Report From Roosevelt Island Residents Association President Jeff Escobar - You're Invited To Join RIRA Planning, Communications, Services, Housing, Governance & Other Committees, Happy Thanksgiving Too

  Image Of 2014-16 RIRA Common Council (RIRA President Jeff Escobar Kneeling Wearing Suit)

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Jeff Escobar sends the following Report To The Community:

Friends and Neighbors,

At the December 3, 2014 Common Council meeting, the Common Council will be reconstituting its committees, as well as electing and seating each committee’s chairs. The bulk of the work that the new Common Council will do this term will be completed in these committees. As has been reported in the past, any member of RIRA – and by virtue of one’s residency on the Island, every resident is automatically a member of RIRA – can serve on a committee. Here is a quick glimpse of some of what the committees currently have on this term’s agenda:

The Communications Committee is undertaking an overhaul of the website www.RIRAonline.com. The goal is to transform it to a useful resource for residents seeking current information about activities and groups on Roosevelt Island, and to serve as an electronic repository for official documents. The committee will also be undertaking an initiative to use social media and other forms of electronic publication to keep Island Residents apprised in “real-time” of the ongoing activities of the Island. Residents who are skilled in web development and writing are invited to contact the current Communications Committee chair Janet Falk at janetlfalk@yahoo.com for more details.

The Planning Committee this near term will be largely focused on infrastructure and transportation safety. With the advent of the Cornell campus coming online to full construction-mode in 2015, coupled with the tragic accident involving one of our neighbors who collided with a Red Bus, infrastructure and transportation safety will be the focus as RIRA works to find real solutions for the Island. Recently, the group reported its thorough discussion of the lighting and roadways where bicycle traffic proceeds; bicycle and pedestrian use of the promenades vs. Main Street; and the role of Public Safety in issuing violations for failure to yield and observe stop signs. During just that short discussion, there was general agreement that a traffic light should be installed at the base of the helix; “sharrows” or shared roadway arrows should be painted in the promenade roads; and lighting must be improved at all crosswalks. Pending further research and study, a resolution(s) prepared by this Committee will be submitted to the Common Council to be recommended to RIOC and all City public agencies.

As Hudson Related finishes work on its seventh tower, with the eight and ninth towers waiting in the wings, in 2015 the Planning Committee, Island Services Committee and the RIRA President will be calling for a number of Town Hall meetings and hearings with Hudson Related, RIOC, the City and Island Residents and Stakeholders to study the impacts – including environmental, social and economic impacts – that the construction of the seventh and remaining towers will have on the Island as it struggles with the construction of the Cornell Campus. Similarly, the Main Street Retail Advisory Committee will be pushing for the planning and completion of the lease-up of the remaining retail spaces on Main Street in 2015, setting forth their recommendations for the currently empty storefronts.

The above is just a glimpse of the work and initiatives that the RIRA Common Council Committees will be undertaking this new term. From Government Relations and Housing, to SC&E (Social, Cultural and Education) and Public Safety, there exists a committee which is calling for you, as an Island Resident, to come and serve. Interested in joining a committee or finding out more information? Attend the next RIRA Common Council meeting on Wednesday, December 3rd at 8:00pm in the Good Shepherd Center, or reach out and contact RIRA President Jeff Escobar at jeffrey.escobar@gmail.com.

Turning from service on RIRA Committees to service on the Common Council, an Orientation for New Representatives was held on Thursday, November 20. Topics included procedures of working within committees and bringing motions to the Common Council for discussion, as well as answering questions of new members. In addition, a presentation was made by Mickey Rindler, Chair of the Ethics Committee, on the recent requirements of New York State regarding disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, as well as a presentation by Lynne Shinozaki, a past SC&E Committee Chair, and Sherie Helstien, RIRA Vice-President, on what it means to serve on the Common Council and work being completed by committees.

If you are interested in serving on the RIRA Common Council, which meets monthly, there are still a few seats on the Octagon, Manhattan Park, Southtown and Roosevelt Landings delegations. Take the opportunity to perform direct advocacy by representing your building neighbors on the Common Council. Please reach out to either RIRA President Jeff Escobar at jeffrey.escobar@gmail.com or Aaron Hamburger, Chair of the Nominations Committee, at ashamburger33@gmail.com for more information. 



Lastly, as we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, the RIRA Common Council wishes to extend a joyous Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours. Please take a moment to look back and reflect on the blessings of this past year, as well as remember those in our community who are less fortunate and in need. Whether through a donation to a local food pantry, handing out food at our City’s overburdened shelters, or pitching in at the dinner at the Senior Center, hopefully each of us will find a way to help everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Your RIRA Common Council

RIRA Housing Committee Seminar Tips On Keeping Your Roosevelt Island Apartment Clean And Organized - See Dust, Take Off Glasses, Dust Gone Does Not Work

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Housing Committee Chair Susan Marcus reports:

All who attended RIRA’s Housing Committee’s first informational seminar on “Quick Tips for Cleaning and Organizing Your Home” on April 29th in Westview’s community room had good, clean fun.

