Cover Story: "Pyramids" Rise In Harlem, Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq and his leadership in rehabilitating two Harlem buildings by Susan Baldwin.
Other stories include Susan Baldwin on the City and State joining forces to allocate Section 8 funds for rehabilitation and construction; Bernard Cohen on the weeklong celebration of "Sun Day" in advocacy of solar energy; Michael Freedberg on the Appropriate Technology Action Coalition and the need to make alternative energy sources available for low income neighborhoods; Bernard Cohen on the Carter Administration's lack of new housing initiatives; Coverage of the plan to rehabilitate the South Bronx.
Cover Story: "Pyramids" Rise In Harlem, Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq and his leadership in rehabilitating two Harlem buildings by Susan Baldwin.
Other stories include Susan Baldwin on the City and State joining forces to allocate Section 8 funds for rehabilitation and construction; Bernard Cohen on the weeklong celebration of "Sun Day" in advocacy of solar energy; Michael Freedberg on the Appropriate Technology Action Coalition and the need to make alternative energy sources available for low income neighborhoods; Bernard Cohen on the Carter Administration's lack of new housing initiatives; Coverage of the plan to rehabilitate the South Bronx.
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Cover Story: "Pyramids" Rise In Harlem, Al-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq and his leadership in rehabilitating two Harlem buildings by Susan Baldwin.
Other stories include Susan Baldwin on the City and State joining forces to allocate Section 8 funds for rehabilitation and construction; Bernard Cohen on the weeklong celebration of "Sun Day" in advocacy of solar energy; Michael Freedberg on the Appropriate Technology Action Coalition and the need to make alternative energy sources available for low income neighborhoods; Bernard Cohen on the Carter Administration's lack of new housing initiatives; Coverage of the plan to rehabilitate the South Bronx.
Direitos autorais:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formatos disponíveis
Baixe no formato PDF, TXT ou leia online no Scribd
MAY 1978 VOL. 3 NO.4 "PYRAMIDS" RISE IN HARLEM Imam AI-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq studies workmanship in the new community room. by Susan Baldwin "These are our pyramids that we've been rebuilding to last for time to come. We didn't cut any comers." This is how AI-Hajj K. Ahmad Tawfiq, the spiritual leader and founder of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Inc., recently described the "gut" rehabilitation sweat equity work in two buidings in Harlem near the edge of Central Park. The Mosque is a Sunni (Orthodox) Muslim community and organization with headquarters in a renovated brownstone at 257 West 113th St. Tawfiq, a thoughtful, exacting individual with a wry humor, was born and raised in New York City and founded the Mosque in 1964, after a number of years of study at AI-Azhar University in Cairo where he became multi-lingual and studied many ancient cultures. He is very proud of his buildings, and so are the people who have been working to make them a reality. The buildings, located at SS St. Nicholas Ave. and 132 West 113th St. , are within weeks of occupancy. Each will provide housing for seven Muslim families. continued on page 14 REHABILITATION SCORES IN SECTION 8 FUNDING by Susan Baldwin In an effort to spread scarce federal subsidy money for housing as far as possible, the City and State have joined forces to allocate 520.3 million of Section 8 funds for the rehabilitation and construction of 24 projects comprising 2,634 housing units throughout the five boroughs. Victor Marrero, Commissioner of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, and Nathan Leventhal, Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), made the joint announcement on May 17, revealing a program which calls for more than twice as many rehabilitated units (1,809) as new ones (825). ANHD members figured prominently in the set- aside, Los Sures leading the way with 112 units of new construction, followed by Manhattan Valley Develop- n ment Corp. and Sunset Park Redevelopment Commit- tee with 75 and 69 units of rehabilitated housing, respectively. Marrero described the new process of joint consultation as reflecting that"the City and State have common objectives and we are working together to achieve them. These include stressing low-rise devel- opment that fits in with the scale and character of existing communities, emphasizing rehabilitation and moving ahead with critical projects that are of particular significance to the future of their communi- ties. " According to Leventhal, the City imposed' 'rigorous cost limits" on prospective developers "to make the limited subsidy dollars go further," and as a result, the City and State were able to allocate "more than 300 units above the 2,300 previously estimated." To foster minority participation in the development of the projects, Leventhal explained, about 1,000 of the housing units have been assigned to minority developers. The allocations for the new and rehabilitated Section 8 set-aside are as follows for the five boroughs for the fiscal year October 1, 1978-September 30, 1979: 1978 SECTION 8 SET ASIDE NEW REHAB TOTAL Bronx 217 408 625 Brooklyn 112 590 702 Manhattan 354 281 635 Queens 530 530 Staten Island -.ill ~ 825 1809 2634 2 Prior to the announcement of this year's allocation, HPD Assistant Commissioner Barry Light, whose Community Development division reviews Section 8 applications, was asked to explain the process by which the City and the State make their final selections for the funding. "It's a very hard process," he said. "Right now, we must have at least 500 projects, and close to 40,000 units of housing proposed, and of all of these, a significant number are good proposals ... . Very few of them will be rejected outright ... We'll keep them on file." The few projects that were rejected outright for Section 8 subsidy, he explained, included new construction planned for privately owned sites, and new construction or rehabilitation of housing designated exclusively for the elderly. To house the elderly, the federal government allocates special funding under Section 202 for construction and rehabilitation, Light explained. In addition to being examined for total costs, projects were also judged on the merits of their design and density. "Certain neighborhoods are already quite dense," Light said. "To construct yet another high-rise in this atmosphere only exacerbates the situation. People should be building more humane structures, and if the decisions are made keeping this in mind, you end up with a better neighborhood in the long run." He also noted that Mayor Koch favors a policy of non-elevator, low-rise plans for new construction. Both Light and Lloyd Kaplan, a deputy commissioner at the State Division of Housing, stressed the importance of selecting buildings and areas that are not surrounded by widespread abandonment. They also said that the readiness of projects for construction was not a key factor in choosing sites. "The decisions were based a great deal on the vitality of the neighborhood, whether or not the structure in question had some relationship to the neighboring area," said Kaplan, referring to the example of the allocation of 212 units for rehabilitation on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. "These buildings haven't been vacant more than four months," he explained. "But, if you let this housing stock slip in this very crucial area, then you will lose some of the best housing in the city' ... Once it is gone, you will never get it back, and that signals defeat of tragic proportions." "I am just so surprised that we got this," said Leah continued on page 10 SUN DAY BRIGHTENS THE FUTURE by Bernard Cohen Pinning on a Sun Day button following an energy "speak out " on the roof of 519 East 11th Street, the