I I

o 74470 94460 7
EDITORIAL
TROJAN HORSE AT THE GATES?
BACK IN JANUARY, I broke news of a striking
behind-the-scenes maneuver: Ciry Hall was
revamping ethics laws so that officials could
raise private money for public services.
At the time, private fundraising by and for
government was nothing new. Many ciry agen-
cies already depended on affiliated nonprofits
to supplement their work, particularly for
experimental projects that require nimble
bureaucracy-free action.
But we've never seen New York Ciry's pri-
vate fundraising explode the way it has lately.
The schools have secured commitments of at
least $172 million from foundations, corpora-
tions and individual donors. Public school kids
will now develop early brand loyalty to Snap-
pie, which for $106 million is getting exclusive
rights to sell juice and water in the city's
schools. As Michael Weissenstein of the Asso-
ciated Press has reported, the Police Founda-
tion is accepting contributions from Agilent
Technologies, Motorola and other companies
to fund anti-terrorism efforts, while Coach and
Major League Baseball are bankrolling coun-
terfeit-merchandise crackdowns (and benefit-
ing directly from the New York Police Depart-
ment's extra attention). Toyota now funds lit-
eracy programs through the Department of
Youth and Community Development (but
doesn't give enough money to prevent major
cutbacks to those programs) . Time Warner
owns a piece of the parks. Citigroup and other
financial institutions plan to finance most of a
new brownfields reclamation fund.
Hell knows we can use the money. And
often it's not a bad idea for public and private
players to work in tandem-that's true in the
case of the brownfields fund, where the state
finally passed a law clarifYing what developers
must do to evaluate and clean former industri-
al sites. As a result, the city's housing agency
and the banks can start working quickly to
clear property for housing development.
Even so, we need to take a cold, hard look at
the gift horses rolling into town-particularly at
the hundreds of millions of dollars currently
inundating public education. As Amy Zimmer
reportS on page 8 of this issue, the city Depart-
ment of Education is starting dozens of small
schools, with $59 million in support from the Bill
Cover photography by Michael Berman. Cover photo illustration and design by Noah ScaiinlALR Design.
and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie
Corporation and other private funders. Simulta-
neously, the education deparrment is undergoing
a far-reaching adrninistrative overhaul. With
these two massive changes happening at once,
high schools this aururnn have been in chaos,
leaving hordes of srudents wandering ftom school
to school, unsure of where to register.
The jury is still out on whether srudents in
small schools perform better than those in bigger
ones. So why such a rush to open the new schools
this year? For one thing, launching new schools
allows the city's new education chiefs to quickly
change the leadership of low-performing large
instirutions. But surely philanthropists and their
passion for small schools-the Gateses alone are
giving $590 million nationally-have something
to do with the push. Big givers have bought the
power to influence how city high schools are run.
We need the money. They'll give it to us-
with a few strings attached.
Any questions?
-Alyssa Katz
Editor
The Center for an Urban Future
Centel for an
F
Utrnan
u ure
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Go to our website or contact us to obtain any of our recent studies:
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0,1 Labor Gains: How Union-Affiliated Training is Transforming New York's Workforce Landscape {March 2003}
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CONTENTS
19 BUSTED OUT
The D.A.'s Narcotics Eviction Program helps landlords
evict drug dealers from apartment buildings.
It's been enormously successful. It also kicks out
tenants who've done nothing wrong.
By Geoffrey Gray
22 BUYING A PIECE OF HELL
Lured by the promise of cheap homes in the Poconos,
hundreds of ex-New Yorkers fall prey to a real estate scam.
Also: Home Economics. How the downturn
is tarnishing outer-borough homeowner dreams.
By Debbie Nathan
28 RECORD TIME
Videotaping criminal interrogations helps some
police forces prevent false confessions.
But New York brass are holding out against it,
even as detectives rack up a string of bogus cases.
By Curtis Stephen
5 FRONTLINES: UNION DUES WITH THAT? .. WELCOMING FOSTER CARE ... A TALE OF TWO
SISTERS .. . THE SMALL SCHOOLS SQUEEZE . PATAKI'S UNDELIVERED CHILD WELFARE COMMISSION
.. REBREWBABLE ENERGY IN BROOKLYN INDENTURED VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC HOUSING
13 JOINT PURPOSE
Facing dwindling budgets and costly overhead,
nonprofits explore an unthinkable synergy:
merging with the competition.
By Tracie McMillan
16 RACIAL DOWNSIZING
Can minority providers survive the
child welfare system's shrinkage?
By Hilary Russ
2 EDITORIAL
43 JOB ADS
49 PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
51 OFFICE OF THE CITY VISIONARY
NOVEMBER 2003
The Future of Public Life
33 THE BIG IDEA
The Bush administration thinks that spending more on housing and
less on social services could help end homelessness.
At local nonprofits, providers try not to panic. By Cassi Feldman
36 CITY LIT
Crossing the Blvd: Strangers, Neighbors and Aliens
in a New America, by Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan.
Reviewed by Debbie Nathan.
40 NYC INC.
Data shows New York's economic pulse has been flatlining
for years. What urban wonks can learn from unlikely recovery
zones in Los Angeles and Houston. By Joel Kotkin
3
LETTERS
INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS
In the recent "The Growth Dividend" [Sep-
tember/October], " reporter Alex Ulam quotes
real estate consultant ]aye Fox stating "all of the
sites where the New Housing Opportunities
Program (HOP) has succeeded are in places
like Harlem, where developers have gotten the
property from the city for a dollar or substan-
tially less than market rate."
This is not correct. Not only have a sub-
stantial number of New HOP developments
been financed on acquired property bur so have
Low-income Affordable Marketplace Program
(LAMP) developments, which target much
lower income families. Furthermore, these
developments are located all throughout New
York City, not just in Harlem as Fox suggests.
Since 1997, the Housing Development
Corporation (HDC) has financed 83 afford-
able housing developments consisting of 5,987
WANT
ONE
OF THESE?
apartments through LAMP (formerly known
as "100% LITE") and its New Housing
Opportunity Program. All of these projects
have involved the acquisition of privately
owned property. In addition, HDC has
financed 38 affordable housing developments
consisting of 3,103 apartments through these
same programs on city-owned land, which has
generally been provided at a nominal price.
The programs are flexible and structured
to work on both privately acquired land and
on city-owned land. We have been enor-
mously successful in increasing the stock of
affordable housing in all five boroughs with
these programs, and we expect the same suc-
cess in the portions of Williamsburg and
Greenpoint, Brooklyn that have been pro-
posed for re-zoning.
-William Traylor
Acting President,
New York City Housing Development Corporation
----------------,
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CITY LIMITS
Volume XXVIII Number 9
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CITY LIMITS
FRONT LINES
No Taking Orders Anymore
ALL SUMMER LONG, former busboys, waiters, and other volunteers roamed
the meets, paced up and down subway platforms, and dawdled in back
alleys, stopping passersby and asking, "Do you work in a restaurant?"
Very often, the answer was "yes." Yet despite their numbers, New York
City's 160,000 restaurant workers are all but invisible in the local politi-
cal landscape. Only a fraction are unionized, and thousands are immi-
grants with few avenues for political or legal support.
That's where the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York
comes in. Founded just after September 11 by displaced staff from
Windows on the World, ROC has far fewer members than Hotel
Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 100, the city's primary
restaurant union. Yet the new group has turned its low profile into an
asset. Rather than organizing the white-tablecloth crowd, it focuses on
smaller establishments. Most recently, ROC used a series of protests to
pressure a Brooklyn deli to hand over $200,000 in overdue wages to
Mexican workers.
ROC, in collaboration with the Urban Justice Center's Community
Development Project, initiated this summer's survey to investigate
hourly wages, work schedules, benefits, and commonplace labor abuses
in restaurants. Some questions tested respondents' knowledge of work-
place rights. Workers were asked, for instance, whether they could be
legally fired for complaining about working conditions, or to state the
minimum wage. "Most don't even know that there is a minimum wage,"
NOVEMBER 2003
says Saru Jayaraman, ROC's director.
Though the survey won't be finished uncil October, preliminary results
show that opportunities for promotion are scarce in the restaurant indus-
try. Less than a quarter of the 200 respondents said they had ever ascended
in position in their jobs. In general, Latinos are overwhelmingly relegated
to back-of-the-house positions like delivery and dishwashing.
And restaurant workers are often underpaid. More than 40 percent of
respondents reported not receiving overtime wages, and nearly 60 percent
said they did not receive regular raises. Only about one in 10 had full health
insurance coverage ftom their employer, and 70 percent had none at all.
Finally, workplace conditions received tepid reviews. Over 40 percent
of respondents had not received workplace safety instruction, and nearly
the same percentage reported fire hazards in their restaurants. Over a
third-most of them Latino workers-reported verbal abuse by their
bosses in the past year.
Raul Escobar, a ROC member from Mexico who has worked on and
off for 10 years at restaurants, pushed the volunteers to visit neighbor-
hoods like Jackson Heights, where many restaurant workers live, instead
of trying to find them at restaurants, where they might be reluctant to
talk. He hopes this sensitive approach will help build ROC's membership.
"This association gives you the chance to grow, to experience many
things, and to get informed," says Escobar. "That's what we need."
- Michelle Chen
5
FRONT LINES
Parent
advocates ease
the pain of
foster care.
Will their jobs
survive?
By Rachel Blustain
THE FIRST TIME the caseworker came to Robin
McCutheon's door, shortly afrer the city took
her son into foster care, she refused to open it.
For the previous 10 .years, McCutheon had
been addicted to crack, and she knew that in
order to bring her son home, she would have
to do what the man at the door required of
6
Mothers' Helper
her: attend a drug treatment program and get
clean. She already felt guilty, angry and over-
whelmed, and his presence only made her feel
worse. So she didn't let him in the next time
either. When he arrived the third time, she
opened the door only to tell him, "Don't
come to my house no more. When I'm ready,
I'll call you."
But that day, the caseworker wasn't alone.
He had brought a colleague from his agency,
St. Christopher's, Inc., who once had a child in
foster care herself. ''I'm not a caseworker," she
told McCutheon. "I'm somebody who's been
through this whole ordeal." Then she gave
McCutheon her phone number. Soon afrer,
McCutheon called her to say she was ready to
enter a drug program. She spent 27 months in
treatment before she brought her son home.
That was 1996, rwo years afrer St. Christo-
pher's became the first agency to hire
birth-parent advocates-women who had
experienced the foster care system firsthand,
and who could act as mediators berween the
agency, the city, the courts, and parents, as well
as do duty as case aides and role models. Since
then, scores of birth parents have been hired by
agencies throughout New York. McCutheon
herself was hired by St. Christopher's in 2000.