Image Of RIRA Cleaning Seminar

The panel of Mary Cavanaugh, neighbor and founder of “The Best Home Services, Ltd”, her partner Kim Lutz and Randye Goldstein, head of “Organize with Ease”, gave the capacity crowd many great tips on cleaning products, preparing your home for the cleaning person, maintaining your apartment as efficiently as possible and organizing the clutter – or how to throw out the items you no longer really need but are too attached to get rid of.

In my opinion, the three best tips were as follows:

1. Using string mops is by far the best way to clean your floors.
2. “Green” products do not clean well enough – stick with the Chemicals for thorough cleaning and use the Green for maintenance.
3. If you are too attached to an item that you no longer use, take a picture of it and then eliminate.

Personally, Ms. Goldstein gave me the motivation to rid myself of clothes that were 10-15 years old, even though I felt I was being a bit premature. Ms. Cavanaugh made me realize that my method on cleaning – see the dust, take off my glasses, dust gone, was not all that great. But a seed was planted in most of our heads to rethink our current methods of maintaining our homes and possessions.

In the future, the Housing Committee hopes to bring more of these informational seminars to Roosevelt Island to make your living here more efficient and pleasurable. If you have any topics you would like to see presented or if you are an expert on any topic related to home living, please contact me at sqmarcus@gmail.com. Hope to see you next time!

Good idea and good job by Ms. Marcus and RIRA Housing Committee.

You're Invited To RIRA Informational Seminar On Keeping Your Roosevelt Island Home Clean - Tuesday, April 29 At Westview Community Room

The Roosevelt Island Resident's Association (RIRA) invites you to their first Informational Seminar.

According to RIRA's Housing Committee Chair Susan Marcus:

Are you over-extended and do not have the time to clean and organize your home the way you would like?

Roosevelt Island Residents Association, through the sponsorship of the Housing Committee, will be offering a series of Informational Seminars to make your apartment living carefree, safe and habitable. The first seminar will tackle the problem of keeping your apartment clean and organized with the least amount of effort.

Our neighbor and founder of The Best Home Services, rated number 1 on Angie’s List for Cleaning Services, Mary Cavanaugh, will be giving us “Quick Tricks for Organizing and Cleaning Your Home” on Tuesday April 29, 2014 at the Westview Community Room from 7:00-8:30pm. Spend this time with us and you will be spending less time maintaining your apartment. All are welcome and the Housing Committee looks forward to seeing you at this very worthwhile event.

Light refreshments will be served.

The Westview Community Room is located at 625 Main Street.

Going To Be An Interesting Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Monthly Meeting October 5- Censure Former President, Disavow Current President Redistricting Testimony, Demand Main Street WIRE Retraction and Presentation Of Proposed Upcoming RIOC Budget

Image of September 2011 RIRA Meeting

 The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) will be meeting Wednesday October 5, 8 PM at the Good Shepherd Community Center (543 Main Street). The Agenda for the meeting is below.

October RIRA Meeting Agenda Agenda

As always, prior to the start of each meeting there is a public session in which any resident can come and address the Common Council Delegates on any issue of concern.

Among the speakers at the October Public RIRA Session are Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) CFO Steve Chironis who will speak on the proposed RIOC 2012-13 Fiscal Year Budget and Miranda Murray from the Roosevelt Island Public Library.

An item on the Agenda under new business is a resolution to censure former RIRA President and current Planning Committee Chair Frank Farance. According to the Agenda item:

New Business (9:55) X B. Long- Resolution to censure F. Farance

During a September 26 RIRA Governance Committee meeting, an attempt was made by some present to censure Mr. Farance because of what they perceive to be inappropriate statements made by Mr. Farance to the Main Street WIRE and in emails to other RIRA members. The Censure motion was not voted on at that time because Mr. Farance was not present at the meeting. For the record, I was at the meeting and objected to the censure of Mr. Farance because he was not present. I would also have objected on the merits as well. The subject of censuring Mr. Farance for comments he has made is now on the RIRA October Agenda.

Another issue sure to be discussed at the October RIRA meeting is the Housing Committee Report below which, among other points, is critical of RIRA President Matt Katz's recent testimony during the LATFOR Redistricting Hearings and seeks an apology and retraction for an article in the most recent Main Street WIRE. Here is the Housing Committee Report to October RIRA Common Council.

A. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the front-page article in the Wire of 9/24/11, by David Stone, as well as the caption of the photograph of Matt Katz and others at a redistricting hearing of 9/21/11. The caption reads: “At Wednesday’s redistricting hearing, Linda Heimer, Residents Association President Matthew Katz, and Nancy Cruickshank asked that Roosevelt Island be mapped into a Manhattan district with which there is a “community of interest”. (My bolding.) This wording reads as a snide insult to the existing alignment of Roosevelt Island with the wonderful communities, including our own, represented by Senator Jose M. Serrano. The Committee was appalled by this wording on the front page of the Wire, which does not at all reflect the community’s affinity and brotherly feelings with the residents of the entire District. Roosevelt Island is already in a wonderful District which is represented by a hard-working, energetic and able State Senator. To say otherwise is to insult the residents of Roosevelt Island, the Senate district, and Senator Serrano.

