project.by Susan Baldwin

For the first time in the history of Section 8 dealsbetween community groups and private developers,neighborhood organizations are being guaranteed amulti-million dollar piece of the action, but they're notcheering. That's because the city stepped in to set therules.

The city's Department of Housing Preservation andDevelopment has circulated new regulations to the developers involved in 50 subsidized housing projects inthe city's ten Sections 8 Neighborhood Strategy Area(NSA) neighborhoods, which require them to give thecommunity sponsor a minimum of 2.750/0 of the projectmortgage for five years. At the same time, HPD is telling the group that it must spend 80% of its allotment onCITY LIMITS/January 1981 4

HPD-approved physical improvements to the neighborhood. A ceiling of 200/0 has been set for staffing communityoffices.

Dollar estimates of the community groups' share ofthe total NSA profits or "syndication of equity" rangefrom $5 to $6 million.The syndication or sale of the tax shelter is the grease

that turns the wheels and is what makes subsidizedhousing so attractive to investors, developers, andbanks. Syndication involves selling the "paper losses"of the ownership interest in a housing project to individuals in high tax brackets (persons taxed at anywherefrom 50% to 70% of their total worth), who invest inthe project and, in turn, are able to claim tax deductions


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connected to the project's depreciation, taxes, and interest. Under the Internal Revenue Code, the tax benefits from the rapid, five-year depreciation are equivalentfor these high-income earners to a non-taxable capitalgain.The profits from this syndication are reduced by thecosts involved (lawyers', brokers', accountants' fees),which frequently run as high as 25070 of the investment.What remains after these costs are subtracted - the netproceeds - are further reduced by deducting cost overruns, the builder's fee, developer's cost to close themortgage, or any additional site acquisition costs. Thesum left after all these deductions is the tax shelteramount that the developer and community group split.The syndication of the tax shelter is thegrease that turns the wheels . . .

These new regulations have set of f a furor in theranks of the more sophisticated community groupsbecause, they contend, their partnership arrangementswith developers are their own private business andshould not be scrutinized by the city.Many argue they have worked out far more lucrativedeals with the developers and are fearful that HPD's interference can only lead to weakening these relationships."All I can see these regulations do is cause a lot ofresentment," said Doug Mor.itz, head of Los Sures, acommunity organization in the Williamsburg area ofBrooklyn. "Certainly, that'smy reaction to them . . . It'sappalling for HPD to think it can tell us what to do. I fyou're going to monitor performance, both (the devel

oper and the community group) should be monitored.Not just one."Asking, "Who's kidding whom?" he added, "Whereare they going to get the staff to do this monitoring?They can't take care of the programs they already have.This is a joke."Another PerspectiveComing from another perspective are a group of iratesmaller developers and their attorneys who charge thatthe guaranteed 2.75070 mortgage payment is too much.Many of them negotiated agreements of 11110 or less

(.5070) months ago and are not pleased with the city'schange in policy."HPD has the total unmitigated gall to set itself up inthe Section 8 housing business," charged Kevin Sullivan, attorney for developer John Skelly. "Here youhave a program that has been working well for 15 years.It has been very successful, so now they want to startplaying around and do social planning." Sullivan andSkelly are both former city housing officials.According to Sullivan, Skelly and several of hisclients had negotiated for the 1070 share and would findit difficult to payout three times as much less than a

year later. "When we mentioned this change to ourgeneral contractor," Sullivan reported, "he firstthreatened to back out of the job and then he said,'Marvelous. That comes out of your part." ,Why is the city taking on this role of policing community groups' intended use of their portion of the profits orsyndication? Deputy Housing Commissioner CharlesReiss, of HPD's Office of Development, said, "Theanswer is simply this. We are talking about a significantamount of money and we want to standardize how it isused and where it goes . . .At the birth of these syndication guidelines was Bradley Plaza."Construction of Bradley Plaza, the 4OO-unit, $20million low income Section 8 complex planned for theBrownsville section in Brooklyn, has been stymied formore than a year while the city's Department of Investigation has been looking into the possibility that a conflict of interest existed between the community boardand a community group - Brownsville CommunityCouncil. Certain members of the Community Board#16's Housing Committee and leaders in the BCC, theproject's sponsor, were alleged to be the same individuals. According to Douglas Shafer, of the People'sVoice, a Brooklyn community monthly that first brokethe story, the group was to receive a syndicated fee ofsome $400,000 from the developer - Starrett - "not todo what a sponsor should do, such as criticize the atrocious architectural plan or help in tenants selection."Structured RegulationsReiss said the impetus for setting up the structuredregulations was also prompted by New York City's receiving a lion's share of almost 25070 of the national Section 8 allotment, constituting a 5,OOO-unit bonus underthe NSA program. In his estimation, the money whichderives from the housing rehabilitation and construction work in these Section 8 projects is public fundingand should be plowed back into the physical improvement of neighborhoods.Under the regulations, participating communitygroups are being told that eligible activities for 80070 ofthe syndication funds include making small grants orloans to small homeowners and businesses, providingseed money for other rehabilitation work, sealing upbuildings, painting benches, building parks, and planting trees. On the other hand, the city will only allowgroups to spend 201110 on administrative costs which include salaries, office supplies, additional staff, and tenant organizing and counseling. "We think this is asinineto limit groups in this way," said Betty Terrell, executivedirector of the Association of Neighborhood HousingDevelopers. " I f you put money into an organizer youare preserving the community."

