City Limits Magazine, December 1989 Issue

December 1989
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2 • CITY LIMITS
Citv Lintits
Volume XIV Number 10
City Limits is published ten times per year.
monthly except double issues in june/july
and August/September. by the City Limits
Community Information Service. Inc .. a non-
profit organization devoted to disseminating
information concerning neighborhood
revitalization.
Sponsors
Association for Neighborhood and
Housing Development. Inc.
New York Urban Coalition
Pratt Institute Center for Community and
Environmental Development
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Board of Directors'
Harriet Cohen. Community Service
Society
Robert Hayes. Coalition for the Homeless
Rebecca Reich
Andrew Reicher. UHAB
Richard Rivera. Puerto Rican Legal
Defense and Education Fund
Tom Robbins
Ron Shiffman. Pratt Center
Esmerelda Simmons. Center for Law and
Social justi ce
jay Small. ANHD
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Copyright © 1989. All Rights Reserved. No
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EDITORIAL
Opportunity Knocks
The demise of Edward I. Koch and the recent ascent of David N. Dinkins
signals the beginning of a new era for New York City-and for City Limits.
Much of our existence has been spent badgering, pummeling and exposing
the often short-sighted policies of the Koch administration. The mayor
credits himself with the city's fiscal recovery, but our reporting has shown,
month after month, how the city's so-called resurrection occurred at the
expense of the poor. Edward Koch leaves behind him a city with a wealth
of luxury towers, a dearth of affordable housing, and almost 100,000
homeless individuals.
Not all ofthis falls squarely on Koch's shoulders. It was Ronald Reagan
who robbed the city of billions of dollars in federal aid-but our outspoken
mayor was strangely quiet when it came to fighting the federal government's
vicious campaign against programs for the poor. The result, as the mayor's
own Interagency Council Task Force recently reported, is that one-quarter
of all New Yorkers now live in poverty.
The historic election of David Dinkins now offers new hope for funda-
mental change. Policy choices that preserve and create housing for racially
and economically mixed communities. Comprehensive planning that
balances citywide and community needs. A commitment to look beyond the
conventional wisdom of handing out tax abatements and city-owned land to
major developers and encourage instead the growth of nonprofit, commu-
nity-based projects. By doing this, David Dinkins can ensure that New York
City neighborhoods become a place where the "gorgeous mosaic" can
flourish.
A loosely knit coalition of housing activists and nonprofit developers has
been working on a platform that promotes this vision. Many of the ideas
behind these princi pIes are discussed at length by our board members in this
month's issue.
We hope the new mayor will take a look. As he came closer to capturing
the mayoralty, we couldn't help but notice that the coterie of "regular"
Democrats and New York power brokers surrounding him expanded rap-
idly. By the time he was elected we had to strain to see the energetic
progressives from his staff at the borough president's office. We hope
Mayor-elect Dinkins seizes this opportunity to dramatically recast the city's
policies on housing, homelessness and community development and we
await his vigorous advocacy for the city in Albany and on Capitol Hill.
• • •
State housing officials are to be applauded for recognizing that marriage
is not the only way to define a family. Property owners have used the
traditional definition of a family to evict the survivirig partners of AIDS
victims from rent-regulated apartments. If the surviving partner isn't named
on the lease, landlords have filed for an eviction. The elderly, disabled and
others who have formed nontraditional families have also been at risk. The
Rent Stabilization Association has won a stay from state Supreme Court,
preventing regulations protecting nontraditional family members from
taking effect. Justice demands that human rights take precedence over
property rights. 0
"'X.523
INSIDE
FEATURES
Breaking New Ground 10
Housing advice to the new mayor from five members
of the City Limits board of directors.
The Great New York Giveaway 16
Are the city's zoning regulations serving anyone
besides developers?
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial
Opportunity Knocks .. .. ... ....... ... ... .......... ..... ... ..... .. 2
Short Term Notes
Housing Court for Sale ............. .... .... ........ .... ... .... . 4
Foster Care Decision .......... ... ............. ................ .. . 4
Homeless Again ......... .... ........ ... .. .. ...... .... .... .. .... ... . 5
Homesteading for Doctors Axed .. ... ..................... 5
Waterfront Dollars ..... ...... ..... ..... ............ ....... ... ..... 6
Neighborhood Notes .......... ......... ................. .... ......... 7
Profile
The Toxic Avengers Take Brooklyn ..... .... ...... ..... 8
Pipeline
Housing at Risk .... .... ..... ..... .......... ................. ...... 20
Letters ......................... .. ....... ...... ...... ... .. .................. .. 21
December 1989 • 3
Toxic Avengers/Page 8
New Ground/Page 10
Giveaway/Page 16
4 • CITY LIMITS
SHORT TERM NOTES
HOUSING COURT
FOR SALE
New York City landlords
can now have the names of a
prospective tenant run through
a computer check that will
reveal if he or she has ever
been taken to court by another
landlord. But judges and
tenant activists say the
information is misleading and
often inaccurate.
The Registry, a five-year-
old Washington, D.C.-based
company, began compiling
names of tenants who were
the subject of housing court
cases in New York City about
a year ago. According to the
company's president, Stephen
Rabbitt, employees go to the
city's courthouses and compile
information that's in the public
record. The firm's database
now includes tenants named
in housing court cases filed in
1988 through this year.
For $15, a landlord can
submit the name of a prospec-
tive tenant to find out if the
individual has ever been the
subject of an eviction or
nonpayment suit here or in
more than 130 other \'urisdic-
tions. The Registry wil even
provide a landlord with
records of tenants with names
that are similar to the tenant in
question.
While the general public is
allowed to request just one
document at a time from
housing court clerks, Registry
employees apparently were
given stacks of filings. In July,
Judge Margaret Taylor found
a woman sitting near the court
clerk's office taking notes from
approximately 25 new
petitions. A s ~ ~ d why she had
so many petitions, the woman
told Judge Taylor she was a
court employee. Judge Taylor
says she asked the woman,
who was sitting in a public
area, for her supervisor's
name. The woman then
admitted she worked for the
Registry, according to Judge
Taylor.
Judge Taylor called Judge
Jacqueline Silberman, chief
administrative judge of
housing court, to complain
about this favored treatment.
Judge Taylor says she was
promised the practice would
not continue. But Judge
Silberman admits it wasn't
until October that Registry
employees were banned from
the courthouses.
Both judges agree that the
information compiled by the
firm is incomplete. "Basically
they only wanted to know that
a petition is filed," says Judge
Silberman. "A petition filed is
not the same as a judgement."
But even a judgement does not
necessarily reflect extenuating
circumstances or that the
tenant was wrong for with-
holding the rent, she adds.
Maria Mottola of the City-
wide Task Force on Housing
Court is also disturbed by this
use of court records. "Whether
it's legal or illegal, it's cer-
tainly unethical," she says.
"That kind of information is
very misleading."
Rabbitt contends that the
Registry provides complete
and up-to-date information in
accordance with the federal
Fair Credit Reporting Act. He
says the inspiration for his
company came from a
California organization called
U.D. Registry (UDR), which
provides a similar service to
landlords. U.D. Registry is the
subject of a lawsuit filed by
nine Los Angeles-area tenants
who charge the reports are
incomplete and fail to note
when a tenant's claims are
upheld in court. David Pallack,
a legal services attorney
representing the tenants, says,
"If UDR is a standard, it's
pretty scary."
Although the Registry is no
longer able to use the clerk's
office to get housing court
records, it may soon have a
new source for landlord/
tenant court data. The Registry
and a Pennsylvania-based
competitor, American Tenant
Screen, are negotiating with
New York State's Office of
Court Administration for
computerized access. Harold
Wolfe, a court administration
spokesperson, says a proposal
to sell the firms data tapes is
currently being considered. 0
Doug Turetsky
-.. ~
Easier than walking down the hall:
A computerized service gives tenant records to landlords.
FOSTER CARE
DECISION
In a decision that could
have broad-reaching effects,
State Supreme Court Justice
Elliot J. wilk recently ruled
that welfare agencies cannot
cut a family's welfare pay-
ments and housing subsidies
when the children are placed
in foster care.
Russell Smith, an attorney
for the Coalition for the Home-
less, which brought the class
action lawsuit on behalf of
families with children in foster
care, says the decision could
affect 10,000 to 15,000
families in the state.
Grace Campfield, a plain-
tiff in the suit, is a homeless
mother of two who decided
her children could no longer
endure a welfare hotel and
placed them in temporary
foster care. Government
agencies responded by taking
away her Aid to Families with
Dependant Children (AFDC)
and her emergency housing
benefits, forcing her out of the
Allerton Annex for welfare
mothers.