1. Although the matter does not directly pertain to housing, we agreed that State Senator Jose M. Serrano has been a great help to RI, including with housing issues. We found that our community was not consulted prior to Matt Katz embarking on a unilateral effort to switch RI to State Senator Kreuger’s district. We therefore introduce the following Resolution by the RI Community in Support of Senator Jose M. Serrano at our upcoming RIRA meeting:

Resolution of the Roosevelt Island Community (RIRA) in Support of Senator Jose M. Serrano

Whereas, Roosevelt Island is well and ably represented and helped by Senator Serrano; Therefore, Roosevelt Island wishes to remain within Senator Serrano’s district.

Be It Resolved: The Community of Roosevelt Island (RIRA) Votes to Disavow the Initiative of RIRA President Matthew Katz requesting remapping of Roosevelt Island into Senator Kreuger’s Senatorial district, which was taken without a vote of the RIRA Council; RIRA Instead Enthusiastically Endorses and Embraces the Existing Senatorial District of Roosevelt Island which is the District Represented so Well and Ably by Senator Jose M. Serrano.

2. We learned that many African American RI residents were offended by a paragraph in David Stone’s article commenting on the shifting demographics of RI.

The paragraph in question is:

“Roosevelt Island’s ethnic balance is shifting, and is more in line with Manhattan than with the other boroughs. We’ve become more white, as has Manhattan. Blacks are leaving Roosevelt Island, too, but not at the bigger island’s 12.5% rate. Blacks remain our largest minority, at more than 21% of the population, greatly exceeding Manhattan’s 13%.” (My bolding.)

We agreed that the above paragraph was insensitive and that the information should have been presented in a less “slanted” and more sensitive manner. For example, the information could have been presented in the form of a table of numerical data, without commentary added about whether the island of Manhattan or RI is becoming “less white” or “less black” and so forth. Presenting data in a divisive manner is both hurtful and counterproductive as it is giving the impression that the newspaper is “keeping score”. We are all doing the best we can to survive in NYC and it is not necessary to appear to “gloat” about the departure of one group and/or the arrival of another group. For that matter, people of all colors are being priced out of NYC by richer newcomers of all colors – it might have made more sense to present this economic data. Yet, make no mistake: Discrimination based on skin color is still very much alive today, and the economic crisis that has hit New Yorkers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds is definitely hitting African Americans especially hard.

We are all, after all, brothers and sisters, and a community newspaper should reflect that spirit of community and cooperation. The article incidentally failed to mention that, overall, the number of whites has for some years (possibly decades) fallen below the 50% mark in NYC so that characterizing any particular ethnic group in NYC as a “minority” is technically a misnomer since there is no longer any one ethnic or racial “majority” in NYC.

Therefore, we wish to introduce the following resolution at our upcoming RIRA meeting protesting the insulting and divisive paragraph in the David Stone article and demanding that the Wire apologize in print for the wording of this paragraph because of the distress it has caused to a large number of residents on RI.

Resolution Protesting the Wording of Paragraph 10 of David Stone’s 9/24/11 Wire Article
Whereas, Roosevelt Island is a Community of Many Different Ethnic Groups – Like all of NYC – All of Us Living Together in Peace;

Whereas, the Wording of Paragraph 10 of David Stone’s 9/24/11 Wire Article Singled out an Ethnic Group – African Americans – as a “Minority”;

Whereas, there is currently no majority in NYC thus all the various ethnic and racial groups in NYC are “Minorities” including whites/Caucasians;

Whereas, We Believe Information regarding the socio-economic and ethnic composition of the Island would be best presented in a tabulated format, such that the reader can draw their own conclusions without editorial bias in the conveying of the information.

Be It Resolved: The Wording of Paragraph 10 of David Stone’s 9/24/11 Wire Article was both Inaccurate in its Characterization of African Americans as a “Minority” in the City of New York and Hurtful to the African American Residents of Roosevelt Island, and Was Not in the Interests of Brotherhood and Peace.

We therefore Demand, that Editor David Lutz of the Wire Issue a Retraction of the Characterization of African Americans as a “Minority” in New York City and an Apology for the Wording of Paragraph 10 of David Stone’s 9/24/11 Wire Article and have the Retraction and Apology prominently appear on Page 1 of the next Issue of the Wire.

B. The Committee discussed the status of sub metering of Roosevelt Landings. Although there have been some indications that Urban American has succeeded in its effort to sub meter Roosevelt Landings, the Committee, because of the element of doubt that remains that sub metering of Roosevelt Landings has been implemented, has decided to forego for the time being submitting a resolution in support of Roosevelt Landings residents in their struggle with the landlord over sub metering. We will await the final outcome of this matter before we proceed with a general resolution of support, to be submitted for the Council’s review and hopefully endorsement.