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"I think it's unfair to limit the administrative portionto 20070," said Richard Brown, director of the CrownHeights Progress Council, a newly formed Brooklyncommunity organization."Those of us who are new and trying to get stronger

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in the neighborhood so we can help more people needthis money to strengthen our offices . . . What good doesit do to make these brick and mortar improvements ifthere is no group around to protect them? And, besides,there are plenty of other places to get money for trees."How then is HPD going to make sure that each community group receives the minimum required share ofthe permanent mortgage - 2.75% - and, in turn, usesits share in accordance with the 80-20070 guidelines?"We'll watch them (the groups) and if need be, intercede in their cash flow. We'll put it (the money) inescrow if we have to," asserted Reiss. He also said that

he did not expect any developer to renege on the 2.75070amount, adding, "There is no legal enforcement mechanism, but if they make a commitment to us, sign it, andthen break it, we are going to have second thoughtsabout working with them again."Some communiy groups who are serving as co-venturers with the developers are threatening not to complywith HPD's regulations. They have negotiated deals

that will net them more than 2.75070 of the permanentmortgage - some say upwards to 10070 - and agreethat the city should not tell them how to spend theirmoney."We always plow the money back in the neighborhood. That's why we're still around. We never pocketany for ourselves," said Galen Kirkland, of the WestHarlem Community Organization. "What gives HPDthe authority to tell us what to do now? Serving as community sponsor for 182 units of new construction inWest Harlem, WHCO, according to Kirkland, willreceive "a large amount, a very good deal," in the partnership worked out with Harlem Urban Development

Corporation and the developer - Laub and Mars Construction Company. Co-venturersActing as co-developer with Harbro DevelopmentCorporation, Sunset Park Renewal Committee inBrooklyn will rehabilitate 459 units and will share in a$19 million mortgage on a 60070 (Harbro) - 40070(Sunset Park) basis of the 10070 equity on which the taxshelter is sold. Also in Brooklyn, Flatbush DevelopmentCorporation will act as sponsor of a 1l7-unit rehabilitation and will receive a 50070 share of the tax shelter afterpre-construction, management and relocation costs arededucted.Manhattan Valley Development Corporation onManhattan's Upper West Side will serve as managinggeneral partner in its two NSA projects, totaling 259units and costing some $10 million. " I f they take out thebuilder's risk (Builder/Sponsor Profit Risk Allowanceor development fee), we will share 50-50 with the onedeveloper, Graphic Systems," said Leah Schneider,MVDC's planning director. " I f not, the arrangement is60070-40070." In the arrangement with Gardel, the minority developer and contractor for the second project,MVDC will receive a third of the tax shelter profits,CITY LIMITS/January 1981 6

Gardel, two-thirds. In each case, another neighborhoodgroup - United Welfare League - will serve as thesponsor designated by MVDC.HI! you put money into an organizer,then you are preserving the community."

In the case of MVDC and Sunset Park, the responsibility for managing the buildings after the rehabilitationis completed will be assumed by the two groups .'Maiden Voyage'James L. Robinson, an architect who has embarkedon a "maiden voyage" as a developer in Upper Manhattan's Hamilton Heights, plans to comply with HPD'sregulations, asserting, "I know a lot of developers arecomplaining, but we want to get something done. Wewant and need the project . . . After all, 100070 of zero isstill zero ."Robinson's project consists of two phases - the firstone, rehabilitation on West 155th Street and the second,new construction around the corner on AmsterdamAvenue - and will provide 151 units of low incomehousing for a total of $9.4 million.One of the major complaints raised about HPD'splans for carrying out the NSA Section 8 program and,for that matter, any future Section 8or subsidized low income program, is that it does not have the capacity toscreen developers and community groups. Constantquestions about prospective participants range from"Does he have a track record?", "Are they a paper organization?", to "Were they involved in the MunicipalLoan scandal?"According to Reiss and Sheldon Gartenstein, projectmanager for the Crown Heights and Hamilton HeightsNSAs, the local community board in each area must certify in writing the proposed community sponsor, and, ifthe city has reason to believe a group is bogus, itreserves the right to step in and set up an escrow account. the local borough president as well as HPD'sNeighborhood Preservation offices are also supposed tohelp in this screening and monitoring process. If, forsome reason, the community board refuses to approvethe proposed community sponsor's application andHPD cannot find evidence supporting this decision, theagency may overrule the board and reinstate thisapplication.One group in Brooklyn's Crown Heights - the RealEstate Education Society of Brooklyn - has been questioned as to its authenticity and level of activity, and,according to Mike Rechner, of the local NPP office,"They were inactive until fairly recently but now havebecome reorganized because of the availability of NSAfunds." He also said that the group has recently submitted a list of suitable neighborhood improvements to thecity.Edward Corbett, president of the group, was reachedat his real estate and insurance business and confirmed


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that his organization was slated to be the communitysponsor for about half-a-dozen projects with Brooklyndeveloper Jacob Frankel and his sons-in-law, Chaim A.Wachsman and Moishe Beilush. He did note, however,that he had not talked to them recently. Asked about hisorganization's share of the mortgage, he added, "Iknow HPD says we're supposed to get a certain percentage, but I don't have the figures in front of me . . . We'remainly concerned in teaching people not to destroy properties and turn them into slums. So often, things arefixed up, only to become a dump again."Figure QuadrupledA check of agreements signed in 1Il0vember, 1979,showed that Corbett's group agreed to accept percentages of the mortgage ranging from .70/0 to 1.1 % foramounts as small as $6;000 and as large as $50,000 to bereceived over a five-year period. But, under the 2.75%mortgage allocation, the .7% figure would be almostquadrupled, leaving one to wonder if there are seriousplans to change this agreement.

