Are any tenants interested in doing a teach-in about tenants rights, or getting a speaker/advocate from another organization to come answer questions?
Want to set up a discussion group about the changes that have occurred in the building over the past year or two?
The goal is to find SOLUTIONS to problems, not just re-hash the same old, same old. Venting and complaining is just a small part of the process - it's a start, but it doesn't really get the job done as far as finding solutions that work.
Use the comment section below to respond and "vote" for doing this.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Fwd: Real Rent Reform April Meeting
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Real Rent Reform <organizing@realrentreform.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 2:37 PM
Subject: Real Rent Reform April Meeting
To: emilyholiday@gmail.com
From: Real Rent Reform <organizing@realrentreform.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 2:37 PM
Subject: Real Rent Reform April Meeting
To: emilyholiday@gmail.com
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339 Lafayette Street #301
New York, NY 10012
United States
.New York, NY 10012
United States
"Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Hmmm, what's missing from the lobby? Oh yeah - the furniture! Front desk staff have a new duty to perform every evening: stashing the furniture behind a locked door in the computer lab.
This is the ultra-creative way H.S.I. has figured out how to deal with one problem tenant who camped out in a chair facing the mail room most nights for several years, getting massively drunk, going on racist and violent rants against other tenants who had to pass by to enter and leave the building, cursing out the front desk staff, complaining about how he felt "trapped like a rat in a hole" in his room, and then passing out in the chair for the rest of the night.
Now we don't have to deal with Butch Taylor's raving drunkenness every night. BUT - here's the thing: for years, the lobby was usually a relatively quiet place, and other tenants were able to sit there at any time of day or night without a problem (regardless of what staff may tell you, there was never a curfew on the lobby until 2014). A few tenants would read there late at night it they were having trouble sleeping; others might come downstairs late nights if they weren't feeling well because it was easier to meet an ambulance there if they felt they needed one. Other tenants could sit and socialize with each other, talking or playing Scrabble. Having free access to the lobby made the building feel a little friendlier, and there was an alternative to being stuck in the tiny rooms upstairs, especially during bad weather (there just aren't a lot of other places to go late at night in the neighborhood unless you want to hang out in a bar, or at McDonald's, or one of the two expensive diners in the immediate neighborhood - and those are only solutions if you have money to spend). Now, if tenants are expecting guests in the evening, the guests have to stand until the tenant comes downstairs to get them.
If you want a sample of what Butch sounded like on an average rant, there's an audio clip in the sidebar to the right titled "Butch Flips Out". Scroll down until you hit the picture of a troll doll, and then click on the arrow in the picture. It's just a short sound-bite, but fairly typical of how he sounded when he was getting warmed up - it usually got MUCH worse, fairly quickly, and the verbal abuse was usually accompanied by flailing arms and lots of spit.
Does it make sense to punish EVERYONE just because one person is making things unbearable? Not in a normal universe - but here on Planet Kenmore, it's just another example of management's creative problem solving.
Building Construction: Permits? What's That?
I think we've all seen the memos about upcoming construction. What's REALLY interesting about this, though, is that there are no new permits posted in the building that refer to current work being done, and if you check the website for the Department of Buildings for our building, there aren't any new permits listed there either. Lots of OLD permits (that are now expired) are listed, though...
And there are plenty of violations posted there too. Hey, H.S.I., why can't you get your sh*t together? Does everything you do have to be substandard? If you're genuinely interested in providing supportive housing, could you at least start with respecting the health and quality of life of your tenants?
Some basic questions about THIS batch of construction (anyone that was living in the building in 2009 should remember how horrible the last batch of construction was):
- How noisy will the construction be? The last batch was HORRIBLE - loud, going on all day long, unbearable
- Will the workmen be using more than one elevator all day long, making the waits for elevators even more impossible than they already are? (If you want to report elevator problems, by the way, the Department of Buildings is that place to go)
- Will there be clouds of dust and grit falling from a great height and getting into everyone's rooms, making it difficult to breathe (hello, some of us have chronic lung problems - I had pneumonia for several months the first summer I lived here, and coincidentally, my room was filled with dust and grit from the construction work - it also clogged up a brand new air conditioner so it wouldn't work right) The workmen are supposed to tent the areas they're working on to contain the crap flying off the building
- Tenants' windows were broken last time around because the workment were careless. Do we need to have this happen again?
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Kenmore Tenants In The News
I noticed an article in the Sunday, March 29 2015 New York Post by Kathianne Boniello. Kenmore Hall tenants make it into the local news!
'Satanic MTA Out To Kill!'
