The Villager - June 7, 2018

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The Paper of Record for Greenwich Village, East Eas ass t Village, Vii ll V l l ag a g e, e Lower East Side, Soho, S ho, Union Square, Chinatown and So d Noho, N o ho No h o , Since Sii nc S n c e 1933

June 7, 2018 • $1.00 Volume 88 • Number 23

Pier fear at C.B. 2: Issues emergency opinion on Pier 40 BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

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oncerned it could be déjà vu all over again on the waterfront — this time, for Pier 40, where the Hudson River Park Trust wants to create commercial offices — Community Board 2 recently passed what could be called an “emergency resolution.”

Approved unanimously at its full board meeting two weeks ago, the resolution stresses that the Village / Lower West Side board does not support any amendment to the Hudson River Park Act being made during Albany’s current legislative session. PR40 continued on p. 6

Tenants claim win on right of return at Bowery building BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

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enants from 85 Bowery started their second hunger strike of the year last week. On Wed., May 30, tenants camped outside of City Hall, demanding a guaranteed return date from their landlord, Joseph Betesh, and for Mayor Bill de Blasio to enforce

that return date. “The hunger strike’s primary purpose was to get the mayor’s office to commit to enforcing some sort of deadline,” said Caitlin Kelmar, a spokesperson for the 85 Bowery Tenants’ Association. But the tenants feel there has been a lack of action

PHOTO BY MILO HESS

From the look of it, things really came together at the World Science Fair, which was held at Washington Square last Sunday.

Pols: Focus on banks behind bad landlords BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

BOWERY continued on p. 8

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tate legislators introduced a bill aimed at banks that give loans to landlords whose business model is to kick out current tenants — most often rentregulated ones. The bill — introduced by Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and state Senator Brad Hoylman — pinpoints one of the key issues fueling unaffordability and tenant harassment by examining the loans

‘Mama Pasta’ of Houston St...p. 10

that allow landlords to buy up huge portfolios of buildings. The legislation would direct the state’s Department of Financial Services to conduct a study of financial institutions, examining what factors banks and other lending institutions consider when reviewing loan applications. “This is an issue that really hasn’t risen to the state level at this point,” said Holyman, who represents District 27, covering much of the Village, East Village, Stuyvesant Town,

Chelsea, Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen. “So this is the first legislation of its kind, but we think it’s urgently needed,” he said. “We need the data on this issue in order to try to address the problem.” Some of the most notorious landlords on the Lower East Side who have been linked to this behavior are Steve Croman and Jared Kushner, who have been accused of harassing tenants through dangerous PREDATORS continued on p. 4

L train elevator lawsuit is looking up.................p. 3 Elizabeth St. Garden groups join forces.............p. 5 www.TheVillager.com


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