In the case of all but one of the Real Estate Society'sprojects, the land is privately, not city- owned, and forthis reason, the developer does not need to go to HP Dto close his deals. Rather, he can go directly to the areaoffice of the U.S. Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment. "They've threatened to do this, but sofar we are not aware it has happened," said AssistantHousing Commissioner Manuel Mirabal. "Just one thing is sure. We will know when it happens." Frankelcould not be reached for comment.Commenting on the history which led to the city'sdecision to set the community share at 2.7S%, StephenGrathwohl, who was the main packager of this proposalat HPD before becoming a consultant/developer said,"W e implemented it because so many of the groupswere getting more sophisticated and not accounting forwhere their money went . . . It will be difficult to monitorthis application because the figures did change so manytimes . . . I can understand why developers are complaining, particularly if they're using private land becauseprobably they are paying $IS00 to $2000-a-unit to buyit, and HUD only allows for $ S O O - a ~ u n i t . Obviously,part of their profit is being eaten up." But, he also notedthat their complaints were not justified if they wereusing city-owned property because HUD covers the full$500-a-unit reimbursement in its mortgage.Grathwohl is hopeful that the city's submission inmid-December for Section 8 rehabilitation of cityowned properties will be a better indicator of how manydevelopers are willing to share a larger percentage of themortgage with the community. HPD is in charge ofmaking these selections and in this case is requiring a3.2S% mortgage payment to the groups - a figure thatsome developers claim will drive the "smaller and morehonest" participants out of the competition.

Asked about the threat of developers' going directlyto HUD to close a project, Grathwohl said, "I guessHPD could threaten to take away the units, but HUDwould have to concur, and I don't think HUD would liketo lose those units. The philosophy is to build more . . .But, even if they (developers) were to go to HUD andclose and were successful, I think they would have a realtough time being a developer next year."No one knows what next year will be like under theReagan regime. Some wonder if the low and moderateincome housing programs as they now exist will be dismantled or consolidated with ones that are more favorable to the middle class.

"Anything could be better than what we got in ourvery unequal battle with someone who calls himself anot-for-profit developer," said Elizabeth Colon, chairwoman of the Coalition Housing Development, Inc. onManhattan's Lower East Side. "We settled on a fixedamount - $75,000 in regular installments over a threeyear period. We were supposed to get almost $250,000,"for the 250-unit $14 million project. . ."T o date, wehave only received about $35,000. We help the developer and he doesn't pay us. All he says is, 'Sue me.' . . .He uses HUD money to pay his lawyer and other fees,but HUD does nothing hold him accountable to his contract with us."

The head o j one community group co-sponsor was reached at his real estate andinsurance business.According to William Hubbard, head of the Centerfor Housing Partnerships which is developing the project, increased costs in the construction of the projecthave whittled his earnings down to almost nothing.Only recently, said Hubbard, has HUD been willing toaccept an increase in the mortgage amount to coverthose overruns and he expects shortly to be able to paythe community group in full what the agreement callsfor.Asked about HPD's restrictive regulations, Colonconcluded, "Look at our situation, and the answer isobvious. Anything is better than this. At least we would

get something for the community. The project could nothave been done without our help. It brings to the foreone touchy question: How can a project be closed without giving the community co-sponsor what was promised. Isn't that what is meant by a partnership?" 0

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Racial Discrimination ChargedAgainst Brooklyn Mitchell-Lama Cooperative

Warbasse Houses, a 2,585 unit cooperative in Coney Island.

One of the largest state-subsidized housing cooperatives in New York City has been hit with a major lawsuitcharging racial discrimination in its admitting practices.According to the suit, Warbasse Houses, a 2,585 apartment complex located just off Ocean Parkway in theConey Island section of Brooklyn, has systematicallyperpetuated an almost all-white occupancy since its construction and tenanting in 1964. Only five apartments,less than one per cent, are owned by blacks.Also named in the class action suit, which was filed infederal court in Brooklyn by the Open Housing Center,an independent fair housing agency, on behalf of fiveblack apartment seekers who were rebuffed in their attempts to purchase a co-op at Warbasse Houses, was thestate Division of Housing and Community Renewalwhich administers the subsidies for the co-op which wasbuilt under the state's Mitchell-Lama program.CITY LIMITS/January 1981 8

The suit charges that the cooperative has maintainedseparate applicant waiting lists - one for children ofcooperators and another for outside apartment seekers.All vacancies, the suit said, are filled from the list of occupants' children and the other list which is exClusivelywhite. "It's like the old grandfather clause," said attorney Richard Bellman,of the law firm Eisner, Levy,Steel and Bellman who worked on the suit. "Given thealmost completely all-white make-up of the Warbassepopulation, this could lock up the vacancies for twogenerations." All of the plaintiffs in the suit either liveor work in Brooklyn and tried without success to makeapplication to the co-op. The suit states they were toldeither that the waiting lists were closed or that they mustbe children of occupants to apply.Karene A. Freeman, attorney for the Open HousingCenter, emphasized that the admission procedures atWarbasse have been carried out with the knowledge andacquiesence of the State Division of Housing. "We in.formed the agency of the effect these waiting lists werehaving on minority persons. Instead of taking action,they cooperated with Warbasse," she said.Attorneys at the State Division of Housing said theyhad not yet seen the suit and could have no comment.But one official, who declined to be named, said, "War-basse is one of the Division's best projects. It's exceptionally well-maintained and the rents are reasonable.The people are happy there. But there is a color line inthe project. They've obeyed the letter of the law probably, but not a bit more.