Train Kook's Claim
By Kathianne Boniello
It's the D train as in devil.
A train operator of 14 years has filed a lawsuit against the MTA alleging it engaged in "satanic terroristic criminality" by sending bosses to "terrorize" and "assault" him.
Brian Burke, 53, who was demoted last year to station agent trainee, claims in the suit that the MTA intended to "endanger every soul on the train and on the track" in April 2014 when its inspectors entered his train to see whether he was wearing corrective lenses.
The Manhattan man, who filed the suit in Brooklyn federal court last week without a lawyer, has railed against his bosses before.
He has filed suits and claims against the MTA and Census Bureau, arguing they discriminated against him because he is white, Irish Catholic, and "photophobic", or sensitive to light.
In the latest suit, he says the MTA is trying to kill him, in part, because he griped when ordered not to wear baseball caps and to clean moldy food from a break-room refrigerator.
"I believe I may be in mortal danger," Burke writes, likening himself to the Rev. Al Sharpton, who claimed to be an FBI informant against the mob.
"Rev. Sharpton was accused of 'ratting out the mob' and I maybe (sic) justly accused of 'ratting out the MTA.' I believe the MTA may be more dangerous. There is (sic) 600 volts, high structure, 600-ton trains and an infinite way to be murdered or 'suicided'.
Transit sources say his previous wacky claims have been shot down by courts or the Public Employee Relations Board. The board rejected his claim that he was assaulted by a boss in 2007.
Burke had refused to remove his tinted glasses at a 2014 PERB hearing, prompting supervisors to check on him last April, a source said.
He was making $70,000 a year as an operator, but when he failed in his bid to get worker's comp for the April "assault", the MTA gave him a choice - quit or get off the gravy train, a source said.
Burke is now training to be a station agent, a job with an annual salary of $54,000.
He has called the MTA "The Invisible Empire" and compared it to the KKK.
He tried suing the Census after it laid him off in 2000, but a court tossed the case.
Burke's latest suit seeks back pay and unspecified damages.
Friday, March 20, 2015
transit fare increases
Friday, March 20, 2015
THANK YOU, MTA, FOR STICKING IT TO POOR PEOPLE CITY WIDE!
This weekend, transit fares will go up a quarter to $2.75.
They claim that the fare hike is necessary in order to maintain the financial health of the MTA. (And what does that do for MY financial health?)
And they wonder why people try to beat fares... (not that I'm advocating fare beating... just sayin')
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
HRA rent problems
March 17, 2015
I've heard about a very scary rent problem twice in the past year from tenants here at Kenmore Hall - HRA mysteriously stopping their rent payments without notifying them. In one case, a tenant found out while he was down at our local center (Waverly) on other business entirely; a caseworker there volunteered the information while they were reviewing his budget information, and he was able to fix the situation before it became an issue here at the building. In the second case, it became very much a problem - the tenant has had to go to Housing Court about the missing rent payments (and I'll get to a summary of the details soon). This situation prompted me to ask some questions. I've also heard of one other situation that was so bizarre and ridiculous I could barely believe it, except that it came from the horse's mouth and it could only happen to him - and he's still in the building, so he must have found a solution. This particular tenant started getting paper checks twice a month in his mail box in the amount of $107.50 (which adds up to $215 a month; most of us who have a portion of our rent paid by HRA know perfectly well that that's the amount they pay here) and he just started cashing them and spending the money. After a while, he got called into a conference on the second floor and was asked to account for it. His rationale for spending the money was that the checks were arriving in his mailbox, and had his name on them, so he felt entitled to spend them because - after all - HRA must know what they're doing. Long story short, and he didn't tell me the rest of the details, it got solved somehow and it's a few years later, and he's still very much here.
Apparently, HRA's rent checks (yes, they're still paper) go directly to our rent office and get logged in there. I've been assured that if those payments stop, tenants are notified because H.S.I. wants to get paid, and they're supposed to be notified BEFORE it becomes cause for eviction.
