For almost 10 years, the residents of Southbridge Towers, a co-op of 1,651 apartments just west of the South Street Seaport, have been fighting about the prospect of taking the nine-building apartment complex out of the subsidized Mitchell-Lama program and giving each shareholder the option of owning an apartment that could be sold on the free market. A vote in September 2014 seemed to come down in favor of privatization, but as Yogi Berra famously remarked, "It ain't over till it's over."

And it isn't over yet.

The votes were tallied on Sept. 30, 2014 by the Honest Ballot Association. Of the 1,606 apartments that were eligible to vote with one vote per apartment, 1,082 voted in favor of privatization, 373 voted against it, and 150 apartments didn't vote, which counted as a "no" vote.

In order to pass, two-thirds of the eligible residents had to agree to privatize. That meant that 1,072 votes were needed. The privatizers seemed to have won by a margin of 10 votes.

But some shareholders said that that the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which administers the Mitchell-Lama program, allowed the Southbridge Towers board of directors as sponsor of the vote to disqualify 44 apartments that should not have been disqualified. That would change the arithmetic. If that assertion proves to be correct, the two-thirds margin that was required was not reached.

The plaintiffs are SBT Cooperators for Mitchell-Lama and the Southbridge Towers Shareholders Association. DHCR and the Southbridge Towers board of directors have a 30-day window to answer the lawsuit, which was filed early in March. Then the plaintiffs have two weeks in which to respond. Following that, there would be a hearing in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, provided there are no other delays or requests for postponements.

At an initial hearing, the plaintiffs requested an injunction in the Supreme Court to keep the privatization filing with the New York Secretary of State from going through. Judge Ellen Gesmer tabled the request since she said the filing was weeks, if not months away. But she said if the case contesting the vote had not been adjudicated by the court by the time the sponsor was ready to file, the Southbridge board of directors would have to notify the court a week before filing and the judge would then hear arguments for an injunction to stop the filing until the case was actually adjudicated.

As an added wrinkle in an already complex situation, under the current bylaws of Southbridge Towers, there are several board members including its president, Wallace Dimson, whose term is up at the end of 2015 and who cannot run for the board again because of term limits. Also under those by-laws, SBT's elections must be held the on the first Tuesday in May.

At the last board meeting and in the president's report, Dimson said that he thought it would be prudent to postpone the election and let the lawsuit run its course first. Were that to happen, there might be new bylaws that would allow current board members to continue to serve or to at least run for the board. 

 

The plaintiffs, represented by Barry Mallin of Mallin & Cha, have written to the DHCR asking it to enforce the present bylaws and the Mitchell-Lama regulations that govern Southbridge at this time. To date, DHCR has not responded.

 

Dimson has called the lawsuit a "nuisance suit," and has assured Southbridge Towers shareholders that nothing is going to come between them and the hundreds of thousands of dollars and more that they may make once they own their apartments outright and are in a position to sell them on the free market.

 

Mallin said that the suit is far from frivolous and that the filing would not go forward without the plaintiffs being heard.   

 

"I think it's important, just to be clear, that the purpose of this lawsuit is not to nullify the privatization vote," said Paul Hovitz, a long-time resident of Southbridge Towers and the president of the SBT Shareholders Association, one of the plaintiffs. "It is rather to ensure that this momentous decision about the future of Southbridge Towers is fair and just and does not go unquestioned."

 

Hovitz said that since the September vote, all apartments at Southbridge Towers have been filled and the 44 apartments that were disqualified at that time have been qualified as shareholders. 

 

A large majority of the residents of Southbridge Towers have opted to become shareholders if and when privatization takes effect, but said Hovitz, "The opting process is not a comment on whether or not we should go private. The opting process was an individual decision that each family had to make in terms of what their best interests were financially. Did they want to be a shareholder and take their chances with maintenance going up and having the option then to sell, or did they want to opt out and be a renter facing an increase of up to 5 percent every year?

 

"There is a great deal of support for the issues that we've raised," he said, "and there's a sigh of relief from many people that are afraid of being priced out of living here."