city' s first building with solar and wind energy systems. New Yorkers eyeing the sun from widely differing angles contemplated their future as a solar society last month at exhibits, conferences, workshops and other events staged in a weeklong celebration of Sun Day. Sun Day' s goal was to draw attention to solar energy, not as some exotic hope for the future, but as a realistic alternative that, given the proper support, can soon begin to substantially reduce the country's dependence on fossil and nuclear fuels. The events of April 29-May 6, like the weather, offered sharp contrasts. There were symbolic activities such as the "Sunrise Celebration" at the United Nations. More technical matters such as installation and construction of solar energy systems were discussed at workshops. Wall Street investors were wooed by solar industry officials promising profits. Low income tenants praised solar and proclaimed an "Energy Bill of Rights." The Citicorp skyscraper in midtown Manhattan offered an exhibition of energy- conscious architectural designs while an energy van traveled to poor neighborhoods to explain the solar potential. While sentiments all ran in favor of solar energy, the words used to describe them often sounded as if they, came from different dialects. There was the philosophi- cal eloquence of Dr. Margaret Mead, the anthropolo- gist, who said the sun will open new avenues of growth for our civilization and inspire a sharing spirit. "We are moving into a world where we will share our sun, and one man's gain is not another man's loss," she said. "Each country can develop in its own way without competing or hurting its neighbor." 3 Another solar advocate, though from another vantage point, was Sheldon Butt, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. His dialect was more studded with facts and figures. The solar industry has been growing at the rate of 150 per cent a year and SEIA now has 850 members, he told a conference on the economics of solar energy at the Chase Manhattan Bank. Sixty thousand solar water heaters were installed last year, according to Butt. That number is expected to rise to 120,000 this year, 600,000 in 1982 and $1.4 million in 1992. By that year, he said, solar could be a $200 billion business. "We do expect to be a major industry. There is great growth potential and your task is to select the available groups from among us that are going to succeed," he said. Not far away, about 75 people huddled under a tent stretched across a tenement rooftop on East 11th Street. On the adjacent roof, rain pelted the solar glass panels that provide hot water for the building. Pointing over his shoulder, Roberto "Rabbit" Nazario, a tenant there, predicted that "by next year there will be a whole series of solar systems down to East Fifth Street hetween Avenues A and B." David Robinson of the West Harlem Growth Association noted that there are no solar systems in his community yet, but he added, "We see our effort as being vanguarded here. We're all down so let's keep pushing." Condemning the "unregulated, monopolistic utility companies" such as Consolidated Edison, City Council Member Ruth Messinger told the assemblage that "solar energy makes more sense because no one has found a way to make the sun cost money, no one has found a way to stop the sun from coming out and no one has found a way to nationalize the sun." During the Sun Day week observance, many issues were discussed including the importance of energy conservation through proper building weatherization, the high initial cost of solar equipment, passive forms of solar energy, legal issues such as protection of the solar skyspace, energy and jobs, problems with HUD's grants program and the fate of President Carter's energy package. Evidence of solar's growth turned up in a number of forms. According to a Department of Energy report distributed at one conference, solar hot water, space heating and/or cooling systems were installed in between 12,000 and 24,000 (new and existing) homes during the first half of 1977. Sale of solar collectors in that period was up 54 per cent from the second half of 1976 and 168 per cent greater than a year ago. Estimates of how much of the nation's energy needs could be shouldered by solar by 2025 varied from 25 per cent to more than 50 per cent-all assuming Congressional approval of tax incentives that are part of President Carter's stalled energy program. The Council on Environmental Quality released a study, entitled Solar Energy-Progress and Promise, on April 20 that maintained that solar energy is capable now of being a major power source and criticized the federal govern- ment's energy priorities over the past 20 years. Many of the energy experts agreed that solar energy is most likely to be economically competitive against all electric, to a lesser degree against oil and not at all against natural gas. George Hudelson, vice president for engineering and research at Carrier Corp., predicted it will be five to ten years before solar will begin to playa significant role in home heating and cooling. He said economic forces more than new technical breakthroughs will set the solar course. He noted that 10 states offer tax incentives for solar, led by California's 55 per cent credit. Rep. Richard Ottinger (D-Westchester) charged that the federal government has "flubbed" on solar, which he called "the one clean, safe, infinitely renewable source of energy we can count on m the future." Ottinger called the proposed $520 million solar budget (upped by $100 million by President Carter on Sun Day) a "pittance" compared with Washington's $9 billion overall energy budget. He criticized the Department of Energy for failure to appoint an assistant secretary for solar. Another critic, Mina Hamilton, regional coordinator for Sun Day activities, called the solar budget "infinitesimal" and said, "Everyone should let the President know we don't think it's enough. It will not bring us into the solar age fast enough." Many of the solar discussions throughout the week had a decidedly non-urban focus. Panelists and speakers tended to cite experiences with single family homes in places like Colorado, New Mexico, California and Florida. But the neighborhoods of New York City are exploring solar too and for environmentalist Barry Commoner the efforts he witnessed by low income people to harness the sun conveyed the most meaningful message of the entire week. Commoner described a visit to the poor neighbor- hood of East 11th Street on the Lower East Side where he smelled charred wood from old fires, tripped over broken sidewalks and saw the look of alienation in the eyes of men out of work. Then he climbed to the roof of 519 E. 11th St. and joined the gathering next to the windmill and the racks of solar collectors. "They were celebrating in a way which I think marks the real beginning of what we have to do," Commoner said. "They were taking the sun into their own hands." U sing the sun for energy to the tenement, he said, was an act of " economic independence from a system that has not yet learned how to share its wealth equitably and with justice for the people of this country." He called for the development of neighborhood- based energy production centers to decrease depen- dence on the large centralized power stations. "Whoever can find a way to capture energy themselves begins to capture the substance of democracy," he said. 0 F E E L I ~ G . SELF C<?NSCIOUS? A ConEd. son truck parked in front of the U.S. Customs House decorated with a banner in honor of Sun Day. The bUIlding contained solar energy exhibits. SOLAR SENSE FOR THE POOR by Michael Freedberg The recent Sun Day celebrations drew unprecedent- ed attention to the potential of alternative, renewable energy resources supplying much of the nation's energy needs. But the most encouraging development for the city's housing movement was the formation of ATAC-the Appropriate Technology Action Coalition. The coalition was formed by a large number of neigh- borhood