"On Thanksgiving Day they open the list for a coupleof hours so the children of the tenants can sign up. Westart to get a flurry of calls a few days before then frompeople asking how they can get an application, and wehave to tell them you can't. You can only get them fromthe manager's office," he said.Purchase prices for a two bedroom apartment at theco-op average $4,000 and $285 per month carryingcharges. The project's five high-rise modern buildingsboast many balconies and are convenient to transportation and shopping.Also participating in the suit were the MetropolitanAction Institute and Lawrence Grosberg, director of theColumbia Law School Fair Housing Clinic. D


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Henry Browne: A Battler for West Side Housingby Sondra Thomas

On November 26, 1980, Father Henry Browne diedafter a year's battle with leukemia. He was the founderand long time President of the Strycker's Bay Neighborhood Council, .which became a model for poorpeople's participation in community decision-making.Harry Browne played a leading role in communicatingthis innovative concept throughout the network of people he touched as he moved around the country in theearly 1960s as priest, scholar, mentor, civil and welfarerights advocate and spokesman for the powerless. Hewas a "man for all seasons" and he left a lasting markon the thousands he came in contact with.At a special meeting called by the Strycker's BayNeighborhood Council on February 6, 1980,to organizeneighborhood support for the construction of 160 units

of public housing on the much contested Site 30, HarryBrowne sent a special taped message from the hospital.The following are excerpts from that message:"Most people don't even remember that 20 years agorelocation was done on a per price, per head,per familybasis, by private companies. In our neighborhood, wepioneered not only for relocation to be done by the City,but,for the first time professional social workers andothers assisted in the relocation. We, of course,made'priority for site residents' a reality, and gave it variations, as you know by 'on-siting' and we must admiteven at times a bit of 'generational' priority. 'Vestpocket' public housing to be scattered throughout theblocks was our invention . . . I dare say there is not an urban renewal on the face of the earth with the percentage

of returns of people 'off the land' as we came to say,that we achieved . . ."The 'balanced neighborhood' of the planners wasmalarky talk. We made it happen somewhat. We canlook back now and lament the fact that we had no ideahow many people would be thrown out and how manywould be going in at high rentals in the rehabs. We canlament many battles that we lost, and perhaps, evenmistakes that we made in judgement. But our overallrecord is a glorious one, and we should repeat it and

repeat it and remind those that we have served - including those who have come after, whom I have attimes called the real 'squatters', the 'carpetbaggers', whotook advantage of the progress of the renewal that thoseof us had sweated out in storefronts, and who now turnaround and say balance means that poor people arepollutants."Myoid friend, Saul Alinsky, used to advise personalizing the enemy. I don't think in the case of the present condition of the West Side Urban Renewal Planthat we have to go very far. The enemy, in my book aretwo people: Roger Starr, who had fixed ideas, par-

Dr. Henry J. Browne. in 1967.ticularly about Puerto Ricans not knowing how to useelevators and incinerators in modern housing. The otherenemy is Eugene Morris, the attorney for CONTINUE,who would have subdivided the Garden of Eden forprofit. He, at least, is understandable. Business isbusiness . . . ."

.. Father Browne never offers anyguarantees ofgood behavior."

Over fifteen years ago Joseph Lyford took a closelook at the Council that Father Browne founded in hisbook, The Airt ight Cage:"Father Browne can be just as blunt and sarcastic as

he can be diplomatic and engaging, but he is alwayssophisticated . . . City officials are impressed and sometimes intimidated by his technical grasp of their subject,and irr itated with his constitutional impatience withbureaucracies . . . Unless he keeps in close touch, a cityofficial never knows quite what tack the Council willtake, and Father Browne never offers any guarantee ofgood behavior . . . ." 0Sondra Thomas is Vice President o f he Strycker's BayNeighborhood Council and Executive Directorof heClinton Housing Development Company.



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Restoring History in Bed-Stuy

The Hunterjly Road Houses, in a photo taken circa 1900. The original St. Mary's Hospital is in the background.CITY LIMITS/January 1981 10


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Historical preservation is popularly conceived of as the exclusive domain of thewealthy. But in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a group of local residents have borrowed thesame tools to preserve a unique piece of black Brooklyn history.by Tom Robbins

On Bergen Street, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a jaggedline of wood frame buildings, in varying states of decayinterspersed with . vacant lots, face numbly across thestreet at the sprawling 1930s-era Kingsborough housingproject. Bedford-Stuyvesant changes often and quicklyfrom block to block; one travels from rows of well-keptbrownstones to fire-ravaged tenements in a short stroll.But four of the aging wooden buildings on BergenStreet, on a block which might otherwise be deemedsuitable only for clearance, provide the most physicalreminder of the evolution of todays black population inBrooklyn from its 19th century ancestors .On Sunday, December 14, number 1648 Bergen, anunassuming beige-colored wood building, distinct fromothers by its fresh coat of paint and its white picketfence, was formally opened as the home of the Societyfor the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History. Thus, a major step forward was takentowards the creation of a showplace of mid-19th centuryblack culture, a place where, as Weeksville Societypresident Joan Maynard says: Connections can be madeand continuity seen."Since 1969, when a small group of residents, studentsand boy scouts first began poking about in the ruins ofseveral soon-to-be demolished structures in search ofartifacts of an earlier era, the effort to reconstruct thehistory, as well as the presence, of the lost colony ofWeeksville has gone forth. The results of that initial digwere slim as archeological standards might go: thechoicest finds were a chipped and faded tintype of anelegantly-attired woman, circa 1870, and a copy of theconstitution of the Abyssinian Benevolent Daughters ofEsther Association, dated 1863.

