City Limits Magazine, March 1994 Issue

8/3/2019 City Limits Magazine, March 1994 Issue

1/28

~---

D.8 :

Ii inat contract.,

O . Departmen.ding for

Reduction

I toJ b :y

-N .e.ghborhoodGroup CS aughtin the Crunch


2/28

Citv L imi tsVolume XIX Number 3

City Limits is published ten times pe r year,monthly except bi-monthly issues in June/July and August/September , by the City LimitsCommunity Information Service , Inc ., a nonprofit organization devoted to dissem inatinginformation concerning neighborhoodrevitalization .Editor: Andrew WhiteSenior Editor: Jill KirschenbaumAssociate Editor: Steve MitraContributing Editor: Peter MarcuseProduction: Chip CliffeAdvertising Representative: Faith WigginsOffice Assistant: Seymour GreenProofreader: Sandy SocolarPhotographers: Steven Fish. AndrewLichtenstein. Suzanne TobiasSponsorsAssociation for Neighborhood andHousing Development. Inc.New York Urban CoalitionPratt Institute Center for Community an dEnvironmental Development

Urban Homesteading Assistance BoardBoard of Directors"Eddie Bautista, NYLPIICharter RightsProjectBeverly Cheuvront. former City LimitsEditorErrol Louis . Central Brooklyn PartnershipMary Martinez. Montefiore HospitalRebecca Reich. Housing ConsultantAndrew Reicher, UHABTo m Robbins. JournalistJay Small, ANHDWalter Stafford, New York UniversityDoug Turetsky . former City Limits EditorPete Williams , Center for Law andSocial Justice

Affiliations for identification only.Subscription rates are : for individuals andcommunity groups, $20/0ne Year, $30/TwoYears; for businesses , foundations , banks ,government agencies an d libraries , $35/0neYear,$50/T wo Years. Low income, unemployed,$10/0ne Year.City Limits welcomes comments an d articlecontributions . Please include a stamped, selfaddressed envelope for return manuscripts .Material in City Limits does not necessarilyreflect th e opinion of he sponsoring organizations. Send correspondence to : City Limits,40 Prince St., New York, NY 10012. Postmaster:Send address changes to CityLimits,40 PrinceSt. , NYC 10012.

Second class postage paidNew York, NY 10001City Limits (ISSN 0199-0330)(212) 925-9820FAX (212) 966-3407Copyright 1994. All Rights Reserved . Noportion or portions of this journal may bereprinted without the express permission ofthe publishers.City Limits is indexed in th e Alternative PressIndex and the Avery Index to ArchitecturalPeriodicals and is available on microfilm fromUniversity Microfilms International,An n Arbor,MJ 48106.

2/MARCH 1994/CII'Y UMITS

:fiJff'TIlJ!'Creative Accounting

Myor Giuliani's maiden budget proposal is currently making its waythrough a gauntlet of tireless analysts and critics, and many of hisassumptions about where savings can be found are turning out to bedeeply flawed. Of all of them, perhaps the most outrageous is the

administration's claim that the fingerprinting of welfare recipients will savethe city roughly $90 million a year starting in 1996.The mayor's budget wonks calculated the $90 mill ion figure in a creativeway. First, they looked at a research report on an upstate fingerprintingprogram, which found that 4.3 percent of all Home Relief recipientsprimarily adults without children-failed to respond to letters demandingthat they come down to their welfare office for fingerprinting. The stateadmits i t is a bi t of a stretch to assume that these people were guilty of fraudsimply because they didn't show up for an appointment. In fact, the stateprovided no research explaining why people failed to respond. But thatdidn't deter Giuliani's hatchet men. They decided a fingerprinting programin New York City could weed out even more than 4.3 percent of Home Reliefrecipients-twice as many, in fact. So they doubled the state's figure,calculated the savings, and dropped millions from the social services budget.Then they pulled off a neat trick: they decided fingerprinting would alsoget rid of any fakes and cheats currently receiving Aid to Families withDependent Children (AFDC)-the main welfare program, covering morethan 850,000 New Yorkers-resulting in a 5 percent reduction in the numberof people enrolled in the program. In preparing their calculations, theanalysts assumed the city could yank away an entire family'S benefits if amother fails to show up for fingerprinting. Sadly, the budget folks will haveto rework their spreadsheets, because what they are proposing is against thelaw. The federal government prohibits punishing children onAFDC for theirparent's failure to make a welfare appointment, go to a job interview-or getfingerprinted.Michael Dowling, commissioner of the state's Department of SocialServices, says he supports fingerprinting. For one thing, he says, requiringpeople to place a couple offingers on an electronic device is a minor intrus ioncompared to the dozens of other humiliations men and women on welfaremust tolerate at the hands ofthe bureaucracy. And he argues that it is a smallprice to pay in exchange for giving peace of mind to the taxpaying public, thusdefusing the popular rhetoric of welfare bas hers who believe the system isloaded with can artists.Dowling's points are thoughtful and bear consideration. But there's moreto it than that. Giuliani's outrageously inflated predictions of budget savingstouch on the truth of fingerprinting: since there is no evidence that itaccomplishes its goal, it is little more than another way to churn people outof the welfare system, knocking them off the rolls when they fail to show upfor an appointment -regardless of whether or not they have committed fraud.This is something that happens all the time today; women fail to show up fora job training interview, or miss a call demanding they come in for a"recertification" review, and they get summarily dumped from the system.In the short term, churning saves the government money by denyingpeople their benefits. Budget wonks like that, because it improves the annualbottom line. But in the long run, we all pay for it. Taking money away fromneedy people has consequences. They end up on the streets, in the homelessshelters, in the hospitals-or worst of all, they end up in the criminaljusttcesystem, where they can always get three meals a day. 0

Cover de.,,,, by Karen Kane. PhotoVaph by Martin Jom.kI.


3/28

SPECIAL BUDGET REPORTHard Tim.es Coming 6,Duck an d cover: Keep your heads down, nonprofits! I f Giuliani's budgetproposal goes through, everyone will feel the heat.Penny Wise... 6Slashing the bootstrap: A shortsighted savings plan may mean theshredder for a program that has helped thousands of poor New Yorkershelp themselves. by James BradleyUnkind Cuts 8Between the lines: What the budget says, an d doesn't say, about codeinspection, legal aid an d food for the hungry.

by JiU Kirschenbaum an d Steve MitraReality Strikes 10Forked tongue: The mayor's capital plan claims to provide for the"acceleration" of two low income housing initiatives. "Cremation" ismore like it . An d that's just the half of it . by Andrew WhiteNew Priorities 12HUD Dud: Big hits to low income rental subsidies. Major increases fo rfunding to homeless programs. Well, it could have been worse.

by Toby Sanchez an d Andrew WhiteFEATUREStreet Savvy 14Livery ca r drivers are tired of second-class status . They want workers'comp, cheaper insurance, and, oh yes, a union. by Peter OrtizPIPELINEBlue Collar Revival? 18Red Hook residents ar e supporting a "back to the future" plan for mixinglight manufacturing with residential housing. by Barbara FeddersCOMMENTARYPlanwatchEmpowering New YorkCityviewImmigrants as ScapegoatsReviewIt's a Banker's World

MPAIlTMEl'O'SEditorialBrief.

n.JdnsOatlieu BaveR ProteetPathmark ConfIiet

24.4.5

20by Peter Marcuse

22by Una Clarke

24by Stephanie M. Fowler

ProfeuioDalDireetoryJobAde

26.2727

1

1

CITY UMITS/MARCH 19


4/28

Flaking OutCongress and the bankers' deep pockets

amendment-cal led the BankEnterprise Act -has beenopposed by community activistswh o charge it would pay banks topursue commun i ty lendingactivities that a re a eady req u redof them under the CommunityReinvestment Act of 1977.As legislation designed toboost the effect iveness of com

munity-based banks, loan fundsand credit unions made its waythrough the House of Representatives last fall , New York Congressman Floyd Flake (D-Queens)tacked on a controversial amendment that would take millions ofdollars away from communityinstitutions and put it in the handsof commercial banks.

Federal records show thatabout one-fifth of all contributionsby political action committees(PACs) to Flake's latest reelectioncampaign came from the com mercial banking industry. But anaide to the legislator denies thatthe contributions influenced hisagenda .

MottHavenProtest" Un idos must go! Un idos

must go! " chanted the marchers in front ofthe Unidos Management Office. "We won 'tstop until t hings get better."Tenants United for BetterLiving (TUBL) held a rally lastmonth to protest safety andmaintenance problems at theJose de Diego BeekmanHouses, an apartment complex in Mott Haven managedby Unidos and owned by theBoston -based Continental /Wingate Company.Galvanized by the Januarydeath of 15-year-old BernardoRodriguez, who accidentallyfell down an apartment building elevator shaft at 140 East140th Street, TUBL says theirrequests fo r better serviceshave gone unheeded.

"They always say they ' reworking on everything bu tnothing ever gets done," saysresident Vivian Ramos."We want better living conditions," adds Virginia Picart,Rodriguez' aunt, wh o notes

4/ MARCH 1994 / CITY UMITS

With the Commun ity Development Banking and FinancialInstitutions Act, Congress aims tofulfill President Clinton's promise to fund a network of community banking institutions thatwould improve access to credit inlow income communities. TheSenate version of the bill isexpected to come up fo r a votethis month . Like th e Houseversion, it would authorize $382million over four years to fundcommunity development financial institutions (CDFls).