The situation isn't completely hopeless provided tenants move quickly and their HRA case isn't completely screwed up. I've checked around with several organizations, and of course there are several "pieces" to the big answer that need to be cobbled together. DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that I am NOT a lawyer. This is not legal advice, and I'm not telling you what to do - I'm merely passing on information. I emailed the following question to a batch of organizations that provide assistance to tenants:
"A neighbor of mine is being taken to Housing Court by her landlord because public assistance apparently missed making several rent payments in the past that they were supposed to because she has an open case. PA is making her current direct rent payments, and her Section 8 subsidy is also recently recertified and active. From what she's told me, it sounds like a bureaucratic mistake on the part of public assistance (and they've done this to other people in the same building), and that the problem can be corrected if she goes down to the PA center, makes a complaint, goes through mediation and asks for a fair hearing. Can she ask for an adjournment so that she can pursue getting this taken care of, or should she ask for a stipulation agreement? Her court date is this coming Friday, so she doesn't have a lot of time, and she needs to find a way to avoid having the court judge against her right away since the problem was something she wasn't directly responsible for - she needs some additional time to try to solve the problem. I understand that you don't give legal advice, but given the situation, what options are open to her? Thanks for your assistance."
I got mixed results via email - but keep in mind that the court date was on Friday the 13th (somehow this figures...) and I was sending out the question just days before. I'd like to point out here that it always pays to start asking questions, gathering your documentation, and making contact with any organization that can help as soon as you suspect there's a problem
One organization, Housing Court Answers (they apparently have tables to help tenants in the courthouses), told me this:
"When she goes to Housing Court she can ask in the HRA office for a printout of payments. If she can't get into the HRA office (in some boroughs they are very crowded), she can ask the judge or the court attorney for a note to take to HRA. The printout will show if the payments were not made, or if they were made and the landlord did not cash or accept them. HRA can issue duplicate payments if they were either not made in error or if they were lost. If she was sanctioned and HRA intentionally stopped the payments, she will need to do the type of challenge you mentioned."
Met Council on Housing offered this suggestion:
"Sorry, I know that your friend is slated to go to court today and this is a little late, but it is our understanding that landlords do not have the right to demand rent from the tenant that was meant to be paid by public assistance, even if public assistance makes an error. She should definitely ask for an adjournment and clear things up with the public assistance agency if she hasn't already. Also, Housing Court Answers is a legal organization that has a table in housing court and might be able to walk her through the process."
And finally, I contacted the OTDA (after all, they're essentially HRA's "bosses" and might as well know what's happening to poor people because of HRA's mistakes). They recommended contacting Legal Aid in the appropriate borough. That's fine advice if you have plenty of time, but Legal Aid is chronically backlogged. Here's the appropriate contact information for Manhattan:
Harlem Community Law Offices
230 E. 106th Street
New York, NY 10029
Tel.: (212) 426-3000
Lower Manhattan Neighborhood Office
199 Water Street
New York, NY 10038
Tel.: (212) 577-3300
Fax: (212) 509-8761
Manhattan Housing Court Project
New York County Civil Courthouse
111 Centre Street, Room 106
New York, NY 10013
Tel.: (212) 577-3300
This at least provides a starting point. Make sure to respond to any court papers you receive, PROMPTLY. Ask for an adjournment. Get your documentation organized. If and when I hear of additional solutions, I'll post them on the blog. If you're in the mood for humor, you can also contact the Office of Constituent Affairs if you want to file a complaint about a problem with either OTDA or HRA: call 212-331-4640.
. You can put your name/index number in and get basic information about what's going on - court dates, material on file, etc. I think there's even a way to e-track your case, getting reminders and updates by email. Take a little time to explore the site because there are additional resources about the court system there that's available for free to anyone.
And finally, HRA's Homelessness Diversion Unit (at Waverly, they're on the 3rd floor) is the unit that clears up this kind of mess, especially if you don't have a sanction.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Fw: Register Now for the 2015 Homeless Policy Forum!
From: Care for the Homeless
Subject: Register Now for the 2015 Homeless Policy Forum!
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Monday, March 9, 2015
Retrospective Commentary
There are reasons why some people get banned from the building... Does everyone remember how totally irritating it was to have Sal running around trying to tell everyone how to run their business? Trying to get people to join his bullshit tenants' association, which was his excuse for having a special club?
I asked him one day - when he'd been complaining about the building more than usual (and much more than I felt like having to listen to) why he'd lived here for 23 years if it was so awful, and he said it was difficult for him to move on because Kenmore Hall was his "power base". That's pretty pathetic, when you think about it - it's something only a total loser would say.
It's been a major relief to have him out of the building.
It's been a major relief to have him out of the building.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Fwd: FEGS
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Asch, Esther Ann <EAsch@fegs.org>
Date: Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 12:34 PM
Subject: FEGS
To: "crowcorneille1@gmail.com" <crowcorneille1@gmail.com>
From: Asch, Esther Ann <EAsch@fegs.org>
Date: Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 12:34 PM
Subject: FEGS
To: "crowcorneille1@gmail.com" <crowcorneille1@gmail.com>
That would be because FEGS IS NOW BANKRUPT! On behalf of all the folks who've had to sit through the incredible boredom down on Varick Street over the years, I think I can safely say that FEGS won't be missed at all.
