When the City Council voted down the change of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront land classification from industrial into residential in May of 2005, the neighborhood started changing rapidly.
In many locations construction of luxury condominiums started and many landlords began to raise rents. High prices and new projects started to push out small businesses. Landlords, and especially those who own rent-regulated real estate, started to take steps to remove old tenants, who were still paying lower rents, in order to attract higher-paying renters.
“A year ago, when the previous owner died, our six-family house was purchased by a new owner who asked us to sign a lease with rent hikes of 150 percent,” said a Polish man who lives in the Greenpoint Avenue-area, and who preferred to remain anonymous. “Since the house is rent-stabilized and rent on a two-year lease cannot be increased by more than 5.5 percent, we refused to sign the new lease.”
The owner harassed families offering them $5,000 to move out; however, the tenants didn’t want to vacate the house, which is in a good location and rent is only $400. “I have been living here for 14 years, and I am in a financially difficult situation," explained the tenant, who has been sued by the new landlord.
While making plans to change the waterfront land classification, the City Administration committed to establish the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Tenant Legal Fund to provide financial help to tenants who were being forced to move. To date, there is no money in sight, while the number of tenant complaints continues to grow.
“Twice as many tenants complain about being harassed by their landlords as compared to five years ago. Many of them are Polish residents,” said Jacek Bikowski, who works for the North Brooklyn Development Corporation. “This type of harassment takes different forms. Landlords, for example, change locks in apartments of their tenants; they turn off electricity or heat; they pester their tenants in hallwayss demanding that they move out, because they pay too little rent.”
Two million dollars, as Bikowski suggests, could be spent on advising those residents who are likely to be evicted. However, it’s still a long way before this kind of help becomes available in Greenpoint. The money for this cause is to come from the sale of the air rights over the three-acre lot which belongs to MTA located on Commercial Street. “So far no deadline for this transaction has been set,” said Bikowski.
The spokeswoman for the Department of City Planning, Jennifer Torres, explained that this type of transaction is a very complicated process. “Each decision has to be approved by all parties, pass through the Department of City Planning, the Community Board, the Borough President’s Office and then return to the Department of City Planning and the City Council. At each of these stages public debates have to take place.”
Support for small businesses looks somewhat more promising. The Greenpoint-Williamsburg Industrial Fund, which is to benefit small business owners, is already operating and is being managed by managed by the Small Businesses Services. The fund comprises of $4 million, out of which $1.5 million have been allocated.
“Obtaining the money is not that simple. Most importantly this is a fund reimbursing business owners after they’ve already spent money on the necessary move,” said Herb Engler, owner of Penn State Fabricators, which manufacturesarts for construction equipment.
Last Saturday [October 14], Engler moved his business from the building located at 124 Newton Street, where the factory was established 38 years ago, to 810 Humboldt Street. The old building, squeezed in between two construction sites, where new condominiums are being erected, will also become a condominium construction site.
Engler, who employs four people, claims that the move cost him $50,000, and had to take out a short-term loan. The amount of the reimbursement is based on the size of land where the original business was located. In the case of Penn State Fabricators, it was calculated that the owner has the right to receive a reimbursement of $42,000 (The maximum reimbursement amount is $50,000).
Engler complains that it’s not clear when he’s going to receive the money: “Now we have to show all our receipts, but when are we going to get reimbursed?”
Ronny DeSena, the manager of the factory who’s been with Penn State for four years, stresses that the developers are ruthless when it comes to pushing out small businesses. “In June of 2005, some man showed up and simply said ‘I am the new owner and you have to move out.’”
At the beginning Engler didn’t know where to go. “Later we had a stroke of luck – we were contacted by Brian Coleman, executive director of the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, who suggested a new location.” GMDC is the only non-profit developer in the city, who turns old factory buildings into rental spaces for small manufacturers.
According to David Garlick, spokesman for the Small Business Services, very few know about the reimbursement program for mandatory moves, which has now been in operation for a few months. “So far three applications have been approved and five are being currently considered.” He attributed the small interest in the program to the fact that it’s only been in operation a short time.
Engler, however, believes that the real reason is lack of information. “We found out about the fund thanks to the numerous phone calls we’ve made to many. We also knew what kind of questions to ask, but not everyone has the guts to do that.”
The Community Advisory Board, which was established to monitor the process of the waterfront development and is comprised of various local organizations’ representatives, complains that they have had little communication with the city.
“The cooperation with the City progresses very slowly,” said Krystyna Holowacz, a Board member. “So far we have had only one meeting with the administration representatives. The second one has been scheduled for November 2. Maybe then we will get more information.”