"They threw her out in the
streets because her kids were
in foster care," says Smith.
"It's back to the 1800s laissez
faire attitude toward the
homeless. The state should do
whatever they can to help.
Instead, they are actively
harming the children."
The defendants in the suit
were the state's Division of
Social Services (DSS), which
provides part of the money for
AFDC and city's Human Re-
sources Administration (HRA),
which administers the pro-
gram and provides some
funding .
Justice wilk ruled that by
cutting off Campfield's $539 a
month benefit, government
agencies made it impossible
for her to arrange visits by her
five-year-old son, Kashmer,
and her nine-year-old daugh-
ter, Sharmika, let alone at-
tempt to find an apartment so
her family could be reunited.
wilk ordered the city and
state to restore the welfare
payments and also ruled that
their actions were unconstitu-
tional and violated federal
and state welfare regulations.
Federal law stipulates that
states receiving foster care
funds should make "reason-
able efforts" to reunite families
and a state legislative require-
ment obligates the state to
reunite a family "if a child has
alreadxleft home." Wilk said
the welfare agencies ignored
. those rules.
The city and state placed
blame on Campfield's shoul -
ders, accusing her of not pro-
viding a decent home for her
children. wilk did not accept
the argument. "Despite the
devastating effect the reduction
of benefits has had on Grace
Campfield' s life, " he wrote in
his nine-page decision, "the
papers submitted suggest that
the primary obstacle to reunifi -
cation has been her inability to
find adequate, affordable
housing."
Cases on these points are
before the courts in a number
of states, including Massachu-
setts, Utah and Arizona, ac-
cording to Smith of the Coali -
tion for the Homeless. "Justice
wilk's decision will become
the leading case in the
country. He has stated, in no
uncertain terms, that the state's
policy is wrong and the ...
number one obligation, when
you have children in foster
care, is to reunite the family."
Soon after the ruling was
announced, the New York
State Assembly passed a bill
sponsored by Brooklyn Assem-
blyman AI Vann, prohibiting
the state from cutting off rent
and heat subsidies for parents
who have children in foster
care.
Some foster care groups
are concerned that the ruling
and the law could be open to
abuse because it preserves
welfare payments to parents
who may have harmed their
children. "It's this tipping of
the scales in terms of the
family and forgetting the best
interest of the child that raises
concern," says Edith Holzer,
sl?okesperson for the Council
of child Caring Agencies.
Nonetheless, she strongly
supports the decision because
it gives families who may have
problems-whether it's finding
a home or dealing with an
addiction-the resources to
help solve that problem. "If
you render someone home-
less," she adds, "you are
certainly not moving them
closer to becoming a better
parent."
As City Limits goes to press,
wilk's decision is waiting to be
signed into law. It is not known
whether HRA or DSS will ap-
peal the decision. 0 Cory
Johnson
HOMELESS
AGAIN
In the spring of 1987,
Corrie Tillman thought she
was starting a new life when
she and her three children
moved from a welfare hotel to
a two-bedroom apartment in
South Ozone Park, Queens
that was subsidized through a
city rehousing program. Two
and a half years later, the
Tillmans are back in the the
shelter system because the rent
subsidy-the Emergency
Assistance Rehousing Program
(EARP)-expired and her rent
bill leaped more than 200
percent.
"I just keep going around
in a circle," says the 31-
year-old mother whose rent
increased from $281 per
month to $725 per month.
"It's outrageous."
Tillman is one of about
1,000 families who may soon
be facing a return to home-
lessness because the EARP
program does not ensure the
long-term affordability of
apartments. "It's a problem
with systemic dimensions that
need to be addressed, " says
Steve Banks, supervising attor-
ney with the Legal Aid
Society's Homeless Family
Rights Project.
Run by the Human
Resources Administration
(HRA), the EARP program
gives cash incentives to land-
lords who rent apartments to
homeless families. However,
the subsidy is only provided
for 32 months and when it
runs out, families must con-
front the same problem of
finding affordable housing
that pushed them into home-
lessness in the first place.
"When you move into an
EARP apartment, it's like play-
ing a roulette wheel. .. you
can' t look at it as permanent,"
says Mary Abbate, who
counsels homeless families at
the Forest Hills Community
House.
Evictions in the EARP pro-
gram "certainly happen," ac-
cording to program director
Michael Handy. Handy says
HRA is reviewing the situation
but still "trying to establish the
number of the phenomena we
are experiencing."
The Partnership for the
Homeless has seen "at least a
couple dozen, maybe more"
families facing eviction from
EARP rentals, according to
Peter Smith, the organization's
president.
When the program first
started, EARP rental allow-
ances were set at public assist-
ance rates. An enhanced
EARP began last January tying
federal Section 8 housing
subsidies to the program and
significantly increasing rent
payments to the landlord.
Homeless advocates are
struggling to ensure that EARP
tenants can renew their leases
at reduced rates or be given a
priority spot for newly reha-
bilitated city housing. So far
they' ve met with very limited
success. 0 Mary Keefe
HOMESTEADING
FOR DOCTORS
AXED
An innovative city program
designed to bring quality pri-
mary health care to low in-
come communities was termin-
ated recently as part of the
mayor's attempts to reduce the
city's $530 million budget
deficit. Some health advocates
say the program was doomed
from the start because of poor
planning and a limited finan-
cial commitment from the city.
"It was a good idea but it
had a lot of problems," says
Anjean Carter, a health re-
searcher for the Community
Service Society. Carter says
that the the project, known as
the Physicians Homesteading
Program, would have required
ongoing subsidies to provide
quality care to patients who
are uninsured or on Medicaid.
Run by the Health and Hos-
pitals Corporation (HHC), the
program was launched in
1 987 to encourage doctors to
set up private practices in
areas where the major sources
of family medical care are
December 1989 • 5
overburdened emergency
rooms and for-profit facilities
that herd hundreds of
Medicaid patients through
their offices every day.
Five practices, in the Bronx,
Brooklyn and Queens, were
!;liven three-year contracts,
$50,000 seed money for start-
ur costs and a $70,000 line
o credit for operating
expenses. One of the unique
aspects of the HHC program
was that the private physicians
were granted affiliations with
area hospitals, enabling them
to admit and treat their
patients there, if necessary.
HHC hoped that after three
years the practices would be
financially self-sufficient.
Last year, however, it be-
came apparent that the initial
funds had been inadequate
and each practice received an
additional $100,000. But in
February of 1989 the Wil-
liamsburg, Brooklyn practice
closed down and now only
one of the practices, run by a
husband and wife team in
South Jamaica, Queens is self-
sufficient and serving primar-
ily Medicaid patients. The
other practices in Queens and
the Bronx are continuing, now
!reating mo.stly privately
Insured patients.
According to Gus Stead-
man, a senior analyst at the
Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), the decision to
abandon the project was as
much a result of fiscal con-
straints as the fact that "on the
whole, the doctors' practices
just weren't working ... they
weren't seeing the patients we
needed them to see."
Among the insurmountable
obstacles confronting the pro-
gram, according to OMB and
HHC, were the low reimburse-
ment rates ($11 per patient
visit) for private physicians
treating Medicaid patients.
Also, in many of the communi-
ties patients were reluctant to
stop using the local "Medicaid
mills" or hospital emergency
rooms for basic health care.
Carter from the Community
Service Society believes that
small, private practices could
be an effective way to take
primary health care out of
6 • CITY LIMITS
emergency rooms and into
communities. She criticizes
the city's short term, low-
budget commitment to the
homesteading doctors, saying,
"It can take up to five years
for a practice to be self
supporting."
Some physicians say HHC,
which focuses primarily on
hospital administration, was
inexperienced in setting up
private practices and sug-
gested it should not have been
the agency overseeing the
program.
Dr. Denise de Veranez,
who owns the South Jamaica
practice with her husband,
attributes their success to the
fact that their practice was
requested by the community.
But she adds that she and her
husband do not make a profit
on their community practice,
and they moonlight in
hospitals to make a living.
Some health advocates de-
scribe the decision to cancel
the program as emblematic of
the city's "penny wise, pound
foolish," approach to health
care, where primary and pre-
ventative care is cut back
before "high-tech" hospital
care in times of a budget
crunch. HHC spokesman Fred
Winters declined to comment
in detail on the program. 0
Margo Schneidman
WATERFRONT
DOLLARS
The city' s planning depart-
ment has been awarded
$450,000 for a two-year
project to develop a compre-
hensive plan for the city' s
578-mile waterfront. More
than half the money will be
provided by the United
Nations Development Corpo-
ration (UNDCl, a quasi-public
agency headed by Thomas
Appleby, a former city
housing commissioner and
federal Department of
Housing and Urban Develop-
ment regional administrator.