But the bi ll tha t passed theHouse includes a provisionintroduced by Flake and Jim Leach(R -Iowa) that would siphon of f atleast one-third of the money andgive it to commercial banks. The

" It is like bribing banks to dowhat they should do anyway,"says Stephen Glaude, presidentof the National Congress of Commun ity Economic Development,wh ich represents 500 nonprofitdevelopers in 40 states. "We'dlike to see all the money go tocommun ity -based institutions."Flake's amendment will waterdown the bill's impact, says AllenFishbein of the Center for Com munity Change. "There's a veryl imited pot of money and atremendous need to support existing CDFls," Fishbein explains.An analysis of Flake's campaign contribut ions shows thatcommercial banking industry

Tenants at the Jose de Diego Beekman Houses in the Bronx demonstrate infront at their management company's offices.that safety problems are nothingnew at the Beekman Houses.

The protest was the latestescalation in a long and bitterdispute. The tenant group hasbeen working with the Mott HavenRestorat ion Project (MHRP), apartnership between the cityand federal governments that isfunded under the Bush admin istration's anti-crime Weed andSeed initiative. MHRP organizerEdwin Lorenzo reports there aremore than 3,000 maintenanceviolations atthe Beekman Houses,including more than 500 of those

termed "immediatelyhazardous"by the Department of HousingPreservation and Development(HPD). The group has 900 pagesof HPD computer printouts toprove it."Fall ing ceilings, holes in thewalls, rats. One family was livingin an apartment with no windowpanes, " says Lorenzo. "They justhad plastic. And the stove and thetoilet didn't work ." The buildingin which Rodriguez died has 24apartments with a total of 256code violat ions , including 52 thatare immediately hazardous ,

PACs provided $32,450 to Flake'slast campaign effort, according tothe Washington-based CenterforResponsive Politics. He receiveda total of$166,730 in PAC money.

Marshall Mitchell , Flake'spress secretary, says the contri butions have nothing to do withthe congressman ' s position. Hesays CDFls simply don't have thecapacity to make large numbersof loans, so it makes more senseto channel the money throughestablished banks.

"You can't do community developmentwith a piggy bank," hesays. " We ' re not in the businessof funding CDFls. We ' re in thebusiness of putting money intothe community."As an example, he states thatif a church in Flake's d istrictneeded a $10 million loan, itwouldbe forced to go to a commercialbank. Flake is pastor of AllenA.M .E. Church in Jamaica .Steve Mitra

according to HPD spokeswomanCassandra Vernon.Butthe management companysays the tenants' complaints are

not ustified. " I think they ' re overreacting," says Gloria Glenn,operations manager fo r Un idos.

Thetwo sides met ast summerand fall, buttalks broke down afterthe second meeting. Even thecause of the breakdown isdisputed. Unidos office managerGeorge Morris says MHRPabruptly cut of f communication.But Lorenzo says he stoppedbecause Unidos was not takingthe tenants' demands seriously.After asking for and receiving aninitiallisto fthe most serious repairproblems, Unidos said it wouldtake six months to make the 93repairs on the list, he charges.Lorenzo says MHRP is usingother methods to apply pressureto the out-of-town owners. Theyhave brought the tenants ' casedirectly to HUD, which pays rentalsubsidies in the projecttothetuneof $9.6 m illion a year, accordingto HUD spokesman Adam Glantz ." It's hard to hold a rent strikewhen 90 percent of the rent goesdirectly from HUD to the landlords, " Lorenzo points out. "Anduntil recently, tenants were afraid[o f complaining to HUDJ becausethey were afraid they would lose


5/28

Health advocates and members of the community advisory boards of the city'spublic hospitals held a press conference last month at CIty Hall to denounceprivatization efforts planned by the Giuliani administration. Speakers, includingEnid Ford (foreground), charged that privatizing hospitals would lead to second-rate health care for low income New Yortlers.

Pathmark ConflictA plan by a group of churchesin Southeast Queens to encourage Pathmark to build a supermarket in the area has run into

their subsidies. We're breaking down those barriers."With the help of Congressman Jose Serrano, MHRP has

met with local HUD representatives to discuss the repairproblems. Glantz acknowledges that while it is unlikelyHUD will demand that Continental/Wingate hire a newmanagement company, "Wehave a responsibility to insurethatthe owners provide decentsafe and sanitary housing."Glantz acknowledges that thelatest HUD inspections of fiveof the Beekman Housesbuildings-including the onein which Bernardo Rodriguezdied-show rankings of unsatisfactory or below average.Glantz, who stresses thatHUD is "not running awayfrom our responsibilities,"says that despite "significantproblems," he thinks Unidoshas been responsive. Ratherthan be "heavy-handed, wewa ntto try to act as med a tor ."Stuart Miller

opposit ion from local CityCouncil member Juanita Watkinsand a community group inLaurelton.The Queens Citizens Organization (QCO). a group of 45churches, announced last Marchthat a tentative deal had beenstruck to build a 24-hour supermarket on a site at the junction ofSpringfield and Merrick Boulevards in Springfield Gardens.Theagreement culminated a three-

year organizing and planningeffort to bring jobs and moreaffordable groceries to the area,where residents have long reliedon expensive superettes anddistant suburban superstores,says Tony Aguilar, an organizerwith QCO.

ButJoseRivera, Watkins ' chiefof staff, charges that the commu nity near the Pathmark site wasnot consulted, nor had Watkins'support been sought until late in

the planning process."Arou nd November, 1992, weheard it as a rumor," says Rivera.

"We told [QCO) we could notsupport the proposition withoutsignificant community input."

Watkins organized a townmeeting in Laurelton last fall , andRivera says oppositi on to the storewas fierce. Critics argued that anew Path mark would generate toomuch traffic close to a publicschool, and that it would forcesmall shopkeepers on Laurelton'smain shopping strip, MerrickBoulevard, out of business.

"We live in a bedroom community," says Herbert Murdoch,board member of the Federationof Laurelton Block Associations,a group that represents homeowners in the neighborhood."Certain things don't belong in abedroom community ."Now, Watkins is prepared tovote against the project when it

proceeds through the city's lanuse review process later his yeRivera says. He adds that withoWatkins' support, the proposcould die because other councmembers are loath to cross thcolleagues on purely local issu

Aguilar of QCO denouncattempts to block the supermket, arguing that Path mark hbeen invited into the communby the members of QCO, wnumber n the thousands. Hesahe understands the oppositielsewhere in the city towamegastores such asWal-Mart aHome Depot, which are settiup shop without being inviteBut, he argues, "Thi s is nota HomDepot situation."

"The opposition's interests anot those of the consumer,"says, adding that if Watkinsresponsible fo r killing the proje"shewi I have to answerwhy shvetoing 700 jobs." Steve Mit

-SUPPORTYOUR LOCALMUCKRAKERS!You are invited to a party to benefitCITY LIMITS, New York's premierurban affairs news magazine.Hey, it takes more than guts, grit andgood journalism to cover New York City'sneighborhoods-it takes a stable bank account!So come hobnob with this city's finest activists,organizers and other urban upstarts and helpCITY LIMITS stay in business. Come to:PIIICtI: CITY LIMITS40 PRINCE STREET

2ND FLOORNEW YORK, NEW YORK212-925-9820

Time: 5:30 PM TO 8:00 PMDIIte: FRIDAY, MARCH 18,1994

CITY UMnS /MARCH 1994


6/28

Hard Times ComingSpending cuts will hurt poor communities most of all.

N eighborhood-based nonprofits have beenthe packmules of the city's social serviceand housing agencies for years, supplyingsocial workers and tenant organizers, homecare attendants and legal counselors, as well ascountless other professionals. In recent years someof the most visible nonprofit workers have been theconstruction managers overseeing the developmentand rehabilitation of thousands of city-owned apartments, rebuilding heretofore neglectedneighborhoods such as Bradhurst, EastNew York, Williamsburg and a dozenothers.I f he preliminary budget publishedlast month by the Giuliani administration is enacted in anything like itscurrent form, the city will be dealingout some very painful blows to anumber ofnonprofits. For a few, it willmean the end of development plansthat have been in the works for years. For others, itwill create fiscal handcuffs that could greatly hamper their ability to stay in touch with neighborhoodpeople and represent their interests.

Of course, residents oflow income neighborhoodswill experience the consequences of these cuts mostdirectly: for example, New Yorkers who would havelearned from a tenant organizer in the CommunityConsultant Program how to fight for their right todecent, safe housing, or others who might have

moved from the cold streets and homeless sheltersinto a comfortable room in a renovated SRO, financed through the housing department's SRO LoanProgram. Each of these programs is slated for a sharpreduction in funding.As the budget negotiations begin this month in theCity Council, CityLimits seeks to outline a few of thetoughest cuts , explain what they will mean in theneighborhoods and discuss what community leadersaim to do about them. The budgetbattlebegins in March and isn't over untilJune. But the major shifts come fastand early-before the final executivebudget is proposed on April 26thand the mayor has set out to makedramatic changes on so many frontsthat advocates for specific programsare in danger of getting lost in thetumult.We also take a look, on page 12, atwhat the federal Department of Housing and Urban.Development has in store for New York City in the

coming year. There is a shared theme, aside from theoverriding fiscal conservatism: both Giuliani andClinton are planning to concentrate spending on afew specific programs, cutt ing away or vastly reducing many others. The danger lies in what happens tothe people cast aside with the programs, and in whatit will cost the city to deal with their more desperateneeds sometime in the future.

