NEW YORK, NY – August 23, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Charles B. Rangel called on Baruch Singer, landlord of Gloria Harding Apartments, to renew the project-based Section 8 contract at the 113 unit building complex to avoid the loss of affordable housing in Harlem.
“These apartments provide hard-working residents with affordable housing options that help keep families and communities stable,” said Congressman Rangel. “I urge Mr. Singer to reconsider and continue to keep this complex within the Section 8 program and economic reach of deserving low and middle income individuals.”
Over the past year, Rep. Rangel has worked with tenants and reached out to Singer to encourage him to explore various options with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), including the “mark-up-to-market” program. The Congressman has also been working with local non-profit housing group West Harlem Group Assistance to explore the purchase of the buildings from Singer and preservation of the complex as affordable housing. The complex, with buildings at 617 West 143rd Street, 707 St. Nicholas Avenue and 770 St. Nicholas Avenue, was purchased by Singer in 2006.
“We’ve done all that we can to help persuade him to do the right thing and stay in the program,” said Rangel. “It’s frustrating because in these tough economic times, Section 8 is the only thing keeping some families not just in the city, but off the streets or worse.”
Last August, Congressman Rangel and local elected officials stood outside of Canaan IV Towers at 95 Lenox Avenue to announce the preservation of 400 apartments in Central and East Harlem through the project based Section 8 program. The agreements at Canaan IV Towers, Hudsonview I, 544 W. 145th Street and Hudson Piers Rehab-Phase II, 1626 Amsterdam Avenue, were the culmination of months of work between a coalition of groups including Tenants & Neighbors, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), and the New York City branch of Local Initiatives Support Organization (LISC). Since then, local and government efforts have helped renew the Section 8 contract at Morningside Apartments, 109th and Columbus.
NEXT STEPS
Unless tenants can get Singer to re-sign, all unoccupied units at Gloria Harding will revert to market-rate apartments. Those who are currently living in these buildings will be eligible to have their rents subsidized through “enhanced” Section 8 vouchers. These vouchers can be used by tenants to either stay or transfer to another building that accepts Section 8.
Rangel noted that his office would work with HUD to ensure that the tenants receive every protection under the law in the ?enhanced? Section 8 vouchering process if the Singer did opt-out. However, he said that the shrinking availability of housing options for working-class New Yorkers is a situation that the city could ill-afford.
“Tenants around this great city are being attacked, and we are losing affordable housing units at an alarming rate,” said Rangel. “We have a responsibility — a moral and economic one — to work together to resolve this crisis.”
Rangel has been a strong advocate of affordable housing and tenant rights throughout his public service career. More than 90 percent of the affordable housing units built over the last twenty years are as a result of his Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Recent achievements include federal legislation that could help build as many as 5,000 units of affordable housing in the city, and a total of 10,000 across the state, as well as more than $30 million in stimulus money for new construction, rehabilitation or low-interest loans for project management in the 15th Congressional District.
“At the end of the day it all comes day to this: No American should be able to wake up in the morning and wonder whether or not they can still afford their home,” said Rangel. “If this country is to have a bright future, we must find a way to ensure that families can have a stable roof over their heads.”