groups to place the energy needs of low income residents on the national, state and city agenda, and to make alternative energy sources financially and technically feasible for the low income neighborhoods. The ATAC groups focused on energy conservation and solar energy development as the most appropriate and available strategies for the low income neighbor- hoods that have been hardest hit by the energy crisis. In older inner city neighborhoods, already suffering from a declining commercial and tax base, redlining and escalating insurance costs, the increase in fuel expenses has often been the last straw in the abandon- ment process. But almost no attention has been focused on the cri- tical energy needs of low income city dwellers. It is landlords who benefit from howeowner energy loans and weatherization grants from state and federal agencies. Most public grant programs have been oriented towards single family dwellings. The terms of bank loans, even if residents were eligible for them, are prohibitive. And tax incentives built into national energy policy simply do not apply to those who have very little taxable income in the first place. Furthermore, the major direction in public policy is toward increased use of coal and nuclear power, centralized forms of energy production that are unable to provide the neighborhoods with what is needed first and foremost-jobs. They also increase the reliance of these neighborhoods on the large utilities that have been a disaster for low income people. The federal government has responded with emer- gency energy payments for those with particular hard- ships. These payments are neither sufficient to meet the need, nor do they resolve the basic problem of rising fuel costs and continued energy dependence. There is a growing recognition, therefore, that solar energy and energy conservation are the way to go. Here Michael Freedberg has been active in developing alter- native energy resources on the Lower East Side and lives in New York City's first solar heated building. 5 for the first time energy needs can be met in poorer neighborhoods without resort to large capital invest- ments. The technologies employed are small in scale, easily learned and eminently manageable. They reduce the dependence on single source power production, and have the immediate potential for neighborhood based businesses and the provision of jobs for local residents. It is no accident that the first solar energy applications in New York City have been on "sweat equity," co- operatively owned buildings. Employing these tech- nologies extends the neighborhood movement in the city which is based on using existing resources- people, buildings, land-rather than employing new ones, at far greater expense. Further government I support is needed to expand on these early efforts. At the Neighborhood Energy Conference held prior to Sun Day, the ATAC groups called for a government response going far beyond the emergency energy pay- ments that are now the centerpiece of low income energy policy. At reasonable interest rates the payback period for solar energy is extremely cost effective, and would reduce hot water heating costs by as much as 80 per cent per building. The main burden lies on the city administration. Out of the almost $500 million already received in Com- munity Development Block Grant funds, the city has not spent a single penny on energy programs. The ATAC groups developed a number of policy recommendations central to which are a major commit- ment from the city to financing energy conservation, solar energy and energy economic development. They would make solar energy feasible now, and would enable energy resources to be developed under neighborhood control, on a decentralized basis. As a major innovation, ATAC proposed the develop- ment of Neighborhood Energy Cooperatives to under- take bulk fuel purchasing, boiler maintenance and repair, weatherization and insulation, weatherization code enforcement, energy auditing, energy legal aid, energy economic development, energy education and job training, and energy planning. Over the next few months, ATAC will be assisting neighborhood groups in defining their energy needs. CD proposals will be developed. Working together, the neighborhood groups can begin to create local responses to the city's energy crisis-and at the same time contribute to long-term neighborhood preserva- tion. 0 CARTER POLICY SLIGHTS HOUSING by Bernard Cohen The Carter Administration's new national urban policy, while giving unprecedented recognition to neighborhoods, offers no new housing initiatives despite its declared goal of "making cities more healthy and improving the lives of people who live in them." The long awaited urban policy, announced by Carter on March 27, contains very little-in the opinion of many-to help low income neighborhoods address the problem of substandard housing. Out of $4.4 billion in budget authority, 51. 7 billion in new tax incentives and 52.2 billion in guaranteed loan authority sought by the President in Fiscal Year 1979, the only housing proposal calls for a 5150 million increase in Section 312 rehabilitation loans. The 312 program provides 3 per cent, 20-year loans. Ted Wysocki of the National Training and Informa- tion Center in Chicago called housing the weakest element of the urban policy. Asked for her view, Florence Roisman of the National Housing Law Project in Washington, said, "As somebody concerned with opening up housing opportunities for low income people, there is no point in having an opinion about the urban policy. There is nothing in there at all to increase housing opportunities for poor people." Andrew Mott of the Center for Community Change in Washington called the housing request "small potatoes." They and others said that not only is the housing piece disappointingly small, but that the 312 program has its limitations and could, in fact, be damaging unless the loans are carefully targeted. The 312 program was originally designed for moderate rehabilitation of one-to-four family structures with the homeowner in occupancy. It was used his- torically in more stable neighborhoods. Loans are now available for vacant buildings and mUltiple dwellings. However, they do not cover acquisition costs, they can be made only in specially designated areas and New York City requires a minimum number of buildings per application, making it difficult for individual owner- occupants to utilize the program. Advocates of better housing for the poor say tbat 3 per cent interest is not a deep enough subsidy for many low income people, and some cite past misuse of the program in upper income areas such as Chicago's Lin- coln Park section. Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., has proposed a sliding interest rate for the 312 program depending on income. Wysocki particularly criticized the urban policy for ignoring HUD's large inventory of FHA abandoned properties. He said the Urban Rehabilitation Grants, or so-called "Double Dollars," bill (H.R. 11500) intro- 6 duced by Rep. Jonathan Bingham, D-N.Y., would offer a much greater incentive for rehabilitation than any- thing in the urban policy. The bill would match federal dollars for Community Development Block Grant dollars committed by local governments to rehab. Roisman said the urban policy should have provided a vast increase for public housing "as the cheapest and most effective for housing the poor" and sh\>uld have prohibited the use of federal funds for projects that displace low income people. Marcia Kaptur, assistant director of the White House domestic policy staff, acknowledged the small housing element but said the urban policy does not encompass all of the federal government's initiatives. For example, housing assistance, primarily Section 8, has already been given a large boost this year, she said. "The Fiscal Year 78 budget has expanded the numb"'t of families receiving assistance from 200,000 to400,000.For HUD, that is a huge amount." Kaptur also cited the 51.5 billion