FEGS is in the process of transferring all of its programs so we cannot help you
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mailconn7
Friday, February 6, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
FEGS is GONE
I'm sure a lot of tenants will be thrilled to know that FEGS has gone bankrupt and is set to close down in the near future. I've heard so many horror stories about the place from so many people; the organization was completely incompetent and caused a huge amount of grief for most of the people assigned there. This should be a comment on city and state incompetence, though, because FEGS got a lot of its funding from government sources and STILL ended up millions of dollars in debt. Why isn't this kind of thing being audited and reviewed?
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Federation Employment & Guidance Service (FEGS) seriously considering bankruptcy
Federation Employment & Guidance Service seriously considering bankruptcy
EXCLUSIVE: The bankruptcy plan comes weeks after the 80-year old charity laid off dozens of employees in its struggle to stay solvent. It remains unclear what will happen to the city agencies that rely on FEGS to help disabled clients land jobs and attend training programs.
BY REUVEN BLAU NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 6:37 PM
A major city nonprofit is seriously considering filing for bankruptcy, weeks after discovering that it is close to $20 million in debt, sources said.
The Federation for Employment and Guidance Services (FEGS) told some of its workers Tuesday that it would likely be left with no alternative to that extreme measure.
It remains unclear what will happen to the city agencies that rely on FEGS to help disabled clients land jobs and attend training programs.
“Some may be gone and some may be transferred,” a source familiar with the charity said.
The bankruptcy plan comes weeks after the 80-year old charity laid off dozens of employees in its struggle to stay solvent.
FEGS spokeswoman Julie Farber said the agency was still reviewing its options.
“We have narrowed the potential pathways we may undertake, and a final decision has not yet been made,” she said.
FEGS assists up to 12,000 disabled people each day and has a yearly budget of about $250 million, funded largely by city and state grants.
The head of the organization has changed three times in the past few months.
rblau@nydailynews.com
I’m just wondering how you just “discover” that you’re $20 million in debt... what kept them from noticing after the first million? City and state government is willing to blow millions on a crap organization like FEGS, but make it really difficult for people on public assistance - especially the disabled - to exist decently. Wouldn’t it be nice to see more of the money spent on screwed up non-profits that waste money and then go bankrupt be spent directly and more effectively on helping the poor and disabled? Is there any accountability?
weather alerts
Notification issued 2/1/15 at 4:36 AM. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning citywide from 7:00 PM, February 1st to 6:00 PM, Monday, February 2nd. The current forecast calls for 4-8 inches of snow. Visibilities are expected to be approximately one quarter mile or less at times. For updates please visit: http://www.weather.gov/nyc.
Notification issued 2/1/15 at 5:00 PM. Mayor de Blasio today issued a Hazardous Travel Advisory for Monday, February 2nd. The National Weather Service has forecast 5 to 6 inches of snow accumulation citywide, along with up to a quarter inch of ice accumulation throughout the day Monday. Light snow will begin this evening, with minor accumulation by midnight. Snow will become heavy overnight, with 2-4 inches of accumulation expected. Snow will transition to sleet and freezing rain with an accumulation of up to a quarter inch of ice during the Monday morning hours. Exercise caution when driving and allow for additional travel time.
The Department of Sanitation issued a Snow Alert, beginning at 5PM tonight. PlowNYC will be activated and available at www.nyc.gov/severeweather.
For more info: http://i.imgur.com/NQpceBY.png.
To view this message in American Sign Language (ASL) with audio and subtitles, please visit: http://bit.ly/11wC2C0.
Notification issued 2/1/15 at 9:00 AM. The New York City Department of Transportation announced that Alternate Side Parking Regulations will be suspended Monday, February 2 to facilitate snow removal. Payment at parking meters will remain in effect throughout NYC. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/alternate-side-parking.shtml.
To view this message in American Sign Language (ASL) with audio and subtitles, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4YXMLzpUII.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: Notify NYC
Sender's Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov
Sender's Contact Phone: 212-639-9675
Sender's Name: Notify NYC
Sender's Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov
Sender's Contact Phone: 212-639-9675
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Turning over your ID to get access ...
I found this article by accident today, and want to know what Kenmore Hall tenants think of the answer to this question - people have been complaining about this issue here for years. Please feel free to comment
Ask A NYC Housing Lawyer: Do I Really Have To Hand Over ID To Enter A Building?