Many of their positions were funded by a
special program designed to speed up adoption
and family reunification-a program the
Administration for Children's Services was
forced to eliminate last year due to budget con-
straints. Now dozens of advocates have been
laid off. While both the agencies and the city
hope to reinstate the positions in the furure, for
the time being, they have no funding to do so.
THE IDEA OF EMPLOYING birth parents took hold
in the mid-1990s, afrer the crack epidemic
tripled the number of children entering foster
care in New York City. Subsequently those
numbers fell, but in 1994 there were still about
40,000 children in care, some who had been
there for years.
In 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and
Safe Families Act, legislation meant to reduce
the number of children in foster care by speed-
ing up adoptions. But other people in the field
were wrestling with ways to have children
return to their biological parents more quickly.
A few agency directors, like Luis Medina at St.
Christopher's, believed that if birth parents
had someone to turn to whom they didn't see
as an authority or bureaucrat-someone who
had been in their shoes-they might spend less
time fighting the system and more time doing
what they had to do to get their children back.
The number of advocate positions grew in
2001, when the city established the Safe and
Timely Adoptions and Reunifications Initia-
tive, or STAR. The program offered foster care
agencies a financial incentive to send children
home or have them adopted, by paying them a
percentage of the money they would otherwise
have received for keeping that child in foster
care. For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, the city
paid agencies $900,000 and $4.2 million,
respectively, to be used for new initiatives to
further reduce the time children spent in care.
One of the most common ways of spending
the money was on birth-parent advocates.
Still, fewer than half of all agencies con-
tracting with the city had advocate posi-
tions, and each agency generally had only
one or fWO advocates. Even so, their influ-
ence was often profound. In 2001, shortly
before Good Shepherd Services hired its first
birth parent advocates, clients in a substance
abuse group at the agency told their social
worker they had never heard of a parent
CITY UMITS
reclaiming a child from foster care. "Their impression
was that their children were gone forever, no matter
what they did," explains Susan Kyle, administrative
supervisor at Good Shepherd Services. Having parent
mentors on staff who had successfully beaten the sys-
tem proved otherwise.
But rhen STAR's funding was cut. Of 13 agencies con-
tacted by City Limits rhat were known to have birrh parents
on staff, five had laid off all who worked in rheir foster care
units--nine workers in total. Anorher five agencies had
reduced rheir number of birrh parent advocates. This
includes St. Christopher's, which cut its staff from 20 to 10.
Ernesteen Sinkler's three young children were living
wirh her morher for two years in kinship foster care
before Sinkler grew so tired of missing out on rheir lives
rhat she asked to be put in an inpatient drug program.
Before that, she was wild, she says, walking the streets to
support her drug habit, blacking out and waking up in
strange places, angry at everyone and everything.
Sinkler's anger sraned at age 8, after a cousin molested
her. As she got older, she used alcohol, marijuana, speed
and crack to dull her pain. But her anger simply grew. "I
had so much hatred inside me, I couldn't stand nobody.
My morher was doing what she could to keep my family
togerher, but I just rhought she was controlling. There
was a time when I told my worker to get my children out
of her house. I was so angry I was ready to take them
from rhe only family setting they knew. "
But in her drug program, Sinkler learned to talk about
rhe problems that led her to start using. After rhree and a
half years, she was allowed to bring her children home. In
January 2001, rhe Carholic Guardian Society hired her as
its flIst birth-parent advocate for $7 an hour. During her
year rhere, Sinkler co-managed a parenting class, made
home visits and filled in as a case aide. Most important,
she was someone who could intervene when orher par-
ents' anger seemed likely to erupt. She was laid off in
December 2002.
Parents rights' activists fear rhat fewer birth-parent
advocates will mean fewer successful reunifications of
parents and children, but they're hopeful rhe reform
won't be reversed completely. "This is definitely a set-
back, but I can't believe it's a fatal setback," says Mike
Arsham, who runs rhe Child Welfare Organizing Pro-
ject, a parent advocacy group that has trained many
birth-parent advocates. Arsham believes the city should
require agencies to hire birth parent advocates, or offer
the organizations an incentive by establishing a new
funding stream. As of now, though, the city has no
such plans.
McCutheon, like Arsham, still hopes it will happen.
''A caseworker understands rhe drug mentality logically,
from reading from a book, " she says. "But rhe birrh par-
ent had been there. I rhought, 'If she could do it, I could
do it.' After a while, that's all I wanted."
Rachel Blustain is a former editor of Foster Care
Youth United.
NOVEMBER 2003
FRONTLINES
FIRSTHAND
Growing Apart
HEYDV CASADO: I heard there's a lawsuit against the schools for not letting kids stay in high school
and telling them to get GEDs. lt's not fair that the city did this to me. I came to New York with
dreams of finishing school , but I couldn't. And my sister and I-we're not close like before.
lEYDv CASADO: Nothing's the same for us since we were separated.
HEYDv: We've gone down different paths .. .. My sister and I are two years apart. I'm older, but in
the Dominican Republic we were in the same grade at school.
lEYDv: We had the same classes. Same friends. Even the same boyfriend.
HEYDv: [Laughs] Not true! But our boyfriends were brothers, just like we're sisters.
lEYDv: We came to New York City six weeks after 9111. I was 15 and Heydy was 17.
HYov: We had both finished 11th grade in the Dominican Republic and we were going to do our
senior year here. We went downtown to register and they sent us to Martin Luther King High
School. The counselor there said Leydy could enroll but I couldn't because I was going to
be 18 soon. I was told to just go somewhere else and get my GED.
lEYDV: Our mother didn't understand why. She was almost fighting with the counselor but it
didn't make any difference. She was really sad about it.
HEYDv: I got sent to George Washington High School to register for a GED class. I took the test there,
but when I called to find out the score, they said they'd lost it. They said they would get back
to me but they never did. I found another GED place but it was only four hours a week and all
math. I quit after the first week. Then I went to a community organization in Washington
Heights, the New Heights Neighborhood Center. They sent me to [a GED program at] Columbia
University. But Columbia told me I couldn't begin until I turned 19.
lEYDV: I started Martin Luther King. The first day I was scared and lost. I'd never done anything
without my big sister and it was very sad for me.
HEYDv: I was sad, too. I started working at Burger King for minimum wage.
lEYDv: Meanwhile, I'm in high school . I go six hours a day and I study English for three periods.
HEYDv: Her English is better than mine.
lEYDY: my writing, because I get to practice. I'm graduating next year, then I'll go to college.
HEYDv: I finally got into the Columbia GED program when I turned 19. But the instruction was in
Spanish. I'm still working at Burger King. --As told to Debbie Nathan
7
FRONT llNES
Small schools
grow in Brooklyn,
but seats are
scarce.
By Amy Zimmer
AMALIA MARTINEZ felt assured mat her 15-year-
old rwins, Ernestine and Edgar, were going to
start ninm grade this September just a few blocks
from her apartment, anending one of me new
small schools located in me Irving Avenue build-
ing mat until now housed Bushwick High
School. The Bushwick School for Social Justice,
me Harbor School and me Academy for Urban
Planning have opened this fall wim classes of
ninm graders, while Bushwick High School's
10m, 11 m and 12m graders finish out meir final
years. The new academies aim to transform a dis-
mal school of last resort, wim a 23 percent grad-
uation rate, into a home for quality education.
These new schools are part of New Visions'
8
Class Dismissed
network of 42 New Century High Schools,
designed to replace large, failing schools like
Bushwick. New Visions received a $30 million
grant from me Bill and Melinda Gates Foun-
dation, me Carnegie Corporation of New York,
and me Open Society Institute, and wim com-
munity partners it opened its first 17 of mese
small new high schools last year. New Visions
recently received an additional $29.2 million to
create 30 more small schools as part of a $51.2
million grant from Gates, and Mayor Bloom-
berg has said that he hopes to create an addi-
tional 200 new small schools.
But as mey move into me old buildings, me
small schools are finding memselves in a big
squeeze. The new Bushwick schools have 375
seats, just over half me number of slots for ninm
graders mat Bushwick High School had. So
while me schools give priority to neighborhood
kids, not all students who apply can get in. This
September, Bushwick's student-transfer office
turned away more man 300 ninm graders who
tried to enroll mere-including Edgar Martinez.
He discovered that although his family
received paperwork back in June saying mat he
was registered at me Harbor School (and his sister
at me School for Social Justice), when me school
year started he wasn't on me Harbor School ros-
ter. Bushwick's transfer office passed Edgar along
to anomer school's office--men anomer, and
anomer, for weeks. In late September, Edgar still
didn't have a school to go to. ''I'd ramer be home-
schooled," he says. Edgar worries he'll be far
behind, especially since he's in special ed.
Students who didn't make it into small
schools are being sent out of me neighborhood to
remaining big ones in Brooklyn and Queens-
Franklin Lane, Lincoln, Grover Cleveland,
Canarsie. Even mese schools are at capacity and
turning away students wim transfer orders, say-
ing mat me students aren't wned for memo (At
Grover Cleveland, in Ridgewood, Queens, a
Bushwick parent says an administrator told her
mat Brooklyn kids aren't admined because
"mey're bad kids and we don'r take bad kids. ")
The community organizing group Make me
Road By Walking is a partner wim New Visions
and Brooklyn College in creating me School for
Social Justice. Now Make me Road is raking on
me tough question of what's going to happen to
students locked out of Bushwick. It has convened
me Community Coalition for Bushwick High
School, a collaborative of parents, teachers, stu-
dents, churches and omer neighborhood organi-
zations. Make me Road codirector Oona Chat-
terjee agrees mat it's exciting for me small schools
to have students who want to be mere. But, she
adds, "School choice means people should have a
choice-including a school close to home."
The coalition crunched me numbers for
Brooklyn and estimated mat 1,600 seats were
lost among the three Brooklyn schools-
Wingate and Ptospect Heights are me omer
two-mat broke into small ones this year.
Demand for me seats in me new schools is
extremely high: In the Bronx, 15,000 students
applied for 3,000 New Visions slots.
The introduction of me small high schools
comes as the whole system is going mrough an
administrative overhaul. It's been a chaotic
autumn. At least 10,000 students were still in
limbo at me beginning of me school year-
eimer because mey didn't want or didn't know
meir assigned school. Transfer centers were set
up to refer students to high schools wim seats,
but some centers started wimout phones or
computers. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's
office and me organization Advocates for Chil-
dren have fielded a flood of calls from parents
having difficulty placing their kids.
"Who takes responsibility?" asks Jill
Chaifetz, executive director of Advocates for
Children. "Who does me numbers? Nobody
CITY LIMITS
l
said small schools are a bad idea, but the prob-
lem is the fast rimeline. " The current round of
schools was announced in April.
