Senior Tenants & Landlords Reconciliation Project Annual Report

It seems only yesterday the Harlem Consumer Education Council Chair, Florence M. Rice, was constructively evicted from her rent-stabilized apartment in Washington Heights, an apartment she has lived in for more than 30 years. While he didn’t know it then, her landlord, seemingly driven by profit, bent on gentrification with a blatant disregard for tenants rights had harassed and uprooted the wrong person. Displaced and angry, the fearless 87 year old Florence, a long-time community activist, did what everyone who knows her well expected her to do—she organized other tenants and with the able assistance of her court-appointed guardian, Beverly Griggsby, went to Housing Court where, after a tenacious two-year battle, she won back her apartment.

Over the past 25 years, I have worked with Florence on a number of consumer education issues, for example, privacy rights, health, insurance and credit card debt. On any given day, on any issue involving injustice and the poor, Florence can be found toiling away to educate and instill courage among the least of us.

While hosting The Morning Show on Pacifica radio’s local station, WBAI, I invited Florence often as a guest, not only to discuss her housing plight but to address other consumer issues of interest to our listeners. The interactive format of the show enabled Florence to receive and respond to calls from all over the country from people who know her work. From the many phone calls the show received, I realized that Florence was not the only senior being harassed and evicted by her landlord. It quickly became clear that gentrification was going on all over the country in black and poor communities and that to make room for wealthier tenants or condo owners, senior citizens are being uprooted everywhere, many from apartments or homes they have lived in for decades.

Pondering the unfairness, I began thinking about how to protect our seniors, preserve their lives here in Harlem and prevent the wholesale eviction of tenants.

In June, 2006, Beverly Griggsby and I organized a meeting of community representatives and senior tenants at the Harlem State Office Building, sponsored by the Harlem Consumer Education Council, to discuss the housing problems of Harlem seniors and consider solutions. Our guest speaker was a major Harlem landlord, who, refreshingly, had agreed to listen to tenant concerns. During the meeting, Ms. Rice once again told her story. This time the reaction was very different.

Turning to Ms. Rice, our guest landlord, thinking she was homeless, offered her an apartment at the rent she was paying, in a nice location in Harlem. Those who heard the offer were ‘stunned’ because for all that this Harlem legend, Ms. Rice, had endured in the courts, in the streets, in the Harlem State Office building, telling her housing horror story, not to mention the extensive press coverage—prior to this meeting, no one had offered Ms. Rice any “concrete” assistance.

Ms. Rice had been out of her apartment a little over two years, with no significant offers of help, a very sad state of affairs. But her story visibly moved everyone in the meeting including the speaker, who shortly took further action. After offering to help Ms. Rice, he turned to me and said he wanted to help seniors and if I would write a proposal, he would help us….he would fund a program.

It took HCEC about 8 months to develop a comprehensive proposal. True to his word, the landlord accepted the proposal and provided a five-year grant. With grant funding the Council was able to develop the Senior Project, which launched its first year of operation in November, 2006. In this first Annual Report, (2006 – 2007) we have highlighted Year 1’s major accomplishments.

Weekly, we received 20 or more phone calls from seniors being harassed by their landlords. We took and still take telephone counseling very seriously. We allot as much counseling time to addressing feelings of fear, stress and being overwhelmed, as we do to the nuts and bolts of housing court and how it works. By appointment, we see people in our office, provide them the names of attorneys and free legal services and make referrals to other needed community resources.

We hope that we have become a haven where seniors can share their housing experiences, describe their solutions and obtain useful, accurate and timely information on various issues of concern.

Through relevant and informative Seminars, we try to change how seniors view themselves, to empower them to help themselves, so that they are unafraid to speak out and assert their rights in the community, in the courts and in the municipal bureaucracy.

In addition to housing, our Seminars covered consumer topics, such as identity theft, credit card abuse, and other issues that relate directly to our quality of life. Because many seniors came to the morning 4-hour Seminars without eating, we discovered it was important to provide a light, healthy breakfast as we sought to build strength and reduce fear through sharing survival stories and learning from different speakers and from each other. We began to improve our critical thinking skills as we became better negotiators, unafraid to confront the system or the landlord or whoever it is that wants to deprive us of our homes and the right to live in Harlem. To date, none of the seniors working with the Senior Project have been evicted from their apartments.

We have had a lot of help making the Senior Project successful. Besides the executive director, project staff consist of JoAnn Stephens, who assists with graphics, photography, writing and general outreach ideas; Jane Mejia, who keeps the budget, prepares monthly financial reports and assists with strategizing, proposal and other writing; and Helen Irazarry, who translated, assisted with computer issues, maintained the mailing list and outreach. Then there is Gina Cushion, who though developmentally disabled, assists in all phases of our operation. Recently, Gina, of whom we are very proud, received an award from the NYS Department of the Handicapped, for her work with our Senior Project.

I want to thank all those without whom the Senior Project would not have been possible. Especially, I want to thank the faithful seniors who regularly attend our meetings and Seminars and help publicize the Senior Project.

We will continue to invite and welcome to join us “landlords of conscience,” who are looking for a new way of doing business in communities like Harlem….who are empathetic to the housing plight of the poor and disadvantaged but most important are prepared to help with real solutions, an attitude and actions that break from the stereotypical image most poor people have of a landlord. The Senior Project seeks to provide a setting where landlords and tenants can sit down together to listen to each other and to develop mutually satisfying plans that protect and provide safe and affordable housing for the poor, the working poor and the low income, regardless of race. This is an achievable goal that the Senior Project will be constantly striving to meet.

Marjorie W. Moore

To receive a copy of the Senior Tenants & Landlords Reconciliation Project Annual Report, e-mail harlemseniors@aol.com.