475 Kent

It truly is appalling the way New York City treats its artist communities some times. In particular, when it comes to real estate, gentrification, and then the onset of truly subhuman greed among landlords, the stories you hear here are stomach-churning. Williamsburg, which has been reported to have the largest per capita concentration of working artists in the world, has seen its fair share of Dicksonian landlords bully out tenant artists (with the authorities' complicity) only then to quickly renovate their spaces into tacky luxury condos for lame-ass hipsters who are deluded (either chemically or genetically) enough to think they themselves are cool because their trust funds permit them to loiter among the creative classes ("you wouldn't understand Mother...I'm an artist now...just send the money"). Are you picking up on the fact that these poseurs annoy the hell out of me? Good.

Anyone who knows artists in New York has heard horror stories of their electricity and heat being cut, highly dubious "emergencies" necessitating evacuation, and other forms of constant harassment (all in the name of greed), but the latest episode of artist tenants being treated poorly by the city (and you can bet a billion this is leading up to some real estate development) is at 475 Kent. Here's a press release from the tenants association outlining the travesty our supposedly pro-arts Mayor is letting occur under his watch:

JANUARY 24, 2008
PRESS RELEASE:
FROM: 475 Kent Tenants Association

MATZO-GATE

NEW YORK CITY'S ARTISTIC COMMUNITY UNDER ATTACK

The live-work building located at 475 Kent Ave in Brooklyn's coveted waterfront neighborhood of Williamsburg was issued a Vacate Order by the NYC Fire Department on Sunday, January 20th at 7:30PM, the day before Martin Luther King day. Tenants were given until 1:30 in the morning to leave the building on a frigid January night.

475 Kent is a microcosm of New York City's cultural and economic activity with creative professionals generating an estimated $15 million in annual revenue. The vibrant community of 200 working artists - photographers, architects, writers, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers, designers, painters, printmakers, etc. is under attack.

It seems that the D.O B. is intent on making sure people will never be able to return to their spaces until all repairs are made and the building has a residential C of O, a prospect that could take years and millions of dollars. This renders 200 inhabitants most of whom are self-employed, small business entrepreneurs, both homeless and out of work. This building has been consistently and viably supporting creative professionals lives and businesses for ten years. The illegal eviction at 475 Kent comes on the heels of the evacuation of 17-17 Troutman in Ridgewood. That people's livelihoods and homes are being put in complete jeopardy makes one wonder if this is a trend and begs the phrase “follow the money”.

The events on Sunday night were precipitated when the FDNY inspected the basement of 475 Kent Ave. and “discovered” two 10' diameter metal canisters containing grain used for making Matzo. The Matzo bakery has been in the building for more than ten years. The DOB and fire department have inspected 475 Kent Avenue regularly for the past ten years and would have had to be blind if they were not fully aware of the existence of a Matzo bakery and the grain. The presence of the grain resulted in a so-called “hazardous emergency” situation that gave FDNY and DOB license to vacate the building. When some residents and the landlord offered to alleviate the problem and remove the grain from the building on Sunday night the FDNY replied “you are not qualified to move the grain”. They then issued the vacate order.

What ensued was unmitigated chaos under the direction of our friends at the OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANGEMENT starring the New York City Fire Department, Department of Buildings, NYPD, Health Department, Department of Agriculture and the Red Cross. Their only area of competence was at holding closed-door, inter-agency meetings, in which no tenant representative was allowed, every two hours in their brand new location trailer. How many City agencies does it take to unscrew a lightbulb? We'll let you know, we're still counting.

Upon the issue of the vacate order 200 people scrambled to rid 110 spaces of their most crucial belongings. The following day people were given 6 hours access to remove their belongings, tools and equipment, a scenario that for most people who had been in residence for 5 - 10 years with substantial equipment and installations was completely untenable. From there the scene snowballed. On Tuesday January 22, tenants arrived with moving trucks at 10am having been told they would have another 6 hours access to the building. They found all entrances blocked by NYPD and FDNY and no one was allowed upstairs. Finally, at 1pm the leaders of each agency stood on the staircase and delivered their plan to the crowd:

- residents would be allowed into the building six people at a time for one hour, followed by another group of six people each being granted one hour.

Do the math.