Some administrators are blaming the No
Child Left Behind Act, which allows students in
failing schools to switch to better ones. But most
of the 8,000 transfer requests were for middle
schoolers, not students in high school. The big-
ger problem is a demographic bulge: an addi-
tional5,000 to 7,000 ninth grade students enter-
ing high school this year. "It's hard to nail down
exactly where these 7,000 students are coming
from," says Department of Education spokesper-
son Michelle McManus. She posits that the new
small schools have attracted students previously
in private and parochial schools, especially those
whose parents can't afford tuition any longer.
John Lawhead, who teaches English as a Sec-
ond Language at Bushwick, says he sees eco-
nomic pressures swell enrollment, but in a dif-
ferent way. When the economy was better, law-
head saw more low-income teens take jobs
instead of going to school. "If there's an oppor-
tunity for a 14- or I5-year-old kid to work," he
says, "their family wants them to work. "
The president of New Visions, Bob Hughes,
knows that introducing new schools puts strains
on the system's capacity. "Reform can't wait until
we have enough seat space," he explains. Stem-
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ming the citywide epidemic of dropouts, he says,
must be the top priority: "Kids only go through
high school once, and we can't afford to lose
more students. " Hughes thinks the new schools
are a big gain for Bushwick kids, noting that back
"Schools were able
to turn away kids,
especially ESL and
special ed."
when it was still a big, fuiling school, only about
50 out of700 ninth-graders had actually selected
Bushwick High as their first choice.
But as hundreds of Bushwick students seek
schooling elsewhere, members of the community
coalition want to make sure the teens don't
become casualties of innovation. Many are
extremely disadvantaged to begin with. Of 687
students at Bushwick this year, 565 are repeating
FRONTLINES
ninth grade, and 110 of them are older than 17.
About 30 percent of Bushwick students are classi-
fied as English Language Learners, and 19 percent
require special ed. "In many cases," Chatterjee
says, "the students being sent to schools far from
home are the most vulnerable students-the ones
who didn't go to class and didn't know about the
new schools, or whose parents are not involved."
"Even in zoned high schools, there's a peck-
ing order, and Bushwick was at the bottom,"
explains Lawhead. "Neighboring schools, like
Cleveland and Boys & Girls, with more politi-
cal clout, were able to turn away kids, especially
ESL and special ed. " Many of them, Lawhead
notes, wound up in Bushwick.
The community coalition is pressing
Michele Cahill, the Department of Education's
senior counselor for education policy, to make
it easier for students to stay in Bushwick, and
to secure more ESL and programs for older stu-
dents. The department has agreed to meet
monthly with community residents.
But as Edgar Martinez continues to spend
his days waiting in offices, the only education
he's getting is one in bureaucracy. He can't help
but worry: "Maybe they'll forget about me."
Amy Zimmer is a Manhattan-based freelance
writer.
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FRONTLINES
Guv Withholds Foster Kids'
Allowance
MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, Governor George
Pataki gave abused and neglected young people
a badly needed ally: He authorized a new inde-
pendent commission, with a $500,000-a-year
budget, to monitor the quality of care in group
homes and institutions for foster children. Sim-
ilar watchdog agencies already exist for prisons
and mental health facilities in New York.
They've helped expose mistreatment and mis-
management, including execrable conditions in
adult homes housing the mentally ill.
But now the Pataki administration is refus-
ing to deliver. The State Commission on the
Quality of Foster Care was supposed to launch
last September, with a full-time chair and four
volunteer members. (All five are to be
appointed by the governor and confirmed by
the Senate, giving state Republicans full con-
trol.) It didn't. Last winter, the governor's office
pulled the funding from the state's 2003
budget. Then the legislature put the money
back in for fiscal year 2004, when it overrode
Pataki to pass its own budget this past May.
Since then, says Elie Ward, executive direc-
ror of the Albany group Statewide Youth
Advocacy, nothing has happened. In mid-
August, she says, the governor's office
informed her it did not intend to release the
funds for the forseeable future. "They told me
it wasn't a priority," says Ward. The governor's
office did not return calls seeking comment.
It may now fall to legislators who passed the
bill to make sure the commission gets estab-
lished. Ward is urging the legislations supporters,
including Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno
and Westchester Republican Nicholas Spano-
whose county hosts numerous group facilities for
kids--to pressure Pataki to release the funds.
Group homes could use a watchdog. Inci-
dents like the February 2002 assault by girls on a
counselor in Pleasantville are just the most sensa-
tional symptoms of deep trouble at many group
homes, residential treatment centers, and other
institutions where kids live. Chronic problems,
say child welfare experts, include sexual assaults
by kids on other kids, understaffing, insufficient
supervision, and inadequate schooling. Some
homes run by New York City's Administration
for Children's Services are notorious for letting
residents hang out on the streets, where some get
mixed up in drugs and prostitution.
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Agencies that run group facilities under
license from the state Office of Children and
Family Services say they can stand the scrutiny.
"We're monitored by everyone under the sun,"
says Luis Medina, executive director of St.
Christopher's Inc., which runs group homes and
residential treatment centers in Westchester
County. But if the new commission's staff are
experienced and "know something about how to
run a facility," says Medina, "that can only help."
Inspired by the state model, the office of city
Public Advocate Betsy Gorbaum is now explor-
ing setting up a copycat independent watchdog
agency for New York City's child welfare services.
Hank Orenstein, director of C-PLAN, the Pub-
lic Advocate's resource center for families with
children in foster care, envisions a city office able
to monitor every aspect of care, from making
sure parents can see their children to creating a
hotline for foster kids to call if they need help.
"We've concluded that New York City's child
welfare system needs something like an Inspec-
tor General, an independent entity with sub-
poena power-the power to walk into a group
home, interview young people about how
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CITY LIMITS
Taking a (Keg) Stand
IT WASN'T AN EASY DECISION for Steve Hindy to
make but, hell, he thinks it was the right one.
Instead of subscribing to Con Edison's
cheaper blend of coal, natural gas, nuclear
power, oil and hydropower, Hindy, the presi-
dent and co-owner of Brooklyn Brewery, said
he decided in August to "flip the switch," and
is now running the vats and hoppers in his
Williamsburg brew house on wind power. His
is the first company in the city to do so.
The decision might win Hindy
a few more toasts &om Williamsburg's wooly
elite, but it will also guzzle away some of Brook-
lyn Brewery's profits. He forecasts a 10 to 15 per-
cent increase in his annual dectricity bills. "It
hurts, but it won't take us under," Hindy says.
A former Associated Press man who learned
to home brew while on assignment in the
liquor-starved Middle East, Hindy was first
contacted by Community Energy this summer.
The company has 20 giant, spinning wind tur-
bines on farms in upstate New York and is
looking to expand its city base. Though Brook-
lyn Brewery doesn't run directly on energy pro-
NOVEMBER 2003
duced &om windmills, its allotment from the
upstate turbines goes into the local dectric grid.
Local pols are thrilled. 'This is Brooklyn
business at its best," says Andrew Ross, commu-
nications director for Marty Markowitz, the
Brooklyn Borough President. Unfortunatdy,
Ross says, Hindy has so far been the only local
business owner interested in a renewable energy
source. While the state and federal government
offer financial and tax incentives to energy sup-
pliers like Community Energy, there are virrually
FRONTLINES
no consumer incentives-besides a clean con-
science and flatrering PR-that would motivate
a business owner to pay more for dectricity.
Ross and Hindy point out that the more
renewable energy is purchased, the cheaper it gets.
New York's EPA has already made the switch, as
has Austin Grill, a Baltimore-based restaurant
chain. In time, Hindy hopes, prices for wind will
be competitive with other energy sources. "I don't
know if it's gonna sdl more beer," he says. "But at
least we're taking a stand. " -Geoffrey Gray
11
FRONT llNES
P It8t I C HO;{J:S I N-r ..==-
Any Volunteers?
LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING just got a little bit
harder. Beginning this Halloween, unem-
ployed tenants will have to put in eight hours
of community service each month-or
face eviction.
How seriously New York City will take this
mandate, however, remains to be seen.
The unpopular federal rule requiring some
public housing residents to perform commu-
nity service was revived in late June, when the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development issued a notice ordering local
housing authorities to have the program in full
swing by October 31 . The requirement "allows
residents an opportunity to 'give something
back' to their communities and facilitates
upward mobility, " the notice explains.
Part of the Quality Housing and Work
Responsibility Act of 1998, the rule was briefly
implemented in 2001, but a last-minute
amendment by Rep. Charles Rangel in 2002
prevented the feds from putting any money
toward it, giving tenants a temporary reprieve.
This year, they weren't so lucky.
"We've been singled out. Nobody else who
gets [federal] subsidies has to do it," says
Sylvia Velazquez, president of the tenants
association at DeWitt Clinton Houses, a 749-
unit development in East Harlem. "Corpora-
tions receive millions and millions of dollars
from the government. Where's their service to
the community?"
HUD officials estimate the requirement will
fall on about 20 percent of public housing res-
idents, or 370,000 nationwide. The rule applies
to unemployed tenants between the ages of 18
and 62, and exempts students, job trainees,
welfare recipients, and people with disabilities.
It is now up to the local housing authorities
to put the program in action over the next
month, even if they do so grudgingly. "We and
others tried to get Congress to extend the
moratorium," says New York City Housing
Authority spokesperson Howard Marder. "It's
something that the residents don't like and we
Each Monday, CITY LIMITS delivers timely stories about how
New York really works.
12
Bye-mail, by fax or on the web, you'll find information-packed updates on
housing, politics, development, education, social services-and breaking
news on budget and legal decisions that decide the city's future.
There's more in CITY LIMITS _rn[l@,U':
Job ads for New York's non profits.
Events listings telling you where the latest action IS.
CITY LIMITS
START THE WEEK WITH NEWS THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
E-MAIL [email protected], OR CAU 212-479-3315.
don't like it. Basically, it's an unfunded federal
mandate." But now that it is moving forward,
he says, NYCHA is ttying to create "as many
exemptions as possible" before the October 31
deadline. The authorities are busy reviewing
files to see who might fall under one of the
exempted criteria. That's a tall order for the
largest housing authority in North America,
which houses more than 400,000 residents.
Tenant advocates fear that rushing the screen-
ing process could result in community service
requirements for some people who should acru-
ally be exempt. "It's ludicrous," says Judith
Goldiner of the Legal Aid Society, counsel to the
New York Public Housing Residents Alliance.
'There's literally no way the Housing Authority
can meet with evetyone by October 31."
Rangel has introduced a bill to repeal the
rule, but Goldiner isn't holding her breath. She
and the Alliance are continuing to pressure
NYCHA to create the least restrictive plan.
Otherwise, she says, they'll mount a legal chal-
lenge. "I hope it doesn't come to that, " she says.