In 1790, Kings County was known as theHslaveholding capito/" of New YorkState.But more significant than the artifacts themselves wasthe substantiating evidence that a community of free .blacks lived in the area over one hundred years earlier,from the late 1830s to 1870, complete with schools,churches, homes for the aged, self-help organizations aswell as artisans, teachers and doctors.Since that 1969 excursion into dirt-floored cellars,many other pieces have fallen into place to round out the

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picture of that community. Founded by its namesake,James Weeks, on land purchased from the largeholdings of the Lefferts family, Weeksville formed themost distinctly black community in a county that onlyten years earlier had been barred from slaveholding bystate law. Previous to that 1827 Act, Kings County wasknown as the "slaveholding capitol" of New YorkState, with nearly 1 500 slaves and only 46 free blacks in1790, a far greater proportion of slaves to free blacksthan elsewhere in the state.As a settling place for free blacks, Weeksville established its own internal education, religious and healthcare institutions. When the violently anti-black draftriots erupted in other parts of the city during the CivilWar, large numbers of blacks sought refuge in the area.Following the Civil War, large scale foreign immigration into New York City began, and as more and morewhites purchased land nearby, blacks eventually losttheir foothold in the area, and Weeksville existed as amere reference in journals of the era until 1969.James Hurley, a white resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant, with an avocation as a Brooklyn historian, startedpursuing leads he found in those journals in the late1960s. After organizing the expedition into the remainsof the wood frame buildings that were scheduled fordemolition and discovering the evidence of the colony,Hurley took a plane ride with fellow Bedford-Stuyvesant resident, Joseph Haynes, over the area whereWeeksville had once been and discovered that the juxtaposition of certain buildings corresponded to a mainavenue of that era, Hunterfly Road. Closer inspectionrevealed that the buildings did, in fact, sit along analleyway that had started out as an Indian path toJamaica Bay and then used by the Dutch and earlyEnglish settlers as a thoroughfare to southern shores.The initial step towards purchasing the buildings asthe future homes for the Weeksville Society was takenthrough the solicitation of funds by school children ofP.S. 243, who raised $1,000 towards the purchase andrenovation of the Hunterfly Road Houses. The school,which succeeded Colored School #2, was later renamedthe Weeksville School. The remainder of the funds wereobtained only after a difficult juggling of grants andloans by Weeksville Society members and officers.

From poking their heads into abandoned pre-CivilWar cellars, members began also to successfully pokeCITY LIMITS/January 1981


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about in the traditional offices of historical preservationorganizations."The restoration vanguard is quite wealthy," said

Joan Maynard. "They are interested in restoring fortheir own particular, though valid, reasons. Poor people, however, don't have the resources to do what theyhave done."HRestoration is a tool . . It's the key toour survival."

Through Weeksville, and other attempts in cities tore-establish ties with a black urban past, a different interpretation of what preservation can mean has beendefined. In a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia, the largestand most well-known example of American historicalpreservation, Maynard recalled, "I was standing on theportico of the King Carter plantation, looking about atthe hundreds of rolling acres and I thought, Where arethe slaves, the thousands of slaves that built all this?'Nowhere was a sign of the slave quarters." .Concurrent with local interest in Bedford-Stuyvesantin restoring original pieces of the black American urbanexperience, have been similar efforts by the MountAuburn Good Citizen Society in Cincinnati and theManchester Citizens Association in Pittsburgh. Dealingwith the traditional historical preservation groups hasbeen a two-way street," said Maynard. "It's been goodfor them, and it's been good for us." According toMaynard, the efforts in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Cincinnatiand Pittsburgh have been a major impetus for a turningaround of opinion on whom historical preservation canserve. The most prominent organization, the National

Trust for Historical Preservation, said Maynard, hasmade a major change in outlook. "There's been a basicdecision made that displacement would not be part ofpreservation - that restoration wouldn't go marchingon without looking at the whole social fabric."One block behind the Hunterfly Road Houses sits thegleaming new St. M a r y ' ~ Hospital. The Catholic Arch- .diocese's decision to rebuild the hospital was of fundamental importance to the Weeksville project, saidMaynard. "We wouldn't have survived without it."The original Hunterfly Road, now a well-beaten rutin the earth, still serves as shortcut for local peoplegoing to the hospital, despite the Society's persistent ef

forts to fence it off.Complementing the hospital and the restorationwork, the group has also hatched ambitious plans tobuild new housing in the vacant land surrounding theframe buildings. An allocation of 113 units of federalSection 8 new construction funds has been obtained andthe Society is currently going over plans with adeveloper, Shnay and Sons. The layout of the newbuildings will be structured to conform with the originalpathway of the road, cutting diagonally across theblock, and the original elevation of the Weeksville

CITY LIMITS/January 1981 12

Houses will be restored as well, factors that mayultimately increase the construction cost of the projectconsiderably.While sponsoring construction of new housing mightseem contradictory for a group engaged in historicalpreservation, Maynard insists the move stems directlyfrom the original thrust of the group's effort. "We'reabout people and neighborhoods," she said. "Restoringthe houses is a tool - it's not because we think theyshould be restored, but a key to our survival."In the Weeks ville of the 19th century something of thesame theory rested with a large local organization, theAfrican Civilization Society, which in the immediateaftermath of the Civil War set about establishingschools for freed blacks in the South. "BrethrenAwake!" began its theme in The Torchlight, a monthlypublication published in Weeksville, just two blocksfrom the Hunterfly Road Houses. "The sun of life is upand the sky is lit up and brilliant with its brightness andglory. The crack of the slavedriver's whip and the soundof the daybreak horn are heard no more. But hark, the 'voice of duty calls you. It says arise! to work!" 0

7A Victory in Ritholtz BuildingsAfter many months in housing court, low income tenants in Brooklyn's Williamsburg section won the rightin December to run their buildings under the city's 7AAdministrator program.The Tenants' Association of 184, 188 South SecondStreet and 745 Driggs Avenue had been battling theirlandlord, Philip Ritholtz, for more than one year to

achieve this 7A status. 184 South Second Street and745 Driggs Avenue have been vacant for some timefollowing numerous suspicious fires. The boiler heatingthe three buildings is housed in 745.. According to neighborhood housing organizers andthe tenants ' association, court hearings on the 7A application had been repeatedly delayed because Ritholtz didnot want bad publicity for his brother's, William Ritholtz's, campaign for civil court judge. Although he haddivested himself of interest in the property, William Ritholtz had formerly served as the attorney of record forthese properties.Los Sures, a Williamsburg housing group, will serveas the 7A Administrator for the tenants. 0