C. The Committee discussed the on-going unjust situation pertaining to the large number of Section 8 tenants of Roosevelt Landings: For these tenants, when their household income exceeds the Section 8 income guidelines, they are no longer eligible to receive their Section 8 housing subsidy and in view of the unaffordable “market” rents charged by Urban American, are then forced to leave their apartments. The Section 8 tenants feel they are discriminated against in being forced to abandon their apartments even though the Roosevelt Landings tenants receiving a Landlord Assistance Program (LAP) lease do not have income limits and remain in their apartments (rent-stabilized + 1%) no matter how high their income rises. Both groups of Roosevelt Landings tenants – Section 8 and LAP – form the group of original tenants of the building that were in place when the building exited the Mitchell-Lama program.

The condition stipulated by the State for the building exiting the Mitchell-Lama program was the on-going protection of the whole group of original tenants – with no exceptions or exclusions. The landlord has violated this condition by nonetheless charging a portion of the original group of tenants, those whose rising income makes them ineligible to receive the Section 8 subsidy, “market” rents.

The Committee concluded that the Section 8 tenants portion of the group of original tenants of Roosevelt Landings remains a victim of unfair and discriminatory practices, a situation that can be remedied by the landlord placing Section 8 tenants either in the alternate available program of protection, the Landlord Assistance Program (LAP) or in a similar program such as rent stabilization upon tenant exiting the Section 8 program. This would satisfy the requirement of protection for all original Roosevelt Landings tenants which was agreed upon by the owner as a condition for the building exiting the Mitchell-Lama program.

This issue has been on-going for many years and at this time, the Committee has decided to form a Subcommittee at our next meeting consisting of Roosevelt Landings residents to gather information and support from elected officials as well as to seek legal advice on the matter. Once the Subcommittee has completed the above effort and feels a sufficient amount of information has been gathered, the Committee will hear its findings and proceed with the introduction of a general resolution of support for the entire group of original tenants of Roosevelt Landings so that these tenants can continue to be protected either in the Landlord Assistance Program (LAP) or Section 8 or if they exceed the Section 8 income guidelines, then in LAP or a similar rent stabilization program.

More information on Mr. Katz's testimony before LATFOR and reactions from local elected officials available at this previous post.

So if you are interested in learning more about what is happening on Roosevelt Island, come on down to RIRA's October 5 8 PM meeting at the Good Shepherd Community Center.

Here's a re-post of an interesting discussion with RIRA President Matt Katz. Mr. Katz was recently interviewed for the Community Board 8 Speaks program. He talks about the role of RIRA as well as the history, governance and current issues facing Roosevelt Island.

RIRA Housing Committee Chairperson Responds To Criticism Of January Report - Intent Was To Highlight Differences Between Roosevelt Island's More Affluent Southtown And Mixed Income Northtown

Image Of RIRA Southtown Resident Aaron Hamburger Defending Southtown

The Housing Committee report submitted to the January 2011 Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) was quite controversial resulting in part to the prohibition/censorship of RIRA Reports being published on this blog prior to RIRA Monthly meetings, the withdrawal of that report to RIRA and a defense of Southtown (including video) from it's area RIRA representative Aaron Hamburger. Before this evening's March RIRA meeting, Housing Committee Chair Helen Chirivas, the author of the controversial Housing Committee Report wanted an opportunity to present her side of the issue. From Ms. Chirivas:

Although the issue is from last month, could you please put my entire report into the blog archive which recorded Aaron’s attack on my report? He of course completely misinterpreted what I was trying to say: I never said Southtown residents brag about their wealth etc, I simply said the buildings telegraph the message that because they contain expensive apartments and condos, they are only accessible to those with money. Ordinarily I wouldn’t care if a building telegraphs this or any other message – but on Roosevelt Island, which is supposed to be a “mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City” an island which in theory at least was to be developed under the terms set forth by the GDP, the message of exclusivity and wealth had to be noted in a frankly shocking manner to make the point that Related – or another developer if not Related – must build 7, 8, and 9 as affordable housing as was originally planned! Otherwise, it seems to me, Southtown remains an enclave, and cannot be considered an extension of RI as it was originally planned, as a mixed-income community. I tried to force people to look at the differences as they exist today between Southtown and Northtown by writing that section in as shocking, forthright, or attention-grabbing manner as possible. If it has gotten people to think about the ramifications of how each “half” of RI was developed, then my purpose was accomplished.

Interestingly, no-one on the Housing Committee (including Matt) said anything negative about the report when I relayed it them before Matt re-transmitted it to the CC. I was therefore shocked by the Housing committee members that attended the 1/5 RIRA CC meeting + Matt caving into Aaron at the CC meeting of 1/5. They had all read the report beforehand and never indicated there was anything wrong with it. When I asked Matt about this about-face afterwards, he claimed via email to never have read the report before transmitting it the CC. (!) Either he read the report and agreed with it (which is what his comments by email to me thanking me for the report indicate) or he really didn’t read the report – which invites questions about Matt’s diligence as RIRA President.

