In the East Village and the Lower East Side, gentrification is changing the face of once heavily Hispanic communities.
In El Barrio, the Lakeview Apartments, housing created for middle- and lower-class families, could be next.
Lakeview, a complex of four buildings on Fifth Avenue between 106 and 107 Streets, faces the Harlem Meer and stands blocks away from condominiums starting at $1.5 million. Tenant leaders here fear that the owners of the buildings will soon make changes that will lead to rent increases, or even possible evictions.
But Lakeview hasn’t received much political support or media attention. Tenant leaders and advocates think there is an obvious reason: the majority of Lakeview residents are Hispanic and African American.
At a housing rally on October 10, tenant and broker Hal Harris noted that politicians worked with tenants at other apartment complexes, such as Stuyvesant Town, trying to help them purchase the property. He wondered why Lakeview didn’t have the same support.
“I put it to you, the difference might just be color,” Harris said, adding that Lakeview is worth upwards of $200 million. Some Lakeview residents concede that the residents themselves have not risen to the challenge, citing apathy and infighting as reasons the community has not been able to organize.
Lakeview contains 446 apartments and was constructed in 1976 as part of the Mitchell-Lama program, an initiative that began in 1955 to provide subsidies for the development of moderate- and middle-income rental units.
Today, a tenant with a family of four must make $58,000 or less to qualify for an apartment, said Jo Ann Lawson, the tenant association president.
But many renters make much less than that, she said.
After 20 years, Lakeview owners were released from their obligation to cap the rents and, as of 1996, could leave the Mitchell-Lama program and bring the rents up to market rate, potentially stranding tenants.
At Lakeview, tenants and advocates have fought over the best way to approach the owners. Some seek an agreement that would mimic the Mitchell-Lama program while others want to convert the building into a condominium, so that they have the opportunity to buy their apartment.
Both sides agree that they lack city and statewide political support. A rally for the Mitchell-Lama program organized by the tenant association drew lukewarm support from politicians, said Lee Chong, an unpaid advocate who works with the Lakeview tenants.
“They don’t come out for these constituents,” Chong said.
Bill Perkins, the former Harlem City Councilmember and State Senator-elect, lives four blocks away in another Mitchell-Lama building, Schomburg Plaza, but didn’t make the rally, she said.
During the election, Congressman Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) went to breakfast in Connecticut to support a candidate running there, Chong said.
Perkins and Rangel were not available for comment for this report. Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito attended the rally, but didn’t offer any specific legislation that she has proposed to preserve Lakeview’s status as affordable housing. Most tenants didn’t feel that their representatives, with the exception of Mark Viverito, were involved with the building.
“The only time I’ll see them is election time,” said Wanita Perkins, a 70-year-old retiree who has lived in the building for 26 years.
Resident apathy
The owner has stated that over 85 percent of the tenants in Lakeview will be eligible
for immediate federal housing assistance based on their income if Lakeview changes to market rate rentals, Chong said.
These residents may not care what happens to the building. Unlike the Mitchell Lama program though, this funding isn’t guaranteed and President Bush has attempted to cut the aid in the past, according to Chong.
Lawson has distributed fliers in the building and held meetings to discuss the negotiations, but attendance was low. In one instance, the pre-planning gathering for a association meeting attracted more people than the actual meeting.
Lawson has sent many letters to city agencies and politicians, complaining about building violations in Lakeview, such as broken elevators and tenants living there illegally.
If recognized by the city, these offenses could slow or halt the owners’ decision to leave Mitchell-Lama.
“I haven’t gotten any answers on any of them,” Lawson said.
Residents are also following Hal Harris, a real estate agent who has brokered deals involving commercial real estate on the ground level of the buildings.
Harris wants Lakeview to be converted into a coop, so that tenants with enough money can buy their apartments. He would broker the deal at a percentage below market rate, he said.
Residents are aware of the conflict between tenants who support a rental agreement with the owner and those who want to buy their apartments, and that this conflict could hurt chances for political support.
“There are two sets of black people competing for the same cause,” said Sylvester Mensah, 40, who lives in his mother’s apartment. “They need to come together and put aside their differences.”