According to Appleby,
Mayor Edward Koch wrote to
UNDC Chairman Matthew
Nimetz in July, requesting
$275,000 to begin the water-
front study. To illustrate the
need for the study Koch
pointed to areas like long
Island City and Greenpoint,
where much of the waterfront
is dormant. UNDC agreed to
provide the funds, wnich will
be bolstered by money from
the state Coastal Management
Program and consulting ser-
vices from the Port Authority.
Wilbur Woods, who will
head the study project, says it
will tie together more than a
dozen studies already under-
way within a balanced Frame-
work. "Our goal is to set poli-
cies and priorities and to iden-
tify opportunities, local land
use trends and guidelines For
redevelopment. "
But some critics of the city's
development policies question
UNDC's involvement. "It's a
bit troubling that any develop-
ment corporation should be
getting involved in planning. It
needs to be asked, 'Are there
any strings attached?'" says
Katherine Kennedy of the
Natural Resources Defense
Council's Urban law Center.
Martha Ritter, a spokesper-
son For the Department of City
Planning, concedes that there
is little precedent for a devel-
opment organization to fund a
public agency. City planner
Michelle Mangieri says
UNDC's role will be "ex-
tremely limited" and the
planning department will not
be accountable to the corpo-
ration.
But the city's planning de-
partment will draw periodi-
cally on the UNDC funds,
submitting Financial and
narrative reports to the
corporation. Appleby says
that if UNDC is dissatisFied
with these reports Funding can
be halted.
The United Nations Devel-
opment Corporation was cre-
ated by the state legislature in
1968 to construct and
manage a hotel, housing,
oFFices and other facilities For
the United Nations. UNDC
has also been involved in
developing plans For Roosevelt
Island and the Melrose area of
the Bronx. The Melrose project
drew the ire of the South
Bronx People for Change be-
cause it excluded housing for
low income people.
The new study also calls
into question the role of the
Public Development Corpora-
tion (PDCl, the agency named
by Koch in December 1985 to
lead the city's waterfront de-
velopment eFForts. In its July
1986 report to the mayor, the
agency noted, "PDC has
embarked on a variety of
long-term planning efforts to
facilitate the development of
our waterfront. We believe it
is important to look beyond
project-specific needs to the
broader issues, processes and
trends that can aFFect how we
do waterfront development."
PDC spokesperson lee Sil-
berstein says the planning
department' s study will not
alter PDC's basic role. "We've
always worked closely with
city planning. The PDC's role
is to implement the projects,"
says Silberstein. 0 Tom
Matrullo
"COMMITMENT"
Since 1980 HEAT has provided low cost home heating oil. burner and boiler repair services.
and energy management and conservation services to largely minority low and middle income
neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
As a proponent of economic empowerment for revitalization of the city's communities. HEAT is
committed to assisting newly emerging managers and owners of buildings with the reduction of
energy costs (long recognized as the Single most expensive area of building management).
HEAT has presented tangible opportunities for tenant associations, housing coops. churches.
community organizations. homeowners and small businesses to gain substantial savings and
lower the costs of building operations.
Working collaboratively with other community service organizations with similar goals. and
working to establish its viability as a business entity. HEAT has committed its revenue gener-
ating capacity and potential to providing services that work for. and lead to. stable. productive
communities.
Throulh the primary service of providing low cost home heating oil, various heating
plant services and energy management services, HEAT members have collectively
saved over $5.1 million.
HOUSING ENERGY ALLIANCE FOR TENANTS COOP CORP.
853 BROADWAY, SUITE 414, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 (212'505-0286
If you are interested in leaming more about HEAT,
or if you are interested in becoming a HEAT member,
caR or write the HEAT office.
Bronx
Morrisania residents recently no-
ticed that rapid gut rehabilitation
work on a seven-block cluster of
buildings near Crotona Park has
ground to a complete halt. Is this a
sign that the city' s 10-year plan has
slowed down now that electioneer-
ing is over? "Nothing has stopped,"
says Catie Marshall , a spokesperson
for the Department of Housing Pres-
ervation and Development (HPD).
Commenting on the Morrisania site,
which is part of the Construction
Management Program, she says, "The
buildings are in the second phase of
demolition. Cranes will be arriving
to continue the work."
Brooklyn
More than 50 members of Brooklyn
Ecumenical Cooperatives (BEC) re-
cently joined big-time city develop-
ers on a bus tour of a Red Hook site
owned by the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey. The Port Au-
thority issued a request for propos-
als for developing the 159-acre wa-
terfront site and BEC, a coalition of
churches, synagogues and two hos-
pitals, is putting together a plan for
up to 4,000 units of low, moderate
and market-rate housing. "This
community wants a chance to resur-
rect," says Richard Harmon, general
manager of the organization. "We
need housing that will not lead to
displacement ... "
Last month an Asian youth, Andy
Woo, was beaten by a group of black
and Latino teenagers in Sea Gate.
After the beating incident, residents
held a meeting to discuss safety is-
sues in the low income community
that has recently had an influx of
moderate income Asians who have
purchased homes developed by the
New York City Partnership and the
Astella Development Corporation.
Although the racial tension has not
been eliminated, Mini Liu, a mem-
ber of the Committee Against
Asian-American Violence, says,
"There was a very good feeling after
the meeting. The residents realized
they had clear, common interests and
they formed a neighborhood safety
patrol that includes blacks, Asians
and Latinos. "
Manhattan
The city recently announced plans
to work with the Consortium for
Central Harlem Development to re-
vitalize 16 square blocks in the Brad-
hurst-Edgecombe neighborhood. The
consortium, which includes
churches , the New York Urban Coa-
lition, the Harlem Urban Develop-
ment Corporation and business and
arts groups, will sponsor at least 1,700
housing units, making it the largest
concentrated rehabilitation effort
within the city' s 10-year housing
December 1989 • 7
plan. The new housing will include
homeownership units, as well as a
mixture of housing for homeless, low
and moderate income families. Mayor
Edward Koch says, "This redevelop-
ment effort is the result of the ex-
traordinary cooperation between
elected officials, in particular David
Dinkins and Charlie Rangel, and the
strong community groups in the
Central Harlem area. We've been
awaiting this day for a long time."
The plan, which has been on the
drawing board for more than a year,
appears to have been fast tracked
after Dinkins ' mayoral victory.
Queens
When Carmen and Raymond
Mariani, a Puerto Rican couple, were
denied an apartment in a building in
Ridgewood they suspected the rea-
son was race. They decided to go to
court and charge the building owner
and the real estate firm with violat-
ing federal fair housing laws. More
than three years after the incident, a
federal jury awarded the Marianis
$20,000 in punitive damages, to be
provided by Banat Realty, and the
owners of the Queens building, Saban
and Kaja Bajrktarvic. The defendants
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8 • CITY LIMITS
PROFILE
The Toxic Avengers Take Brooklyn
BY MARGUERITE HOLLOWAY
IT WAS A HOT, HAZY MORNING
in mid July when they set out. Bran-
dishing colorful banners, a throng of
young activists swept through the
streets of Williamsburg, chanting
their message loud and clear.
"What do we want?"
"Radiac out!"
"When do we want it?"
"Now!"
Their words reverberated through
the air and local residents woke up
that Saturday morning to the poten-
tial danger of hazardous waste stored
in a nearby building owned by the
Radiac Research Corporation.
Who were these unmasked youth?
The Toxic Avengers of El Puente, a
group of organizers distinguished by
their age, their energy and their
abhorrence of environmental racism.
"Environmental racism is when
they put companies in neighborhoods
that are very, very poor, where most
of the people in the neighborhood
don't understand what is going on,"
explains Ramon (Munchie) Santiago,
20, one of two newly elected leaders
of the group. "A lot of people think
in an Hispanic neighborhood 'They
won't care.'"
The Radiac march, the Toxic
Avengers' biggest undertaking in the
two years since they formed, proved
that people in Williamsburg do care.
The rally attracted some 80 partici-
pants, including politicians, religious
and community leaders, a bevy of
blue and white vehicles and nearly
50 police officers. Trailing behind
the march was an unmarked black
van that carried a video camera and
two people the Toxic Avengers iden-
tified as Radiac officials.