In fact, I thought, as a Committee Chair “rookie” writing a “maiden” report, I would certainly get feedback from at the very least Matt, on that report. I was surprised the portion about the Southtown building telegraphing arrogant messages to the often poorer people of the rest of RI didn’t grab Matt’s attention or generate comments. I could only conclude that he agreed with the report. 

Ms Chirvas adds:

... this was the first report from a first-time Cttee Chair, and in submitting the report to the Housing Cttee + Matt + Ellen I pretty much expected a reaction/comments or pointers/constructive criticism from them, before Matt re-transmitted it to the entire CC.  Not only did I not get a negative reaction/comments from the Cttee, Matt + Ellen, I received positive emails from Matt & Lisa; the rest of the Cttee members never replied back.  Matt then relayed the report on to the entire CC. 

Also, most importantly, it was never explained to me that reports/minutes must be voted on & OK'd by the Committee before they are submitted to Matt for consideration by the CC.  In fact, I don't think there ever was an instruction to that effect so I simply wrote a report and forwarded it to Matt, Ellen & the Housing Cttee. Now it's been explained to me that any reports/minutes must first be considered by the Cttee in an actual Cttee meeting. Actually I thought by emailing the report to the Cttee Members + Matt + Ellen, it would give them a chance to consider/approve the report, which is what I had thought happened.  As I wrote above, Matt (& Lisa) at least appeared to approve it. Matt didn't indicate there was anything wrong with it.  Then he relayed it on to the entire CC, so I can only conclude he thought it was OK. 

My current status on RIRA CC is certainly up in the air.  Matt has been requested to remove me from RIRA. I expect there will be a motion (probably from Joyce) at the upcoming CC meeting to remove me which may very well pass, in which case the entire episode will be a moot point. I am expecting some supporters of my position (i.e. working to find a way to fix loopholes in protection for Sec 8 Eastwood tenants so they may keep their apts if their income eventually exceeds Sec 8 income guidelines) to attend and make statements during the public comment portion of the meeting.  I'm not sure if RIRA Treasurer Russ Fields, who is my spouse, and has been upset about the entire controversy since the Jan CC mtg, may quit in solidarity with me if I am removed, but I would certainly be surprised if he did not. At that point, RIRA would need to immediately find an accountant -- even one from outside the Island -- to fill the spot of Treasurer as it is a position that must be filled by an accountant according to I beleive NYS corporate law. Interestingly Sherie (Matt's wife) has never contacted Russ - a long-time volunteer Wire distributor - to help distribute issues of the Wire since the controversy broke in Jan.  I guess she thinks it's in poor taste to ask Russ to distribute a publication that has run stories since Jan that have certainly been a source of anger for him.  Or maybe this is part of the process of freezing Russ (and me) out of Island affairs etc. in anticipation of Matt/CC formally removing me next week.

Maybe the report + my comments appearing on your blog will clarify what I was trying to do etc. I never got a chance to defend the report before the CC because of health problems I did not attend the last 2 CC meetings. I will be at the upcoming CC meeting; however, the issue of the actual report may not be revisited and instead the "remedy" CC members may wish is my removal.

Ms. Chirivas January Housing Committee Report to the RIRA Common Council is after the jump.

JUMP!

January 2011: RIRA Housing Committee Report

By Helen Chirivas

The Committee met on 12/6/10 and the attendees included Lorraine Williams, Lisa Knox, Russell Fields, Matthew Katz, Sal Morabito, and Committee Chairwoman Helen Chirivas.

Our Committee met to consider the three questions on the Agenda:

1. Section 8 tenants in Eastwood that eventually exceed the Section 8 income guidelines are not then automatically transferred to the LAP Program; this violates the exit agreement whereby all of the tenants of Eastwood were to be protected upon exit from Mitchell Lama.
2. Southtown is not in compliance with the guidelines set forth in the General Development Plan, as it was not developed inclusively and does not provide low-income or affordable housing, a vital component of the General Development Plan, which is still in effect.    Unfortunately, the lack of affordable housing at Southtown and the sense that Southtown is an enclave has exacerbated social tension and resentment on RI. Whereas RI was previously an oasis where the socioeconomic mix provided opportunities for building bridges and friendships across the ethnic, economic, social spectrum, we now have the phenomenon of a nearly complete lack of contact between the populations of Southtown and Northtown, leading to community conflict and the tarnishing of its reputation as an inclusive, caring place to live. The divisions of NYC, which were previously absent on RI, have now arrived on RI. Day and night, the million-dollar apartments of Southtown telegraph the message to the people of Northtown: We have money, you don’t; we do not need to know you much less lay eyes on you; Northtown residents don’t count because they can’t afford million-dollar apartments; Southtown is where the money is; that’s why Southtown residents never set foot in Northtown and definitely do not care to interact in any way with Northtown residents. Buildings 7, 8, 9 should be developed as truly affordable Rent Stabilized housing open to tenants with fixed incomes, moderate incomes, and those receiving Section 8 subsidies– this would help rebalance the socioeconomic mix on RI.
3. The RIRA Housing Committee would be happy to assist and support efforts in any of the complexes on RI; however, we can only assist at the request of the building associations. If a building or complex does not have a building committee or association, the Housing Committee has no-one with whom to coordinate efforts within a particular building.    Landlord intimidation may be a factor preventing tenants from organizing building committees in some buildings.