Consumer Co-op Bank, which passed the House last year and is ready for debate in the Senate, as a potentially large financing source for neighborhood development groups. According to the President, a major goal of the urban policy is to stimulate greater involvement by neighbor- hood organizations and voluntary associations. "For the first time, we are called upon, through our neigh- borhood organizations, to become partners in urban revitalization," said Milton Kotler of the National As- sociation of Neighborhoods. New neighborhood initia- tives include: $15 million Neighborhood Self-Help Fund in HUD to assist neighborhood and voluntary organizations for planning and development of housing and other revi- talization efforts. One source said the mayors fought hard to kill this but that Carter himself insisted on retaining it. However, projects will be subject to approval by the mayors. The program appears to be aimed at more sophisticated community-based organi- zations with a demonstrated record of carrying out a range of physical and economic revitalization activities and already developed comprehensive neighborhood plans. As part of the contract with HUD, organizations must provide technical assistance to less advanced groups. $40 million to create within ACTION 1) an Urban Voluntep-r Corps of architects, lawyers, planners and others with special skills matched to the needs of neighborhood organizations. Grants of $65,000 to $250,000 would go to a lead agency designated by the mayor to administer the program. 2) a Good Neighbor Fund to provide small grants (average $5,000) for tools, supplies, and other equipment to support ongoing voluntary projects, housing presumably included. 3) fixed income counseling. 4) a small national demon- stration program for community energy projects. The ACTION money appears to be more geared to fledgling groups than the HUD fund. The Senate version of the ACTION bill would require 80 per cent of the funds tar- geted to projects in low income neighborhoods. Insiders say support for the legislation is stronger in the Senate than in the House. Bills have been approved by House and Senate committees and await floor action. $10 million for crime prevention efforts directed toward neighborhood involvement in crime-watch, escort services for the elderly, assistance to shop- keepers and other projects instituted through LEAA and ACTION. $12.4 million to support Community Development Credit Unions (see CDCU article in January issue of City Limits), often the only source of credit assistance in low income neighborhoods. Jointly administered by CSA and the National Credit Union Administration, the fund would provide $200,000 in seed money for each CDCU. $20 million "Livable Cities" program from HUD to support neighborhood and community-based arts pro- grams, urban design and planning activities. On the issue of redlining, Carter encouraged bank regulators to develop "strong, consistent and effective regulations" to implement the Community Reinvest- ment Act; . proposed creation of an Institute for Community Investment under the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to develop a consistent approch to urban lending; proposed a pilot program to create Neighbor- hood Commercial Reinvestment Centers under the Comptroller of the Currency to provide business loans to revitalize commercial areas; and called upon HUD to chair a task force to evaluate the availability of credit and insurance in urban areas. Enthusiasm over formal recognition of neighbor- hoods in the urban policy is tempered by two things. First is the control that mayors retain over some neigh- borhood programs and second is the uncertainty about the Carter Administration's ability to steer the urban package through Congress. On the first count, the neighborhood revitalization projects competing for direct funding from HUD must have mayoral approval; most of the ACTION money will apparently be funneled the same way, leading some to suggest an imbalance in the "partnership" of federal, state and local governments along with neighborhood organizations and voluntary associations described as the heart of the urban policy. And based on Carter's past problems with getting important domestic legislation through Congress, many 7 wonder how he will fare with his urban policy. "Carter has not established mastery over the legislative process," Mott said, "and what he is trying to do [with the urban policy] will probably be unpopular." Indeed, the Senate Budget Committee has already slashed at many major sections of the policy, apparently because it had not receive the written legis- lation by the time it voted. A $2.4 billion national development bank-including $1 billion in interest rate subsidies for firms wishing to relocate or expand in "distressed" urban and rural areas, $730 million to in- crease the limit on industrial revenue bonds and $550 million in economic development grants-was whittled down to just the grants. The committee also eliminated $200 million for transportation grants and $1.5 billion in targeted employment tax credits, and reduced the $150 million increase requested for Section 312 loans to $80 million. It did approve the $1 billion soft public works program, $50 million for community health centers, $20 million for state incentive grants and the $1 billion sup- plementary fiscal assistance program. The committee's recommendations are not binding. It could well approve the proposals in time for the next budget resolution. The House Budget Committee has approved all of the Administration's urban policy budget proposals. But there is concern outside govern- ment whether the White House can shepherd its program through a Congress that may not be in a mood to spend a lot of new money on the cities. Recognizing the problem, Carter has brought in a separate staff, headed by Anne Wexler, to keep track of the 16 pieces of legislation, three executive orders and 160 adminis- trative changes called for in the urban policy. Probably the most controversial proposal is the $2.4 billion national urban development bank, expected to be subjected to heated debate by Congress. The bank would provide loan guarantees to businesses that expand or relocate in distressed areas where unem- ployment is high and per capita income is low. Michael Harrington, author of The Other America, said in an interview with City Limits that the idea of the bank rested on the "optimistic assumption about the degree to which you can motivate business to come to areas like the South Bronx simply by providing cheap money." He called for "direct federal social invest- ments" such as a government financed solar energy industry. Another critic, Professor Lance Liebman of the Har- vard Law School, wrote in The New York Times that the Haw in the bank was that it would commit federal money without supplying any other ingredient neces- sary to economic success Wysocki said it appeared the bank would favor big business over "mom and pop stores" and would spur capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive industries and possibly continue the flight of jobs to the suburbs. 