Penny Wise ... consultant program and fund only "themost viable and effective housing related services." The words have housing activists crying foul.BY JAMES BRADLEYS pending government money asefficiently as possible is one ofMayor Giuliani's favorite refrains. Nonprofit neighborhoodgroups are demanding that he put hismoney where his mouth is, and reverseproposed deep cuts to a program thatprevents low income New Yorkers fromlosing their homes and ending up in thehomeless shelters-where they becomea strain on the city budget.The administration's preliminaryspending proposal for the next fiscal_/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

year includes a 37 percent cu t in theCommunity Consultant Program, a Department of Housing Preservation andDevelopment (HPD) ini tiative that payscommunity groups to organize and educate low income tenants and home owners and assist them in housing court andforeclosure proceedings. Ironically, themayor's rhetoric of efficiency appearseven in the budget line that containsnews of the cut: the city, the documentreads, will reduce the number of community organizations taking part in the

"The program is a prime example ofwhat an ounce of prevention can do,"says John Broderick of the CommunityTraining and Resource Center (CTRC).Kristine Haag, executive director of theNeighborhood Initiatives DevelopmentCorp., a group based in the PelhamParkway section of the Bronx, adds that 13it costs $30,000 a year for the city tohouse a family in the shelter system.That's roughly the amount her organi- ?iization gets from the city through theconsultant program to pay for their ten-ant organizer,Haag notes. "Ifwe were to :ndo nothing else but house one homeless


7/28

family a year, then the program pays foritself,"she says. "But the reality is we'vehelped thousands offamilies."Avoiding EvictionUnder the consultant program, $2.5million is distributed to 109 nonprofithousing organizations citywide. Themoney pays the salaries of organizerswho help tenants avoid eviction andforce landlords to repair and maintaintheir buildings, they also guide peoplethrough the process of applying forhousing subsidies and public assistancebenefits.These services, advocates note,further save the city money by preventing bank foreclosures and the city'stakeover of buildingswhose owners have failedto pay property taxes.Moreover, they explain,organizers are proactiveforces in their communities, giving residents theknowledge they need toboth deal with government bureaucracies andsecure their homes andneighborhoods againstcrime.

nally come from federal CommunityDevelopment Block Grants, but whenWashington requested census data toconfirm that the program was targetingneedy communities, HPD failed toproduce the figures; federal officialssubsequently ruled that the city couldno longer pay for the program with theblock grant funds.Advocates say the incident wasindicative ofHPD's lack ofinterest. AnnePasmanick, executive director ofCTRC,charges that Dinkins' housing commissioner, Felice Michetti, "hated" theprogram and changed its direction,allowing the money to be used inconjunction with new housing development projects. In fact, city officials

HPD spokeswoman Valerie Jo Bradbelieves decisions will likely be maby the department when housing grousubmit their proposals for renewcontracts.Tenant Harassment

For the neighborhood groups, tlack of alternative sources for funditenant and community organizersanother worry. "There really are no othresources for tenant organizing," saAlison Cordero of the St. NichoNeighborhood Preservation Corp.,Williamsburg/Greenpointgroup. "Theare not a lot of private foundations othere [that will support this kindwork). The Community ConsultaProgram is it." SNicholas deals with ov300 tenants a year in so30 buildings, and Cordefears cuts in organizistaff may lead to renewed cycle of tenaharassment and propeabandonment.Others offer equadismal prediction"Without this funding wcould lose half of oorganizers," says DavPagan of Los Sures,g community group locaton the south side:;ffl Williamsburg. Los Su

ffi currently employs fi

According to figurescompiled by the Community Consultant Coalition,a lobbying consortium ofgroups that take part inthe city program, organizers for 35 of the groupshelped to form 472 tenantassociations and 134block associations, ob-

Community Consultant c:ontracts help pay tenant orpnizen like Alison Cordero(abcwel of the St. Nicholas Neighbortlood Presentation Corporation. But the programmay be on Its way out, leaving groups to scramble for _ funding.tenant organizers, he sa"We deal with more thsixty buildings, may

tained nearly 1,900 building repairs inrental properties and 396 home repairloans for small home owners, and assisted 635 tenants in purchasing theirapartments-all in one year.Slated for EliminationDespite such successes, for years activists have had to fight the city to keepthe program alive. The program wasslated for complete elimination morethan once during the Dinkins administration, only to be saved by the coalition'slobbying efforts.Why such opposition? "It's perceivedto be a pork barrel program," explainsJay Small, executive director of theAssociation for Neighborhood an dHousing Development. "Also, there'san overwhelming lack of commitmentfrom HPD."Many point to a flap over a federalaudit of the program in the late 1980s.Funding for the consultants had origi-

confirm that Michetti inserted thecurrent cuts in her budget proposal tothe incoming administration beforeleaving office, and Giuliani advisorssaw little reason to reject them.Though the consultant program hasmanaged to survive in past years thanksto the intervention of the City Council.financial support has dwindled, fallingfrom $4 million in 1989 to the current$2.5 million. Now, however, given thesizable budget deficit and a ne wadministration with few ties to the nonprofit community, not to mention anaggressive stance toward cutting socialspending, few housing advocates areconfident that the program can be savedfrom the ax before the city's spendingplan is finalized this spring.In the meantime, there is concernabout who will determine which organizations will get dropped as a result ofthe $920,000 in cuts now on the tableHPD or Giuliani advisors-although

three thousand peoplhe explains. "It's impossible for twpeople to [handle) that amount." Tresult? "A lot of people who neservices will end up going to [cagencies). others will end up fallithrough the cracks and never be heardJuan Crespo, a tenant at 173 HenStreet in Manhattan, is particulagrateful for the Community ConsultaProgram. Five years ago, his seven-stopre-war building had deteriorated intolerable conditions; the ownewanted to turn it into condominiuand, according to court papers, delibately cut off water and other servicesforce tenants out. A broken front doled to rampant robberies and break-iresidents went without heat for extendperiods and, the tenants charge, in oparticularly egregious incidentmanagment deliberately destroyed plumbifixtures, resulting in massive floodinCrespo grimaces, recalling those da"I don't even want to remember itCITY UMITS/MARCH 199


8/28

suffered so much," he says.Crespo and his fellow tenants soughthelp from It's Time, a Lower East Sidehousing group. Organizers there helpedthem form a tenants association thatsuccessfully sued the landlord inHousing Court, preventing the conversion and securing desperately neededbuildingrepairs. Since then new ownershave taken over, and the property appears to be in good shape.Irreplaceable WorkWhile HPD refused to comment onthe proposed cuts in th e program,advocates hope that the new mayor'sproposals are guided by ignorance ratherthan ideology. "Maybe they just don'trealize how useful this program is,"says Kristine Haag wistfully. "To some,it seems that we're just providing advice

to tenants. How useful can that be? Butoften, that advice is the glue that keepsthe neighborhood together."To make its case during City Councilbudget hearings, the Community Consultant Coalition will once again seek togalvanize allies and supporters. Overthe years, the coalition's lobbying efforts have gathered a small but loyalgroup of councilmembers committed toprotecting the program, including TomDuane of Chelsea and GreenwichVillage.According to spokesperson ChrisQuinn, Duane and others must educatethe new administration."I'm sure [the Giuliani people) haveno idea what the Community Consultant Program is," Quinn says. "We needto send a clear message what these contracts do." 0

Unkind CutsBY JILL KIRSCHENBAUM AND STEVE MITRA

Breaking the Code What the budget says: "The Department of Housing Preservation an dDevelopment (HPD) will deploy solocode enforcement inspectors in areaspreviously served bytwo-person teams fordaylight tours only, allowing a reduction of 20inspectors" and saving$590,000 a year.Currently, the budgetfor code inspection is$12 million. Prior to1991, the state contributed $8 million a year.In 1991, that figure washalved, and the following year, the state canceled its contribution to the code enforcement budget,pleading fiscal constraints. What the budget doesn't say: Codeinspectors are the city's first line ofdefense against slumlords. They respondto tenants' complaints about no heat orhot water, and they write up violationreports about dozens of other dangerous conditions, from frayed wiring tocollapsed ceilings to roach and rodentinfestation. These reports are an essential piece of many housing court actionsagainst bad landlords; without theviolation report, there would be no case.a/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

In the 1970s, HPD had about 700inspectors. By 1989, that number hadbeen cut to 500. Today it stands at 213."The consequences of further cuts willbe dire," says John Broderick of theCommunity Training an d ResourceCenter. "The programhas been devastated bycuts. Right now the inspectors barely even respond to emergencies."But the Giulianiadministration's proposal would have an especially damaging impact in the poorest, mostcrime-ridden neighborhoods where they areneeded most. These arethe communities where two-person inspection crews operate.

"Inspectors are no t going to walk intobuildings alone in high crime areas,"says Esau Simmons, financial secretaryof the Allied Building Inspectors UnionLocal 211, which represents the inspectors. Because of an agreement betweenthe unions and HPD dating back to the1970s, he adds, the inspectors have theright to refuse to enter a building bythemselves when they don't feel safe.Faced with the fact that many decrepitbuildings are controlled by drug dealers, their fears are no t unjustified, saycommunity leaders. In areas of he South

Bronx, Harlem and Central Brooklyn,therefore, inspectors have regularlyteamed up with one another. "They arenot going to pu t their lives on the line,"Simmons says.I f inspectors are forced to split up,they will simply write "No Access toBuilding" on their inspection sheetwhen they feel threatened, he explains.And that means tenants will not be ableto back up complain ts against their landlords when they appear in HousingCourt.