The attendees had a thorough discussion about the lingering issue of the Section 8 tenants of Eastwood, who, because of economic circumstances such as families doubling up due to rampant unemployment, children becoming adults, managing to get jobs but still not being in the position to move out because of high rents, or Section 8 tenants slowly getting pay increases through the years so that eventually their income may exceed the Section 8 guidelines, and many more possible situations whereby a household may no longer qualify for the Section 8 subsidy, these families are suddenly exposed to the excessive market rate rents being charged by Urban American, and because of this unjust economic circumstance, are usually then forced to face the harm of having to give up their apartments. This represents an unfair displacement since the other tenants that were in place at the time the building exited Mitchell-Lama in 2005, those that did not qualify for Section 8 subsidies are permanently protected from excessive market rate rents by having been placed in the LAP Program. Yet all Eastwood tenants at the time of exit from Mitchell Lama were promised they would be forever protected from market rate rents. The Committee agreed there is unfairness with the above scenario – the loophole whereby the landlord can prey on Section 8 tenants that may wind up even slightly exceeding the Section 8 income guidelines by suddenly imposing excessive rents on those tenants -- and considered how the situation can be corrected.

First, we must find out how many Section 8 tenants are vulnerable to displacement as outlined above. We agreed that many Section 8 tenants, those on fixed incomes for example retirees or disabled, would likely not exceed the income guidelines, but that many other Section 8 tenants, those whose children have grown up and gone to work but cannot afford to leave home, or other families that may have taken in a grown child or relative that may be down on their luck but eventually may earn some income, may be affected. It is possible that this data may be available from the DHCR so that we could have an idea of the size of the problem.    If in the end it turns out that the number of households in danger of displacement is in the range of 300-400, then the issue is a major problem with the risk of displacement affecting hundreds of residents. We would like to have this data before proceeding with next steps such as having meetings with RIOC, Urban American, elected representatives, etc., to plead that the
exit agreement and the agreement worked out with the tenants and the new owner upon exit could be amended to extend LAP protection to Section 8 tenants that may eventually exceed the Section 8 income guidelines. We need to find a way to keep people in their homes especially in these times of high unemployment and high rents.

We recognize that the Tenants Association of Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings is currently fighting the landlord over electrical sub metering, that is, electrical sub metering the way the landlord wishes to carry it out –making electrical bills a lucrative source of income as well as providing another way to evict tenants that may be unable to pay grossly inflated electrical bills, by considering the non-payment of inflated electrical bills as equivalent to the non-payment of rent, and extending to the landlord the power to evict tenants even if the tenant can afford to pay the rent but cannot afford the unjustly inflated electrical bill. As the Tenants Association is currently focused on this problem which threatens the future of all Eastwood tenants, the issue of Section 8 tenants exceeding income guidelines and not being transferred into the LAP Program, may not be immediately addressed. Also, the above possible steps can only be carried out under the auspices of, and as an effort by, the Eastwood tenants and their organization. We discussed that it is vital for Section 8 tenants of Eastwood to become active and involved in the Tenants Association. If requested by the Tenants Association the Housing Committee is happy to lend support and help with these issues.

We discussed the problem of Southtown not providing affordable housing. Related has said the hospital housing is affordable housing. This claim is ludicrous not only because hospital housing not open to the general public, but even within the hospital community itself, this housing is only made available
to certain exclusive employee categories such as doctors, nurses, post-docs etc. These segments of the hospital community, with the exception of post-docs, do not earn low or moderate incomes. The hospital buildings cannot be described as affordable housing and do not satisfy the requirement to provide publicly accessible affordable housing. Related would go a long way toward correcting this imbalance by constructing buildings 7, 8, and 9 and insuring that these buildings are Rent Stabilized and open to Section 8 tenants as well. It appears that Related would like to “protect” its investment – the enclave of Southtown -- by conveniently “forgetting” to build the moderate income buildings – RIOC and the State Government should hold Related’s feet to the fire and force them to build these buildings. State Government must act in the interest of all of the people of the State of New York, not just the high-income people.

We discussed the problem of Manhattan Park not having a Tenants Association so that there is no counter-weight to oppose landlord actions that harm tenants such as inflating the price of the sub metered electricity. Manhattan Park tenants must first organize themselves and form a Tenants Association. The Housing Committee would then be happy to assist a Manhattan Park Tenants Association once it is organized.