0 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE For the benefit of our membership, City Limits is adding a new section called Technical Assistance. Through our TA pages, we hope to provide practical information that will help you run programs, obtain services, improve your own operations and save money. by Anne Hartwell 'FUEL COSTS As you know, Linda Bergen did very valuable re- search for ANHD last summer on ways to save money on fuel, including the question of whether ANHD should set up its own fuel Co-op. She concluded that the cheapest source of fuel within the capabilities of the Association was through the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies group purchasing plan. The Federa- tion monitors fuel costs per barrel listed in the Journal of Commerce, pro-rates costs to per gallon delivered and insists that its companies pass on any reductions in price. On the basis of price alone, the Federation's record is hard to beat. Its prices last winter averaged about 36 cents a gallon for No.4 oil and about 41 cents a gallon for No. 2 oil. On the other hand, there is a great deal to be said for Sample Building Total Building No. Units: II Expense Budget: No. Rooms: 43 Annual- $29,140 Commercial Space: I Monthly- $2,428 Cost@ using a local fuel company, not only in terms of emer- gency deliveries and service but as a valuable com- munity source of jobs and income. A community group- purchasing plan may have some of the advantages of both. Anyone who wants to explore bulk purchasing on a neighborhood basis should let me know. Most fuel companies provide a flat monthly budget plan. Normally, groups have very high fuel bills in the winter and pay much less in the summer. This can create serious cash flow problems during the cold sea- son. The budget plan is a way of avoiding the problem. The total number of gallons used for a building in a year is multiplied by an estimated cost per gallon of fuel and this total dollar figure is divided into twelve equal monthly payments. (If a building wishes to enter into an annual service contract, these costs can be paid on the Federation Cost@ Month No. Gals. $.44LGal. $.37 LGal. NET SAVINGS January 2,500 $1,100 925 175 February 1,250 550 462 88 March 2,000 880 740 140 April 2,000 880 740 140 May June July 1,000 440 370 70 August 500 220 185 35 September October 500 220 185 35 November 1,500 660 555 105 December 3,000 1,320 1,1 IO 210 14,250 $6,270 $5,272 $998* Flat Monthly Budget Plan Charges: $ 522 $ 439 * Annual saving from the Federation: $90 per unit 8 same monthly basis over the year.) Budget plans normally start in July (never in the winter), so although there is not a lot of red tape involved, the time to start planning is now. The preceding table is designed to show two things: the savings from bulk purchasing through the Federa- tion of Protestant Welfare Agencies and the flat monthly budget plan charge compared with the large fluctuation in fuel costs without a plan. As you can see, the Federation's bulk purchasing plan saved our sample building $998 over the year or approximately 15 per cent of its fuel cost. For each apartment, that meant an annual reduction of $90. Also, compare the monthly payments. Using the local fuel company, the building paid $220 in August and $1,320 in December. With the Federation, payments ranged from $185 in August to $1,110 in December. Using the flat budget plan, the building would have paid $522 every month to the local fuel company and $439 to the Federation. .'\UDITING COSTS Several groups have asked me about ways to cut the high cost of auditing fees. An annual or semi-annual independent audit by a Certified Public Accountant is required under several funding programs. The cost is based on a per hour rate, usually between $20 and $35 an hour. This means that smaller groups and groups that do not have a full-time or experienced bookkeeper will be penalized because some information needed for the audit will either not be readily available or'w.ill not be recorded on a standard accounting form that the auditor has worked with before. I have spoken to several auditors about this and they suggest two partial remedies, both of which involve saving an auditor's time. First, bring books up to date prior to the audit. Any entries scribbled in margins or attached to budgets should be properly entered on regular ledgers. Second, hire one firm to audit five, ten or more groups using more or less standardized accounting methods and forms. I suggest that any group whose books are clear to their own bookkeepers but may not be as clear to an outsider call me at ANHD and I will set up an appoint- ment for ANHD accounting assistant to spend a day or two (FREEl) helping to get everything in perfect shape for the auditors. Moreover, we are developing a set of bookkeeping forms based on a collection of good systems used by many of the groups. When they are ready, I will send a set to anyone interested in looking at them. Even if you want to keep your bookkeeping system exactly as it is, if your auditing costs are high, let me know and I will try to shop for an alternative. 0 9 Technical Assistance Questionnaire* Which of the following subjects are of most interest to you, either in the form of direct help or information through seminars? Please number in order of preference, leaving blank ones that don't interest you. Then mall the form back to me. Cost of Auditing _ Agency Books _Buildings _Other _Tax Status _ Payroll Deductions _Incorporation _ Co-op Formation Programs _312 _SHIP _ Direct Sales _ Community Management _Section 8 _ Rent Subsidy _ Construction _ Building Management _ Vacant Lots Economic Development _ Storefronts _ Major Development _ Fundraising _ Credit Unions Bulk Fuel Purchasing _ Central Purchasing _ Neighborhood Purchasing Supplies _Office _ Maintenance _Locks _ Window Gates Repair Services _ Bell and Buzzer _ Painting _Roofing Other Name: \ \ Address: ______________________________ ___ *For ANHD members and CETA VI umbrella groups only. COALITION DEMANDS SIMPLIFIED 'SALES' During the past month groups around the city have banded together in a Direct Sales Coalition in an effort to simplify and implement the present non-functioning program. The city's three-year-old Direct Sales program is a program under which city-owned, residential proper- ties can be sold "as is" without public auction directly to approved, non-profit tenant and community groups at a relatively low, negotiated price. To bring attention to problems with direct sales as currently administered, Coalition members were to demonstrate later this month outside City Hall, calling for a simplification of the program and an end to the long bureaucratic delays in its implementation. The Coalition recently sent a letter to Assistant Commissioner Carl Callender of HPD's Division of Evaluation and Compliance, calling for these changes in the program he supervises. Copies went to Mayor Koch and HPD Commissioner Nathan Leventhal. In addition, the group sent letters to tenants of buildings known to be in the Direct Sales program, pointing out why the program "is not operating effectively and is in need of major revision." Asserting that only one building was sold through the program last year, and that only three other buildings have just recently entered into management agree- ments with HPD, the letter outlined five major problem areas: (1) the long intake procedure; (2) the terms ofthe management "lease"; (3) the procedure for determin- ing purchase price; (4) the lack of guarantee at the end of the management period that groups will be able to buy their buildings at a fixed, low price; and (5) the restrictions of the "regulatory agreement" by which the City supervises properties after sale to community groups or low income tenants. The City currently owns about 6,000 multiple dwellings and with the upcoming title vestings will probably acquire from 15,000 to 20,000 buildings within the year. . As of March, however, HPD reported only about 90 properties in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn that are at various earlier stages in the program's pipeline. "For the past ten years, the only viable sector that you could rely on for programs was the private sector, and that alternative is non-existent now," said Jeff Eichenwald of 152 Forsyth St., Manhattan. One of the leaders of the Coalition, Eichenwald stressed the importance of making government more accountable in administering its housing programs. "There is little or no profit in low and middle income programs unless they are government-subsidized," he said. "We are demonstrating at City Hall because we know that Koch doesn't hear, we know that HPD has 10 made organizational changes and talks about all its program changes ... What we are saying in our actions is that they all have to start digging into the housing mess and understand that a lot is needed, particularly money and cooperation with community groups, if the City is not going to be the largest slumlord in New York." For more information about the Coalition, call Wendy Faxon at 749-4803. 