Community Groups Rally for Affordable Housing in East Harlem

EAST HARLEM, NY — Community groups assembled in East Harlem Wednesday to protest displacement in the neighborhood caused by the building of new apartment buildings and increasing rents.

Members of Community Voices Heard, Picture the Homeless, El Barrio Unite and other groups gathered on the corner of East 112th Street and Madison Avenue. The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development has put forth a Request for Proposals in order to build a residential development — called the East 111th development — on the site. The 76,500 square foot development would span the entire block and all units would be offered at affordable housing rates, but the groups said that it's not enough.

The HPD said in May that all units in the East 11th development would be offered at affordable rates, a fact which is mirrored in the RFP.

"The project must be entirely affordable and include residential units that are affordable to a mix of household incomes that meet the needs, and contribute to the diversity, of the community," reads the RFP

The land is publicly owned, which gives city officials power to require more affordable units from private developers.

Residents say the HPD's request does not meet the neighborhood's needs for affordable housing. The picketers chanted "Vicki B change the plan, we need housing on this land," referring to Vicki Been, the commissioner of the HPD.

Demonstrators Wednesday said they are concerned that the affordable rates will not be accurate for East Harlem, said Amelia Barnes, a spokeswoman for Community Voices Heard. The average income range in East Harlem is $19,000 to $33,000 per year, Barnes said. While the HPD does state that some units will be available for for a family of three making as low as $24,000, protesters were worried that due to the mixed-income nature of the development many of the units will be reserved for people with incomes higher than the neighborhood average.

The picketers were also concerned that much of the affordable housing will not be permanently affordable. The HPD's request states that the projects units must remain in rent regulation for a minimum of 30 years.

Community Voices Heard presented this list of demands for the development:

• 40 percent of units reserved for people making less than $23,300. Currently, 37 percent of neighborhood residents fall within this income bracket.
• 100 percent affordable housing (below market-rate) units.
• Permanent affordability, not the minimum 30 years proposed by the HPD in the Request for Proposals.
• Increasing jobs and local hiring.
• Affordable small business space.

The community groups are also worried about increased market-rate apartments in the neighborhood. The influx of wealth in the community will drive up neighborhood rents, displace current residents and allow luxury big box retail stores to replace small businesses, Barnes said.

"Where are the people who currently live here supposed to go?" Barnes said.

Longtime neighborhood residents at the rally said that gentrification and displacement is already occurring in East Harlem. Raymond Tirado, 56, said that due to harassment he's the only tenant left at his apartment on East 109th Street and Third Avenue.

"They cut my heat, they let the pipes bust," Tirado said of his landlord. "I had no hot water, nothing to flush the toilet with, couldn't take a shower, nothing. Because the landlord was trying to get me out of my place and this was their tactic."

Tirado, a construction worker with the Local 79 construction union, said he has been living in the same rent-controlled apartment for 25 years. Ever since Tirado was born born at nearby Mt. Sinai hospital he's lived in East Harlem, except for a three-year stint in the Army.

While speaking to the picketers, Tirado told them to bring their neighbor's in the community into the discussion and to lobby their elected representatives to listen to the demands put forth for the East 111th development.

"I want to stay here after I retire," Tirado said. "This is my neighborhood, I grew up here and I love it."

Correction: This story incorrectly stated that the HPD's request proposed a development with market-rate units. The RFP calls for 100 percent affordability at mixed income levels. The protesters are concerned that the building will not be truly affordable for low income neighborhood residents. Patch regrets this error.

[Photo: Patch]