"But we will sue them if they don't implement
it correctly." - Cass; Feldman


RUMBL IN THE BRONX OVER
LEGAL SERVICES
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CITY LIMITS
INSIDE TRACK
Joint Purpose
In a brutal business environment nonprofits explore the once-
unthinkable: merging with the competition. By Tracie McMillan
Michael Zisser (left) merged the organization he heads, University Settlement, with a youth agency, The Door. Now the kids attending
Joseph Collins' college prep program get help with legal services and green cards, too.
FIVE YEARS AGO, one of the city's most celebrated
youth service agencies faced a conundrum. The
Door was an innovative grassroors group that
had consistently won lavish praise and funding
for irs teens-only services like legal aid, home-
work help, and a sexual health clinic. It was
doing great work, but its management was a
mess, blazing through four directors in six years.
Though still in business, The Door was also
floundering financially. "It had been subject to
periodic financial challenges, some real heavy-
duty difficulties, " says Bob Howitt, a former
executive director and board member for the
organization. At one point, the group almost
failed to meet payroll.
That's when Howitt, then board chair,
approached Michael Zisser, a member of The
NOVEMBER 2003
Door's board and the executive director of Un i-
versity Settlement, with what was then consid-
ered a radical idea: combine the two organiza-
tions. Bring University's management expertise
and fundraising savvy to The Door; take
advantage of The Door's teen programs to
enhance University's college prep work.
As Zisser recalls, merging among non profits
was a novelty at the time: "Everyone said,
'''What are you doing?'"
Today, few nonprofit executives would be
shocked. Organizations serving the city's most
vulnerable are confronting diminished govern-
ment spending, withering foundation suppott
and a penny-pinching donor base-all while
facing increased demand for services. The hunt
for creative ways to maintain programs has
gained urgency. Groups usually seek to expand
their reach by winning new contracts or starting
new programs. Now, nonprofirs are increasingly
considering an approach that used to be
reserved strictly for the money-makers: Merge.
"Many nonprofits are struggling to survive at
all," notes Chuck Hamilton, executive director
of the Clark Foundation. "It's clear to me that a
lot of organizations just aren't going to survive.
That means they either go out of business, or
there's a collaborative merger possibility. "
Hamilton says he's seen lors of activity
behind the scenes. "I started to ask grantees if
they'd ever thought of mergers-probably a
dozen executive directors-and every single one
had thought of it, been approached, or it was a
vague goal for the future, " he says. But for
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many nonprofits, says Hamilton, '''merge' is still
a four-letter word." To help bring the topic out
of the closet, Clark sponsored a conference on
mergers this past June, drawing about 125 exec-
utives and board members from around the city.
Mergers inspire skittishness, not least because
they are labor-intensive and sometimes risky.
"It's really harder than getting contracts," says
David Campbell, a vice president at the Com-
munity Service Society, who has researched non-
profit governance.
Indeed, the initial skepticism Zisser encoun-
tered was, as much as anything, a product of the
size of the project the two groups were taking
on. At the time of the merger, University
boasted a staff of 178, serving about 10,000
clients ranging from infants to senior citizens,
an annual budget of $10 million, and a 115-
year history. The Door, founded in 1972, served
6,000 teens a year with the help of 127 staff and
$5.5 million in annual funding.
When the two groups joined forces in 2000,
The Door became a "member" of University Set-
tlement in a parent-subsidiary model, with each
group retaining its own legal identity. In their new
form, the two groups serve about the same num-
ber of clients, yet they've boosted their combined
funding to $21 million and their combined staff
to 455. (All of that increase has been on Univer-
sity Settlement's payroll.) They also share an
administrative office and several staff, including
Zisser as their executive director. He is careful to
note that the increased funding isn't a direct result
of the merger, but Zisser admits that the new
structure helps in that realm as well. "The fund-
ing community sees you as being proactive," says
Zisser. "Funders like to know they're giving their
money to a well-run organization."
With the merger, the two groups are better
able to weather cutbacks. They share a human
resources department, technology suppott and a
development staff-resources neither group had
before. The merger has also enhanced services.
University had been running a successful college
prep program, but the collaboration opened up
new possibilities, says Joseph Collins, who coordi-
nated the program at University before moving to
The Door. "We have kids who aren't documented
and who couldn't get into college, and we could-
n't [address] that at the settlement. Now we're able
to do more than provide help on an applicarion,"
says Collins. Kids can now get physicals for their
college applications, get help finding a job to
make ends meet or access legal services to get a
green card. Says Collins, "Everything we dreamed
of doing at the settlement is a reality."
AS IN THE HUMAN DATING GAME, not every organi-
zation is likely to find merger bliss. Financially,
CITY LIMITS
many are past the point of no return. A group that
has downsized programming and is scrambling to
keep afloat does not make an attractive parmer.
But organizations tend not to broach the
topic of merger until it's too late. "The commu-
nity-based nonprofit sector is too resourceful for
its own good," laments Sean Delany, Executive
Director of Lawyers Alliance for New York,
which arranges legal assistance for groups explor-
ing mergers, and recently published a handbook
on the topic. "They keep things going on fumes
until the point comes where they are no longer
viable as parmers in mergers. "
One reason groups are so reluctant to explore
their options while they still have them is the
intense rivalry within the sector for scarce
resources. "There's enormous competition"
between nonprofits, says Fran Barrett, executive
director of Community Resource Exchange, a
technical assistance group for nonprofits. "We
would have maybe six or eight groups that are
going in for one grant. There's always been
enormous competition, but I think it's stepped
up now because people are looking for money."
There's a certain value to the competition-it
keeps groups lean, goes the logic, and helps keep
costs down. But it can also prevent organizations
from thinking about the big picture. For funders,
Campbell points out, the world looks very differ-
ent: "There are questions about whether there are
too many organizations to deliver services effi-
ciently," explains Campbell. "If you have 25 men-
tal health centers, is it more efficient to deliver
services with 10 organizations instead?"
Cash isn't the only resource groups are com-
peting for; they must vie for top leadership talent,
too. Turnover in the sector is intense: Of 300
nonprofit executive directors, nearly half plan to
leave their position within the next five years,
according to a recent study done by United Way
of New York City. The same study found that 60
percent of 300 senior staff surveyed thought they
could make a better salary at another nonprofit.
Leadership challenges don't end, of course,
once a merger is sealed. Merging disparate orga-
nizational styles isn't easy. Seemingly inconse-
quential aspects of a nonprofit's work can turn
out to be formidable stumbling blocks. "What
is the work style? Do we go to lunch? Do we
take vacation?" explains Barrett. "It's very easy
for people to go onto the moral high ground of
'we work harder than they do.'"
Two years ago, South 40, an employment
services group geared toward ex-offenders, joined
up with the Osborne Association, a multiservice
agency for prisoners and ex-offenders. A single
organization now gives clients employment help
and social services, without an outside referral.
Initially, the culture clash was jarring. says
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INSIDE TRACK
16
Racial Downsizing
Will black and Latino social
service agencies be casualties
of government shrinkage?
By Hilary Russ
NONPROFITS ARE CAlliNG it the perfect storm:
Government, foundations and private donors
are all cutting back on their suppon for social
services. But no nonprofit agencies are quite as
petrified as community-based groups founded
in the last couple of decades. Many have
grown up dependent on a few government
contracts for their survival. For those groups,
many of which are minority-run, additional
sources of funding-endowments, gala
fundraisers, revenue-generating businesses-
are practically nonexistent. "Large organiza-
tions can survive, barely," says New School
University urban policy professor Dennis Der-
tyck, co-author of a Center for New York City
Affairs study of how nonprofits in the city are
faring after September 11. "For smaller agen-
cies, God have mercy on them."
Nowhere is this more crystallized, and more
complexly drawn, than in the field of child
welfare. That's because of some vety good
news: The number of children in foster care
has declined to just 24,500, down from
41,500 only seven years ago. The Administra-
tion for Children's Services will be phasing out
contracts with an unspecified number of the
42 private agencies it currently pays to provide
foster care casework and related services. ACS
has "determined that the decline in the num-
ber of kids in foster care is not a shon-term
phenomenon," says Jim Purcell, executive
director of the Council of Family and Child
Caring Agencies, a trade group. The city
agency has a ready tool to help it decide which
agencies will get the boot: For the last three
years, ACS has been evaluating their perform-
ance by measuring how quickly and effectively
they move children into permanent homes.
But the rating system, known as EQUIP,
has produced a very uncomfortable result. In
a system where about 95 percent of kids in
foster care are black, Latino or Asian, only a
handful of the contract agencies are led by
people of color and based in the communi-
ties the kids come from. In 2001, the last
year for which scores are available, these
agencies were clustered in the lower half of
the rankings for foster boarding houses.
ACS Commissioner William Bell, who
declined to comment while downsizing dis-
cussions continue, faces quite a dilemma.
Should he go out of his way to preserve agen-
cies rooted in communities of color, while let-
ting go of white-run agencies that score bener?
Or should ACS adhere strictly to performance
evaluations and lose the diversity of providers
that city and state officials have worked so
hard to achieve?
Bell has a personal stake in the situation:
Like any test,
foster care's
rating system can
be manipulated.
He started his career at one of these agencies.
In the late 1980s, the number of kids in fos-
ter care had tripled in just two and a half
years, and babies born with drugs in their
bodies were languishing in hospitals. Many
so-called boarder babies were African Amer-
ican, and the state turned to black and
Latino community-based organizations to
develop desperately needed foster homes.
Miracle Makers, then a day-care center
run out of a church basement in Bed-Stuy,
was one group that stepped up. Purcell, then
a member of the state team that helped
launch the new minority-run agencies,
remembers Miracle Makers founder Willie
Wren as a "force of nature." The agency was
so anxious to help it started putting kids into
foster care before it was licensed to do so. Says
Purcell, "The state license was not important
to them. Getting babies in good places was."
Not every new group survived. Some
"crashed and burned," as Purcell puts it,
from management, program or fiscal prob-
lems. Five carry on.
The Coalition for Hispanic Family Ser-
vices is one survivor. The Bushwick-based
foster care and family services organization
boasts an entirely bilingual staff and involves
extended family in care and planning. It has
only about $1 million in assets and annual
revenue of $6. 7 million, $3.7 million of
which comes from its foster care business.
"We've got a lean and mean infrasttucture,"
says Executive Direcror Denise Rosario. "We
had our first fundraiser two years ago that
myself and my assistant put together, just the
two of us. It takes the wherewithal of the staff
that I have to do everything."
Cuts in public funding have already forced
the coalition to reduce its HIV/AIDS work.
When it comes to foster care, Rosario's not
sure what to expect. On EQUIP's ranking of
42 foster boarding home providers, Rosario's
group is 11 th from the bottom.