Consolidation or Elimination? What the budget says: "EliminateHuman Resources Administration(HRA) contracts for legal services toseniors, disabled persons, people withAIDS and anti-evict ion services, saving$1 million." What the budget doesn't say: Thelion's share of the budgets of the LegalAid Society, Legal Services of New Yorkand a handful of other organizationsproviding free representation to the poorcomes from an obscure mechanismcalled IOLAs, or Interest on Lawyers'Accounts. When an attorney's clientputs money in a short-term escrowaccount for any reason-as a downpaymentguaranteeon a home purchase,for instance-the interest is turned overto the legal aid programs.But interest rates have droppedprecipitously in recent years. Between1992 and 1993, proceeds from IOLAsfor New York City dropped $6 million,a devastating loss that resulted in jobopenings left unfilled and the earlyretirement of lawyers and paralegals.Last year, the City Council added a $1million infusion to HRA's budget tohelp cover some of the loss, even aslegal aid groups have also had to copewith additional cuts in federal support.The Giuliani administration seeks towithhold that funding next year. What the budget says: "City-fundedlegal services contracts wil l be consolidated with the Human ResourcesAdministration's Anti-Eviction LegalServices Program," and removed fromthe budget ofHPD, saving $1.3 million. What the budget doesn 't say: Noteveryone can get legal help from theHRA anti-eviction program, which isfunded largely by the federal government in an attempt to reduce homeless-


9/28

ness. Only low income families withchildren are eligible, and then only ifthey are participating in the federalEmergency Assistance to Families program, which offers one-time paymentsto cover the cost of temporary shelter, movingexpenses , food andclothingand rent arrears.The HPD programproposed for "consolidation" provides antieviction legal assistanceto everyone else-singleadults, disabled adults,senior citizens, victimsof domestic abuse,couples without children , and families with children whofor one reason or another are not eligiblefor the federal emergency program.These people are not eligible for HRAfunded legal assistance."So under the guise of 'consolidating' the two programs, one program isreally being eliminated," says StevenBanks of the Legal Aid Society. "And allof those people will be prevented fromreceiving legal services."It's clever. Consolidate, rather thaneliminate. But when does consolidatemean eliminate?" Banks notes skeptically that this i"s such a case.According to Giuliani spokesmanForrest Taylor, "The money allocated toHRA does basically the same thing ."But Scott Sommer of Legal Servicescalls this manipulation of fundingstreams a "smoke screen."

"They 're talking dollar for dollar andthis is really apples and oranges. Thesecuts will totally skew the work towardEmergency Assistance cases, and lopout an entire area of work we currentlydo ."New York's two largest legal aidproviders are no t th e on ly groupsaffected by the proposed cuts. Smallerneighborhood organizations citywidethat provide anti-eviction serviceswould also lose out. "We were due to geta grant from HPD this year," says BarbaraLowry of the Northern ManhattanImprovement Corp ., which, with sevenstaff attorneys, is the only provider oflegal services for the poor in the Washington Heights/Inwood section of theBronx. "We will be terribly hurt bythis."

Less Food for the Hungry

What the budget says: "Eliminate

funding for a Food Stamp outreachprogram and for the purchase of foodthrough the Human ResourcesAdministration ' s Emergency FoodProgram, saving $400,000."The outreach program consists of a barebones media campaign-primarily in theform of subway an d busposters and public service announcementsaimed at informing NewYorkers about foodstamp eligibility requirements. By cutting$200,000 from the outreach program, the citywill also lose federal matching funds.

Another $200,000 is to be cut from theEmergency Food Program, whichsupplies 500 of the city's 1,000 soupkitchens and food pantries. What the budget doesn't say: Canceling the media campaign will actuallyresult in the loss of some $12 milliondollars in food stamps to eligible NewYorkers who would be brought into theprogram through theoutreach effort. According to HRA's own estimates , the campaignfunded in last year'sbudget is expected tobring in nearly $30 inbenefits for every dollarspent on outreach.Food stamps area 100percent federally subsidized benefit. NewYork has often beencriticized in the past for not taking advantage of large amounts of federal andstate resources for such things as jobtraining, health care and SSI. Indeed ,according to a 1992 report byAlterbudget, "Cutting Our Losses ,"there are nearly one million hungryNew Yorkers eligible for food stampswho are not receiving them. "Minimalcity dollars could help expand outreachan d design innovative programs thatcould draw millions of additional dollarsto the New York economy ," the reportnotes. Advocates say the food stampoutreach campaign is just such aprogram.Advocates are similarly concernedabout the proposal to cut support forHRA's Emergency Food AssistanceProgram. Last year, the Dinkins administration increased funding for operating expenses to soup kitchens an dpantries , partly in response to surveys

showing that at least 38,000 hungNew Yorkers were being turned awmonthly because of lack of resourcesNeighbors Together is a case in poinA ramshackle outfit in Brownsville wileaky plumbing, poor ventilation anbroken toilets, Neighbors Together mnot look like a modern social servicagency. But it is the second largest soukitchen in Brooklyn , serving abo110,000 meals a year."The current funding is patheticalsmall an d no where near enough nowsays director Anne Kohler. "To furthcut the budget is a joke. "In a survey of 273 soup kitcheconducted in 1992 by the New YoCity Coalition Against Hunger, 59 pecent said they had to send people awunfed. Two-thirds said that they weforced to serve smaller portions of fooWhen they opened 12 years agNeighbors Together fed 76 people in thfirst week, Kohler says. "Today we fefive hundred a day between the hours11 a.m. an d 2 p.m. It goes up to eighundred a day in the summer monthsTo make matters worse, federal funing for surplus food distribution is aldrying up. According Lewis Straus, director

the city Office of FooPrograms an d PoliCoordination, a prposed cut by the Clintoadministration woumean the loss of aadditional 15 milliopounds offood-cannegoods, grain an d daiproducts-cur ren tdistributedby neighbohood groups to some 300 ,000 needNew York households annually."The bottom line is that New YoCity is losing big time ," states Walke"We 've been advocating for a $4 millioincrease to the current city budget. Anthe message that Giuliani is sending b

cutting these programs is what? Hungis over?" 0For more information on ho winfluence the budget plan, see thfollowing: A Voice at City Hall: How NYCbudget works and what your commni ty can do about it , available from thCommunity Training and ResourCenter,47An n Street, NYC 10038. (21964-7200. A Capital Primer: Everything yoever wanted to know about the citycapital budget...and ho w to changeCity Limits, October 1992.

CITY UMITS/MARCH 1994


10/28

Reality Strikes By Andrew WhiteThe mayor seeks major cuts in funding for key pieces of the city"s 10-year housing plan.

It pays to read the fine print:The Giuliani administration'splan for capita l investment in. infrastructure an d housing, issued lastmonth, includes the reassuring note that"funding has been pr:ovided for theacceleration of th e Bradhurst andSaratoga Square initiatives," twoDinkins-era projects that aim to rebuildvast sections of Harlem and BedfordStuyvesant, respectively.But deep in the fine print, there is analtogether different story: big cuts areon the way throughout the city's $4billion, 10-year housingbuildings. And while the overall capitalbudget for the housing agency is scheduled for a 20 percent cut over 10 years,some of he deepest reductions are leviedon programs designed to assist homeless New Yorkers an d tenants of theworst privately-owned housing stock inthe city.For instance, Giuliani is seeking toeliminate all city funding for the SROLoan Program, which provides nonprofits with loans at very low interest(about 1 percent) to assist in th econstruction of permanent housing for

plan-not least inBradhurst and SaratogaSquare. For fiscal 1995, GIulIani's IIousiRg Planbeginning next July 1,funding for Bradhurst isalmost eliminated. Overthe next six years, investment in the project isCIIIIII-.-'" CI 1I. ,IIM-l_

.......... .r. IIHPDTotal $1,852 $1,488

touch in making that argument. "I t hasnever been a problem identifyingprojects," says Nancy Wackstein oftheLenox Hill Neighborhood Association."There's no end of viable projects fromcredible groups with buildings linedup. [HPD has] had more proposals thanthey know what to do with."

"You have all this rhetoric comingfrom the administration about solvingthe homeless problem," adds MaureenFriar of the SRO Providers Group. "Butthe reality of the budget is that Giulianiis no t putting money forward for thelow income and needypopulation ."In addition, the Article8A Loan Program ismarked for a 50 percentcu t over four years. Thatprogram offers low interest loans to private land-_ lords in very low incomebuildings for the repair oflated to be cu t in half,from $153 million to $95million. Similar cuts areproposed for SaratogaSquare. Overall, the cutsin these two programsalone could mean the loss

of more than 1,000 newapartments for low, moderate and middle incomefamilies.

.20% major systems such asL--_______________________ ..J plumbing or heating. TheSelected programs:NOW Program 343 290Capitallmproyementslin rem 90 151

Homeownership Programs 114 107SROLoanProgram 157 74Bradhurst 96 47Nehemiah Housing 32 30"The city no longer hasthe ability to fund theprogram at 100 percentcapacity," says Valerie JoBradley, spokespersonfor th e Department ofHousing Preservation andDevelopment (HPD).

Vacant Building Program 25 25Article SA Loan Program 39 21North General 20 10Melrose Commons 20Lead Paint Abatement Program 28

The city's first 10-year housing planbegan in 1987 during the Koch administration, and has resulted thus far inbillions of dollars of investment in newand rehabilitated housing, from singleroom occupancy hotels (SROs) to apartment buildings an d small homes. Butthe Giuliani administration is refocusingthe city's housing agenda.Strategy ShiftGiuliani's capital investment planreveals a shift in strategy away frommassive development projects likeBradhurst and towards the rehabilitation and sale of city-owned apartment10/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

formerly homeless men and womensuffering from mental illness, drugaddiction an d other health problems.The projects generally include socialservices and health care on-site ornearby. Since the program began in 1988,3,800 units have been built. Two-thirdsof the residents use d to live in the cityshelters or on the streets.Dinkins ' last budget called for $157million to be pumped into supportedSRO development between 1994 and1997. Giuliani calls for $74 million, acu t of about 53 percent. "The cuts aredriven by a lack of sites," says HPD'sBradley.