The march was smoothly directed
in part by Julio (Gilligan) Guzman, a
wiry18 year old, armed with a walkie
talkie and detailed scientific infor-
mation about the dangers ofRadiac's
radioactive waste transfer station.
Just one week earlier, Guzman and
the other Toxic Avengers were not
sure they would attract anyone to
their event. There was sparse public-
ity, confusion about who would
Radiooctive waste in the neighborhood:
The Toxic Avengers protest Radiac's storage facility in Williamsburg.
provide music and security, only
vague commitments to attend from
other community groups and numer-
ous unresol ved philosophical issues.
In their weeki y meeting at El Puente-
an alternative youth center-the 10
core members of the group grappled
with such questions as: When is a
march nota march but a rally? Should
they stress their association with El
Puente, as the leadership ofEI Puente
encouraged them to do? How could
they define a successful march?
Should they join forces with the
Jewish community and try to allevi-
ate tension between the Hasidics and
the Hispanics?
The Rap
The Toxic Avengers, who range in
age from nine to 28, voted on each
item, as they vote on every issue that
arises in their weekly meetings. It ' s
just one part of a consensus approach
that includes opening meetings with
The Rap, where each member talks
about her or his thoughts and frustra-
tions. (Visitors should be prepared
to share their thoughts , frustrations ,
intentions as well as answer ques-
tions such as: How old are you? Are
you married? Have you ever been in
jail?)
"Adultism" is banned from meet-
ings. "Adultism is where adults tell
you what to do, whether it is right or
wrong," explains Santiago. "It is the
main problem. We wouldn't have
been able to organize that march if
there was extreme adultism. They
(adults) would have controlled ev-
erything. "
The Toxic Avengers' en vironmen-
talism is inextricably linked to their
anti-adultist credo. Companies that
pollute act with the same paternal-
ism as older people imposing their
views on younger people. For ex-
ample, "They (Radiacl. didn't care
about people in the community, they
just came in on their high hotse,"
says Toxic Avenger Carlos Rosella.
"Radiac is showing adultism."
Being un-adultist requires con-
stant discipline. Jose Morales, advi-
sor to the Toxic Avengers , appears to
be an average 28-year-old adult , but
he tries not to act like one and is
firmly committed to anti-adultism.
A doctoral candidate in environ-
mental health sciences, Morales
walks a tightrope, alternately advis-
ing and educating the youths about
environmental science and politics,
then stepping back and letting them
chart their own course. If he goes
beyond his boundaries, the group
lets him hear about it. After all , the
Toxic Avengers are as vigilant about
patrolling adultism as they are about
patrolling Williamsburg. When
Morales trips up and unknowingly
"adults," The Rap sets him straight.
The Toxic Avengers grew out of
an environmental science course
Morales taught at El Puente. As a
project, the class monitored an adhe-
sives manufacturer, Van-Man Inc.,
that they said stored barrels of chemi-
cal waste in a residential lot. Stu-
dents gathered samples of chemi-
cals, sent them to be analyzed in a
laboratory, and photographed the
barrels.
The detective work resulted in a
workshop within a conference run
by the Citizens Committee for New
York, the group's funding source,
and the culmination of the work-
shop was the creation of the Toxic
A vengers. The name comes from a
movie advertisement for "Toxic
Avenger," the story of a monster born
of some questionable New Jersey
slime.
Youth Empowerment
"I thought it was wild, a bunch of
young people together fighting (for)
a cause, " says Santiago, describing
why he became a Toxic Avenger.
"The idea of youth empowerment!
And then Radiac really caught my
eye."
Organizing and education are at
the core of the group's mission. The
Toxic Avengers have given presen-
tations at schools and churches. Last
February, they won an award given
by the Citizens Committee. They hope
Toxic Avengers:
Roso Rivero oncl Julio Gurmon.
to create a community environmental
board this spring and their advisor
has dreams of an environmental
institute.
"People in this neighborhood are
concerned and do care," says Ros-
ella. "They (just) don't know what to
do. There is not enough education."
He added that since the march he has
been approached by people through-
out the community who want to learn
more about local environmental is-
sues.
Some of the Toxic Avengers shy
away from science, and prefer organ-
izing. But Morales laces meetings
with scientific information that he
December 1989 • 9
describes as "short and snappy. Not
like school." Given the opportunity,
many of the Toxic A vengers can rattle
off a dizzying array of pollutants and
their hazards. At a public meeting
weeks before the march, they plied
Radiac officials with questions about
evacuation procedures and chemi-
cals. "The president hardly said
anything," says Rosa Rivera, 19, the
group's other leader. "And the fire
commissioner didn't know what to
say at all."
"It looked like those kids had done
their homework," comments Saul
Nieves, a Williamsburg resident who
attended the public meeting and then
the march. "They were able to attack
all their (Radiac's) answers. I was
glad to see that these were the future
leaders of this community."
Halfway through the march, dem-
onstrators arrived in front ofRadiac's
storehouse at 261 Kent Avenue. A
Toxic Avenger with a walkie-talkie
described how Radiac gathers low-
level radioactive waste and trans-
ports it out of the city. Parents and
children stood in front of the build-
ing with signs that proclaimed, "No
Cancer For Our Kids." The police
stood silently beneath the midday
sun and around the corner lurked
the black van.
Looking back on the event, San-
tiago says, "I felt hot. It wasn't the
heat. I was hyped. I felt we could do
anything. " D .
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10 • CITY LIMITS
A City Limits Forum
Breaking New Ground
How the New Mayor Can Help Solve
. the City's Housing Crisis
I
n the city that David Dinkins is about to take over, the housing crisis in an in-
escapable fact of life for almost every resident. Luxury towers may continue to
rise in a few exclusive neighborhoods, but residents of most communities
struggle to find affordable housing. The wait for a public housing unit hovers near
20 years, housing court serves as an unofficial eviction mill and the number of
homeless people living in shelters, shacks and subways increases daily.
At first glance, the city appears to be taking a step in the right direction with its
10-year, $5.1 billion housing plan. Yet critics are raising serious questions about
how and where the money is being spent. Some say that in neighborhoods like the
Lower East Side and Clinton, subsidies for middle income housing will spur gentri-
fication and displacement. Others are concerned that parts of Harlem and the South
Bronx are receiving so many low income families that the city is recreating ghettos.
What's a new mayor to do? Five members of City Limits' board of directors
gathered the day after the election with a moderator to encourage Mayor-elect
Dinkins to break new ground and make po] LCY choices that truly encourage commu-
nity development. Here's an edited version oftheir comments, as well as advice from
grassroots activists from across the city.
HAROLD DERIENZO, Moderator
Executive Director, Consumer-Farmer Foundation, which
funds innovative low income housing efforts. Founding
member, Banana Kelly Community Improvement Asso-
ciation in the South Bronx.
HARRIET COHEN
Director of Housing, Community Service Society. For-
mer member, Rent Guidelines Board. Former director,
NY Neighborhood Anti-Arson Center.
ANDREW REICHER
Executive Director, Urban Homesteading Assistance
Board, which provides technical assistance to tenants
taking control of city-owned buildings. President, Green
Guerillas community gardening association.
RICHARD RIVERA
Attorney, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education
Fund. Chairman, East Harlem Revolving Loan Fund.
Board member, East Harlem Land Trust and Southwest
Bronx Community Coordinating Council.
TOM ROBBINS
Journalist, former editor of City Limits.
JAY SMALL
Executive Director, Flatbush East Community Develop-
ment Corporation, which provides tenant protection,
housing preservation, commercial revitalization and
youth employment programs. Vice president, Associa-
tion for Neighborhood and Housing Development.
GOALS
ANDREW REICHER: What we're looking for from the
mayor is leadership in pushing longer range visions
rather than the short-term, sell-it-now, get some politi-
cal mileage approach of selling to devel-
opers. The current mayor has said that
he's concerned that Dinkins, Messinger
and Holtzman ... will stop development.
Maybe that's true, but that's how we paid
our way to our current prosperity-plus-
crisis. We're looking for leadership to (ad-
vocate) the production of affordable hous-
ing over the long term and to hold the
forces at bay that don't support that goal.
It's like energy conservation, it may not be
sexy but it saves money in the long run.
HARRIET COHEN: I think the vision of
City Limits is an inclusionary New York.
What we've seen in the last many years is
a city that's become polarized, a lot of
people have been pushed out or shipped
out of the city, people are not welcome.
We're trying to create communities where
people can live, feel safe, have services and support to
grow, live and flourish.
REICHER: And we want the new administration to see
community-based efforts as an important resource.