ACS evaluates details like agencies' paper-
work and training programs, but the main
focus is on outcomes: how quickly they move
kids out of foster care and back to their fam-
ilies, how fast they secure adoption for kids
who can't go back, and how many children
end up back in foster care soon after return-
ing home or being adopted. On two of three
counts, the coalition does fme. "We have a
very low rate of re-entry into the system," she
explains. "For adoption, we're very close to
100 percent. On the other hand, it takes us a
little longer to get the kids out."
Policy analysts say ACS needs to weigh
consumer satisfaction, too. "EQUIP is really
good in many ways," says Andrew White,
director of the Center for New York City
Affairs. "But one thing really lacking is a sur-
vey of clients and older foster children. It
lacks qualitative elements that would measure
what these organizations are strong in--cul-
turally competent services and neighborhood
relationships." EQUIP also may put agencies
with small staffs at a disadvantage: Many big
agencies have an employee whose job it is to
compile data and ensure the agency complies
with guidelines. "Like any standardized test,
EQUIP can be manipulated by agencies that
have the resources to do that," says White.
''That's not to say it's a bad thing, but you've
got to know what you're dealing with."
No one would deny that service providers
should be scrutinized by the city that's pay-
ing them. But Rosario wants officials to
appreciate the assets groups like hers offer.
Their services come reasonably cheap, fueled
by sweat equity and a deep commitment to
service. Says Rosario, "We're operating with
one arm tied behind our back, doing it out
of love for our community, families and the
culture that we come from."
CITY LIMITS
Ann Mclaughlin, who was promoted ro director
of South 40 Employment Services after the
merger. "It wasn't smooth," she admits. Osborne,
says Mclaughlin, was fairly professionalized and
had a regimented infrasrrucrure; South 40 was
more casual. Another difference was the way each
group approached its work. "In employment, we
are very no-nonsense, because nobody's going to
hold your hand at a job," says Mclaughlin. At
Osborne-which offers services in mental health,
housing, substance abuse, even case manage-
ment-"they can hold their [client's] hand
because that's what the client might need."
Sometimes, a merger threatens not just work
style but an entire program. Mergers mean relin-
quishing conrrol, and open up the possibility that
a project or even a program area will lose its appeal
under the new organization. Though nobody
aims to downsize programs, it sometimes happens
"If you have 25
mental health
centers, is it more
efficient to deliver
services with 1 0
centers instead?"
as a partnership evolves-and that's a risk that
groups entering into partnerships just have to
take, says John Vogelsang, associate director of the
Support Center for Nonprofit Management. 'Tve
had a number of phone calls where people start to
realize that's a risk," says Vogelsang. "And they
decide, instead of a merger, to do a joint venture
but keep their organizations separate."
With so many pressures to maintain the sta-
tus quo, the number of groups pursuing "strate-
gic collaborations" has yet to surge, even as inter-
est in mergers intensifies. The Lawyers Alliance,
which provides and coordinates legal assistance
for non profits seeking to merge, has seen "a
remarkably consistent level of activity," says
Delany. Five years ago, the group secured assis-
tance for eight collaborations in a year; in the
past year, it has handled only three more than
that. "There's a lot of talk. Many have called
here," says Delany. "Bur few have gone through
with the process."
NOVEMBER 2003
Do You Need a Lawyer
Who Understands Housing
And Homeless Services?
As nonprofits respond to the City's affordable housing
crisis and the growing number of homeless New Yorkers,
Lawyers Alliance for New York is expanding its work to
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ing, job training or other social services to the homeless,
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For more information, call us at 212219-1800 ext. 223.
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212 219-1800
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Building a Better New York
17
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Banana Kelly housing developers nds unemployment training programs
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economic development budget g oroarams welfare reform low-income neighborhoods
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system hiring freeze federal funds unemployment programs Post-9/11 living wage workforce development
affordable apartments Lower Manhattan drug addicti ter school shelter system families evicting housing project
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Bush administration Democratic Republican Comrr ,ervices Grants Social services Bronx Brooklyn Queens
Manhattan Fort Greene Harlem Bloomberg Union orking families HIV/AIDS Services Banana Kelly housing
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services Bronx Brooklyn Queens Manhattan Fort ... rlem Bloomberg Union rally Working families HIV/AIDS
Services Banana Kelly housing developers lobbyists , system hiring freeze federal funds unemployment training
programs Post-9/11 living wage workforce development c.. .0rdable apartments Lower Manhattan drug addiction charter
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CITY LIMITS
.!
IV leaarev Inv
WHEN cm DmcTlVES SURCHED for the secrets hiding in Max-
imo Perez's bedroom closet this past winter, they found small plastic
baggies, more than 50 of them, along with a $60 digital scale, a quarter
ounce and more of cocaine and, under the bed, wrapped in cloth, a .25
caliber pistol. It was all tough-to-dispute evidence of the young Perez's
foray into the neighborhood drug trade, a small business he ran from
his mother's time-worn Lower East Side tenement apartment.
Now Maximo, 22, is serving a year-and-a-half sentence upstate. And
his mother, Luz Perez, a 54-year-old church chaplain, has been evicted
from her $51 O-a-month rent-stabilized apartment for his crime.
"I didn't know. 1 don't do drugs," says Luz Perez, packing up her life
into cardboard boxes days before her eviction from the apartment she's
lived in for decades, eyes puffy with tears. "I have no boyfriend. 1 have
no husband. My son is in prison. Now I get kicked out in the street like
I am not a person."
NOVEMBER 2003
Margaret Keady
Since 1996, public housing residents nationwide have been subject to
a federal "one-strike" law evicting them or anyone in the household
involved in drug dealing or other illicit activity. More quietly, however,
for most of the last two decades, prosecutors in Manhattan District
Anorney Robert Morgenthau's office have pushed to evict thousands of
tenants in private apartments, too. And more recently, as in the case of
Luz Perez, Housing Court judges are granting evictions even when the
leaseholder seemingly isn't connected to the crime at all.
It didn't maner whether or not Perez knew about the drugs in her
son's closet, Cyril Bedford, a city Housing Court judge, ruled in a con-
troversial decision this August. "It's scary," says Maya Grosz, supervising
anorney at the Harlem-based Neighborhood Defenders Association.
Grosz notes that in the past, lawyers arguing for eviction were pressed to
show a judge that at the vety least a tenant had either "knowledge" of or
"acquiescence" to a crime.
Other judges are now free to use Bedford's ruling to justify evicting
tenants who have no clue that illegal activities are happening in their apart-
ments. But if someone doesn't know about a crime, advocate lawyers won-
19
der, how can he or she prevent it? "Where's the due process?" asks Grosz.
The Bedford ruling has put a rare spotlight on the District Attorney's
Narcotics Eviction Program (NEP), designed in the late 1980s by Mor-
genthau to banish drug dealers who had burrowed into apartments and
turned them into drug dens.
As law enforcement, the program has been remarkably effective: Most
tenants choose to vacate on their own. When NEP cases do come to coutt,
the DA.'s office estimates that it wins win 98 percent of its evictions.
That's an impressive batting average. Drug-infested buildings have
been cleared almost single-handedly. In some cases, the DA.'s office
reports, entire city blocks have seen crack dens and drug slums disappear.
But as the city's number of drug convictions continues to decline, both
NEP coordinators and advocacy lawyers say they are fmding that many
of the tenants they seek to evict are nor associated with heavy drug deal-
ers at all, as was once the case. And their families, often blind to the
crime, are the ones getting punished.
TIE IAIcmcs menON PROGRAM was Morgenthau's baby. "No other
individual step we take addresses the drug-trafficking problem as effec-
tively in a building where people live," the D.A. said, announcing the
Narcotics Eviction Program in 1987. "There's nothing more important
than recapturing housing stock so people can live safely in their homes."
At the time, law enforcers faced a nagging problem. Even when deal-
ers had gone through the lengthy process of getting busted and convicted
and sent to prison, sales in apartments continued. Crack was becoming
more popular on the street-an epidemic. Narcotic cops were raiding
the same drug dens, over and over, in the same apartments.
To uproot the drug trade, the D.A.'s office resurrected certain provi-
sions of the Real Property Act and Proceedings Laws, a dusty series of
statutes known as "bawdy house laws." Intended to banish prostitution
and houses of ill repute, the laws call for eviction of the primary tenant,
presumably the madam. Interpreting the statutes, Morgenthau and other
legal enforcers around the country have argued successfiilly that the
bawdy house laws could also be used to banish any illegal business.
While NEP's main target has been the drug trade, the D.A.'s office says
it also goes after prostitution rings, black market guns and cigarettes, and
the lucrative trade in counterfeit sports apparel.
Following Morgenthau's swift success, the city's other boroughs
adopted the program as well. "It's absolutely necessary, " says Oscar Ruiz,
an assistant district attorney in Queens. "Sure, you always have one per-
son who claims not to know anything-but what about the 900 other
people in the neighborhood that get affected by that ignorance? They
suffer the terror."
The D.A.'s office doesn't just pur the squeeze on tenants; it holds
landlords responsible, too, and relies on them to press cases in Housing
Court. If they fail to bring eviction proceedings, owners can be forced
to pay fines, be named in litigation or lose their buildings through for-
feiture. After an arrest or search warrant is executed and evidence of a
business is discovered, no matter how small the amount of drugs is,
NEP coordinators and paralegals send a letter to the owner of the build-
ing requesting that the landlord execute eviction proceedings against
the tenant immediately.
In turn, the D.A's office offers to piggyback the case in court for the
landlord, arranging paperwork and preparing wirnesses. They give away
precious "red backs," colored pieces of paper that accompany legal claims
and ensure cases move speedily through the cluttered court system. And
while the D.A. is not technically a party to the case, city paralegals also
20
accompany attorneys for landlords into courtrooms, offer support, help
negotiate settlements and make sure cases aren't bungled. The D.A even
has a pre-prepared sheet of questions designated for landlords' attor-
neys-just in case a lawyer forgets which questions to ask a tenant or
detective on the stand.
Some landlords are happy to have help getting rid of their tenants,
especially from regulated apartments that can fetch much higher rents
once they're vacant. Others balk at evicting longtime tenants who are
harmless and at being forced to pay legal fees to evict tenants who
send in rent on time. (Drug dealers have always been known for punc-
tual payments.)
Gary Galperin, the assistant district attorney who's been running
NEP since its inception, says tearning up with landlords is the only way
to ensure evictions are handled in a timely, efficient manner. "We recog-
nize that this remedy can be a powerful tool used for wonderful things,"
Galperin says. "We also recognize that as a powerful tool we must wield
it fairly, justly and carefiilly."
Some tenant lawyers question how justly that power is really applied.
Craig Acorn, who's defended more than a dozen NEP eviction cases in
court as staff attorney for the mental health division of the Urban Justice
Center, calls the alliance between D.A. and landlord an "unholy part-
nership," one that puts innocent people onto the street and offers land-
lords plum opportunities to run tenants from rent-regulated apartments.