But advocates say the agency is out of

80

15%+68%-6%53%51%-6%0%-47%.50%-61%100%

loans also help landlordsrestructure rents so thatincome more closelymatches expensesmainly by awardingfederal Section 8 rentsubsidies to low incometenants.$60 Million BoostThe biggest increase inthe capital plan is a $60million boost to th ebudget for rehabilitatingthousands of deteriorating city-owned, tax-foreclosed buildings. The administration plans torenovate the properties and sell them

off as quickly as possible to nonprofitsan d private for-profit landlords.Many advocates are pleased that theadministration is finally focusing onrepairing the tax-foreclosed buildings,which house more than 150,000 of thecity's poorest residents. But can, orshould, the city sell the property off asquickly as it would like?"I don't know how many of thesebuildings you can just spin off," saysClara Fox of the New York HousingConference. "Howmany are viable with

out a rental subsidy?" She and others


11/28

point out that past privatization efforts,such as the Private Ownership Management Program, had major affordabilityproblems for both tenants and landlords. The sell-off, says Fox, should bedone slowly and carefully, with a clearunderstanding ofwhatbuyers can affordto maintain as low income housing.Debt BurdenThe mayor's proposed cuts areintended to ease the debt burdencurrently about $3 billion a year-thatstrains the city's operating budget.But the Reverend Preston Washington ofHarlem Churches for CommunityImprovement, part of the consortiumdeveloping Bradhurst, is angry. Hecharges that the mayor is proposingcutting taxes to benefit big business atthe expense of inner city residents. "Itis obvious [Giuliani] has a vendettaagainst the black community," he adds."It is a tragedy for the city to betray thecommunity this way."You have the ads on the subwayssaying don't give to the homeless, and atthe same time you are taking away theinfrastructure support that gives thehomeless a chance to be reintegrated,"Washington continues. "We need to getangry about that. He does not have creative solutions for this city." 0

Your Neighborhood HousingInsurance Specialist

BFNEWtf)ooKINCORPORATED

We have changed our name an d have become mo recomputerized to offer you quicker and more efficientservice than ever before.For nearly 20 years, R&F of New York, Inc. has providedinsurance to tenants and community groups. We havedeveloped extremely competitive insurance programs basedon a carefulevaluation of he special needs of our customers.Due to the volume of business we handle, we can oftencouple these programs with low-cost financing, i f equired.We have been a leader from the start and are dedicated tothe City of New York.For information call:Ingrid Kaminski, Senior Vice PresidentR&F of New York, Inc.1 Wall Street Court, New York, NY 10005-3302(212) 269-8080, FAX (212) 269-8112(800) 635-6002

Ihu can make a difference.At Ne w York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of PublicService, you will acquire the skills necessary for a professional career inpublic, nonprofit, and health organizations. Programs of study include Urban Planning. Public Administration. Health Policy and

Management. Study full time or part time. Financial aid is available. Career placement services are available to allWagner students. Find out what the Wagner Graduate School can do for you: Call (212) 998-7400 Monday through Friday.~ ~ < = > ~ -- ---- -----------------------------------New York University

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public iiervice._n...-n ."",.,..,-a 4 Washington Square North. New York. N. Y. 10003

Please send me information on:o Urban Planning 0 Public Administratio n 0 Health Policy and Managemento Saturday programs 0 Doctoral programsNAME

ADDRESS CITY STAn. ZlPCODE

TELEl'Hom scx::tAL SECUlI.ITY NO.New York University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. T74



12/28

New Priorities By Toby Sanchez & Andrew WhiteThe President takes aim at homelessness, but leaves low-rent housing behind.T he Clinton administration'stentative new homelessnessagenda began to take shape lastmonth with the release of the1995 budget proposal for the federalDepartment of Housing an d UrbanDevelopment, which includes majorincreases in funding for homelessprograms. But the plan also has somedark surprises, par ticularly for New YorkCity: development funds for new publichousing and some rental subsidies forlow income tenants are slated for majorhits.The news has disappointed somehousing advocates. "We support anyincrease in funds for homeless people,"says Maria Foscarinis, Director of theWashington-based National Law Centeron Poverty and Homelessness. "But ifthe goal is really to get at the causes ofhomelessness rather than to pu t on BandAids, it is a big mistake to cut funds forpublic housing."New Homeless GrantsOverall, th e administration'sproposed $26 billion budget for theDepartment of Housing an d UrbanDevelopment (HUD) amounts to a $1billion increase over the current year.That includes more than $1.25 billionto be devoted to a new system for helpinglocal governments cope with homelessness by combining funding for a complexmedley ofprograms-emergency sheltergrants, Shelter Plus Care, SupportiveHousing and so on-under new Homeless Assistance Block Grants. The blockgrants would be distributed in lumpsums directly to cities and states, whichwould have more control over how theyspend the money than they do today,according to HUD spokesperson JackFlynn.While advocates agree that theconsolidation would make life easierfor city agencies, Richard West of theNational Low Income Housing Coalitionwarns that moving funds from specificprograms to block grants has drawbacks."The rationale for block grants is thatthey give flexibility to state and localgovernments, bu t we believe that forsome programs, especially unpopularones, states and cities should not begiven too much flexibility. In fact, blockgrants are an easy way to eliminate12/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

programs [some local officials] don'tlike, like housing for people with AIDS: "Paying the RentOn the housing side of the budget,there will be more money available forSection 8 rental vouchers and certificates, which help low income NewYorkers pay rent to private landlordsand are an integral part of the city'sefforts to rehabilitate and sell dilapidated, city-owned housing.But Section 8 is only one of a numberof federal programs that help peoplepay their rents. Others don't fare so wellunder the Clinton plan. For example, in

"We have a majorsource of low incomehousing that may godown the tubes."

New York City, the HUD budget putshundreds of thousands of low incometenants at risk of losing the federalsubsidies that make their apartmentsaffordable, according to Victor Bach,director of housing policy and researchat the Community Service Society.These tenants live in privately-owneddevelopments financed with HUDsubsidized mortgages, and part of theirrent is paid by HUD. But 20 years ormore has passed since many of thesebuildings were built, and in many cases,the landlords are now eligible to payofftheir mortgages and pull the apartmentsout of the rental subsidy programs. Toprevent this, HUD offers incentives tothe landlords to stay in-but the Clintonadministration plans to eliminate theincentive fund. As a result, as many as160 housing developments with about46,000 apartments could pull out of theHUD-subsidized programs during thenext few years-and hike rents to whatever the market will allow.

"What this means is that we have amajor, major source of assisted lowincome housing that may go down the

tubes," Bach says.In addition, if the budget plan isapproved by Congress, programs for the

development of new public housingwould face deep cuts, from $678 millionin 1994 to $150 million in 1995-onlyenough to build 1,750 new apartmentsnationwide. In addition, funds for newhousing for low income senior citizenswould diminish by nearly 90 percent.Lobbyists in Washington point out thatbecause older Americans are a politically powerful constituency, some ofthe senior citizen housing funds may berestored by Congress as the budget movesthrough the legislative process thisspring. But other budget items may notfare as well, says West. That's becausedeficit reduction agreements restrictCongress from increasing funding anywhere in the federal budget withoutcutting it somewhere else.Not as BadEven with the reductions, advocatesfor affordable housing and the homeless say the budget plan is not as bad asthey feared it might be. For one thing,CommunityDevelopment Block Grants,used to rehabilitate and maintain lowincome housing and pursue economicdevelopmentprojects, will be funded atlast year's $4 billion level.And in an effort to decrease housingsegregation and expand housing opportunities for people of color in cities andsuburbs , HUD is proposing jncreases infunding for fair housing organizationsto pay for testers, litigation, educationand outreach. The departmentalso plansto spend money to strengthen enforcement of laws against mortgage lendingdiscriminationand insurance redlining.Inevitably, the HUD budget willemerge from Congress with somechanges. But, given the mandatedrestrictions on spending, any overall increaseis unlikely. "We are confident that theHill will give us what we want on [a few]items," says Richard Nelson, executivedirector of the National Association ofHousing and Redevelopment Officials."There will be adjustments, bu t whatcomes out will not be much differentfrom what [Clinton sent] in."Toby Sanchez is a freelance writer andconsultant based in Brooklyn.


13/28

......,CHASECommunityDevelopmentCorporation

The Chase Community DevelopmentCorporation Finances Housing andEconomic Development Projects,including:New Construction

RehabilitationSpecial Needs HousingHomeless SheltersHome MortgagesSmall Business LoansLoan ConsortiaFor information, call the

Community-Based Development Unit(212) 552-9737We Look Forward to Your Call!



14/28

BY PETER ORTIZ

It was a call that cab driver EduardoColon would never forget."I was working when the radio announced number 103 was shot at theTwin Donut," says Colon. He immediately realized that driver 103 was his 22-year-old brother Bernardo. In the earlymorning hours of March 7, 1993, Colonand his father, who is also a livery driver,rushed to the donut shop at 21Sth Streetand Broadway, jus t four blocks from theirbase at the Seaman Car Service in UpperManhattan. They watched in silence asBernardo, an innocent bystander who hadbeen shot during a dispute among severalmen, was placed in the ambulance. "Two

Immigrantlivfry drivfrsunionizf forfquality inWashingtonHfights

Ulike most yellow taxi drivers, liverycabbies are unsalaried drivers whouse their own cars , make their ownhours, pay their own liability insuranceand cover the cost when their car blows agasket or needs a new transmission. And ,unlike the yellows, liveries are not allowedto pick up passengers hailing them fromthe street; instead , they pay a dispatchfee-ranging from $35 to $150 a week-toa base operator to receive radio calls forpick-ups.