0 KOCH THREATENS EVICTIONS Mayor Koch's recent threat to evict thousands of tenants in city-owned buildings who do not pay rent drew a quick response from ANHD President Margaret McNeill. "For the Mayor of the City of New York to characterize nonpayment of rent by 48 per cent of tenants of city-owned housing as an outrageous situa- tion without also noting the deteriorated conditions and lack of essential services in many of these properties strikes us as equally outrageous," McNeill said in a telegram to Koch. Koch made the announcement May 2 following a meeting with officials of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development concerning the 2S,OOO housing units the city expects to take over this year from owners who stop paying their real estate taxes. "In the prior administration we had a situation where they did not move to evict tenants who did not pay rent," Koch snapped. "The judges were told not to evict. We're going to change that. What an outrage." In response, McNeill called the mayor's outburst "a grossly one-sided position in view of the disgraceful legacy of DRE management and maintenance of a large number of these properties, particularly in the poorest neighborhoods of our city." She said the tenants in many poorly maintained buildings owned by the city pool their rent to make repairs "rather than mail rent checks to a bureaucracy incapable of providing decent housing services." She urged the mayor to encourage tenant self-help management by experienced nonprofit neighborhood- based housing organizations as an important tool for dealing with the large number of properties the city will be acquiring. 0 Section 8 continued Schneider ofthe Manhattan Valley Development Corp., about its proposal for rehabilitation of four buildings, three abandoned, at 152-164 Manhattan Avenue. "This is good news," said Kathy Wylde, of the Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee. "We were pretty sure that we were in the running. Now we hope we can expedite the acquisition of our buildings ... We're glad, though, that the allocations are going to be in writing, and are not just oral commitments." 0 DAVIS, RAYMOND HIRED AS HPD REORGANIZES The make-up of the Leventhal team at HPD neared completion this month with the appointment of two new deputy commissioners, one assistant commissioner, and an executive director. Robert K. Davis, whose career in city government spans 15 years, is the new deputy commissioner for operations at $46,500. Most recently head of Direct Child Care Services/Special Services for Children at HRA, Davis takes on responsibility for the coordination of all current HPD programs, with duties similar to those of former First Deputy Commissioner Paul Dickstein. In a reorganization and expansion of housing management services, Charles Raymond, former deputy commissioner in the City's Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services, is deputy commissioner for property management at $46,500, while former Deputy Commissioner Aramis Gomez will continue his duties in relocation operations with the new rank of assistant commissioner, reporting to Rayr,10nd. " new division of In Rem property management will be headed by an assistant commissioner yet to be named. In the meantime, Raymond will oversee the work of this division, which is slated to take over jurisdiction of the city's In Rem properties Sept. 1 from GSA. The office of development, headed by Deputy Commissioner Peter Joseph, has been divided into three divisions. Jeff Heintz, formerly deputy assistant director, Office of Management and Budget, heads the reorganized division of rehabilitation, with responsi- bility for various rehabilitation programs previously administered by the division of community develop- ment . That division, headed by Assistant Commission- er Barry Light, takes on responsibility for the neighl?orhood preservation program, in a move intended to reinforce the division's role in community coordination. Assistant Commissioner Ruth Lerner continues as head of the division of housing supervi- sion. Bruce Gould, currently with the Community Service Society and a former deputy commissioner at HPD, will become executive director of the newly-created office of program and management analysis, reporting directly to Commissioner Leventhal. Gould will assume his new duties sometime in June. Assistant Commissioner of Government Liaison Marvin Markus has been upgraded to the new post of deputy commissioner for policy and government liaison. He will serve as HPD's political adviser, and deal directly with legislators in Albany on behalf of 11 HPD programs. Susan Gaffney, of the office of administrative services, takes on the new position of deputy commissioner for administration, which entails central- ized responsibility for all fiscal and administrative functions within HPD. Daniel Joy continues as deputy commissioner for rent and housing maintenance. 0 SUNSET PARK REHAB Work began on May 1 on the first two of 21 buildings to be renovated in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, under the Small Homes Improvement Program. After more than two years of planning, negotiating and approvals, a SHIP contract between Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee, Inc. and HPD was signed and bids for the work on the first buildings solicited. The sounds of construction drifting from 331 and 333 56th Street come from a crew of ten neighborhood youths hired by the Sunset Park Community Corpora- tion under a Youth Community Conservation Improve- ment Project program. These 18 and 19 year old out-of- school participants are assigned to SPRC to do the initial cleaning out and gutting of the buildings prior to a general contractor coming in to do the renovation. Under the proposal written by Elizabeth Del Valle, economic specialist for the Community Corporation, in conjunction with SPRC, the goal is to assign promising participants to work as apprentices with the contractors renovating the buildings to learn construction skills. The Sunset Park program is one of only two YCCIP pro- jects in the City offering substantive job training instead of just temporary employment. Under the SHIP program, CD II money will cover the difference between the total development cost which includes fees, expenses, and construction costs, and the sales price of the building which is related to the FHA mortgage appraisal. The general contractor has been selected and will begin work as soon as gutting operations are complet- ed. The YCCIP program is not related to SHIP directly but was seen as a means to lower the costs of renova- tion. These first two buildings are also the locations where SPRC will install solar-assisted domestic hot water systems under a HUD grant program. SPRC, Inc. is still looking for CETA VI workers to fill the following slots: Secretary/Bookkeeper: Minimum 2 years office experience, telephone, typing, files, light bookkeeping, $8,000/year. Rehabilitation Assistant: Minimum 1 year architec- tural drafting experience, some field work helpful. $9,OOO/year. Call 630-7155 and ask for John Gallagher. 0 MEET SOME AN.HD STAFF Trevor Wanliss Trevor Wanliss, ANHD's senior accountant, still sees his job pretty much the same way he did when he first joined the staff four months ago-hectic. "In my pOSition, I have a great deal of responsibility," Wanliss said. "If it were not for the staff and board members who have helped me piece together facts, I would have had a great deal of trouble picking up the information I need for past records." In February, Wanliss saw his job as challeng- ing. He still does. "I feel that we are pretty much up-to-date," he added, re-emphasizing the importance of the help he has received from the staff and board. Prior to joining the ANHD staff, Wanliss served for two years as assistant to the director of finance at MEND (Massive Economic Neighborhood Development), an anti-poverty organization in East Harlem. He also served as controller of Yonkers Community Action program from 1970 to 1973. From then until he joined MEND, he worked as an auditor for a public accounting firm. Wanliss attended the University of London, and was graduated from Trinity Hall University, Springfield, 111., with a bachelor of science degree in finance. Wanliss is married. He and his wife, Lillette, live with their two sons, Dean Andrew, 7, and Mark,17, in the Bronx. 