"It's a huge waste of time," he says. "If taxpayers knew the D A. was
spending all this money to evict old grandmothers and put them into the
street, they would be outraged."
CITY LIMITS
-
Acorn says he recently won a case in which rwo sisters living in a
$650-a-month, one-bedroom apartment were facing eviction for three
grams of marijuana and a half-gram of cocaine that were confiscated
from the younger sister's husband, a disabled war veteran, following an
anonymous call to the cops. (The women are disabled, too: The sister
who holds the lease has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and under-
goes dialysis for renal failure, while the younger one is on oxygen for
emphysema.) At trial, Acorn pointed out that the drugs were for private
use and the husband was not charged with intenc to sell. Still, the land-
lord wanted the sisters, who are not drug users, out.
"The people who onen pay the heavy price of this program are
people the general public is not concerned with," Acorn says. "Even
worse, if a person does have a drug problem, the last thing they need
to rehabilitate themselves is to be tossed inco the street. That's self-
destructing policy. "
LOURDES CIRINO. a heavyset woman with gray spider streaks running
down her long black hair, doesn't have a lawyer and doesn't know where
to find one. The trial to decide whether she will be able to stay in her
apartmenc starts in about a month. In Housing Court on a recenc morn-
ing, Cirino, clad in tank top and sneakers, was trying to fight a NEP
eviction from the $137-a-monch, publicly assisted East Harlem apart-
menc where she was born 50 years ago. Cirino didn't know about any
drugs, she says. On weekends she works for a private bus operator that
transports family members of state prisoners upstate, making sand-
wiches, keeping passengers company and cleaning the bus for $50 a trip.
NOVEMBER 2003
Because she's not around on weekends, she let a friend use her apartment
as a place to crash.
"We all need a roof over our heads," she explained.
A few months ago, Cirino's friend was busted and charged with deal-
ing heroin and cocaine nom Cirino's apartment; he now faces a mini-
mum of nine years in prison. "It's unfair," Cirino says. "Now my friend
is in prison: he's safe, he's exercising, he's working out. I'm running
around with my head cut off. "
But lawyers for the New York City Housing Authority aren't buying
her story. "What [Cirino] didn't say, " notes Lisa Hynes, NYCHA's
attorney in the case, "is that her 'friend' is a guy named Freddy, and
that's the same ' Freddy' tattooed onto her arm next to a big heart. Next
time, she shouldn't wear short sleeves in court. "
Of the 300 or so cases the DA's office has handled this year, about
half are in private housing, says Michelle Rosa, coordinator of NEP. She
says scenarios like Perez's--elderly, onen-out-of-touch women whose
children or grandchildren peddle small quantities of drugs-are com-
mon, and pleading ignorance or claiming to have slept through the crime
is rarely a successful defense. "You have to control the business in your
own apartmenc," Rosa says. "You're putting your fellow tenants at risk. "
Most tenants NEP is evicting aren't serious drug traffickers, staff in
the D.A.'s office say. "It's really the little guys, " says Diana McCovery, a
paralegal who's worked for NEP for the last five years. "The major play-
ers don't even touch the drugs, " she says, "and once the kids get out of
prison, they just go right back to packaging for quick money .. .. It's a
vicious cycle."
Some tenants facing eviction from their apartments barely under-
stand what's going on. In Housing Court recently, Joanne Mercier, a 27-
year-old mother of four from the Bronx, couldn't figure out why she
should be evicted from her $1,040 one-bedroom apartmenc. If her
boyfriend was the one busted for an eighth or so of marijuana and a
gram or so of cocaine, she wondered, why should she be responsible?
"It wasn't me with drugs," Mercier said, in a rage. "Now I am
the victim!"
Luz Perez also considers herself a victim. A few days before her court
date, Maximo, now an inmate at Mohawk Correctional Facility, a
medium security prison near Albany, wrote her and her lawyer, stating:
"My case had nothing to do with my family, they were ignorant to my
wrong doings. " He also claimed Manhattan detectives misled him about
consequences for his mother, when asking permission to search his bed-
room. "I [told the police,] ' Please let my mother live in her apartment
because I've already disrespected her and I know I must find another
address when I come home because she'll never forgive me."
Luz Perez says she wants to appeal Bedford's decision. But she needs
to find a new place to live first, and having her appeal sitting for months
in a Housing Court bin won't do anything to secure her a bed. Unlike
her landlord, she doesn't get the "red backs." She tried to make a com-
promise with her landlord, ARNJ Realty, and her management agency,
Brownstone Management-say, switching to a smaller apartmenc-but
to no avail.
"It's very easy to sit back and be sympathetic about the situation-
but there comes a time when enough is enough," says Chris Greene, of
Brownstone Management, about Perez's case. "You have to be fair to the
other tenants. Her kid was a problem. What would happen if an inno-
cent person were killed by accident with his gun? Whose fault would
that be? The bottom line is, the landlord and the building shouldn't be
held responsible for her poor judgment."
21
Thousands of New Yorkers have relocated to the Poconos
seeking bargain homes-and found themselves embroiled in
a mass real-estate ripoff. BY DEBBIE NATHAN
O
n a Saturday afternoon in early Sep-
tember in the Pocono Mountains
town of East Stroudsburg, the air and
sky seemed cleaner than they ever do in New
York City. But Louis Brown, an MTA bus driver
&om the Bronx, had not made the trip for fun
in the sun. Instead, he joined some 200 grave-
looking audience members and politicos in a
local university auditorium. Taking the micro-
phone, Brown described how he lost all his sav-
ings in the Poco nos, how his credit is now so
"twisted" that he can't even rent an apartment.
The audience nodded knowingly. Like
Brown, many here are part of a black and Latino
migration &om metro New York City that in the
last decade tripled the ratio of minorities in
Monroe County, Pennsylvania, near the
Delaware Water Gap. As a result, the Strouds-
burg area-almost lily white a generation ago--
now boasts braiding salons, a Caribbean restau-
rant, and other amenities that once would have
taken a trip to Harlem to fmd. The clientele are
New York City municipal workers such as cops
and transit workers, along with private-industry
employees, who moved to the mountains look-
ing for peace and quiet and big, cheap houses.
Thousands commute five hours a day to their
jobs. (According to reporter David Pierce of the
Pocono Record, six Pocono commuters died in
the World Trade Center on 9/11.) All this to get
a piece of homeowner heaven.
Instead, many say, they've gotten real-
estate-scam hell.
Since last year, scores of New York expats
22
have joined lawsuits charging that 26 Pocono-
area builders, realtors and appraisers pushed over
200 mostly first-time homebuyers into foreclo-
sure and financial ruin by offering them inex-
pensive country homes, then ruthlessly bilking
them with a complicated scam. The suits seek
$18.5 million in restitution and penalties. Hun-
dreds more plaintiffs are expected to join the
civil litigation soon. Even more are thought to
have been victimized and left the area. In addi-
tion, in late September the Monroe County Dis-
trict Attorney's office arrested a mortgage com-
pany employee and charged him with commit-
ting forgery and mud while selling a house.
At the East Stroudsburg meeting, sponsored
by the Pocono Homeowners Defense Associa-
tion (PHDA), a community group, attendees
bemoaned what has become a home foreclo-
sure epidemic in Monroe County: up from 120
in 1990 to a projected 1,041 this year. The
number is shocking for a county with only
148,000 residents. Nine hundred and twenty-
five homes were foreclosed there last year, com-
pared to 3,200 sold, according to the Pocono
Association of Realtors. Divide one number by
the other, and the sales-to-foreclosure ratio is
an astounding 29 percent. Nationwide, the rate
is less than 1 percent. Even in New York City
boroughs, where predatory lending is com-
mon, only about 5 percent of low-income
homeowners with FHA loans have suffered
foreclosure in recent years.
The only comfort for the audience at the East
Stroudsburg meeting was the fact that Pennsylva-
nia Attorney General Mike Fisher has filed two
consumer ftaud lawsuits against some of the firms
and individuals involved. One suit names devel-
oper Gene Percudani and several companies he is
associated with, including Raintree Homes, Inc.,
Why Rent Co. and Coastal Environmental, Inc.
The other suit names officers at four Keystone
companies presided over by Thomas Senofonte.
Three appraisers are also defendants.
According to the suits, victims were lured by
ads placed in the New York City and New Jer-
sey media, offering luxury, custom-built homes
for about $190,000. That's half what similar
houses would cost in Flushing or Jamaica. Key-
stone gave potential clients a videotape, "You
Can Own Your Dream Home," which con-
trasts gracious Pocono living with images of
purported big city ills: gang warfare, muggings,
shotgun attacks, rooms overrun by vermin.
Keystone offered homebuyers one-stop shop-
ping with the company's own builder, mort-
gage services and lawyer. People with shaky
credit were reassured they could buy anyway.
Former clients of Percudani remember seeing
advertisements on Pathmark grocery store bul-
letin boards in the Bronx, and on Jerry Springer.
His companies offered to pay tenants' existing
rent, even cover closing costs.
What buyers didn't know, the suits allege, is
that companies were recouping these payouts
by inflating the selling price of the homes by as
much as $114,000 over their real value. Allega-
tions also include the use of a "ghost account"
set up to mislead lenders into thinking buyers'
CITY LIMITS
credit was better than it was. Investigators for
the attorney general's office say that at least one
husband and wife were told to meet a realtor at
a local bank and open an account in the couple's
name. Once they closed on the home, the suit
alleges, the realtor withdrew the money and
closed the account. An investigative task force
headed by the Monroe County District Attor-
ney's office found further evidence of wrongdo-
ing, including bank fraud, tax fraud, falsifying
HUD settlement sheets, and lot-flipping: buy-
ing and reselling property quickly for profit.
The Federal Reserve Bank also investigated
overpricing in the Poconos in 2001. So did
Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae, quasi-govern-
mental agencies that buy mortgage loans from
banks and lending institutions.
Buyers usually did not discover problems
until they tried to sell or refmance. Bus driver
Louis Brown, for instance, bought a home from
Why Rent for $153,000 and moved with his
family from Brooklyn to the Poconos. But after
his marriage dissolved, he decided to sell. "I had
the house appraised," Brown says. "It was worth
$77 ,000." Today, he's living in the Bronx, facing
foreclosure or bankruptcy.
T
his isn't the first time members of the
Poconos real estate industry have been
accused of fraud. In the late 1980s,
24
HUD and the New Jersey Real Estate Com-
mission investigated a company, Cost Control
Marketing and Management, for allegedly sell-
ing lots to mainly white, blue-collar New Jersey
residents at inflated prices. White ethnics from
New York City also filed suits against Cost
Control after they saw ads in local newspapers
and paid too much for lots. The company later
went bankrupt.