 

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer   

 

 

DEFINING 'DOWNTOWN;' HELICOPTERS TO THE HAMPTONS; TRIBECA TOWNHOUSE SELLS FOR $24.5M; CHIN NIXES HOWARD HUGHES TOWER 

City Councilmember Margaret Chin listening to Joy Martini and Maria Ho-Burge, two of the three organizers of a forum on Dec. 1, 2014 sponsored by a group called Friends of the Seaport, who favor the Seaport development plans proposed by The Howard Hughes Corporation. Chin has stated her "strong opposition" to the luxury apartment tower that Howard Hughes wants to build on the South Street Seaport waterfront.  (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

I wanted to write in to see if Downtown Post NYC had any information as to how Howard Hughes was able to get a variance allowing for construction on Pier 17 on Saturdays for the next two Saturdays (from 6 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.)? The whole neighborhood was awakened at around 7 a.m. yesterday [March 21] and I called 311 to complain. Oddly the noise stopped shortly thereafter but resumed a few hours later. I'm hoping that this isn't setting a precedent.

From the editor:
The variance was approved on March 20 by the New York City Department of Small Business Services. We can't tell you how it was obtained. The usual reason for requesting such a variance is to speed up a job that is behind schedule or to save some money if it proves to be less costly to pay overtime than to work a normal day.

We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to editor@downtownpostnyc.com. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.

Downtown bulletin board

Jersey City weekend ferry service: Weekend ferry service between Paulus Hook, N.J. and the World Financial Center ferry terminal in Battery Park City was instituted on March 29, 2014 for what was planned to be a temporary basis while the PATH train was closed on weekends for repairs. The weekend ferry service has proven so popular, however, that it has now been declared by New York Waterway to be  permanent. Currently, ferries run every 15 minutes between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. The service will be available from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. in the late spring. The trip across the Hudson River takes six minutes and costs $4. Children 5 years old and under ride free. Bicycles can be transported for $1. Weekend service is included for monthly pass holders. For more information about the service, click here.

Landmarks at 50: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is holding a reception in the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, 1 Bowling Green, on April 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 signing of the Landmarks Law and the continuing efforts of New York City's preservationists to keep its architectural history from being plowed under. All are invited to attend. To RSVP, click here.

The building where the reception will be held houses the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Archives for New York City and a U.S. bankruptcy court. It is, itself, a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places for both exterior and public interior spaces. It was designed by Cass Gilbert to serve as a U.S. customs house and was completed in 1907. The rotunda where the reception will be held is ornamented with a frieze of murals by Reginald Marsh depicting early explorers of the Americas and commerce in New York harbor. For more information about the building, click here.

Poetry writing classes: Poets House at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City is offering six-week-long poetry-writing classes and a special one-day workshop. All are open to people of all levels of experience. The six-week-long classes focus on the relationship between reading and writing poetry.  There are classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting the first week of April. Fee: $325. The one-day workshop, "Hands On/Hands Off: A Seminar in Artistic Collaboration with Bill Berkson," takes place on Saturday, April 25, 3 p.m.-5 p.m. This seminar, inspired by last season's exhibition, "A Painter and His Poets: The Art of George Schneeman," includes an overview of the often spontaneous and casual collaborations developed by New York artists and poets from the 1950's onward, and the opportunity to create and collaborate on new work. Fee: $25. For more information and to register, click here.

Tribeca Film Festival tickets on sale: The Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 15 to April 26, with passes and ticket packages now on sale. They range in price from $45 for a six-matin�e ticket package to $425 for 18 individual general screening tickets that include perks such as early ticket selection and the option to select up to four tickets for any given performance (excluding all specialty and premium-priced screenings and events.) For more information and to purchase ticket packages, click here. Individual tickets will be available to American Express� Card Members March 31 at 11 a.m. and April 6 at 11 a.m. to the general public.

Art portfolio development for teens: The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy is running a class this summer to help students entering grades 7 to 12 develop the art portfolios that they will need for further art study. Participants in the class, which runs from July 6 to July 31, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will learn new techniques using a variety of media. Studio work will be supplemented with weekly museum and gallery outings to look, discuss and draw. The registration deadline is March 31. Tuition is $1,000 for four weeks, with 50% payment required at registration. A limited number of partial scholarships based on financial need are available. All art materials are provided and included in the tuition. For information, call (212) 267-9700, ext. 366 or email registration@bpcparks.org.
 
Health and Wellness seminars: Free health and wellness seminars are being presented at Pace University in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. On March 26, Dr. Elaine Barfield will talk about "Celiac Disease: Fact vs. Fiction." On April 21, Catherine Lord, Ph.D., will discuss "New Approaches and Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorders." All seminars will begin at 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m. with registration and light refreshments. The presentations will take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. followed by question and answer sessions. Space is limited. RSVP to communityrelations@pace.edu. Place: Pace University, Aniello Bianco room, 3 Spruce St.