December 1989 • 11
HARRY DERIENZO: There's a whole neighborhood-
based infrastructure that was set up. A lot of the worst
of the city's problems-the crack problem, other prob-
lems-have to be solved through locally based organiza-
tions that address those concerns and provide positive
alternatives.
TOM ROBBINS: We're really looking for the end of the
time when neighborhoods are seen as the opponent as
opposed to the partner.
NOT FOR SALE
COHEN: City-owned property .. .is a resource and you
have to capture it to help solve the housing and home-
lessness crisis.
JAY SMALL: Is there any problem saying we're against
reprivatization?
RICHARD RIVERA: That city-owned land should not be
sold to for-profit developers?
REICHER: And city-owned vacant and occupied build-
ings.
A CHORUS OF VOICES: No POMP (the Private Owner-
ship Management Program).
ROBBINS: Would you really say that? Presumably there
are a few decent developers that can make the program
work.
DERIENZO: What is your goal? That really is the issue.
The goal in the beginning was that the city had to design
programs to get these buildings out of public ownership
(to qualify for federal community development funds.)
ROBBINS: My goal would be long-term affordability.
DERIENZO: You can't ensure long-term affordability
when you have a history of tenant incomes going in one
path and rents going on another path. It's going to
12 • CITY UMITS
converge at some point and you're going to have a crisis.
REICHER: I don't think that anyone would deny that
there are private developers who could do rehab for the
city or do management for non-privately owned build-
ings. But to put them (city-owned buildings) back into
a situation pitting low income residents, whose only
protection would be rent stabilization, against private
owners and their rightful goal to make money, could put
us back into a drastic situation for the community.
DERIENZO: You get back to the situation of churning
ownership. I would say no privatization at all unless
there was some kind of permanent affordability, resale
restrictions and full capitalization.
RIVERA: Since in the next four or five years the buy-out
options on a lot of federally subsidized projects will be
coming up, it becomes are even more important to stabi-
lize the only resources that are available in New York.
ROBBINS: It's not clear to me that you want to throw out
the private sector entirely as some kind of vehicle to do
that.
REICHER: To add profit and the motivation to serve the
highest income possible ... (private ownership) just
doesn't make sense to me when you don't have adequate
resources to assure permanent affordability.
RIVERA: So we've now decided the private sector should
not own it. Who should manage it?
REICHER: There's private, nonprofit managers, commu-
nity groups, tenant self-management, the housing au-
thority if they're interested. There's potential for devel-
oping nonprofit co-ops to do management.
COHEN: We have to work out ways to work with the
good private managers that are out there.
REICHER: But I think we're wise enough to see that
whatever we do now isn't necessarily going to solve the
problem and we're still going to need these units 15, 20,
50 years from now and hopefully we won't have a
situation where the City of New York doesn't have the
resource of owning this real estate. Otherwise, we'll be
facing what every other city in the nation faces, which is
first you have to buy a regular unit from the market at
$85,000 or $100,000 and then you have to rehab it. It's
crazy to give away what we've got only to face that
situation when we haven't solved the problem. So to put
expiring use restrictions (as in the Vacant Building Pro-
gram, under which private developers are buying and
renovating city-owned buildings) just doesn't make any
sense. It's so short sighted and it doesn't even make
sense in the short term.
SAVING HOMES AND TENANTS
COHEN: I think we have to do much more
in terms of code enforcement, housing
court and rent regulations. That's an
important part of the whole picture. The
city could take a more aggressive role in
terms of lobbying for more protections.
SMALL: In terms of protection, commu-
nity consultants (nonprofit organizations
providing, among other things, tenant pro-
tection and housing preservation assis-
tance) got a big cut in the city budget.
Basically they' re cutting the only money
appropriated from the expense budget that
allows non profits to exist.
ROBBINS: What about the idea of having
two agencies? We have a stepchild that's
run by the development side and is given
short shrift. (The Department of) Housing
Preservation and Development is basi-
cally a development office at this point.
COHEN: I think it would depend on how
it was structured. Perhaps two equal divi-
sions under the same roof. The housing
produced needs to be inspected or en-
forced by the other side.
REICHER: What about the property management divi-
sion? Right now we have preservation, which is the
stepchild, then we have this other unrecognized entity.
I think you've got to figure out that each is an important
part of any housing program.
COHEN: I think one of the problems is image. Housing
development is seen as new and sexy and housing
preservation is seen as negative; inspecting, enforcing
and regulating are things that are not as high profile.
SUBSIDIES FOR WHOM?
RIVERA: If I had to choose where to put
my money, I'd put it where people have
the emergency: people who are poor, can't
afford their housing and are dispropor-
tionately black or Latino and other Third
World people. The argument that is al-
ways used is that without subsidies you
can't build middle income housing. But
in a bad situation where you have limited
resources you can't continue to build
market rate housing that people can afford
on their own. Certainly you shouldn't
subsidize housing for people who earn
above $53,000, which is what's happen-
ing in Tibbett Gardens and Seward Park.
DERIENZO: One of the things I found
most interesting about "Missing the Mark"
(the report by the Association for Neigh-
borhood and Housing Development on
the city's 10-year, $5.1 billion housing
plan) was the breakdown between rents
and housing availability (using the state's
definition of a vacancy rate below 5 per-
cent as a housing emergency). One of the things that
might grow out of that is that any direct public subsidy
should go to populations that are housing poor. To do
that would cut off everyone that makes more than $32,000
a year. The approach now is don't worry about the
vacancy rate; all we have to do is increase the supply of
housing and let it trickle down and the housing crisis
will be solved that way.
ROBBINS: I believe the City Limits board thinks there
has to be a percentage of homeless housing in all city
projects.
December 1989 • 13
DERIENZO: That addresses not just part of the housing
need but also one of the complaints the Housing Justice
Campaign made about the way the city has developed
homeless housing.
ROBBINS: I looked into this a little last
winter ... trying to find out why they carne
up with different rules for (what per-
centage of homeless families move into)
community group projects like LISC
(Local Initiatives Support Corporation)
and then the Vacant Buildings Program.
(Housing Commissioner) Biderman said
the owners said forget it, we'll never take
10 percent (of apartments reserved for
the homeless). It'll drive away the people
we're trying to attract. It'll make it unaf-
fordable. But then I spoke to the people
involved in financing and building in
the Vacant Buildings Program and they
said it had never been raised. They said,
in fact, it would probably be doable under
certain circumstances. I think that's one
of the things they (the Koch administra-
tion) have thrown out because they don't
want to do it or in their head it won't
work, so we're not even challenging the
private developers to do it.
ALL LINKED UP
RIVERA: To mean anything linkage has to first look at
the community. There are many communities that have
already defined their own linkage principles. In East
Harlem the linkage principle has been that with every
market rate or middle income unit that is produced, you
14 • CITY LIMITS
have to have one low and one moderate (income unit) as
defined by tlile incomes of that community.
DERIENZO: That's the same definition the Lower East
Side gives to the cross-subsidy plan.
COHEN: His (Dinkins') program is related
to the idea that if you build office space
then you have to build a certain number of
square feet of low income housing.
RIVERA: I'm talking about the principle
of linkage as the city is using it with city-
owned property and with developers who
do development under the lO-year plan.
ROBBINS: Like the Real Estate Board' s
project for East Harlem.
RIVERA: That's right.
munity Board 3 in the Bronx basically our job was to
organize and reconcile all the community reports, the
uptown, downtown and borough stuff. It's not very
difficult to do. What that prevents is what the Koch
ARne Pasmanlck
Scllaal far Hallill Orpllzen
Co_IRy Tral.ll ..... Rllalrce ent.
"The following are a few steps we
should see in a new administration.
One-reform the Rent Guidelines
Board. This mayorally-appointed
board has long been a rubber stamp
for rent increases for New York City's
900,000 rent stabilized households.
ROBBINS: You would say that could go
ahead but it has to generate a certain
number of (lower income) units?
Use subpoena power to provide data on landlord income.
profit and expenses and break tradition by appointing public
members who represent the public. not the banking and real
estate industry.
RIVERA: I would like to see some tie be-
tween the production of low and moder-
ate income units and the speed with which
(developers) go ahead with middle in-
come or market rate development.
DERIENZO: Your assumption seems to be
that you first have to attract the private
sector to take the lead and then link any
public benefit for lower income popula-
tions to that production.
"Two-earmark the substantial funds collected in fiscal
year 1989 by Housing Preservation and Development's
housing litigation bureau from housing court settlements
and judgements to supplement the grossly inadequate
supply of inspectors. Provide for increased inspections.
repairs and services for non-regulated tenants in city owned
buildings.