And in 1992, Gene Percudani, the defen-
dant in one current Pennsylvania Attorney
General suit, was investigated by the same
office for allegedly building shoddy homes and
failing to return deposits to buyers. (Charges
were dropped after he agreed to issue refunds.)
Almost a decade later, in 2001, some residents
filed a federal civil racketeering suit against
Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation,
alleging that Chase-the country's biggest
mortgage lender--conspired with Percudani
and appraiser Dominick Stranieri to defraud
first-time homebuyers. Chase admitted having
approved some loans on homes sold at inflated
prices, and it agreed to reduce the principal for
almost 300 Poconos homeowners by as much
as $50,000 apiece. Stranieri gave up his
appraiser's license after being accused of falsi-
fying three appraisals.
Percudani's attorney, Marshall Anders, says
the current charges from the Attorney Gen-
eral's office are "unsubstantiated." Defendant
Thomas Senofonte calls them "grossly unfair."
The FBI, IRS, U.S. Department of Justice
and HUD have explored the possibility of
investigating real estate fraud in the Poconos,
and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and Montoe
County DA. Mark Pazuhanich have called for
FBI involvement. But so far, all have declined.
Three weeks after the PDHA forum, the
Monroe County DA.'s office charged Keith
Buchanan, an employee of Allentown-based
Northstar Mortgage, with committing forgery
and fraud while arranging a loan for a Poconos
home. At the forum, Pazuhanich said he is
reluctant to prosecute more such cases because
in most of the complaints he has seen,
"the buyer knew that his or her
income was being fudged." Jurors
take a jaundiced view of such wit-
nesses, he said.
"That's a crock, " retorted Wieslaw
Niemoczynski. He is an attorney cur-
rently running for Monroe County
DA. on the Libertarian Party ticket,
who unsuccessfully sued Poco nos real-
tors for fraud back in the early 1990s.
Though he agrees that such cases are
hard to win, prosecutors "take tainted
testimony from co-conspirators in
homicide cases, so why not in these?"
Besides, Niemoczynski told City
Limits later, buyers tend to be very
naive when they join in the fraud.
"Their credit is more often than not
bad, and the realtor says, 'You're going
to have to bump up your income' by
claiming nonexistent funds. To them
it's like, 'How can that hurt?' But the
realtor knows it's bank fraud." Adds
Stewart Rosenblum, another local
attorney with clients claiming fraud,
"How many people come [to the
Poconos from New York] on a one-day run and
get the intense sales pressure? I know what that
feels like, and I'm a sophisticated buyer!"
Simply being ftom New York City, Rosen-
blum says, is another reason people make mis-
takes when it comes to homebuying in the
Poconos: "They don't know that when you
improve a lot by building on it, real estate taxes
go up." ("These crooked realtors tell you taxes
will be $700 to $1,200 annually," says AI Wuson,
of the PHDA. "Bullshit: they're really $3,200 to
$10,000!") Nor do many New Yorkers know that
in Monroe County, garbage, water and sewerage
are private services paid for by the homeowner.
And though most new Poconos developments
CITY LIMITS
are gated communities, many New Yorkers don't
realize they will be assessed maintenance fees.
"You think you're getting a house for half what it
costs in the city," says Rosenblum. "But you end
up working so hard that you have no life. Or
you're unable to support the costs."
Meanwhile, the Poco nos' massive foreclosure
problem remains invisible to day-trippers tour-
ing the area with home buying in mind. Signs
indicating that a residence is for sale or foreclosed
are often prohibited in gated communities.
One such community is Pocono Country
Place, a heavily black and Latino development
in which Senofonte's Keystone Co. has built
homes. Property values have dropped sharply in
that community, and Niemoczynski and other
buyer advocates say it's because of massive fore-
closures caused by fraud. Senofonte blames the
decrease on "a bad segment" living there. His
language now echoes the phantasmagoric video
he distributed to lure people from the boogey-
man terrors of the metropole. Pocono Country
Place, he says, "is infested by gangs. Most of the
homes are not kept up. Or they're surrounded
by homes in disrepair."
The real infestation is by dishonest real
estate people, says PDHA's Wilson, who com-
plains that he, too, was victimized after he
moved from Queens. Wilson is readying the
PDHA to march on Harrisburg and Washing-
ton this fall, demanding that authorities such as
the FBI launch criminal investigations.
"Monroe County must be cleaned up," he
says. "It's the Wild Wild West here."
NOVEMBER 2003
HOME ECONOMICS
A wave of foreclosures washes the gloss off
homeownership. BY DEBBIE NATHAN
A
li and a friend, both speculators,
stood outside the courthouse with
certified checks in their pockets,
mapping strategy for the day. ''I'm not buying
that house," said Ali. "When I passed by to
look at it, a guy came out and screamed, 'Go
away, motherfucker!'"
"Buy it, let him stay, charge him rent,"
shrugged the friend. "Tell him if he misses a
month you'll kick him out."
A nearby guard sized up the two. "Fleas,"
he snickered.
The group was waiting for a foreclosure
auction to begin, as it does each Thursday
afternoon in the cavernous jury-selection room
of Brooklyn's Supreme Court. There, small-
time realtors and investors-mostly young
immigrant or ultra-orthodox Jewish men-bid
on houses people like the screaming guy lost
because they couldn't make their mortgage
payments. The auctions have been going on
for years in the boroughs. But lately, more
homes are headed for the block. Totals for
2003 aren't in yet, but preliminary data com-
piled by the Furman Center for Real Estate
and Urban Policy indicate that foreclosure
claims in Brooklyn rose from 2,629 in 2001 to
2,970 in 2002-an increase of about 13 per-
cent. During the same period, the Bronx saw a
27 percent increase: from 915 claims to 1,164.
One reason for the rise in foreclosures seems
to be the economic downturn that began
needling New York City in early 2001 and then
stabbed with a vengeance after 9111. According
to statistics compiled by the Community Ser-
vice Society, the increase in joblessness is steep-
est among blacks and Latinos, particularly men
without college educations who do blue-collar,
clerical or administrative-support work.
During the national economic boom of the
1990s, many in this demographic saved
enough money to buy homes for the first
time. Some purchased one-family dwellings;
others chose multiplexes where they could live
but also get tenants to help pay the mortgage.
These were fat years even for struggling
neighborhoods. During the 1980s and early
1990s, the New York City Housing Partnership,
Neighborhood Housing Services, and other
groups worked with the government and banks
to build and rehab affordable housing for sale to
lower-income buyers, and to help those buyers
obtain mortgages. The groups aimed to revitalize
2S
neighborhoods by helping people with modest
incomes achieve financial independence. Home
equity, the thinking went, would create stable
individuals in settled, prosperous communities.
The Jeffersonian ideal of property owner-
ship has always loomed large in the nation, and
it was boosted when President Clinton set a
goal to raise the national homeownership rate
to 67.5 percent by the millennium. Today, 68
percent of American households own their
homes. HUD wants to raise that rate two
points in the next three years, as well as bring
homeownership rates among minority house-
holds up to the same level as whites' .
But lately, hoary ideals have brushed against
a bad economy. Since New York's recession
began over two years ago, many homeowners
and their tenants have had work hours cut, or
been laid off altogethet. According to the New
York State Department of Labor, since May
2001, unemployment in Brooklyn has gone up
from 5.7 to 9.1 percent. In the Bronx, it has
shot trom 6.2 to 10 percent.
Housing counselors say they're seeing more
people of modest income who have missed
mortgage payments and gone into default or
foreclosure. At Neighborhood Housing Ser-
vices, Ken Davis, director of the agency's Fore-
closure and Predatory Lending Prevention pro-
gram, says that since early 2003, his office has
been doing foreclosure counseling for 10 or 15
26
more clients each month than it used to. "It's a
25 to 50 percent increase," notes Erskine
Kennedy, a coordinator with the same program.
The damage is hardly as visible as it was dur-
ing the foreclosure epidemic of the 1970s and
1980s. Back then, acres of abandoned homes
gave a bombed-out look to areas such as Sunset
Park and Jamaica. But when people lose their
homes to foreclosure today, speculators buy and
flip for a higher price, and new buyers take over.
Sometimes they simply flip and flip again.
Other times, they move in, but leave a few
months later when they, too, are foreclosed
upon. Or the speculators, like those at the
courthouse auction, rent to tenants, then skimp
on maintenance, since their main goal is to
retain profit before they eventually flip again.
The neighborhoods, transformed with the help
of two decades of homeowner investment, look
strong. But there's pain and rot within.
"ThiS is the worst thing that's ever
happened to me. Don't use my
real name-just call me Fish, my
nickname from when I was a child in Belize,"
said the owner during an interview at his
Cypress Hills home, whose $1,727-a-month
mortgage he has been been unable to pay for
months. Now jobless after two decades of
steady employment, Fish spends his days look-
ing for work and worrying to the point of
obsession. While talking, he tugs and tugs on
his curly beard. If whiskers were misfortunes,
he'd have straightened his out long ago.
His problems started shortly after 9/11.
Until then, Fish was doing all the construction
work he could handle-"jack-of-all-trades
stuff," he calls it-for New York City compa-
nies Like Con Ed. The money was good. "It was
union. Thirty dollars an hour. With overtime I
was taking home $1,600 to $2,300 a week. "
But in February 2002, Fish was laid off from
his job with a company that was doing subcon-
tracting work for Con Ed. Eight months passed
before he went back to work, with another pri-
vate company that was making sidewalks for the
city. When that job ended in December
of last year, the company laid off Fish
and promised to call him back when
another project came up. He never heard
trom them again. Since then, Fish has
landed only a few hours' work a month,
though he visits job sites regularly.
' ~ t first I went through my sav-
ings," he says. "Then my checking. My
Christmas clubs. Then I couldn't pay
no bills. I'm a diabetic-there are times
I can't pay for my medicine. The gas
company is taking me to court. Going
down like this is very hard. " In the
spring of this year, Fish got a letter
telling him he was in default on his
mortgage and threatening foreclosure.
Fish wasn't the only homeowner in
Eastern Brooklyn getting a warning
notice. For the year preceding July
2002, according to data compiled by
the Neighborhood Economic Develop-
ment Advocacy Project, East New York
saw 410 defaults, compared with 361
during the previous year.
Fish and his Grenada-born wife
raised their four children in an apartment in
Cypress Hills-a slice of East New York
bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the south and
Van Sinderen Avenue to the west. When they
first moved there in the late 1980s, the area was
still in crisis. Blue-collar Irish, Italian and Jewish
residents had predominated in East New York
until the 1960s. Then, a racist system of redlin-
ing, blockbusting and foreclosure led to white
flight and segregated settlement of poor African
Americans and (particularly in Cypress Hills)
Puerto Ricans. Businesses pulled out. Rioting
followed, along with an underground economy
based on prostitution and narcotrafficking.