The rising death toll is only the mostpublic of he drivers' many concerns ,whichthey say include constant harassment bypolice and city inspectors, and financialburdens imposed by insurance companies

days later," Colon recalls, "he died in thehospital."Bernardo's death was yet another reminder that there is nosafe refuge from the violence that took the lives of 43 cabdrivers last year.It also reinforced the growing sentiment in immigrantcommunities that government has little understanding of theneeds and fears of the city's 23,000 livery drivers, much lessany interest in the important economic role they play in theneighborhoods where they live and work. The industrygenerates nearly $900 million in revenues each year, andmuch of that money contributes to the vitality of the city'simmigrantand low income areas. Indeed, more than one-fifthof the drivers are Dominicans, many of whom live in theWashington Heights section of Manhattan. They help to keeptheir neighborhoods afloat, says Santiago Vargas, a coordinator of the fledgling Livery Drivers Organizing Committee(LDOC), a union-based organization working to give theimmigrant drivers a unified voice.Yet the families of Bernardo Colon and other murdereddrivers are no t eligible for receiving workers' compensationor other death benefits after their fathers and brothers died.It's just one of many reasons the drivers believe the government fails to recognize the role they play in the communityas breadwinners, or to acknowledge the dangers they faceevery day,Vargas says. "The drivers don't have anything," heexplains. "When someone kills the driver, his friends have to[go out tol collect money for his family."14/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

and the Taxi and Limousine Commission(TLC), the city agency that regulates theindustry. And despite court decisions that have supporteddrivers' rights to workers' compensation, liveries are oftendenied benefits by the state compensation board, whichtends to define them as independent contractors and, therefore, ineligible.

Such inequities have convinced a number of drivers thatforming a union is the best way to improve their lives, saysWilfredo Larancuent, director of organizing for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU)."Some of the drivers uptown asked us to organize. Soinitially last March, we got a list of bases, went to each oneand made personal contact with the drivers," Larancuentexplains. "When we called oUT first meeting, fifty or sixtypeople came."

The organizing effort is a joint operation of LDOC, madeup of drivers from 12 dispatch companies, mainly in theWashington Heights section of Manhattan, and ACTWU.Soon after the first meeting, the group pu t together an outreach campaign to get word out about the unionization drive,posting leaflets on base bulletin boards , making announcements on their car radios and distributing a bilingual newsletter laying out their grievances. In addition, ACTWU isoffering English classes in an effort to better mobilize thedrivers , about a third of whom are Latino, Larancuent says.

The committee also arranged meetings with the TLC todiscuss harassment of drivers by inspectors and police. Andlast June, they staged a rally outside of All City Insurance


15/28

Company, one of the city's principal insurers of livery drivers, toprotest high insurance rates.Larancuent says he is focusingon organizing the communityrather than using the worker-versus-management tactics that arethe stock-in-trade of a unionist."This is a community issue, and itis not exclusively a worker or aclass issue," he points out, explaining that there are few otherlegitimate businesses in poorneighborhoods that generate asmuch income. "Base owners arefrom the neighborhood, too," headds, "and some are very poor."The next step is to set up astorefront office in the neighborhood so that everyone knows aboutthe campaign, says Larancuent.Eventually , he says, the group The city gcwemmentd _ ' t understand that lively drivers playa critical economic role in low incomehopes to reach out to Haitian driv- immigrant COIIHIIIInIties, says Santiago Vargas labove! of the Livery Drivers Organizing Committee.ers in Flatbush, and others in theBronx."There is an issue of political power, and the livery dri'versdo not have an organization that will influence that change intheir behalf," Larancuent adds. "If the livery drivers are ableto pull their resources together, they can get a better deal.They've got nothing now."

Wrkers' compensation has been the root of repeateddisputes in recent years between drivers, base ownersand government officials. Most base owners haverefused to pay into the state plan since 1986, taking refugebehind a vaguely-worded law passed by the state legislaturethat year. The law exempted taxi cab owner/operators fromthe requirements of workers' compensation; the livery baseowners interpre ted this to mean that any driver who owns hisown car is not an employee of the base, and not eligible forworkers' compensation. Critics, including Queens Assemblyman Gregory Meeks, say the base owners are wrong andthat the 1986 law was never intended to apply to the liveryindustry. Meeks is seeking to amend the insurance law tomore clearly define compensation guidelines.But the battle lines on the issue have never been welldefined. In 1991, about 600 base owners and drivers joinedtogether to besiege the statehouse in Albany. They were thereto support a bill, sponsored by Brooklyn Assemblyman VitoLopez, that would formally exempt livery base owners frompaying workers' compensation premiums for drivers whoown their own cars.The bill was ultimately defeated. But why did so manydrivers join in support of an effort designed to cut off theirown access to benefits? "They didn't have any leadership

back then," Larancuent says. "They did just what the ownesaid, [and the owners) told them that i f workers' compenstion went through, the cost would be passed on to themwhich they did not want. But now that the union has gotteinvolved, workers' compensation is being viewed diffeently."

But the union recognizes that drivers are not employeesthe dispatch companies in the traditional sense and favorscompromise in which both drivers and owners would shathe cost ofworkers' compensation, organizers say. "We're nsaying owners should pay the whole thing," notes Larancuen"At the same time, livery owners should have an obligatioto pay people who pay money to them and where there is a[employee-employer] relationship. "

Aong Dyckman Street, at the bottom of the long, sweepin

hill separating Washington Heights from Inwood, gypscabs line up three or four in a row, waiting for fares. Uat the top of the incline on Broadway, licensed livery driveare furious: they have been stopped by police all throughouthe day, asked to prove that their licenses are up to date antheir inspection stickers are valid. The drivers say they donunderstand why the police are stopping them while thgypsies get away with stealing their fares.

"A lot oftimes the police see the drivers as delinquen tssays LDOC's Santiago Vargas. Livery cabbie B. Medina saydrivers are indiscriminately targeted by the police for summonses, especially when it is time to fill their quotas. "Yopayor you fight it out. The problem is, if you don't speaEnglish, the judge will most times believe the police."Minutes add up to cash for these drivers. As the police lin

CITY UMrTS/MARCH 1994/1


16/28

up the livery cars during spot checks on uptown avenues, thedrivers see dollar bills slipping away. With 12-hour workdays reaping an average income of $300 to $400 a week, thedelays are enough to cause a good case of heartburn."I've never seen the police do that with yellow cab driversor limousine drivers. They only do it with the livery driversand they only do it in minorit y communities," saysLarancuent.In addition to being ticketed by police, organizerssay, livery drivers are frequently stopped by inspectors from the TLC, the sameagency to which drivers mustfork over an annual licensing fee of $335. Drivers arealso required to pay the citya yearly tax stamp; in 1989the cost of the stamp increased from $100 to $400.

driving records. Meanwhile limousine drivers, who are mostlwhite, are assigned to a low risk pool and consequently palower insurance rates. The organizers say the motive iracism and bias against the industry, plain and simple.

Insurance executives disagree. According to Len Miller othe Leucadia Empire Insurance Group, one of the larges

insurers of livery drivers, iis up to independent brokers to decide whetherdriver is high risk or not"That is something the drivedecides with the agent,Miller says. "We are at thend of the scale."

But Larancuent scoffs asuch an attempt to pass thbuck.

"The TLC doesn't understand that we give a servicethat the city can't give be

"I t does not take a brighperson to figure ou t that thesfolks are being ass igned to high risk pool because otheir race and their class andwhere they live," Larancuen"This is an issue of political power," says Wilfredo Larancuent (above) of theAmalgamated Clothing and Textile Wortlers Union, which is helping to organizethe livery drivers. fumes. "We did not find onlivery driver in our study that was in the [low risk] pool. Noa single one."cause the yellow cabs won't go certain places, " Vargas argues."We go any place." He says the TLC is as bad as the police

when it comes to hassling legal, rather than illegal, drivers.TLC chairman Fidel Del Valle admits that his agency onceresembled a trade group for the yellow cab industry, "whosenatural enemies were liveries," bu t says resources have sincebeen shifted to focus more attention on the illegal drivers. Iflivery drivers see TLC inspectors stopping them, Del Vallesays, it's because of revoked licenses, stolen plates and anincreasing number of counterfeit plates. Besides, he adds,with only 70 inspectors to cover all five boroughs, the TLCsimply doesn't have the manpower to go after the illegalseffectively.

"It is a ridiculous kind of mentality that you have to stopthe legal drivers in order to enforce the law an d let the illegalones drive by," says Larancuent. The inevitable result ofregulators' leniency toward the illegals, he adds, is that manydrivers are finding it more profitable to join the ranks of thegypsy cabs rather than deal with the TLC.

