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CB1 Backs Tenants' Fight to Stay in Homes
“If they were giving a law school exam and the question were to design the most one-sided, egregious agreement you could come up with, these guys would get A-pluses,” board member Bill Love, a tenant in the building, said before the vote. (He recused himself.) The resolution was a small victory in what has been a prolonged battle for the tenants. When the building was sold in March, many had high hopes. Buttonwood president Andrew Heiberger had been quoted in the Battery Park City Broadsheet as saying that it would be converted to condos. The “non-eviction plan” would give tenants the chance to buy their units, at a discount. Instead, soon after the building was sold, tenants were told they had to leave. Some had unwittingly signed leases with 60-day eviction clauses, and others were told they could remain beyond the terms of their lease, but at big rent increases. Buttonwood began advertising short-term leases in the building for much less rent than present tenants now pay. None of the tenants have been offered opportunities to buy, and the owners have repeatedly ignored requests to meet with the tenants association in order to negotiate, although they have authorized an attorney to answer questions. Tenant Susan Barrie told the board she’d been offered a four-month extension of her lease at a rent increase of almost $600 a month. She said that when she tried to negotiate, the offer was rescinded. “I’ve been a good tenant, nobody’s ever complained about me,” she said. “Nevertheless, my lease is not being renewed.”
“Ownership has neither submitted or prepared a condo plan for consideration by the Attorney General’s office,” said Brad Meadow, a Buttonwood representative. “Notwithstanding the assertions set forth in the [CB1] resolution, ownership is in no way legally bound by any statements made to any media outlets regarding future plans.” Tenants at the back of the room exploded with laughter. Buttonwood representatives argue that they are adhering to the letter of the law in their treatment of tenants, but the tenants say the owners are exploiting a loophole. At issue is a state law called The Martin Act, which protects tenants through “anti-warehousing” provisions that prevent a landlord from emptying a building prior to conversion. The protections only take effect, however, after a condo conversion plan has been submitted and accepted by the Attorney General’s office. Through a Freedom of Information request, the tenants association acquired a letter of agreement between Buttonwood and the Battery Park City Authority stating the owner’s purpose to convert the property to condos. With ammunition such as this, and the support of elected officials and CB1, they hope to win the right to remain in their homes, and later buy them. They are pushing for emergency legislation to modify The Martin Act so that they will be protected. And at a June 26 meeting of the tenants association, the members voted unanimously to retain a lawyer. “We’re going to see if the landlord will negotiate,” said Bill Love, “but if they start evicting people, then we’ll switch to another mode.”
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