RIRA Rep Defends Southtown From RIRA Housing Committee Report Alleging Affluent Exclusiveness & Gives Walking Tour Of Northtown - RIRA Common Council Responds To Report By Censoring Future Distribution Of Information

Image Of RIRA Southtown Resident Aaron Hamburger Defending Southtown

The Public Safety Committee Report presented to the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) January 2011 Common Council Meeting was not the only controversial submission that resulted in a majority of RIRA Council members approving a Resolution censoring future reports for distribution to the Roosevelt Island community. The Housing Committee submitted a report which elicited a fierce, yet humorous, defense and response from Southtown Common Council Delegate Aaron Hamburger. Fortunately, we have a video of Mr. Hamburger's response provided by Roosevelt Island resident Trevre Andrews as well as the text of the remarks below.

You Tube Video Of January RIRA Meeting

RESPONSE TO RIRA’S HOUSING COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE 1/5/11 COMMON COUNCIL MEETING

In an outrageous attack on Southtown residents, the Housing Committee report charged that:

“We now have the phenomenon of a nearly complete lack of contact between the populations of Southtown and Northtown, leading to community conflict and the tarnishing of its reputation as an inclusive, caring place to live. Day and night, the million- dollar apartments of Southtown telegraph the message to the people of Northtown: We have money, you don’t; we do not need to know you much less lay eyes on you; ....... Southtown is where the money is; that’s why Southtown residents never set foot in Northtown and definitely do not care to interact in any way with Northtown residents”.

I first pointed out that if Southtown folks want no contact with Northtown people, why is over 21% of the Common Council composed of representatives from Southtown? Then I addressed the issue of Southtown residents not venturing into Northtown. Basically, few of us go to Northtown because there’s little there to attract us. Yes, many go to the Farmer Market, but that’s only once a week. My walk to Gristedes on Wednesday morning (1/ 5/11), illustrates the real problem. Leaving Southtown, the first thing I saw in Northtown was the Thrift Store. A terrible introduction to Main St. The front display window showed a disorganized and haphazard collection of items. The window was covered with pieces of tape and bits of paper and was probably the dirtiest window in all of Roosevelt Island. Then, if you go in to make a donation, they refuse to give you a receipt (the only thrift store I know doing this). So, many of us are now donating off-island to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Across the street is a chiropractor, who hasn’t been in business for about a year. Hidden in the basement of Rivercross are two excellent doctors and a fine dental practice. Many of us use these doctors, but that doesn’t get us very far into Northtown.

Continuing my walk, I next pass the Public Library. This library has a fair collection of reference books, children’s books, DVD’s and periodicals, but their general book collection is very limited. About 20% of the book shelves are empty. Usually, if you want a book, it has to be ordered from another library and that takes anywhere from one week to a month to arrive on Roosevelt Island. Oh, there’s no bathroom. Actually, there is a bathroom, but it’s kept locked for use by the staff only! Across the street is a nail salon, but we have a nail place in Southtown. Then, it’s the Trellis, which a number of us patronize especially on live music nights. Next is a dry cleaner, but again we have a good dry cleaner in Southtown.

Now I’m passing the Senior Center, where I have to maneuver around a large group of Northtown seniors waiting to get on the Shoppers Bus which will take them off-island to shop. This is while I’m going to Gristedes to spend my money on-island (and where I get a 10% senior discount on Tuesday and Wednesday and free delivery if I want). Is there something wrong with this picture?

Across the street is the deli, but we have a better deli in Southtown. Oh, I’ve already passed the closed fish store and soon pass the closed flower shop where many of us used to get our flowers. Then another nail place. Does Roosevelt Island really need 3 nail salons? In the final stretch of Main St, there’s the closed liquor store which a number of us routinely patronized, then China 1 where a number of us order take-out, and a new bank. The old bank closed forcing most of us to open accounts and get credit cards elsewhere - I transferred to Chase. Now nicely established at Chase, it’s not worth the hassle to come back to Roosevelt Island.

Finally, before I enter Gristedes, I go to the post office. This is the most customer- friendly, helpful branch post office I’ve ever encountered. So, I end my walk with a happy experience. On to buying my groceries at Gristedes.

To repeat, Southtown people don’t venture very often to Northtown because there is little there to attract them. We badly need more and better stores.

There’s a positive ending to the story of the Housing Committee report. After a bit of discussion, the RIRA Common Council voted to reject the report and asked the Housing Committee to rewrite and resubmit the report to the next Common Council meeting on 2/2/ 11.

Aaron Hamburger, Chair – RIRA’s Island Services Committee

Below is the RIRA Housing Committee Report submitted for the January 2011 RIRA meeting.This is the type of report that the majority of members of the RIRA Common Council do not want you to see in the future. For the record, this report was not preliminary, or mere work product waiting further refinement but was intended to be the official report of the RIRA Housing Committee to the full RIRA Common Council.

From the RIRA Housing Committee Report to the January 2011 Common Council Meeting.

Our Committee met to consider the three questions on the Agenda:

1. Section 8 tenants in Eastwood that eventually exceed the Section 8 income guidelines are not then automatically transferred to the LAP Program; this violates the exit agreement whereby all of the tenants of Eastwood were to be protected upon exit from Mitchell Lama.