"Three-fight for housing court reform and state legisla-
tion to reform the laws governing Major Capital Improve-
ment rent increases and co-op and condo conversions."
(Photo by Isa Brito)
RIVERA: If they are going to use city-
owned property to develop market rate
housing, the only way it can conscionably
and productively happen is if you tie that to the devel-
opment oflow and moderate income housing that serves
the people in those communities.
COMMUNITY PLANNING
COHEN: One thing we haven' t talked about is the whole
notion of planning. That's one of our main criticisms of
the lO-year plan. It wasn't based on any kind of a needs
assessment.
SMALL: But what's the planning process? We' re saying
the ideal is economically and racially integrated hous-
ing in all the communities, but it 's not going to happen
spontaneously. There has to be some kind of a central
plan, but there also has to be guidelines so the local
communities can have input.
DERIENZO: When we did the 197a plan (a community-
initiated plan as outlined in the City Charter) for Com-
administration called strategic planning, when they just
went ahead and dumped things, then built in a day-care
center and later they found out there was one around the
corner. You don't take stock of local resources unless
the plan is generated locally and you don't take a city-
wide perspective unless its mandated through a central
authority in terms of what communities should do to
share burdens.
SMALL: There's a layer between the citywide and the
local and that' s the borough level, which hasn't really
operated. Under the new charter it would be even more
problematic. Borough planning is going to have to play
a very important role-that's where a lot of the struggle
among the communities in a borough is going to take
place.
RIVERA: No one seems to be talking about homeowner-
ship opportunities for the poor. There's a model in the
South Bronx, where Don Sakano (of the Archdiocese of
New York) is building two-family homes for families
December 1989 • 15
earning between $17-23,000 and turning (the housing)
into co-ops. If we' re talking about ways to stabilize
neighborhoods, homeownership is one way to do that.
RIVERA: If there's a concrete issue (Dinkins) wants to
work on in the first three months, he can sure work hard
on the anti-warehousing legislation. I'd like to see him
take a aggressive public stand on that. 0
SIGNALS
ROBBINS: I remember Ed Koch de-
fining his housing policy within six
months of taking office. He said: If
you can't afford it move out. As for
people in city-owned housing, he
said if they're not paying the rent,
evict them. We're looking for the
new administration to recognize that
most people have no place to move
and most people can't afford the rent.
And if they' re evicted it's going to
cost you more later and that we've
got to come up with solutions for
these things in an equitable way.
We' re talking about economic inte-
gration, planning, (getting rid of)
certain programs which are throw-
ing valuable stock away to the pri-
vate sector. Those things ought to be
the bottom line.
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16 • CITY LIMITS
FEATURE
The city's zoning laws still bend
and stretch to meet the needs of developers.
BY TODD W. BRESSI
L
and development in New York
is still up for grabs. Bigger build-
ings are rising every day-from
towers in Manhattan to walk-ups in
single-family areas in Queens-pil-
ing more people onto streets and
subways and dramatically changing
neighborhoods. Decisions about what
is constructed are often negotiated
behind closed doors at meetings
where city officials sell the public's
open space, light and air to the high-
est bidder.
This is happening despite the city's
zoning laws, which were created at
the beginning of this century to pro-
tect neighborhood dwellers and the
character of communities by regulat-
ing the size, shape and use of new
construction. In a city where land is
the most valuable commodity, cur-
rent zoning regulations have been
abused so routinely that a broad
spectrum of planners and politicians
are questioning their worth.
Katherine Kennedy, author of a
recent Women's City Club/Natural
Resources Defense Council report
that broadly criticized the city's
zoning policies, puts it bluntly: "The
city's zoning resolution and other
land use regulations have become
meaningless. "
The Department of City Planning
(DCP), which processes applications
for new development and proposes
zoning changes of its own, contends
that matters are improving. In the
past decade, the agency has elimi-
nated loopholes that allowed devel-
opers to build bigger buildings than
zoning permitted, rezoned much of
the city so new development con-
forms more closely to existing neigh-
borhood characteristics and fought
zoning violators in court.
But critics say this kind of fine-
tuning fails to address deeper faults.
"The zoning resolution exists in a
vacuum, it isn't driven by any sense
of values, it doesn't reach toward a
clear set of goals," says Kennedy.
Many say that this lack of vision
serves the purpose of those in power.
While the Department of City Plan-
ning has a voice on whether con-
struction should go ahead, the City
Planning Commission, which is
appointed by the mayor, and the
Board of Estimate have the final say.
(Under the new charter, more power
will go to a new planning commis-
sion and the mayor.)
Cash Cow
With a pro-development admini-
stration, this system greases the
wheels of construction, allowing
immediate political and economic
imperatives to ride roughshod over
the long-term needs of the city.
"When Koch became mayor, New
York had nothing going for it but its
real estate. He made that into the
city's cash cow," says Elliot Sclar, an
urban planning professor at Colum-
bia University. Sclar and numerous
others say Koch milked the city's
real estate cow at the expense of
broader community needs.
Established in 1916, New York's
zoning law responded to fears that
the oversized Equitable building on
Broadway portended a generation of
sun-blocking skyscrapers and that
garment factories were intruding on
Fifth Avenue retail areas. The city's
zoning is amended continuously, but
has been revised comprehensively
only once, in 1961.
That rezoning standardized the
practice of regulating density by a
formula known as Floor Area Ratio,
which bases the allowable size of a
building on the size of a lot. It also
introduced building height and shape
regulations that sought to replace
the city's characteristic "wedding
cake" buildings with modern-style
towers set in open lawns or plazas.
Room To Build
Despite these controls, overbuild-
ing persists. For one thing, the 1961
rezoning provided room for more
development than anyone expected
would occur, often at higher densi-
ties than existed at the time. "There
was an assumption the market would
never come to the point at which
everyone would build out to the
maximum floor area. But that's be-
ginning now, and the result is we're
dealing with overcrowded condi-
tions," says John Shapiro, planning
consultant and president of the
American Planning Association's
metropolitan New York chapter.
In fact, there are so many ways to
build more densely than zoning al-
lows that the already generous zon-
ing acts as a floor, not a ceiling, for
what developers can do. The 1961
rezoning established density "bo_
nuses," which permit developers in
some areas to build 20 percent more
than allowed if they provide public
open space in return. By the 1970s
exposes of poor plaza design ques-
tioned whether the city was getting
Kath.rin. K.nn.dy:
"Land u •• regulation. have become
meaningl •••. "
its money's worth. Yet the city went
on a bonus binge, offering extra
density for amenities like atriums,
neighborhood projects and subway
improvements. The Housing Qual-
ity program (terminated by DCP in
1987) simply gave developers a
square foot of development rights for
every $5 they paid the city; an audit
last year by state Comptroller Ed-
ward V. Regan placed the value of
that bonus at $300 a square foot.
The city added "inclusionary
zoning" to its bonus menu in 1987. It
was adopted after housing advocates,
following examples in San Francisco,
Boston and elsewhere, proposed that
the city require all developers to build
low income housing or contribute to
a housing fund. A mayoral commis-
sion recommended against it and the
requirement to include affordable
housing was turned into a bonus of
up to four square feet for every square
foot of low income housing built.
Despite the potentially lucrative
terms, this is one bonus developers
have been reluctant to use, with!only
General Atlantic Realty having taken
advantage of it to date.
In recent years , DCP has begun
eliminating bonuses, but problems
persist. Another provision that al-
lows added density is the "zoning lot
merger," which lets developers move
development rights from one lot to
another. DCP sets few limits on how
many development rights can be
piled on a site and often there is no
December 1989 • 17
ultimate limit on the bulk or height
of a building. That's why Peter
Kalikow's proposal for an 81-story
tower amid the renowned low-rise
City and Suburban buildings on the
Upper East Side requires no special
approval. Nor does DCP coordinate
where extra density is shuffled, to
protect sunlight or prevent overload-
ing of the infrastructure-from streets
and subways to sewers and side-
walks. That ' s why Cityspire, the
Metropolitan and Carnegie towers-
each over 700 feet tall, each using
transferred development rights-are
:..: clustered together in midtown.
u

Up
Responding to criticisms of the
zoning policy, DCP executive
if) director Can Howe says that zoning
is undergoing a fundamental review.
Yet density is not the focus. "We
don't think, overall , the city is too
dense. Certain areas are, and we are
looking at them," he says.
Instead, DCP is concerned with
building design. "The issue that tran-
scends all neighborhoods is build-
ing form. In a neighborhood that has
a traditional building type, to intro-
duce a new one has to be thought
through carefully, " Howe says.