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13/20

Housing Officials Consider Merger of SomeCommunity Building Management ProgramsA report calling for the merger of two city alternativemanagement programs in an effort to save federal community development funds next year is circulating in

memorandum form at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.The memo, sent to Housing Commissioner AnthonyGliedman by Deputy Commissioner William Eimickeand Assistant Commissioner Philip St. Georges, presents two options for funding the Division of Alternative Management, beginning September 1, 1981. Oneasking for $50 million would continue funding rehabilitation with CD monies, while the other, at $41 million,would count on Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitationfunds for rehabil itation in city-owned buildings enrolledin the programs.Perhaps the most dramatic proposals suggested in thedocument are the complete elimination of the Community Management Program to save $14 million, or itspossible merger with the Management in PartnershipProgram "under the supervisory and technical assistance umbrellas" of two or three professional management agencies that currently serve as the "Big Brother"or senior partner in MIPP.The memo defined the "no-growth budget request"as a level of funding that "will enable DAMP only tocontinue existing levels of workload, treatment andsales." The memo cautions that next year's budget needscannot be based on what was spent last year- $25million. The communique points out that new contracts, added last year, will increase the budget needsnext year.It also stated that under either budget option the totalworkload for DAMP next year would be about 16,500units.

Explaining that DAMP favored the option to continueCD-funded rehabilitation work because the Section 8Moderate Rehabilitation program has been moving "extremely slowly" and "we are not sure a single Community Management/Section 8 funded unit will startrehab in 1981," toe memo expressed the fear that reduced funding would lead to a decrease in the numberof buildings sold to tenants and groups. The memo projects sales of 219 buildings (6,217 units) by the end ofnext year.In addition to eliminating Community Management,the memo, acknowledging that the DAMP request was"substantial," suggested the elimination or phase-downof the following programs: boiler replacement,$2,500,000; after sales support program, $1,000,000;Housing Authority Management Program, $554,000;and a phased-down MIPP from $11,387,000 to$8,000,000.

In the section recommending the elimination of Community Management, the document read: "Over the lastyear we have reduced the size . . . from 19 . . . to 15 current groups, based upon lack of sufficient funding andpoor performance. With the added performance datanow available to us from the Fund for the City of NewYork, we could justify eliminating five of the remaining15 groups on failure to perform to contract standards.Dropping five groups would save $4,000,000.

"W e could also eliminate the entire program," thememo continued, "a s being too costly and having failedto meet the primary program goal of selling sufficientnumbers of buildings, after eight years of existence,although active rehab has only existed in CommunityManagement for the last two years .""This is very much in tune with what I was hearing at

the DAMP conference and what Gliedman said later- that he would make a commitment to buildings, butnot to groups," said Betty Terrell, director of theAssociation of Neighborhood Housing Developers.A citywide group known as the Community Management Coalition exists but, according to Terrell, has notbeen using its combined clout to resist HPD's threats ofplanned shrinkage for this program in the very nearfuture.Under the merger plan being considered by HPD, it isconceivable that fewer than ten Community Management groups would be salvaged, and these, in turn,would be joined by a few remaining from MIPP.Critics of the merger plan have charged that the wholeidea of MIPP was to ,train inexperienced groups over atwo-year period to manage their properties and thenbring them into the Community Management Program.They contend that this proposal is completely contraryto this concept as it would demote Community Management groups to the MIPP level.One observer, Peter MeIser from the CommunityService Society, who has been providing technicalassistance to the coalition, said there is currently "a lackof productivity built into the program" and maybe thisis a good opportvlity to work to redesign it. But, heasked, "In all fairness what kind of relationship wouldexist between the groups and the management companies? Would it be of a more low key supervisory, monitoring nature than one of strong control? Would it bemore decentralized?"The management companies currently under contractwith MIPP are SOUK (the Jackie Robinson Management Company), Coalition Training and ManagementCorporation (New York Urban Coalition), and Supervised Training in Total Community Housing (STITCH),run by Jerome Belson Associates. 0



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A ROAR IN PARK SLOPEDepending on which side you are on, Park Slope, Brooklyn is a classic case ofeither urban revitalization or gentrification. An angry debate has arisen about howremaining low income people can survive as residents.

Third Street, between Fifth and Sixth A venues, in Park Slope.by Tom Robbins

Shortly before Thanksgiving Day, thousands ofresidents of the Park Slope section of Brooklyn receivedan open letter under their doors or stuffed in their mailboxes . The subject of the pre-holiday missive was subsidized low income housing, and, according to the letter's authors the Park Slope community stands indanger of being deluged with millions of federal dollarsaimed at bringing low income families to the area."Concentrated subsidized housing does destroy, andhas destroyed neighborhoods," warned the letter fromthe Park Slope Improvement Committee, which hasdevoted most of its energies since its inception to combatting the plans of a community development organization, the Fifth Avenue Committee.Disagreements between the two groups have flared upin public before, most notably on the issue of what sortof development best suits a large open lot known as theCITY LIMITS/January 1981 14

Baltic Street site. The Improvement Committee hasbacked a plan for a large supermarket on the site, whileFifth Avenue Committee has urged a mixture of subsidized housing and commercial use. The latest round ofconflict, however, has spilled over far beyond thememberships of either group, and concerns not just thedevelopment of one site but the course of the entirearea. And the outlines of the debate are familiar fromother neighborhoods around the city wherever largenumbers of middle income people and the poor havecompeted unevenly for housing and space.