2. Southtown is not in compliance with the guidelines set forth in the General Development Plan, as it was not developed inclusively and does not provide low-income or affordable housing, a vital component of the General Development Plan, which is still in effect. Unfortunately, the lack of affordable housing at Southtown and the sense that Southtown is an enclave has exacerbated social tension and resentment on RI. Whereas RI was previously an oasis where the socioeconomic mix provided opportunities for building bridges and friendships across the ethnic, economic, social spectrum, we now have the phenomenon of a nearly complete lack of contact between the populations of Southtown and Northtown, leading to community conflict and the tarnishing of its reputation as an inclusive, caring place to live. The divisions of NYC, which were previously absent on RI, have now arrived on RI. Day and night, the million-dollar apartments of Southtown telegraph the message to the people of Northtown: We have money, you don’t; we do not need to know you much less lay eyes on you; Northtown residents don’t count because they can’t afford million-dollar apartments; Southtown is where the money is; that’s why Southtown residents never set foot in Northtown and definitely do not care to interact in any way with Northtown residents. Buildings 7, 8, 9 should be developed as truly affordable Rent Stabilized housing open to tenants with fixed incomes, moderate incomes, and those receiving Section 8 subsidies– this would help rebalance the socioeconomic mix on RI.

3. The RIRA Housing Committee would be happy to assist and support efforts in any of the complexes on RI; however, we can only assist at the request of the building associations. If a building or complex does not have a building committee or association, the Housing Committee has no-one with whom to coordinate efforts within a particular building. Landlord intimidation may be a factor preventing tenants from organizing building committees in some buildings.

The attendees had a thorough discussion about the lingering issue of the Section 8 tenants of Eastwood, who, because of economic circumstances such as families doubling up due to rampant unemployment, children becoming adults, managing to get jobs but still not being in the position to move out because of high rents, or Section 8 tenants slowly getting pay increases through the years so that eventually their income may exceed the Section 8 guidelines, and many more possible situations whereby a household may no longer qualify for the Section 8 subsidy, these families are suddenly exposed to the excessive
market rate rents being charged by Urban American, and because of this unjust economic circumstance, are usually then forced to face the harm of having to give up their apartments. This represents an unfair displacement since the other tenants that were in place at the time the building exited Mitchell-Lama in 2005, those that did not qualify for Section 8 subsidies are permanently protected from excessive market rate rents by having been placed in the LAP Program. Yet all Eastwood tenants at the time of exit from Mitchell Lama were promised they would be forever protected from market rate rents. The Committee agreed there is unfairness with the above scenario – the loophole whereby the landlord can prey on Section 8 tenants that may wind up even slightly exceeding the Section 8 income guidelines
by suddenly imposing excessive rents on those tenants -- and considered how the situation can be corrected.

First, we must find out how many Section 8 tenants are vulnerable to displacement as outlined above. We agreed that many Section 8 tenants, those on fixed incomes for example retirees or disabled, would likely not exceed the income guidelines, but that many other Section 8 tenants, those whose children have grown up and gone to work but cannot afford to leave home, or other families that may have taken in a grown child or relative that may be down on their luck but eventually may earn some income, may be affected. It is possible that this data may be available from the DHCR so that we could have an idea of the size of the problem. If in the end it turns out that the number of households in danger of displacement is in the range of 300-400, then the issue is a major problem with the risk of displacement affecting hundreds of residents. We would like to have this data before proceeding with next steps such as having meetings with RIOC, Urban American, elected representatives, etc., to plead that the
exit agreement and the agreement worked out with the tenants and the new owner upon exit could be amended to extend LAP protection to Section 8 tenants that may eventually exceed the Section 8 income guidelines. We need to find a way to keep people in their homes especially in these times of high unemployment and high rents.

We recognize that the Tenants Association of Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings is currently fighting the landlord over electrical sub metering, that is, electrical sub metering the way the landlord wishes to carry it out –making electrical bills a lucrative source of income as well as providing another way to evict tenants that may be unable to pay grossly inflated electrical bills, by considering the non-payment of inflated electrical bills as equivalent to the non-payment of rent, and extending to the landlord the power to evict tenants even if the tenant can afford to pay the rent but cannot afford the unjustly inflated electrical bill. As the Tenants Association is currently focused on this problem which threatens the future of all Eastwood tenants, the issue of Section 8 tenants exceeding income guidelines and not being transferred into the LAP Program, may not be immediately addressed. Also, the above possible steps can only be carried out under the auspices of, and as an effort by, the Eastwood tenants and their organization. We discussed that it is vital for Section 8 tenants of Eastwood to become active and involved in the Tenants Association. If requested by the Tenants Association the Housing Committee is happy to lend support and help with these issues.

Preventing embarrassment to RIRA and controversy is not a good reason to restrict information made available to the Roosevelt Island community by their own elected representatives. Does Roosevelt Island need our own unique version of Wikileaks?

UPDATE 1/10 - Click here for the two RIRA resolutions and for spreadsheet showing how RIRA Common Council Delegates Voted.