12 John Wu John Wu, ANHD's new comptroller, is no novice when it comes to handling finances. Prior to his arrival here in March, Wu served as a budget examiner in the City's Office of Management and Budget (formerly the NYC Budget Bureau) for five-and-a-half years, and in this capacity was in charge of running the City's federally-funded Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), beginning September, 1972. As a budget examiner for the City, he was responsible for supervising records for some 45 to 50 agencies, ranging from the Board of Ethics to the Health and Hospitals Corp. Having had experience with both the CETA II and CETA VI programs, Wu acknowledges that CET A VI has "its strengths and weaknesses," noting that its earlier requirement that a person only be un-employed for 15 days "could have resulted in financial overkill", since the program was "supposedly designed to hit only the hard core unemployed." Asked to comment on his ANHD position, Wu said, "I find it very challenging. When I came here there were no books on the CET A side. So, I had to sit down and create a set of books." Under his contract arrangements, Wu is paid 75 per cent of his salary from the CETA VI budget and 25 per cent from ANHD's core funds. Wu was graduated from Baruch College in 1972 where he majored in accounting and from Brooklyn Law School in 1977. He was recently admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. John resides in Levittown, Pa., with his wife Gloria. and two sons, Michael, 19, and Ronnie, 18. David Gaither David Gaither, who is ANHD's project director for the CETA VI program, heads a staff of 17, and plans to "run the best CETA VI project in the city. "We have an excellent program and an excellent staff," he affirmed, noting that he is confident that the program, which includes everything from tenant organizing to housing management, will meet the "measurable goals spelled out by the contract for the year's grant period. "I think that the idea of carrying out this program with community groups is excellent," he continued. "It is very important that the partiCipants ... feel high about it. The Association should be commended." In Gaither's view, the field coordinators, who monitor performance at the 37 work sites of ANHD's subcontractors, are part of one family. One of Gaither's chief responsibilities is to instruct the coordinators on getting full compli- ance with the requirements of each CETA subcontract as set forth by the City's Department of Employment. Asked to assess the CETA program, Gaither said, "I am enjoying it immensely. It's a new kind of challenge with a fresh begining. I feel a sense of accomplishment and I'm having fun doing it." Born in North Carolina, Gaither was raised on the West Side of Manhattan, and later moved to Westchester County. His work subsequently took him to many parts of the country, and he now lives in Asbury Park, N.J. 13 Before coming to ANHD, Gaither served as director of operations of the CETA program for Monmouth County, N.J. From 1972 to 1975, he was executive director of the Department of Community Resources for the City of Oakland, California, and from 1969 to 1972, he served as vice president of the United States Research and Development Corp., based in New York City. Gaither has also held positions as administrator of a Job Corps contract for the Federal Electric Corp. , in Paramus, N.J., and as senior child care supervisor at the New York State Training School for Boys, Warwick, N.Y. A graduate of the New York Institute of Criminology, Gaither received his Bachelor of Science degree from Morehouse College, and his Master of Social Work degree from the University of California at Berkeley. City Limits and the entire ANHD staff will be moving soon. On June 1, our new address will be 115 East 23rd St., 8th 0., 10010 [between Park Ave. So. and Lexington Ave.] Our telephone number remains, 674-7610. .CITY LIMITS. published monthly by the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers, Inc., 29 East 22nd Street, New York, New York 10010 (212) 674-7610 Editor ............. . ........................... Bernard Cohen Assistant Editor . . ......... . . . ...... . ......... . .. Susan Baldwin Design and Layout ...... . . . ................. .. . . .. Louis Fulgoni Production .......... . ..... . ..... . .. . ..... . .. Marianne Czernin Copyright 1978. All rights reserved. No portion or portions of this News leiter may be reprinted without the express wri/len permission of the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers, Inc. St. Nicholas continued The larger building, 55 St. Nicholas, also contains a community room to be used for worship and two commercial spaces, one of which will serve as a herbal tea room. The rehabilitation, financed under the first "partici- pation loan" to close in the city, was made possible by the Muslim community and its housing corporation, the 55 St. Nicholas Ave. Housing Development Fund Cor- poration, by two federally-sponsored contracts under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CET A) that trained and paid workers, and by the par- ticipation of three area banks. Under the Department of Housing Preservation and Development's (HPD) new participation loan, the Chemical Bank is providing construction funds, while the New York Bank for Savings and the Bowery Savings Bank are "participating" with the City in providing permanent financing. In a participation loan, the city puts up a portion of the mortgage money needed for the rehabilitation at one per cent interest and the private lender puts up the rest at the market rate. According to Christopher Hooke of HPD's Office of Rehabilitation, the cost of rehabilitating each apart- ment unit will run between $21,000 and $22,000 for a monthly rental of about $50 a room. Tenants are expected to receive Section 8 housing subsidy. To date, construction costs at 55 St. Nicholas are $133,000, and $98,000 at 132 West 113th St. The "soft" costs (architectural fees, etc.) are $36,000 at 55 St. Nicholas and $33,000 at West 113th St. The total mortgage at 55 St. Nicholas will be $170,000, with the banks' share at $105,000 and HPD's at $65,000. At West 113th St., the total mortgage will be $133,000, the banks assuming $33,000 of that finan- cial burden. HPD' s share will be $100,000. According to Imam (spiritual leader) and founder Tawfiq, the rehabilitation of these two buildings is just the first of other proposed housing improvements that his Muslim community plans to undertake. "I think some of the best architecture in the city is in Harlem," he said during a recent interview. "This is one of the best residential areas ... We have Central Park here and Morningside Park nearby. We have sub- ways and bus routes. The main thing is that the area needs to be cleaned up, and the people need to develop more of a sense of community involvement and pride." Commenting on the history of the two buildings, Talib Abdur-Rashid, the administrative assistant, said, "It's been quite a struggle and a lot of people's futures are tied into this project. As our director Tawfiq has said many times, we are really doing this for our children. " Abdur-Rashid pointed out that, even though the Muslim community first started work on the two 14 buildings in May, 1975, they have been working in the Harlem community to improve the quality of life for the past 11 years. "We are not just helping ourselves by completing these projects," he