Jr the most part, drivers and dispatch base owners seeeye-to-eye on the police and TLC problem. But most ofall, they agree that the high cost of liability insurance isdriving the industry into the ground.Drivers currently pay annual premiums of more than$3,000 for liability policies that don't include any coveragefor injuries to the driver or for death benefits to a driver'sfamily. A recent study commissioned by ACTWU found thatthe three principal insurance companies that cover the liveryindustry automatically place livery drivers, most of whomare black or Latino, in a high risk pool, regardless of theiris/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

Te drivers and the b a s ~ owners have a few solutions in

mind for these problems. For one thing, says JaimVargas, the base owners intend to start their own insurance company this year.Drivers, meanwhile, are counting on the union, once it hafound its voice, to create a force that won't be so easildismissed by the government an d the insurance companiesThe union is lobbying for legislation that would allow liverdrivers to establish taxi stands in outer boroughs, where theycould pick up passengers without waiting for a call from thradio base, since so few yellow cabs venture above Manhattan '96th Street or south an d east to Brooklyn and QueensLarancuent would like to see this taken further, allowinglivery cars to pick up customers anywhere in the outeboroughs. The practice is currently illegal, although manylivery drivers admit to doing it anyway.As for the fight over workers' compensation, the differences between owners and drivers are beginning to turn tobitterness as more drivers continue to get shot. Memoriaphotos of the slain drivers from Seaman hang on the wall oa recreational pool hall next to the dispatch base. They are constant reminder for Eduardo Colon, whose mother ideeply worried about the possibility of losing another son.

"She does not want me to work this job," says EduardoColon. "But I need the money. I f I ha d another job, I wouldchange." D

Peter Ortiz is a reporter for the Mainichi News Service.


17/28

We help finance affordablehousing so a lot can be turnedinto so much more.

Thanks to developers committed to affordable housing, thousands of low and moderateincome.families have a place to call home.A dinner table to gather around and talk abouttheir day - a room to tuck the kids in with abedtime story.

At Citibank, we're committed to helpingbuild better lives for more people. That's whywe created CitiBuilders,SM a lending program that'sbeen dedicated to helping rebuild the communityfor over 20 years. CitiBuilders offers a variety offinancing options designed to work in conjunctionwith govemment financing.

Our loans can help developers purchase,construct or renovate low and moderateincome multi-family housing units. CitiBuilderswill help an empty lot reach it's full potential.

111:!!'.):1 1For more information about financing starting

at $250,000, call 1-800-328-ClTI, ext. 2212.The CitiBuilders program is only offered

through the Citibank Economic DevelopmentBanking Center.

1993 Citibank. NA MemberFDIC.C j

CITY UMnS/MARCH 1994/1


18/28

Blue Collar Revival? By Barbara FedderThe Department of City Planning may allow manufacturing and housingto stand side by side in Red Hook.T he Department of City Planning is considering a departurefrom nearly 80 years of zoningpractice by mapping a "mixeduse" district on the Brooklyn waterfrontin Red Hook. The designation wouldallow light manufacturing and housingto coexist on the same blocks, and, insome cases, in the same buildings. I fthis special district is adopted, it wouldset an important precedent for the planning department, which has discouraged mixing such land uses in the past.

have."In most areas of the country wheregovernments have instituted zoningguidelines, different types of developmentare kept separate fromone another.In the suburbs, for example, houses arebuilt away from industrial corridors. In

New York City-where zoning regulations were invented in 1916 andcomprehensively revised in 1961-threedifferent types ofland uses are restrictedto individual districts on the zoningmap: commercial, residential and

an environmental activist and residenof Greenpoint. Pasher is seeking to shudown a waste transfer station in heneighborhood that threatens nearby resdents. "It's sometimes hard to get enforcement of environmental codes bdifferent city and state agencies," Pashesays.But John Loomis, a professor of achitecture at the City College of NeYork who recently completed a study othe Greenpoint neighborhood, arguethat the benefits outweigh the hazard"If you walk down thblock in Greenpoint thahas the Rosenwach TanCompany factory, whicmakes all the woodewater tanks for buildingin New York, it is completely safe," he says"There's a real community. It's quite .differenfrom the Bathgate Industrial Park in the Bronxwhere you have industrsurrounded by barbewire. That's the saddething I've seen."

The proposal contradicts a 1992 waterfrontrezoning plan by the department that called forusing the same Red Hookland for retail, office andresidential development,not manufacturing. LastSeptember, after community leaders protested,the department set up asix-member internalcommittee to review thatplan. Local residents arenow pressuring the cityto preserve and expandthe base of blue collarindustrial jobs in theneighborhood, and, at thesame time, develop morehousing. The new proposal would address bothof these concerns.

There are a number of thriving mixed-use areas in New York, such as this one inWilliamsburg, Brooklyn. Admirers describe the neighbortlood as weI!-Integrated and"completely safe"_nd would like the city to allow similar deYeIopment elsewhere.

Red Hook, like somother waterfront areaalong the East River anNew York Harbor, haseveral tracts of land curently zoned for manufacturing that have faile"It would be a return to the conceptof a neighborhood in which people liveand walk to work," says Rex Curry,assistant director of the Pratt Center forCommunity and EnvironmentalDevelopment. "[The Department of] CityPlanning generally doesn 't allow this."Flexible ZoningWhile any zoning change is monthsor possibly years away from beingadopted, Maria Favuzzi, chair ofBrooklyn's Community Board 6, whichincludes the Red Hook section, says theidea has generated considerable excitement. She believes the flexible form ofzoning will enable Red Hook to "restorethe population, have industry that iscompatible with people, generate commercial activity and build access to thewaterfront-all things that we used toiI /MARCH 1994/CITY UMnS

manufacturing. City planners have longheld that blue collar industries andhousing don't mix: manufacturing isnoisy and may emit pollutants thatpresent dangerous health hazards.Yet there are thri ving mixed-use areasin New York-Long Island City inQueens and Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn, for example-thatdeveloped either prior to the adoptionofzoning regulations or in spite of hem.While admirers describe these communities as well-integrated communitieswhere people walk to work and facefewer social problems such as homelessness and crime, critics say thatmixed-use districts can attract unwantedindustry to quiet residential blocks."The problem comes in when industry is not a good neighbor and is notregulated properly," says Inez Pasher,

to attract new industrial developmenThe normal course for this type of lanin recent years has been for it to remaivacant until housing developers seeapproval for rezoning. Such was thcase on the waterfront of Long IslanCity, where state-sponsored developerare pursuing a massive, $2.3 billiooffice and luxury housing developmenthat overrides existing zoning rules (SeCity Limits, February 1994).A Wealthy EnclaveThe Department of City Planning1992 rezoning report, "New York CitComprehensive Waterfront Plan,recommended opening up the processo that commercial and housing deveopment could take place much morquickly on waterfront land, without thdelays that occur when a developer seek


19/28

a zoning change. While following theserecommendations would have the advantage of effectively barring noxiousfacilities such as sludge treatmentplants-which had previously beenplanned for the Red Hook neighborhood- the local community boardbalked at the change, partly becauselocal manufacturers were concernedthey might be driven out of the area."We don't want to create a wealthyenclave on the water. We want a lowermiddl&lass neighborhood with publicaccess to the waterfront and we want tomaintain the industrial base," says JohnMcGettrick, chair of he Red Hook CivicAssociation, a group ofbusiness people,home owners and other local residents."There's enough space to have both."According to Tom Angotti, a Department of City Planning employee whoserves on the team reviewing the waterfront plan, under mixed-used zoningthe city could allow individual buildings to include both manufacturing andhousing, which is now forbidden. Inaddition, parcels ofland currentlyzonedfor manufacturing could be partiallyopened up to housing development.Planners envision small manufacturers-such as woodworkers, meta l workers, small-appl iance makers and sometypes of food processors-moving tothe area and employing people who liveclose to their workplace and don't needto commute. In all cases only light manufacturing will be allowed: "Clearly youcan't have any heavy industry that usestoxic chemicals or produces a lo t ofwaste," Angotti says.Surprising StepNot only is this a significant shift ingeneral zoning practice, bu t it alsorepresents a surprising step for theplanning department, long describedby many critics as unconcerned withthe preservation of manufacturing inNew York City.Isabel Hill, a planner and former cityemployee who resigned from the planning department in November, 1993,says she was frustrated by the agency'srefusal to acknowledge that a sizableblue collar work force needs to be preserved to provide jobs for semi-skilledlaborers."In certain neighborhoods, manufacturers are prospering, but CityPlanning's studies don't reflect that,"she charges.In addition to the waterfront study,the city released a 1993 study titled"New Opportunities for a ChangingEconomy" that described the near

decimation of manufacturing in NewYork and recommended allowing"modern supermarkets, department ordiscount stores and other retail developments up to 100,000 square feet to locateas-of-right [i.e. without a zoning change)in light and medium manufacturingzones."Considerable Uncertainty

The department's recent support foreliminating many manufacturingdistricts has raised considerable uncertainty over whether or not any of therecommendations of he mixed use teamwill be followed or even made public.Furthermore, the appointment ofJosephRose, former director of the CitizensHousing an d Planning Council , anadvocacy and research grou p funded bythe real estate industry, to head the cityplanning department has thrown another variable into the equation. Rosefailed to return calls seeking comment

L i \ ~ [ 1 , r n ~ OLJrn [F@MIJ O ~ O

for this article.In the meantime, real estate developers are already pressuring the city to gerid of some manufacturing .districts iRed Hook. Greg O'Connell, a developewho owns large chunks of the Red Hoowaterfront, says he has received severacalls from people interested in pur

chasing property for uses not alloweundercurrent zoning regulations. "I havtwo buildings that I can't sell ... becausthey are in a manufacturing zone," hsays.But in a neighborhood where twothirds of the population lives in publihousing and desperately needs bluecollar employment, converting all thland to housing would be a mistakesays Rex Curry of Pratt Institute. "If yodon't maximize employment locallyyou're passing the buck.Barbara Fedders is a frequent contributor to City Limits.

