CB9 Housing Meeting Leaves Many Questions

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News


CB9 Housing Meeting Leaves Many Questions



By Lindsay Schubiner
Columbia Daily Spectator
November 17, 2004



Tempers flared at a meeting of the Community Board 9 Housing Committee last night because of suspicions that Columbia may be moving forward with plans to buy residential buildings in the proposed expansion area.

Community members stormed out of the meeting after learning that buildings at 3285 and 3287 Broadway will no longer be under by the West Harlem Group Assistance Program, which was administering the buildings for the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The Coalition to Preserve Community, a group that has raised concerns about the expansion, had encouraged community members to attend the meeting with the belief that representatives from HPD would discuss Columbia’s expansion plans. But due to a miscommunication, these representatives were not prepared to speak on the issue. Jordy Reyes-Montblanc, CB9 chair, claimed responsibility for the mistake.

A group of attendees was still eager for answers, however, and asked Disha Marte, a representative of West Harlem Assistance, about the buildings. She had not originally planned to address the issue, but she said, “These two buildings were in our cluster. And they were taken away from West Harlem Assistance.”

Before negotiations began, the city had owned the buildings. Many community members assumed that Columbia was behind the change and had plans to purchase the buildings.

A spokesperson for Columbia said that as a matter of policy, the University does not comment on properties that it does not own within the proposed development area.

After the meeting, community members milled about outside the board expressing frustration.

“We’re going to have to try to challenge HPD,” said Tom DeMott of the Coalition to Preserve Community.

Other community members, however, seemed resigned to their fate. Otto Arenas, a tenant of a neighboring building at 3289 Broadway, said, “We’re waiting to hear when we’re going to move.”

Community Board Chairman George Goodwill said that the board tried to work with the community and stated that “it’s not fair for everybody to walk out.”

Earlier in the evening, the meeting addressed community tenants’ worries about the Tenant Interim Lease program. The program is a city initiative to help tenants of city-owned apartments buy their buildings. It moves tenants into unoccupied city housing while the city makes improvements on the buildings. After the work is finished, the tenants move back into their original apartments and buy the buildings collectively.

Former tenants of 610 West 136th St. and 470 Convent Ave., who are now living in temporary city housing, were upset that they have been unable to enter their buildings to check up on the work being done. Some community members concerned about potential liability issues also complained that the sidewalks in front of 610 West 136th St. were uneven.

A representative from HPD repeatedly assured the group that the agency would fix the sidewalk and explained that the buildings were not open because they were unfinished and therefore unsafe.

Community members did not seem satisfied. Board member Dr. Vicki Gholson said, “Nobody trusts HPD, including the people that work for it.” Many in the audience thanked Gholson for her input, suggesting that the feeling is widespread.

After the discussion, the community members voted unanimously to have the board recommend that the city council approve the pre-sale agreement for the two buildings. This would pave the way for the next stage of the TIL plan, in which former tenants would buy their buildings from the city.



Note: Because of an editing error, the sixth paragraph of this article contained inaccurate information in print. This version has been corrected. Spectator regrets the error.