Consequently, DCP's most impor-
tant zoning reform has been "contex-
tual zoning," which seeks to rein-
force building types built over the
past 100 years. It also addresses
concerns about density, albeit indi-
rectly, Howe maintains: contextual
height and design controls have
"direct implications" about how
dense buildings can be, and how
development rights can be used under
bonuses and zoning lot mergers.
Contextual districts were mapped
several years ago on parts ofthe Upper
East and Upper West sides, and
during the last two years were ex-
panded to low- and mid-density
residential neighborhoods in the
outer boroughs. So far they've won
mixed reviews. Westsiders, while
praising the preservation of mid-
blocks, say contextual zoning allows
bigger buildings along Broadway than
were built before. Housing advocates
argue contextual zoning in outer-
borough residential districts makes
it harder for lower income house-
holds to afford housing by limiting
production of affordable units and
driving up construction costs.
18 • CITY LIMITS
At the same time that DCP is trying
further contextual zoning in a lim-
ited number of neighborhoods, pri-
vate developers are pushing ahead
with rezoning proposals of their own
in other areas and often winning
Board of Estimate approval-a prac-
tice known as "spot zoning."
"The developer comes in and says
what he wants to do. They cut a deal
and figure out how they're going to
get it through the community. It's all
negotiated, it's not planning at all,"
argues Genie Rice, president of Civi-
tas, a group monitoring land use
policies on the Upper West Side. A
prominent example of of "spot zon-
ing" is the decision that led to the
construction of the 42-story Citicorp
tower in Hunters Point, Queens, a
neighborhood oflow-rise apartments
and factories. (See City Limits, Janu-
ary 1987)
DCP has little choice but to proc-
ess developer applications, Howe
says, and evaluates them "in the
context of our own planning efforts.
In some areas, we have a published
report that can be very specific, such
as our convention center study,
which talked about the kind of zon-
ing that ought to take place. "
In practice, matters do not always
work out so neatly. Last year, the
Glick Organization proposed rezon-
ing a site bounded by 60th Street and
First and York avenues for a 49-story
tower that would include a hotel,
shops, movie theaters and housing.
DCP' s plan for the area called pri-
marily for housing and shops. Nev-
ertheless, the planning commission
recommended only that the tower be
shorter and that the theaters and some
stores be cut , and the Board of Esti-
mate approved the project. Now
NRDC is representing Civitas and
three other groups suing to block the
project, claiming infrastructure and
environmental impacts were not
studied sufficiently.
While DCP is willing to suggest a
broad planning direction for neigh-
borhoods, it does not always follow
up with its own zoning proposals.
"It' s one thing to fulfill our responsi-
bility as planners and make recom-
mendations, and it ' s another to ap-
ply for a zoning change. It takes an
enormous time and effort," Howe
says , adding the department was
comfortable letting developers im-
plement city planning's proposals
on a site-by-site basis.
Moreover, "We often have com-
munity groups that say they want
comprehensive zoning, but when
faced with an application for more
than one property, they become very,
very concerned about what propos-
als rezoning would lead to, " he adds.
Still DCP seeks rezoning when it
wants, not only with contextual dis-
tricts , but also, for example, around
Times Square, where a temporary
upzoning in the early 1980s created
a development bonanza.
Carte Blanche
And where DCP has done no plan-
ning at all , developers have carte
blanche to ask for what they want
and dare the city to tell them no.
Along the Manhattan waterfront ,
where planning efforts have been
scattered, Donald Trump proposed
transferring development rights from
the Hudson River bed to Trump City.
That DCP is understaffed is hardl y
contested, and that much staff time
is consumed reviewing applications
for land use changes, rather that
working on long-term plans, is not
disputed. But this is hardly an ex-
cuse for so many site-by-site rezon-
ings. "Just because applications come
in doesn't mean they have to be
approved. DCP has to render a judg-
ment, and the judgment has been
that they' re all good," Sclar says.
Community boards, besieged by
zoning amendments proposed by
developers and feeling as if they have
little influence over their neighbor-
hoods, are taking zoning matters into
their own hands. Three boards (in
the West Village, Chelsea and the
Morrisania section of the South
Bronx) are seizing the power gi ven to
them by the city charter and prepar-
ing community plans of their own.
"We were reacting to one proposal
after another. DCP was hitting us
with a barrage of text changes and it
seemed as if the changes were cater-
ing to developers," says Marie Dor-
man, chairperson of the zoning
committee of Manhattan's Commu-
nity Board 2. "The community must
be able to prescribe for its own fu-
ture, not (settle for a future) moti-
vated just by money and campaign
contributions. "
While all three boards acknowl-
edge DCP's cooperation in preparing
plans, they are hampered by DCP' s
lack of a clear policy on evaluating
and approving them. DCP has asked
for an environmental review of the
Chelsea plan, an analysis usually
undertaken by the applicant for a
December 1989 • 19
land use change, but the community
board has no resources to prepare
such a review. Approval ofthe plans
also faces uncertainty as the city's
process of reviewing land use changes
is being restructured as part of the
new charter.
The debate over whether zoning
reform will come from a series of
technical changes, a comprehensive
citywide rezoning or a neighborhood-
by-neighborhood approach seems to
be tipping toward the latter. "The
zoning resolution needs to return to
the idea of planning, either by doing
neighbor ho 0 d -by-neighb or hoo d
planning, or looking at a trend in a
certain building type," says Bill Ryan,
associate director ofissues and plan-
ning for the Municipal Art Society's
planning center.
But whether that will work with-
out a fundamental change in how
the city' s political leadership views
land use policy is doubtful. "There' s
a sense that the developer writes his
own ticket for zoning, " observes
Kennedy. "Since zoning has ceased
to stand for a set of values, there is
nothing to put on the other side of
the scale. What we need to do is pull
down the other side so we have a
clear sense of what zoning is for: pro-
tecting the environment and protect-
ing neighborhood character. " 0
Todd W. Bressi, associate editor of
"Places, a Quarterly Journal of Envi-
ronmental Design, "writes frequently
about city design and community
development.
REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS
for the lease of the historic
FULTON FERRY FIREBOAT HOUSE
The City of New York seeks a not-for-profit organization to lease the building for
cultural , educational , and/or civic use. The Fireboat House is located at the foot
of Old Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Built in 1930 as a marine fire station, the
building is part of the Fulton Ferry Historic District. It is a two story wood frame
structure with 1200 sq. ft . per floor.
To obtain a copy of the Request for Proposals, contact:
Patricia-Ann Kopp, Director of Contracts and Procurement
Department of Ports and Trade
Battery Maritime Building
New York, NY 10004
Tel. #212-806-6752
All proposals must be received no later than 11 am on February 7, 1990.
A Pre-Proposal Conference is scheduled for January 8, 1990. RSVP to reserve a
space at the conference no later than 2 p.m. on January 3 to Patricia-Ann Kopp
at (212) 806-6752.
20 • CITY LIMITS
PIPELINE
Housing at Risk
commercial development. A spokes-
person for Grenadier Realty, which
owns or manages the three build-
ings, says, "There are no plans at this
time for any of our properties to leave
the Section 8 program."
NEXT YEAR MORE THAN 6,000
units of housing in New York City
may no longer be affordable because
their owners can opt out of federal
subsidy agreements that limited
rents charged to tenants. Housing
advocates are warning that this loss
could have serious ramifications, but
public officials seem to be taking a
wait-and-see attitude.
Francine Kellman, a spokesper-
son for the regional office of the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, says the agency does
not yet see the issue as a major con-
cern. She is unable to provide exact
information on the number of proj-
ects at risk and says that only one
project, Hawthorne Gardens in
Brooklyn, has opted out of a federal
subsidy program.
Housing advocates, recognizing
that 90,000 units may ultimately be
affected, are demandng a more ag-
gressive response. Victor Bach, di-
rector of housing policy and research
at the Community Service Society, is
piecing together information on the
date and location of projects eligible
to end their federal use restrictions.
"I believe tenants are uninformed of
what risks they face ," says Bach.
The housing units that Bach is
concerned about were all constructed
or rehabilitated with subsidies from
the federal government under a vari-
ety of programs. In return for accept-
ing the government money, building
owners provided affordable rental
. housing for a set period of time-
generally 15 to 25 years. However,
an increasing number of owners will
soon have the chance to opt out of
their contract or prepay their mort-
gages and then charge market-rate
rents for the units. Local rent regula-
tions will offer protection for some
units, but it is not clear how the rent
would be set.