Already the fall out from the 10,000 free copies of theletter has resulted in multiple lengthy responses and rejoinders from residents in The Phoenix, a Brooklynweekly; a resignation from the Improvement Committeeby a member who felt slighted at not being informed ofthe letter's preparation and distribution; calls for the


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ouster of the chairman of the community board's housing committee and a large public meeting where the letter and its writers were dubbed "racis ts and elitists".According to the letter, federal officials believe theyhave found a home for "$10 million in Section 8 (housing subsidies)" in Park Slope after having been rebuffedby other parts of Brooklyn's brownstone belt in BoerumHill, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. The letter listsseveral projects sponsored by the Fifth Avenue Committee where it is "quietly attempting to construct buildings (or convert present structures) for Section 8 orother subsidized rentals."Listing several New York City Public Housing Authority projects within a one-mile radius of Park Slope,the letter states,"As you know we are already surfeitedwith subsidized housing developments in our areas. Thetremendous fallout from compacted subsidized housing, just in terms o fcrime (original emphasis), affects usall. Our area has more than its share of these projects.The balance must not be destroyed . . .We all know whathappened to Red Hook when it became overcrowdedwith subsidized housing. Should we have the FifthAvenue Committee push us along that road?""We've linked up with the Fort Greene Coalition, agroup in Clinton Hill which is working a little morequietly, and the Boerum Hill Association, which hassuccessfully resisted low income housing," said DavidBrennan recently, whose signature came at the bottom

of the open letter which went out on the letterhead ofthe Improvement Committee with all officers listed."We think that subsidies as a whole ought to bedirected at neighborhoods where the private marketwon't come in, not to places where it is already active.We are saying enough of this in our community;' saidBrennan.The private market has been more than merely activein the Park Slope area in recent years. Large numbers ofbrownstones and large limestone apartment houses havebeen either purchased by individual homeowners orconverted to cooperative housing by owners. Price tagsof $200 000 and up for a brownstone, or in excess of$75,000' for a co-op are not uncommon. The resultingeffect on the low and moderate income members of thecommunity has been one of rapid and, almost, universaldisplacement. Along the Fifth Avenue corridor, at thebase of Park Slope, where building abandonment anddeterioration took a strong toll in the past, revitalizationis catching on as well. "We are trying to stabilize theneighborhood and provide affordable housing to thepeople that still live here," said Rebecca Reich, development director for the Fifth Avenue Committee. TheFifth Avenue group's current plans call for 100 subsidized units to be included in new construction of owneroccupied buildings on the Baltic Street site, another 25units on Warren Street in rehabilitated housing, and anadditional 20 units to be rehabilitated in sweat equitylow income co-ops on three other sites.

15

At a public meeting on December 9th called by theFifth Avenue Committee to explain its developmentplans to the public, and apparently in response to thecirculation of the open letter, details were offered oneach of the proposals. Most of the over 130 in attendance at the meeting were highly supportive of thegroup's plans and many were visibly angry at theauthors of the letter, some of whom were present. "Iwas highly insulted by the absurd letter I found in mymail box," said one Park Slope brownstone owner."Some of the reasons I wanted to live here are becausethe area is racially, economically, and sexually integrated. I would like to see it remain that way. It's oddthat subsidies as such are labelled in the letter as such athreat, but no mention is made of the substantial subsidies homeowners receive via the tax laws and the lowvaluation of the buildings."The angriest comments came from residents of twonearby housing projects. "You have some nerve tryingto come here and throw our names around," said IbonMuhammed. "I don't mug people and I live in a project. She doesn't mug people and she lives there. Youhave absolutely no compassion," said Muhammed addressing James Malone, a board member of the ParkSlope Improvement Committee who was present.Apparently the speed with which the ImprovementCommittee moved to release its broadside may havebackfired to some extent. One member of the Committee, Pat Zedalis, angrily resigned after seeing her namelisted on the letter which she said she did not see beforeit went out. "I was never consulted." she said recently."I disagree with the total concept of the letter which wastotally wrongheaded. I also felt that the letter hadundertones of racism."The letter has caused an even bigger flap for LewtonSmith, who, until recently, was Chairman of the ParkSlope Improvement Committee and one of its most outspoken members. According to Brennan, officers of theCommittee were changed just three days before the letter went out and there was not adequate time for the letterhead to be changed. Smith's precarious positionstems from his chairmanship of Community BoardHousing Committee which must evaluate all proposalsfor development on the area, and make recommendations to the Communi ty Board as a whole.

At a Community Board meeting on December 10,Hank Terjen, President of the Fifth Avenue Committeecalled for Smith's resignation due to what he said was aconflict of interest between his Community Board position and his professed views opposing subsidized housing in Park Slope. Community Board Chairman AnitaDiMartini said she would take the matter under advisement. In response to the call for his ouster, Smith insisted to the full board that he had had no part in drafting the letter, and that he is no longer the Chairman ofthe Improvement Committee, but merely a boardmember. 0



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State Banking Bill: Who Got Whatby Roger Hayes