explained. "As we see it, we are benefiting the Harlem community at large because we are proving that nonprofessional people such as our- selves can be responsible for providing better housing for the entire community." The group's plans include the purchase at a future date of three abandoned tenements across St. Nicholas Ave. on West 113th St. If their housing ventures prove successful, they hope to rehabilitate enough housing to provide for 100 to 150 families in the area. Because the federal Davis Bacon Act requires that union-scale wages be paid on all construction work in buildings with more than sexen dwelling units-wages that the Muslim project could not meet-apartment layouts were altered to produce larger and fewer apart- ments than before rehabilitation. This resulted in a preponderance of spacious, well-designed three and four bedroom apartments. The CETA contract for the project began in August, 1976, but prior to that date, the Mosque's families had been at the site doing their own demolition work, beginning in May, 1975. "When the CET A contract came through," Abdur- Rashid explained, " we had completed about 90 to 95 per cent of the demolition. This work had been done by the male members of our Mosque on the weekends and in the late afternoon after work. But, what was really nice about getting this CET A contract was that we were able to hire some of the men to be construction trainees. " Reached at the Chemical Bank last week, Juan Villa- nueva, director of its urban planning department, con- firmed that construction was almost complete and that building occupancy was imminent. "Our impression of the project is that it is a good one," he said, emphasizing that all such business ventures are "risky." But, he was quick to add, "I expect this one to work out because they [the Muslims] are providing housing for themselves and are planning some commercial activity." Referring to work on the project as having been "overly cautious and slow," he asserted, "There is no doubt in my mind and others that we have all learned a lot from this experience ... There were some delays when the CET A contracts were not on the same time schedule as the construction contracts. This cost time and money that we had to lend to the project, but, by and large, it was a good, solid learning process for all concerned, and we [Chemical] expect to go forward with other projects in the future." One of the major problems areas with this project, he added, was in the field of bookkeeping. "The books could have been in better shape, more complete, and more up-to-date, but, in general, these are problems that can be handled with experience." "We feel that things went very well with this project considering that this was the first sweat equity partici- pation loan," said Frances Levenson, director of urban housing for the New York Bank for Savings. "These projects, by virtue oftheir uniqueness," she added, are difficult to evaluate because there is no cookie-cutter formula to describe them all ... You can't wholesale a project such as this. You have to look at the people involved and assess their 'stick-to-it-ness,' their responsibility to the project ... I think there is no doubt about this group's intentions. We look forward to the closing." If all plans run smoothly, the 14 families should be enjoying life in the new apartments by the end of June or early July. 0 CHARLOTTE STREET LEADS BRONX PLAN New York City, feeling pressure to move quickly with its plan for the South Bronx, is pushing for concentrated development of a site that has important symbolic value but may run into strong local opposition. The location is the landscape of rubble-filled lots and abandoned buildings around Charlotte Street near Crotona Park where President Carter stood last October and promised federal help for the South Bronx. It is one piece of the city's draft plan, announced by Mayor Koch on April 11, that calls for development of 27,500 new and rehabilitated housing units in nine areas of the South Bronx over the next seven years. In the first three years for which housing projection figures are more accurate, the draft plan envisions 5,000 units plus 2,700 units in the Croton a Develop- ment Area. The Carter Administration has made a first year commitment of 1,000 housing subsidy units above and beyond existing allocations to the South Bronx. The city must make formal application for those units by May 31. At the same time, according to city officials, the federal government is pressuring the city to produce some visible improvements as soon as possible. Largely because of the President's visit there, the city has chosen the Crotona Park site as the vanguard of its housing effort. The draft plan calls for initial construction by the New York City Housing Authority of 600 units of three-story houses on Charlotte Street (400 units) and Chisholm Street (200 units) followed by 800 units and 1,300 units in the second and third years. The proposal is already undergoing a staff review at the City Planning Commission, which must approve it along with the Board of Estimate. "On one level, Charlotte Street is symbolic, there's no question about it," said Barry Light, assistant commissioner for community development in the Department of Housing Preservation and Develop- ment. "It is the most ideal place to show symbolically that we can put something together." The location, however, falls within Community Board 3, which is expected to oppose targeting all of the units around Charlotte Street. "The Charlotte Street area is not the planning board's number one priority," said District Manager Dana Driskell. "It is not a reason to 15 develop a housing plan just because the President strolled through the area. I think the city has overdramatized the need to have development at that location where he stood." Driskell predicted that the community board would vote to recommend distributing some of the units into other nearby areas where there are active community- based housing organizations. He also acknowledged the possibility of a conflict of interest since some board members are also members of other community groups but did not indicate if they would refrain from voting. Light said Charlotte Street along with all the other developments listed in the draft are proposals for discussion and could be altered based on community response. He told City Limits recently that the preferred method for doing Section 8 housing in the South Bronx will be to team up a developer with a community housing organization and said the city will be looking for two things in the local groups. "First, are they capable of doing the work? And second, quite frankly, we're concerned about honesty. A lot of money from Section 8 is going to be shared by community organizations and developers." The city is known to be investigating allegations of conflict of interest and payoffs in the Section 8 program in the Bronx and other boroughs. Light said he has had meetings with many community housing groups to develop plans for specific building sites and has/been deluged with inquiries from developers all over the East. Responding to skepticism about the city's ability to deliver all the housing, especially in view of its failure to spend a large portion of its Community Development Block Grant money, Light said: "We have had no trouble with Section 8. We have 7,000 units of new construction or rehabilitation either completed or in progress and we will have 5,000 additional by the end of the summer." The delay with Section 8, he said, is the one-year processing time required by the Federal Housing Administration. He said the city will push to have construction underway by 12 months after projects are approved. <::LEE "ON l!WJad XN ' >tJOA MaN P!Bd 3E>V.lSOd "S "n
Ol9.l t.l9 OlOOl 'A"N ')jJOA MeN 199JlS Ise3 IN THIS ISSUE 55 St, Nicholas Ave. Section 8 Allocations Carter Urban Policy New York Celebrates the Sun Technical Assistance 'OUI s.JadotaMa Du!SOOH p<>04JOq4D!aN Have You Sent Us YourSubscription?