Buildings located in gentrifying
neighborhoods are most at risk of
turning into market-rate projects. In
Manhattan's Community Board 4,
which includes the "hot" neighbor-
hoods of Chelsea and Clinton, Bach
has learned of at least four projects
eligible to opt out of a federal sub-
sidy program known as Section 8.
Three of those projects-one that
has already reached its opt-out pe-
riod and two that become eligible in
1990-are located in close proxim-
ity to Worldwide Plaza, the mam-
moth new luxury residential and
Despite the staggering number of
units that could be lost nationwide,
Congress has been slow to provide
long-term solutions. A report issued
last year by the National Housing
Preservation Task Force estimated
that across the country more than
one million apartments could be lost
to the low income housing inventory
by 1995.
In 1987 Congress enacted the
Emergency Low Income Housing
Preservation Act, which put a num-
ber of constraints on owners prepar-
ing to prepay federal mortgages or
opt out of Section 8. Although that
law expires soon, Congress seems
likely to extend it until September
30, 1990. HUD and Congess have
also agreed to renew any expiring
contracts for five years. Larry Yates
of the National Low Income Housing
Coalition argues that owners should
be required to remain in the federal
programs as long as there is a critical
shortage of affordable housing.
Bach is planning a special work-
shop on housing at risk in early 1990.
o Doug Turetsky
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LETTERS
Rude Strategy
To the Editor:
The church-based groups which
sponsored the construction of Ne-
hemiah houses in New York's most
desolate neighborhoods may use a
rude strategy to meet their aims. But
Lisa Glazer just touched the ques-
tion of why they have to use Alinsky's
methods. Why does the city not
provide sufficient help to support
Nehemiah houses and make them a
success?
It's easy for critics to complain
about waste of space and bad archi-
tecture, but the plan works. Why
does the city not take the Nehemiah
plan as a model and create its own
organization to produce and main-
tain houses on a regulated nonprofit
basis? The city could easily make
some improvements concerning
density, design and occupancy. If
community groups were able to pro-
vide: the financial foundation for
constructing almost 2,000 homes,
why could the city not provide the
interest-free revolving construction
loans? If the new organization is to
be successful , its work should be
extended to rehabilitation of aban-
doned buildings, which might be the
next step in a stability emphasizing
redevelopment strategy based on
homeownershi p.
Tony Schroeder
Manhattan
Astute Reporting
To the Editor:
I am very pleased to write you to
re-continue my subscription to City
Limits, after my year's absence from
the United States. I missed your as-
tute reporting (especially Doug
Turetsky's).. valuable information
and insights, and even your 'help
wanted page, which has kept me
NEW YORK CITY:
December 1989 • 21
informed of the possibilities of
moving back to New York City over
these past five years.
Keep up the good work.
Peter Levine
Chicago
OHensive Politics
To the Editor:
Let my subscription expire (as
should your rag). I find your politics
offensive.
Lawrence Mielnicki
Manhattan
Editor's note: City Limits wel-
comes letters from our readers.
But we ask that you try to keep
your letters to 300 words in
length.
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WORKSHOP
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. New York Marxist School seeks a FIT
Executive Director. Exp working in a nonsectarian multiracial
environment & demonstrated leadership ability reqd. Exp in fun-
draising & fiscal mgmt desireable. Immediate opening. Sal low
20s. Resume: N.Y. Marxist School, 79 Leonard St. , NYC 10013.
Minorities, gays & lesbians encouraged to apply.
NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES DIRECTOR. Creative, expd
manager needed by dynamic, nonprofit citywide prog serving
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bnfts. Salary Reqs & Resume: CCNYC, 3 W. 29th St., NYC
10001, Attn: Gillian Kaye.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION SPECIALIST. Primary responsi-
bility inclds administering local historic preservation commission
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Master's deg prefd. Resume: Richard Bass, Dir. of Planning,
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Jersey City, N.J. 07306. Tel. 201 /547-5010.
,
RECYCLING ORGANIZER. NYC nonprofit org seeks highly
motivated ind to join recycling program. Cmmty organizing exp &
bilingual a +. Good bnfts, salary negot. Resume & Cover Letter:
Environmental Action Coalition, attn: Stephen Gallagher, 625
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ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - FIT. For the Manhattan
Valley Development Corporation (MVDC), a nonprofit housing
development org providing affordable housing to the predomi-
nantly low income pop of Manhattan Valley (west 1 00th-11 Oth
streets btwn Central Pk West & Broadway). Responsibilities:
community planning & program dev; interface w/govt agencies,
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develop funding sources/proposals; coordinate MVDC programs;
assist Exec Dir in overall admin matters & attend Board meetings
in her absence. Reqs: Min 5 yrs paid FIT exp in housing/planning/
development, fund raising + knowl of govt agencies. B.A. prefd.
Sal: low-mid 30s + exc bnfts. Resume: Search Committee,
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STAFF A TIORNEY. Activist community org in Hell's Kitchen sks
FIT attorney w/ commitment to affordable housing. Landlord/
Tenant exp prefd but not reqd. Represent low income tenants &
tenant assocs, conduct impact & affirmative litigation, cmmty
education & organizing. Start A.S.A.P. Resume: Miriam Nieves,
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10019. Minorities/women encouraged to apply.
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ADVERTISE YOUR JOB/INTERNSHIP IN THE "WORKSHOP"
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December 1989 • 23
TENANT/COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. For Pratt Area Commu-
nity Council. Provide counseling, educational, organizational
assistance to tenants, small homeowners & cmmty assocs;
prepare info on housing/cmmty issues; work w/cmmty, tenant &
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organizing, cmmty relations, tenant/landlord counseling prefd.
Knowl of hsng issues, laws, complaint procedures helpful. Exc
communication & conflict mediation skis. Will train novice. Sal
com mens w/exp, exc bnfts. Resume: Exec Dir, Pratt Area Com-
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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT. Interesting & diversified posi-
tion avail in busy public affairs off at large Brooklyn-based real
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office exp w/public affairs bkgrnd prefd. Full company paid bnfts
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EM, 1310 Pennsylvania Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11239; or call 718/
642-2550 for appt. E.O.E.
LAW ASSOCIATE. Expd associate to work w/sole practitioner.
Emphasis on cooperatives, private placements, low/mod income
housing, real estate, trust & estates. Must have good skills &
willing to handle diverse matters independently. Resume: Law-
rence McGaughey, 217 Broadway, NYC 10007.
The Pratt Institute
Center For Community & Environmental Development
is seeking applicants for three FIT positions:
ARCHITECTURAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT. Work w/Pratt
Collaboratiye Director managing architectural office serv-
ing low & mod income nonprofit client groups. Assist
architects preparing proposals, reports, specifications, bills,
budgets & correspondence. Some clerical assistance. Reqs:
3-4 yrs exp, or equiv combination of education & expo
Clerical & WP skills. Dbase or Lotus desireable. Interest in
housing & cmmty devel issues, ability to work independ-
ently. Sallow 20s + bnfts .
DESIGNER/DRAFTSPERSDN. Assist production of design,
working drawings, specs & cost estimates for architectural
projects incldg low/mod income housing, special needs
hsg & cmmty service facilities. Participate in bldg evalu-
ations & securing approval from govt agencies. Reqs: Bache-
lor of Architecture or other relevant degree w/one yr exp
in arch off; exc design/ drafting skills & some knowl of NYC
bldg codes, rehab construction, scopes & cost estimates.
Sal hi teens-low 20s.
PLANNER. Provide direct technical assistance/training to
nonprofit development orgs & conduct research in urban
policy issues affecting low inc neighborhoods. Reqs: M.S.
in Planning & at least 2 yrs exp w/low inc neighborhood
planning & related public policy issues or equiv combina-
tion of education & expo Knowl of nbhd-based orgs & their
role in low ~ n c cmmty development & facility w/computer
applications (incldg Lotus, Dbase & WP) to planning &
devel projects. Sal $30-33,000 + bnfts.
These are grant-funded positions. Review of resumes to
begin immediately. Send resumes to: Human Resources
DepartmentlCLP, Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11205.
NEW BUILDINGS
Creative Solutions for today's
Housing and Healthcare Issues
ALTERATIONS AND REHABILATIONS
CONVERSIONS AND EXPANSIONS
CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY
PROJECT PACKAGING AND DEVELOPMENT
COST ANALYSIS AND CONTROL
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS AND APPROVALS
Comprehensive Architectural and
Engineering Services from the
conceptual stages through occupancy.
408 Jay Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
718/237-5887