Steve Dobkin and son contemplate tenants' rights on a Park Slope stoop. (Courtesy Private Jake Dobkin Collection)
Do you have a question about New York's complex and sometimes terrifying housing laws? Native New Yorker columnist Jake Dobkin has been receiving a lot of these questions lately, and he's decided to kick some of them over to his dad, longtime NYC tenants' lawyer and housing activistSteve Dobkin. If you have a question, email us and we will pick the most interesting ones to pass along to him.
Today's question comes from a deliveryman who can't stand it when a fancy building requires him to hand over ID just to bring food up to a customer.
So I deliver somewhat fancy food to somewhat fancy buildings. A lot of these buildings have policies that really dick me around—especially when I have to, with my one paper bag, exit the building, walk around the block to the service entrance, and then come back into the same lobby I was just in. But one thing I'm not sure about is ID stuff.
It annoys me to show ID to enter a building, but I get it. But how about the occasional building that makes you give them your ID to hold onto while you're in the building? Is that even legal?
I told the guy to just copy it down and please give it back; it stresses me out to leave it with people. I know it seems like a small thing, but other poor/lower middle class types will know why this annoys me.
Thanks!
A longtime housing attorney responds:
Since 9/11, purported concerns for the security of residents have been used to justify a host of measures invading the privacy of tenants, family members, guests, and visitors. The likelihood is that a delivery guy would be treated by the average judge with even less deference than a visiting in-law.
In 2005, Peter Cooper Village installed a massive electronic key card and video surveillance system which required tenants, family members and anyone who entered the buildings on a regular basis to use an encrypted key card with their picture on it. The Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association challenged the system in Court and at the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (“DHCR”) on a multitude of grounds, from violating leases and the Rent Stabilization Law to totalitarian enslavement, but in the end the Landlord’s repeated mantra of “Security,” backed by recommendations from a former FBI agent, two independent consultants, and the NYPD Crime Prevention Unit, outweighed all resistance.
Cynics and tenant activists suspected that the real motivation for the installation of the computerized key system was to measure the comings and goings of tenants for use as evidence against them in non-primary residence proceedings, a key feature of the campaign to eliminate long-term lower-rent-paying tenants.
The 2006 opinion by the DHCR Commissioner, which was upheld by the State Supreme Court, noted that since “security personnel may review the photos of card key holders as they enter their buildings, via the integrated CCTV system, it is only logical to allow security personnel to be able to ask for a photo ID of non-key card holders.”
Frankly, it’s hard to envision a realistic scenario in which you, as a delivery guy, will be in a position to challenge building management’s holding onto your ID while you’re in the building. Be thankful you haven’t (yet) been subjected to extraordinary rendition to a black site.
In 2005, Peter Cooper Village installed a massive electronic key card and video surveillance system which required tenants, family members and anyone who entered the buildings on a regular basis to use an encrypted key card with their picture on it. The Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association challenged the system in Court and at the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (“DHCR”) on a multitude of grounds, from violating leases and the Rent Stabilization Law to totalitarian enslavement, but in the end the Landlord’s repeated mantra of “Security,” backed by recommendations from a former FBI agent, two independent consultants, and the NYPD Crime Prevention Unit, outweighed all resistance.
Cynics and tenant activists suspected that the real motivation for the installation of the computerized key system was to measure the comings and goings of tenants for use as evidence against them in non-primary residence proceedings, a key feature of the campaign to eliminate long-term lower-rent-paying tenants.
The 2006 opinion by the DHCR Commissioner, which was upheld by the State Supreme Court, noted that since “security personnel may review the photos of card key holders as they enter their buildings, via the integrated CCTV system, it is only logical to allow security personnel to be able to ask for a photo ID of non-key card holders.”
Frankly, it’s hard to envision a realistic scenario in which you, as a delivery guy, will be in a position to challenge building management’s holding onto your ID while you’re in the building. Be thankful you haven’t (yet) been subjected to extraordinary rendition to a black site.
The opinion herein does not constitute legal advice, which may only be given in the context of a lawyer-client relationship.
If you've got a housing question you'd like answered, just drop us a line here.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Fwd: Help Picture the Homeless Come Home
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brodie Enoch & William S Burnett, PTH Board Co-Chairs <development@picturethehomeless.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 2:19 PM
Subject: Help Picture the Homeless Come Home
From: Brodie Enoch & William S Burnett, PTH Board Co-Chairs <development@picturethehomeless.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 2:19 PM
Subject: Help Picture the Homeless Come Home
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"Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
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