No, we'll do it for you. 200/6= 33.3 hours it would take to allow each person ONE hour access to collect their stuff. Then they shut down the elevators, insuring that the task was impossible. People, in a panic that this would be their last chance to save their belongings, began to carry equipment and valuables down ten flights of stairs, creating a real hazard.

As of Wednesday, January 23, the grain has been removed from the basement of 475 Kent Avenue, alleviating the immediate “hazardous” condition. Now the tenants have been allowed a final four days, six hours a day, to access the building. On Sunday night, January 27, the building will be padlocked prohibiting all further access for the foreseeable future. Why the building is safe enough to access for four days, but suddenly deemed unsafe again on Monday is a mystery to which DOB, OEM, FDNY has not provided an answer. Although requested repeatedly the DOB has never provided a complete list of the violations on the building. We know one of these violations is an inoperable sprinkler system, a problem that can mitigated with the presence of fire-guards while the system is repaired, allowing continued occupancy of the building.

Since the 1960's New York City's tacit urban renewal policy has been reliant on artist's moving into derelict buildings in less desirable neighborhoods. The city does nothing to bolster or support economic activity in these down and out areas, nor do they do anything to create affordable, legal, usable space for live/work entrepreneurs. 475 Kent is a prime example of this kind of turn-a-blind-eye urban renewal that has been a boon to the City of New York. A decade ago South Williamsburg was a dangerous neighborhood. Once artists take the initiative to live on the edge and restore and renew unused real estate in what were marginal areas the City becomes predatory. The transformation of Williamsburg by the artist community into one of New York City's most desirable neighborhoods encourages the city to move artists out as they calculate the tax revenue of luxury condo developers moving in. No one in any city agency cared about our health and safety ten years ago. Now that our building has become hot property the City is ready to muster all the powers of its many agencies to assist in the muscling of the property from the owners and the tenants. The tenants of 475 Kent Avenue call into question the hypocritical policies being put forth by the agencies of the City of New York. We cannot help but wonder what forces are driving this vacate and why the agencies are suddenly so concerned for out health and safety.

475 Kent Tenant's Association

The New York Times (who the landlord, Nachman Brach, refuses to talk to) reports that the timing of this "emergency" was highly suspicious:

More than 200 tenants live and work in the building, which tenants described as a small town stacked 11 stories high, despite its being zoned exclusively for commercial use. A massive abstract painting hung on a 10th-floor wall. The fourth-floor hallway looked like a photo gallery.

Late in the afternoon, one tenant, Lai Ling Jew, 41, held an impromptu meeting.

“We’re trying to figure out how to organize ourselves as tenants to get to the bottom of what’s going on here,” she said. “We love our homes. This is a vibrant community we created. People look to New York as the most creative city, and the city is pushing us to the edges.”

The meeting lasted past 4 p.m., in defiance of the deadline for the doors to be closed. Signs of confusion and sadness punctuated the frigid day. One tenant, Betsy Kelleher, said she had fought for years to get the lofts legally converted into apartments. She said it was suspicious that the evacuation came weeks before a court decision that could have made the building rent-controlled.

“They want to clean everyone out and then convert them into expensive condos,” she said.

Calls to Mr. Brach’s management office, Sheila Properties, went unanswered on Monday. Reached on his cellphone, Mr. Brach hung up.

Another report, however, suggested that Sheila Properties, at least, was as upset by this as the tenants:

FDNY officials didn’t know when residents would be allowed to return. A DOB spokeswoman said her department was working with other agencies “to communicate the requirements the owner must address to make the buildings safe.”

A man reached at the building’s management office, Sheila Properties, said the FDNY “evicted people in the cold for nothing.” Before hanging up, he said, “They don’t know what they’re talking about. The first time, they say it’s a fire hazard. The next time, they said the grain is poisonous.”

I'm sure the DOB and other authorities will stick with their story (which ever one they finally decide on) in the face of charges of greed and malfeasance, but this happens far too many times for anyone to accept their excuses at face value. I'm not sure what there is for us to do at the moment other than spread the word, though. If anyone learns of some organized way to help, please do share.

Image above from NYTimes.

UPDATE: Here is contact information for Patricia J. Lancaster, Commissioner of Department of Buildings in NYC. You can make anonymous comments, but for this issue it might be best to give your name and where you live.

Here is contact information for the Mayor's office.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 788-2460