Landmarking CPW / 97 St. church (being made into condos) ?

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has scheduled a 

public hearing

on Tuesday, November 18, time to be determined, 

for the First Church of Christ Scientist (now known as Crenshaw Church, 361 Central Park West (a.k.a. 1 West 96th Street), an individually landmarked church designed by Carrère & Hastings from 1901 to 1903). 

In addition, the proposal will go before Community Board 7's Preservation Committee on Thursday, November 13 at 6:30pm.

Education & Awareness about Ebola - Meeting uptown Wed., 10/29 at 6 PM

Emergency Community Meeting Concerning Ebola
Wednesday, October 29th at  6:00 PM
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building
163 West 125th Street | 8th Floor Conference Room

JOIN Senator Bill Perkins 

for an EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING 

THIS WEDNESDAY—OCTOBER 29TH 

CONCERNING AWARENESS, EDUCATION AND 

STIGMATIZATION STEMMING 

FROM THE EBOLA EPIDEMIC

Tenant Rally on Saturday, Oct. 25 - and our Halloween Table!

Lobby & Front renovations begin Oct. 20 for several weeks

Stellar just announced "lobby upgrades and front entrance renovations" to begin October 20, 2014.  The work is supposed to continue for several weeks.  Stellar will also be upgrading the building's front landscape and trimming the city trees.  

The lobby renovation is supposed to be minimal, but the front entrance work will result in only one side ramp at a time being kept open. 

If your entry to the building is blocked as this goes on, please contact the tenant association. 

We're in HEAT Season

If you call 311 for lack of heat, send the complaint reference number to sue at janak dot org so the tenant association can keep track. 

What landlords do to oust regulated tenants

If the owner claims you don't actually live in your apartment - but you do, contact the tenant association.  It's a tactic to get you out so Stellar can reap higher profits.  The whole article excerpted below is worth reading.

NY Press

In Columbia Apartment Battle, It’s The Long-Term Renters Who Pay

WRITTEN BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS ON OCTOBER 9, 2014. POSTED IN NEWS OUR TOWN, NEWS OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN,NEWS WEST SIDE SPIRIT, OUR TOWN, OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN, WEST SIDE SPIRIT.

EXCERPT: 

As for the nine buildings on the CoSo website that are entirely rent stabilized, the spokesperson characterized them as an investment and said the annual turnover rate for rental housing in New York is around 10 percent. However, according to the most recent Housing and Vacancy Survey commissioned three years ago by the Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, the city’s “vacancy rate for rent stabilized units as a whole was 2.63 in 2011.”

NY Press on Bill for Harassed Tenants

Bill Highlights Issues For Harassed  

Tenants

WRITTEN BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2014. 

Lawmakers hope increased penalties for tenant harassment will deter unscrupulous landlords

A recently passed measure in the city council that toughens penalties for landlords found guilty of tenant harassment is receiving mixed reviews from affordable housing advocates, who say increasing penalties against unscrupulous landlords is a worthy cause, but more must be done.

The legislation, sponsored by council members Margaret Chin and Jumaane Williams, actually amends a pre-existing bill that levied a $5,000 fine to landlords found guilty of harassment. The amendment doubles that fine to $10,000 and will also result in the guilty landlord’s name being posted to a public list on the city’s Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development’s website.

Sue Susman, president of the Central Park Gardens Tenants’ Association, who also runs a popular mailing list on affordable housing issues and is considered a communication hub in the affordable housing community, said the amendment is an important step in the right direction but that the definition of what constitutes harassment must be broadened.

“Right now, landlords have their agents call rent regulated tenants offering money to move, with an implied or spoken ‘or else we’ll see you in court,’ and that’s perfectly legal,” said Susman, who has a law degree from NYU and is currently involved with the Real Rent Reform Campaign.

There’s also the matter of landlords taking tenants to court in frivolous lawsuits that are eventually tossed out but nonetheless cause financial and emotional damage, she said, which is a currently legal and effective form of harassment.

Susman praised the amendment but said she’d like the public shaming aspect to have deeper consequences for landlords.

“I like that HPD will post information about violations,” she said. “But who would be affected by those postings? I’d be thrilled if there were a consequence that protected tenants directly, such as the requirement that all apartments in the affected building must remain rent regulated for the duration of their current occupants’ tenancies.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE.

Council Member Mark Levine's Community Updates

DOMESTIC ABUSE,  PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING, COMMUNITY UPDATES

One in every four women will be the victim of domestic violence.  One in five women will be the victim of sexual assault. One in six women will be the victim of a stalker. The actual numbers may be even higher as these crimes are notoriously underreported and even more difficult to prosecute.

Last week such an horrific act hit our own community when an assailant followed a woman home to her apartment on 105th Street, forced his way inside, and brutally sexually assaulted her.