Magda’s family lived in this building on 108th Street and Third Avenue after leaving East 100th Street. The tenants were all evicted within a few years by the landlord and the residential parts of the building have remained vacant and boarded up ever since. Magda’s family moved to the Bronx, where they have remained.
The Metro North Community that Norman Eddy helped create in the ’60s was responsible for building affordable housing on the site of the gruesome tenements seen in Davidson’s book of photographs. The buildings are managed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).East 95th and 96th Street between Second and Third Avenues were filled with 4-storey tenement buildings until they were all razed (except one whose owner refused, pictured here) to put up the Normandie Court [sic] complex of luxury apartment blocks.Hampton Court residents can avoid the walk through East Harlem to the subway station at East 96th Street by taking the shuttle bus service direct from their building to the local station at 96th or the express station at 86th Street.Sendero Verde is a mixed-income building that Martha’s husband was an architect on.Recent mayors have attempted deals that would reserve some units in new apartment blocks for “low” and “moderate” income renters. One study of housing under Bloomberg showed that despite the number of units developed in East Harlem, more than 80 percent were unaffordable to the median resident of the neighborhood (see pp. 24-25 of the study). Still others point out that the definitions of “low” and “moderate” income lead to a stealthy, creeping gentrification of the neighbourhood, particularly where only income is considered and family wealth is not – this allows renters with more family wealth behind them (typically white), to qualify with low to moderate incomes where families of color have historically had lower family assets available.
I spoke with Political Scientist John Krinsky of City College who concluded, “the real takeaway is that the level of neighborhood organization and tenant power in East Harlem is simply not strong enough to defeat most inclusionary deals that are mostly exclusionary.” He also pointed me to another model for improving the neighborhood without displacing current residents. A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit organization that owns land to preserve affordability — not just for today, but forever. This model ensures that housing, businesses, and green spaces remain affordable and community-controlled. The East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust is one which he was involved in the creation of, and their website lists key elements of the approach.
The land is never sold.
Residents or nonprofits lease the land for 99 years under a renewable agreement.
The buildings can be rented or owned, but the land stays in community hands.
Peter Calvert’s older brother, David was until recently, Director of Strategic Partnerships, at YouthBuild NYC Collaborative on East 118th Street. He explained to me that in the ’60s and ’70s the main issue with housing in East Harlem was quality (or the lack thereof), whereas today the quality of the housing stock is greatly improved but the main problem is affordability.
At the time of photographing, from L to R: Yahya Sellars, Capacity Building & General Support VISTA Specialist, Youth Action YouthBuild; Pamela Eugene, fiscal officer for Youth Action YouthBuild; David Calvert, Director of Strategic Partnerships, YouthBuild NYC Collaborative (retired, son of George Calvert)One evening, Martha proudly showed me another Metro North development on First Avenue, stretching from 100th Street to 102nd Street, which I went back to photograph in daylight. Christopher Bell, who has written several books on East Harlem, told me that it was no longer subsidized but had gone private. I decided to investigate.
Newly re-dubbed The Crossing, the complex of buildings had been created as affordable housing by the Metro North Community under New York State’s Mitchell-Lama program. This allows buildings to privatize at the end of 20 years, which many have done. I spent some time at The Crossing asking residents about their experience living there and whether they found things had improved in the years since privatization.
Sergio, 5 years in NY, initially in Central Harlem moved to “The Crossing” after privatization and pays market rent. He knows he “took the place of someone else” benefiting from “gentrification” but thinks it’s OK, “if you give back to the community then it’s not a loss.”
Jarvus, an opera singer and interior designer has lived here 2 years. (I later donated a photography shoot to his Harlem Collective.) He has noticed more police presence lately (a good thing, he thought) and the stores on First Avenue are targeting more upscale customers than the neighbourhood’s traditional residents.
Izzed, a Turkish stand-up comic, who embraced Islam after an earlier secular period, has been here 6 months, paying market rate with 2 roommates. He invited me up and we had a long discussion about both the neighborhood and religion. He feels a sense of community in the estate and it’s ”more chill than downtown,” (a good thing, he feels).