" I t was something no one, especially myself, reallywanted to do, but we had to do it," said AssemblyBanking Committee Chairman Herman (Denny) Farrell(D-Man.), commenting on the recently passed OmnibusBank Bill. The passage of this bill effectively terminatesNew York State's long standing practice of regulatinginterest rates on most consumer lending: credit cards,automobile loans, personal loans. Mortgage interestrates had already been deregulated in June when Congress passed legislation eliminating all state ceilings formortgage rates.Because of the landmark nature of the decision togive up regulation and to let the market determine interest rates, Farrell said the bill was passed with a "sun-set" provision in it for 30 months. During that time,aspecial committee of the legislature will be monitoringthe effects of the bill to document any outrageous "rip-offs". Farrell said the recent climb of the prime rate to21"10 was further evidence that, in his opinion, the statehad to get out of the business of regulating interestrates. "W e had no choice; either we keep regulation andno bank offers any credit anyway; or we agree to deregulate and then at least some consumers can decide forthemselves whether or not they want to spend the moneyto meet the high payments."So the commercial banks got pretty much what theywanted on this issue. But, the savings banks also scoreda major victory with this bill, although at some cost.State-chartered savings banks were given the samepowers as federally chartered banks, so they will now beallowed to engage in more types of lending, especially tocorporations, will be less restricted in the number ofbranches they can apply for each year, and will have thepower to offer re-negotiable rate mortgages. Savingsbanks have been complaining for over a year that theywere at a competitive disadvantage to their brothers andsisters who were federally chartered. Either give us thesame authority, they told the state, or we'll apply to thefederal government for a charter.The legislature gave the savings banks the powers theywanted but also incorporated some of the anti-redliningprovisions the New York City Coalition Against Redlining had been advocating. All state regulations dealingwith the Federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)now in effect on an interim basis have been made part ofpermanent statute. This means that state charteredbanks will have to meet the same community reinvestment criteria that the federal regulatory agencies requirebefore a bank is granted a branch or merger. Practicallyspeaking, this means that local anti-redlining groupswill have two places where they can challenge redliningbanks instead of just one. Also, the State BankingCITY LIMITS/January 1981 16

Department will now receive $250,000 to fund a staff tomonitor banks' compliance with CRA.Another provision in this new bill attempts to discourage mortgage lending outside of New York State.Under existing legislation a bank cannot lend more than20% of its total assets in mortgages outside of New YorkState or the surrounding adjoining states. The new provision deletes this'adjoining states loophole: but allowsbanks to lend mortgages up to 75 miles from any oftheir offices. The language of the bill states that forevery mortgage loan made outside the 75-mile limit,there has to be a mortgage lent to someone inside thisarea. A cumbersome regulation for banks, but it should,at least by default, make banks more willing to lendmortgages inside New York State.

The statute also contains vague language referring toanother major issue for community groups: makingbanks actively assess the credit needs in the communitieswhere they have branches. Although the bill stops shortof requiring banks to submit yearly credit needs reportsto the Superintendent of Banking - something CARhas been advocating -, t does list as one of the criteriafor compliance with CRA the extent to which the bankstake the initiative to ascertain the credit needs of thecommunity. The bill also, for the first time, opens upthe CRA evaluation process to a "sunshine" provision:all written correspondence between the banks and theDepartment of Banking regarding the banks' compliance with CRA is now to be provided to the public uponrequest. There are obvious ways that both bankers andbureaucrats can. subvert this provision (e.g., havingphone conversations instead of writing letters), but forthe first time the concept of making public the regulatory agency's evaluation of the banks' CRA performance has the weight of law. This regulation shouldalso serve to remind state CRA examiners that localanti-redlining organizations will be reviewing their dealings with banks .Finally, the bill authorizes new bonding authority forthe State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) soit can raise money to purchase old mortgages frombanks and provide banks with funds to lend out newmortgages. In the past SONYMA has received muchcriticism for its lack of any meaningful targeting ofthese funds to the low and moderate income neighborhoods that need them; and where SONYMA money hasbeen used in these neighborhoods it frequently has furthered displacement of long-time residents. The new billrequired substantially more targeting of the money -one-third to residents in low and moderate incomeneighborhoods - 'and also, for the first time, providessome of the money to be used to purchase dwellings


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larger than four units. The legislation also requires thatSONYMA submit a report to the legislature on howit intends to enforce compliance of these targetingprovisions.Taken as a whole, the banks made out very well withthis bill, as befits an industry with one of the most highpowered lobbying operations in Albany. But anti-red-lining activists are encouraged that some pro-neighborhood provisions were adopted in the final version. Asone person from the Coalition Against Redlining put it:"W e now have a few more tools to work with; we neverexpect anything to be given to us by the banks, anyway,so we were not too disheartened when we did not wineverything we would have liked. Our whole strategy hasbeen based on getting the banks and regulatory agenciesto react to pressure. That strategy will obviously have tobe continued." 0

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- ~ - - - ~ - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - -o: The Editors, CITY LIMITS115 East 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010Please enter my subscription to CITY LIMITS.Individuals and community-based organizations:o One year $6 (ten issues) 0 Two years $10 (twenty issues)Private businesses, foundations. banks, government agencies and officialsand city-wide groups:o One year $20 0 Two years $35Group rates available.Enclosed is my check for $ , payable to ANHD / CITY LIMITS.Name: ____________________________________________________________________Address: ______________________________________________________________



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SHARING HOUSING PROFITS-Page 4WEST SIDE BATTLER - Page 9WEEKSVILLE COLONY - Page 10ROAR IN PARK SLOPE - Page 14NEW BANKING BILL - Page 16

On December 5th, the Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, a community group in the HuntsPoint-Longwood section of the Bronx, opened the first of21 rehabilitated apartments at 936, 940 and 944 KellyStreet. Rehabilitated under the city's Sweat Equity program, with Chemical Bank providing the constructionloan, the buildings were rescued from demolition in 1977. Rehab work on the buildings was done by thecooperators who will live in the apartments and local youth employed under a CErA program. Banana Kellyalso cut the ribbon on its new community park adjoining the buildings, which was transformed from wreckageand debris to comprise a Kiddie Park, a sitting area and a handball court.

City Limits115 East 23rd StreetNew York, N.Y. 10010

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city limits magazine, january 1981 issue

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