SUPPORT SERVICES FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONSWriting 0 Reports 0 Proposals 0 Newsletters 0 Manuals 0 ProgramDescription and Justification 0 Procedures 0 Training MaterialsResearch and Evaluation 0 Needs Assessment 0 Project Monitoring andDocumentation 0 Census/Demographics 0 Project and PerformanceEvaluationPlanning and Development 0 Projects and Organizations 0 Budgetso Management 0 Procedures and SystemsCall or write Sue Fox

710 WEST END AVENUENEW YORK, N .Y. 10025

(212) 222-9946

The far New York CIty. anonprofit organization that supports the self-help actMtias ofthousands of block and neighborhood associations in all fiveboroughs. is seeking a minimum of 3.500 sq. ft. in rnove..fncondition for its Youth Force program activities. The facifity willpt'8ferably be located in a Manhattan neighborhood with goodtransportation accessibility for aU New York City neighborhoods.Facility requirements include: 1 small reception area; 5 smallprivate offices; 4 large offices for 5-7 people; 1 large c0nfer.-ence room (up to 1(J ) people); 1 workroom (for supplies/copier/maO processing); 1 small kitchen; 1 small rental/purchase price. Please contact Paul Kazee at (212) 989-0908.

CITY UMITS/MARCH 1994/1


20/28

WATCHEmpowering New YorkU rban issues have not been highon President Clinton's agenda,despite some excellent appointments to the Departmentof Housing and Urban Development.His major initiative, empowermentzones-selectinga few limited "povertyareas" and giving them additional funding for social services and tax incentives to encourage private enterpriseare a weak substitute for an urban policy.They promote social services rather thaneconomic development and proposespatial solutions to social problems.Where did they come from? And whatcan we do with them now that they arehere?Empowerment zones are a bastardidea. Their mother of record is theconcept of community empowermentthat emerged from the civil rights movement and the Kennedy and Johnson-eraantipoverty legislation. The stepfatheris Jack Kemp, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Bush administration, wh o pu t the zones forwardas a cheap answer to the 1992 LosAngeles riots. And then there are theindividual politicians (godfatherswouldn't be a fair term) who understood that the zone legislation wouldbenefit their districts, and ultimately,under the stewardship of Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel, won it spassage into law last year.Pure DeceptionBut the law's genetic code is a defective one. Zones are no way to deal withthe problems of unemployment, badeducation, miserable health care, international com petition and multinationalmergers, distorted public priorities andgreed-driven, unproductive privateinvestments. These are not problemscreated in a particular location, andcertainly not in the ghettos of our cities.Pretending that they can be addressedin particular locations, let alone a trivialnumber of "zones," is pure deception. Itdistracts attention from where the realproblems lie. An d yet it is politicallyappealing, for those most victimized bypoverty can hardly turn down even thecrumbs that may come their way.Congressman Rangel was serving hisconstituents well when he pressed for20/MARCH 1994/CITY UMITS

the zones; how could he no t fight forone in Harlem? Still, even he knowstheir limits.What to do then? The answer is easyin principle: take what is to be had, bu tat the same time continue to push forreal urban programs. That seems to bewhat the leadership ofHUD, the best wehave had in many years, is doing. Butwhat about locally?Last autumn, there didn't seem muchdoubt as to what would actually bedone. Rangel was key to getting the billthrough Congress, so the Clintonadministration owes him a zone. Hisdistrict has all the poverty it takes toqualify. Those in the political knowspoke of a Rodney King zone in SouthCentral Los Angelesand a Rostenkowskizone in Chicago, andtook for granted thatthere would be aRangel zone as well.Mayor Dinkins designated the HarlemUrban DevelopmentCorporation (HUDC) ,astate-chartered corporation with close tiesto Rangel, as the agencyto prepare the city'sapplication.Then Rudolph Giuliani got elected,with no help from Harlem, bu t somedebts to Puerto Ricans in the Bronx an dHassidim in Williamsburg. Areas in eachof those neighborhoods could qualify aseasily as Harlem. The new mayor logically disregarded Dinkins' mandate toHUDC and invited applications for zonesfrom the Bronx and Brooklyn. BronxBorough President Fernando Ferrer,initially willing to step aside for Rangel'sHarlem, now no longer has to. An dHassidic leaders are quite willing topick up the challenge. Others elsewherein the city would also like to get in on agood thing.Here both the law and the politics getcomplicated. The law allows a zone tohave three noncontiguous districts, although the total population served mustbe less than 200,000. So maybe Giulianicould have his cake an d eat it, too: getRangel's support, bu t force him to accepttwo other areas in New York an d swallow a smaller zone for Harlem. How

By Peter Marcu.small would Rangel's zone be? Theoretically, an equal division among ththree would mean 66,666 persons pearea. But the law also places a maximuof 750,000 people in the six nationzones pu t together. What chance is thethat New York City alone will get mothan one-fourth of that total, coverin200,000 people, if Rangel loses enthusasm after having a politically brokerecompromise forced down his throat?Little SenseIn any case, such a compromise defithe only defensible logic behinempowerment zones, which is that concentrating resources on a few place(Why on places? Why not on people?) more sensible thascattering them arounso they will have nsignificantimpactanywhere. Harlem is a clasic case; with a population ofabout 310,00

even a zone coverin200,000 people wouonly touch two-thirdof the area. New Yorkone claim to gettingdisproportionate shaof the 750,000 total that we're tackling single bigger problem area than another city. So creating three zonesNew York City, evenly divided wiabout 67,000 people each, makes littsense.Nor is dividing the zone in Giulianipolitical interest. I f here are going to b

three areas submitted, decisions havebe made about which areas to turn dowand which to approve. I f Giuliani haleft well enough alone, he could havgained favor in Harlem by working withe community while telling excludeneighborhoods that Rangel was responsible. I f he encourages other communties to apply, the mayor is likely to losas many votes as he gains when he turnsome of them down.

I f it is to be one zone, Harlemsurely the logical one, certainly politcally. Rangel will have a powerful voicin the approval process, and has earnea priority. And he has a potential ace uhis sleeve: both the state an d city musubmit any application to the federa


21/28

government; the city in this case meansGiuliani. But there's a little-noticed andodd provision in the law: "An application by an economic developmentcorporation chartered by a state shall beconsidered to have been submitted by astate and a city." Call it the HarlemUrban Development Corporation clause,i f you will. HUDC could bypassGiuliani completely, and submit a singlelarge application for Harlem.The ProcessBut deciding to submit one largeapplication for Harlem isn't the end ofit. The zone has to be seen as a base forsomething larger, no t an end in and ofitself, and the process used in preparingthe application is perhaps the mostcritical of all. Specifically: Get serious about the economicsinvolved. Empowerment zones are nomagic wand. No one experienced withthe concept thinks they will have amajor long-term effect in addressingdeep-rooted poverty. They can fundsome experiments; they can pu t somepeople to work. Their biggest weaknessis their geographic formulation: theywill support neither new job creationnor new hiring of the residents of anarea unless both are within the zoneitself. The much broader an d moresensible provision in the original bill,making support available for employers-wherever located-who hiredresidents of a zone, was struck out inconference committee.Given that, look at what can really bedone. Hospitals and educationalinstitutions and research facilities,perhaps some social service agenciesandnonprofits, particularly communitybased ones, are potentials for jobcreation; see who they are, give themhelp if hey really need it, bu t don't haveillusions about the number of jobs theycan produce.Possibilities for new businessinvestment are limited. Infrastructureinvestment is another story. Both inzone construction an d employment ofin-zone residents on construction jobsqualify for support under the act. Thetwo have immediate and tangiblebenefits for a poor area, and might, inthe long run, stimulate economicdevelopment. That includes housing.Focus there. The enterprise zone act offers a$100 million social service block grantto each of the six zones. Yet looking atthe legislation simply as a way ofincreasing social services is not the rightway to go. However much more need

there is for such services, they are generally remedial and no t curative; theyaddress symptoms (which indeed mustbe addressed) but most do not deal withcauses. The zone should no t end upsimply feeding more social services intodestitute neighborhoods. Empowermentzones should be used to equalize, not tofurther ghettoize."Social services" are broadly considered in the legislation, and shouldbebroadly interpreted in the application.

E enn nt zonesshould be usedto equalize, not tofurther gh. oize.

Social services eligible for the blockgrant can help people learn new skills,get jobs, stay healthy, care for theirchildren while they work. Harlem doesnot need more homeless shelters; itneeds jobs and train ing for constructionworkers and it needs the housing, theinfrastructure and the production thatworkers can produce. It needs community-based health services and the jobsthey provide.Cannot be Top-Down

I f the empowerment zone applica-

tion process ends up pitting AfricanAmericans against Latinos, Jews againsteither, poor people in Harlem againstthose in the Bronx against others inBrooklyn, it would have been betternever to have gotten started. This canno t be a top-down effort that sets onegroup against another in competitionfor funds or favor. Grassroots groups ofneighborhood residents must be directlyinvolved, not just in presenting proposals, bu t in deciding which proposals areincluded, where the plan should aim,whom it should serve. Not just publichearings, bu t a public decision-makingprocess must come out of this application effort.And it should look to and involvepeople from outside the prospectivezone with problems similar to thosewho will be included, to develop proposals that will benefit both. Forinstance, a model for health care thatcan be used in any underserved area,not just in Harlem; a business investmentfund that can be replicated anywherethat small business needs it; environmental standards everyone can

City Limits Magazine, March 1994 Issue

Documents

Transcript of City Limits Magazine, March 1994 Issue