Carmelo Robles, Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center
Manhattanville, NEW YORK – Standing in front of what was once an enormous complex of low-income housing and is now evidence of a rapidly-changing neighborhood, a small group of activists announced a tenant convention on gentrification and displacement Wednesday that will raise awareness about the affordable housing crisis in Harlem and Washington Heights.
The event will take place Friday, October 10 from 6:00-10:00pm and Saturday, October 11 from 9:00am to 4:00pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 468 W. 143rd St. in Manhattan.
Community organizations such as the Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center, the Coalition to Preserve Community, and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish identified Columbia University, Vantage Properties, and Pinnacle Group as the main contributors to community displacement and gentrification in the area. (Columbia University and Pinnacle Group did not return requests for comment. Vantage Properties declined a request for comment.)
The press conference was held in front of 3333 Broadway, a structure they say has fallen victim to gentrification.
The 35-story complex, which is built atop a public school, holds approximately one thousand apartments that have housed low-income families since 1976 as part of the Mitchell-Lama housing program, which offered developers heavily-subsidized loans and property tax exemptions to construct low and moderate-income residential buildings.
But after Columbia University announced its plans to expand its campus uptown, the owner of the 3333 Broadway, Ruby Schron, opted out of the Mitchell-Lama program, utilizing a loophole that allows building owners the right to re-purchase the original mortgage after 20 years and exit the program. Schron soon began raising the rents to reflect market rates, and sold the complex in 2007 to a large residential real estate company.
“It was the largest reservoir of affordable housing in this community,” said Tom Kappner of the Coalition to Preserve Community. “At least 200 of those apartments are now filled with Columbia students at market rates. This building is a symbol of what’s happening in this community.”
Kappner has lived in a Columbia-owned building for 40 years, ever since he was a Columbia College student in the sixties. He says the university is turning the once-vibrant neighborhood into an institutional enclave.
“I have seen this neighborhood change. It used to be wonderful, all these different ethnicities living together; exactly what makes New York a great place,” he said. “We’re told gentrification is invisible market forces, but it is Columbia and politicians that allow it.”
Columbia University has long been the target of community organizations and affordable housing advocates. The school was granted a rezoning request in 2007 by the City Council, and is moving forward with its plans to expand into Upper Manhattan, home to thousands of low and moderate-income families. Opponents of the expansion believe the community does not stand to benefit, and that thousands are already being forced from their homes.
Columbia University was not the only culprit named at the press conference. Luis Tejada—the executive director of the Mirabal Center—called real estate companies Vantage Properties and Pinnacle Group “predatory landlords” who have utilized questionable tactics to force out long-term tenants. Both companies own vast numbers of residential and commercial buildings in the area.
Belkis Aristy has lived in a Vantage-owned building for 46 years, and said the company has wrongfully accused her of keeping a primary residence elsewhere.
“They say I don’t live here,” she said. “I feel nervous in my own home.”
Robert Rodriguez, a community organizer with the Mirabal Center, said Vantage is using the “primary residence” argument—tenants must be able to prove that their rent-stabilized apartment is their primary residence, or they are at risk of losing it. But Rodriguez said Vantage Properties is citing violation of the law even when tenants have abided by it, and has employed various other methods to harass tenants.
Rodriguez hopes the informational panels and workshops at the convention will educate people about their rights and show them how to protect themselves from displacement.
“The only way to fight back is to organize ourselves at a neighborhood level,” he said, acknowledging that the current credit crisis—and how it might affect building owners in Harlem and Washington Heights—presents both opportunity and uncertainty to residents trying to stay in their homes.
Carmelo Robles, who moved to the area from Ponce, Puerto Rico 60 years ago said he isn’t fighting for himself.
“I die maybe tomorrow,” he said, “But my family is still here.”
The event will take place Friday, October 10 from 6:00-10:00pm and Saturday, October 11 from 9:00am to 4:00pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 468 W. 143rd St. in Manhattan.
Community organizations such as the Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center, the Coalition to Preserve Community, and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish identified Columbia University, Vantage Properties, and Pinnacle Group as the main contributors to community displacement and gentrification in the area. (Columbia University and Pinnacle Group did not return requests for comment. Vantage Properties declined a request for comment.)
The press conference was held in front of 3333 Broadway, a structure they say has fallen victim to gentrification.
The 35-story complex, which is built atop a public school, holds approximately one thousand apartments that have housed low-income families since 1976 as part of the Mitchell-Lama housing program, which offered developers heavily-subsidized loans and property tax exemptions to construct low and moderate-income residential buildings.
But after Columbia University announced its plans to expand its campus uptown, the owner of the 3333 Broadway, Ruby Schron, opted out of the Mitchell-Lama program, utilizing a loophole that allows building owners the right to re-purchase the original mortgage after 20 years and exit the program. Schron soon began raising the rents to reflect market rates, and sold the complex in 2007 to a large residential real estate company.
“It was the largest reservoir of affordable housing in this community,” said Tom Kappner of the Coalition to Preserve Community. “At least 200 of those apartments are now filled with Columbia students at market rates. This building is a symbol of what’s happening in this community.”
Kappner has lived in a Columbia-owned building for 40 years, ever since he was a Columbia College student in the sixties. He says the university is turning the once-vibrant neighborhood into an institutional enclave.
“I have seen this neighborhood change. It used to be wonderful, all these different ethnicities living together; exactly what makes New York a great place,” he said. “We’re told gentrification is invisible market forces, but it is Columbia and politicians that allow it.”
Columbia University has long been the target of community organizations and affordable housing advocates. The school was granted a rezoning request in 2007 by the City Council, and is moving forward with its plans to expand into Upper Manhattan, home to thousands of low and moderate-income families. Opponents of the expansion believe the community does not stand to benefit, and that thousands are already being forced from their homes.
Columbia University was not the only culprit named at the press conference. Luis Tejada—the executive director of the Mirabal Center—called real estate companies Vantage Properties and Pinnacle Group “predatory landlords” who have utilized questionable tactics to force out long-term tenants. Both companies own vast numbers of residential and commercial buildings in the area.
Belkis Aristy has lived in a Vantage-owned building for 46 years, and said the company has wrongfully accused her of keeping a primary residence elsewhere.
“They say I don’t live here,” she said. “I feel nervous in my own home.”
Robert Rodriguez, a community organizer with the Mirabal Center, said Vantage is using the “primary residence” argument—tenants must be able to prove that their rent-stabilized apartment is their primary residence, or they are at risk of losing it. But Rodriguez said Vantage Properties is citing violation of the law even when tenants have abided by it, and has employed various other methods to harass tenants.
Rodriguez hopes the informational panels and workshops at the convention will educate people about their rights and show them how to protect themselves from displacement.
“The only way to fight back is to organize ourselves at a neighborhood level,” he said, acknowledging that the current credit crisis—and how it might affect building owners in Harlem and Washington Heights—presents both opportunity and uncertainty to residents trying to stay in their homes.
Carmelo Robles, who moved to the area from Ponce, Puerto Rico 60 years ago said he isn’t fighting for himself.
“I die maybe tomorrow,” he said, “But my family is still here.”
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