Compared with East New York as a whole,
Cypress Hills has an abundance of single-family
CITY LIMITS
houses and homeowners. Even so, the neigh-
borhood shared in the general devastation. By
the early 1980s, remembers Cypress Hills LDC
Executive Director Michelle Neugebauer, Ful-
ton Street-the neighborhood's main shopping
strip-was a wasteland. "There were a lot of
vacancies, arsons and demolitions, as well as
scattered housing abandonment," she says. Car-
men Carrillo, president of a local block associa-
tion who has lived in Cypress Hills for 15 years,
remembers how abandoned houses in the late
1980s "were havens for drugs and prostitution.
And there was a time when you saw rats around
the houses. "
Fish says. "There are new houses in the last five
years and new people moving in. You won't find
no drugs or robbery. People are always trying to
look out for each other. Everybody gets along."
Fish got homeowner fever three years ago.
"They were remodeling this house down the
block from our apartment. We came by and
looked, and my wife and I fell in love with it. "
He proudly points out the roomy kitchen, the
five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The price
was amactive: $217,000. To finance the mort-
gage, Fish got a Federal Housing Administra-
tion loan at 7 percent interest.
M
ention the FHA to community
developers like Neugebauer, and you
often get an "uh-oh, here we go
again" look. That's because poor, minority neigh-
borhoods have been victimized during the last 15
years by predatory lenders who use the FHA to
exploit people who lack experience with loans.
Since then, says Neugebauer, her organiza-
tion has "rehabbed almost every city-owned
building that used to exist here. " The effort has
created 206 units of affordable housing, includ-
ing 75 homes for sale. Another organization,
Neighborhood Housing Services, rehabilitated
a handful of houses on Fulton Street in the
1990s through the city's StoreWorks program.
Further south in East New York and elsewhere
in the city, groups like East Brooklyn Congre-
gations, East New York Urban Youth Corps,
and Mutual Housing Association of New York
joined giant efforts like the New York City
Housing Parmership to change the face of low-
income New York by creating affordable hous-
ing people could buy instead of rent.
Today, Fulton Street is chockablock with
hardware stores, 99-cent emporia, and
Caribbean and Salvadoran cafes. The worst of
the black-market economy has abated. Cypress
Hills residents continue to struggle: Median
family income in the neighborhood is
$29,000----0nly 78 percent of the city's-and
almost a third of the households are below the
poverty line. Still, "I've seen a lot of changes, "
The first wave of predatory lending, in the
mid-1990s, victimized senior citizens by pres-
suring them to get home repairs, then steering
them into the high-interest subprime mortgage
loan market. Many borrowers lost their homes
because they could not make their payments-
but the banks hardly noticed, because FHA
insured the loans against default. Shady realtors
continued on page 42
HIGH REFINANCE
F
or two years now, the Parodneck Foundation, South Brooklyn
Legal Services, Fannie Mae and other organizations have been refi-
nancing New York borrowers out of predatory debt. During that ongo-
ing project, credit counselors found people paying as much as 70 per-
cent of their income to interest on subprime home loans-loans with
high interest rates, which are supposed to reflect the fact that subprime
borrowers are higher credit risks.
Many of those subprime mortgage-holders actually qualified for
lower-interest, market-rate mortgages. "The majority of loans made in
the Northwest Bronx are subprime loans," says Howard Banker, vice
president for programs at Parodneck. Most borrowers, though, "are
much better credit risks than the rate on their loans would indicate."
Lenders heavily advertise these loans, emphasizing that they can be
secured quickly; borrowers often don't realize they qualify for lower rates.
So in the spirit of the recent refinancing boom, Parodneck and a
coalition of Bronx nonprofits are launching an initiative this fall to
help people paying high interest on subprime loans refinance into
market-rate conventional loans. In the process, the community
groups will be competing head to head with subprime lenders
The Northwest Bronx Fair Lending Initiative, funded by a grant
from New York Community Trust, is a pioneering effort to help bor-
NOVEMBER 2003
rowers refinance subprime loans by brokering fair deals with major
banks and credit unions. The goal is "an ongoing marketing campaign
to steer people away from unnecessary subprime loans," says Banker.
The Fair Lending Initiative seeks to educate borrowers through out-
reach with community and religious groups, as well as print and televi-
sion ad campaigns. A toll-free hotline, 800-261-7012, will give callers
not only fair lending information but referrals to credit counseling,
social services and legal help. "The object is to provide people with
options that work," Banker says. A broad range of community and
social service groups are participating, including the Mosholu Preserva-
tion Corp., the West Bronx Housing and Resource Center, University
Neighborhood Housing, the Urban Justice Center and SEEDCO.
Bronx-based BethEx Federal Credit Union is also on board, get-
ting the word out through its 10,000 members. BethEx will counsel
people whose credit ratings have been damaged by bad loans, and it
will be able to broker fair loans itself.
Parodneck will serve as a loan broker, too, passing qualified customers
on to one of six participating banks: Chase, Bank of New York, Green-
point Savings, Citibank, Washingron Mutual and HSBC. Major finan-
cial instirutions historically have underserved Bronx borrowers, and the
project stands to quickly build the big banks' presence in the borough.
Banker said he hopes the Bronx initiative will be a model to com-
bat subprime lenders in other communities: "Ideally, we want to do
this many times, all over the city. " -JOHN TOZZI
27
Recor
Time
Document i ng pol i ce interrogations on video
protects defendants and helps
win cases, too. In many cities,
prosecutors
it's the law.
To New York cops, it 's anathema-which is why
the Central Park jogger debacle won' t be the last .
By Curtis Stephen
T
hese days Frank Esposito lives anony-
mously, in the shadow of the Central
Park jogger uproar.
The five young Harlem men convicted of
attacking and nearly killing a Manhattan woman
became causes celebres earlier this year, after an
incarcerated serial rapist said that he alone, and
not those five, had attacked the jogger. DNA evi-
dence backed up the claim. And the "Central
Park Five" became known as victims of a prob-
lem presumed to be much bigger than them: the
New York City Police Department forcing false
confessions from criminal suspects.
Esposito avers that it happens. It started in
the summer of 2000 when he was a 17 year old
in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn who liked
to hang out with friends-"my boys," he calls
them-and smoke marijuana. Late one August
afternoon, Esposito remembers, "Some guy in
a suit came up to me and said, 'We want to
question you.' '' The guy turned out to be a
cop. Esposito had an overnight bag with him.
When the police opened it, they "saw the
weed. They arrested me like they got John
Gotti or something."
The cops were less interested in marijuana
than that Esposito was the prime suspect in
connection with a fire that had killed 21 hors-
es and destroyed a century-old Bergen Beach
stable just blocks from his home. When he
admitted guilt, the tabloids had a field day-
particularly with his videotaped confession.
The tape, made a day after his arrest and
after many hours of untaped questioning,
28
begins with Assistant District Attorney David
Holland reading Esposito his Miranda rights.
(He had waived his right to an attorney, but
Esposito later claimed that his repeated
requests to have his mother present were
ignored by detectives.) The videotape shows a
small, windowless room. Esposito, visibly terri-
fied, sits a few feet away from Holland, whose
calm demeanor makes him seem more like a
psychotherapist than an interrogator. The rwo
are joined by another assistant DA. and by
Detective William Wagner, who had thorough-
ly interrogated Esposito the night before.
"Can you tell me where you were that
night?" Holland starts. In a trembling voice,
Esposito replies: "I was hanging out, drinking,
smoking--doing what I usually do. At around
11, I got out of my friends' car and started
walking home. I stopped by the Bergen Beach
stable. I started smoking pot. I was already
drunk. Then I smoked a cigarette. Afrer[wardl
I smoked marijuana, then 1 was playing with
my lighter [andllighted the hay on fire. 1 kept
lighting it. . .I seen pieces glowing." Toward the
end of the tape, Esposito, amid tears, looks
squarely into the camera and says, "I want to
apologize to everyone for what I did."
With such a dramatic confession on tape,
further court proceedings seemed destined to be
mere formalities. But one problem remained-
Esposito apparently didn't burn down the sta-
bles, accidentally or otherwise. He tells City
Limits he was in a different neighborhood when
the fire took place. "My friend's little cousin was
going to her prom. So we followed them to Bay
Ridge to make sure it didn't get out of control,"
he says. At his trial, crucial phone records and
eyewitnesses supponed this alibi. The jury voted
for acquittal.
So why did Esposito confess? Because the
police "messed with my head all night, " he says.
"They put me in a room that was freezing. I
was chained to a little metal bench. " Esposito's
attorney, Nick Gravante, notes that his client
was interrogated for 18 hours without any
sleep or food. All the while, Gravante says,
detectives were urging Esposito to say he'd set
the fire by accident.
At first, Esposito says, he repeatedly denied
any role in the arson. But detectives wouldn't
take no for an answer. They "were just pound-
ing the same thing over and over again." Espos-
ito voluntarily submitted to a polygraph exam.
Afrerward, he was told he had failed-a lie, as
CITY LIMITS
Teens in the Central Park jogger case confessed in these videos-but their interrogations weren't taped.
he would later learn. When Esposito offered an
alibi that he had been with his "boys" at the
time of the fire, the police said the friends
denied that claim. This, too, was a lie.
Once, Esposito recalls, when he stood up
and screamed that he wanted to call his moth-
er, a cop pushed him against the wall. Finally,
he gave up. "You tell them the truth so many
times and it gets to the point where you can't
take it. I was like, 'You want to hear a story?
Then here's a story.' They said, 'Would you say
it on camera? I told 'em, ' I don't care .. .'. They
told me to keep apologizing, show remorse. "
Esposito asked his interrogators if he could go
home afterward. "They said, 'Yeah.'"
Instead, he was charged with arson, reckless
endangerment and 21 counts of aggravated
cruelty to animals. If convicted, he faced five to
15 years in prison. The media denounced him
as an animal-abusing monster.
Esposito's account of the interrogation is just
his story. The questioning wasn't taped, so we
will never know what really occurred. (The
NYPD declined to comment for this story.)
Nor will we know why another New Yorker,
Bently Louis Grant, falsely confessed to
attempted murder. Grant was arrested in the
summer of 2000, weeks after Tiffany Goldberg,
an aspiring social worker, was struck in the head
with a five-pound concrete slab on the Lower
East Side in broad daylight: Grant, -who was
homeless, closely resembled a police sketch of
the attacker and was identified by two eyewit-
nesses. While in police custody for 20 hours at
NOVEMBER 2003
the 13th Precinct, he apparently told detectives
that he hurled the slab at Goldberg after some-
one ridiculed him on the street. He later recant-
ed the confession, but by then his case was in the
prosecutorial pipeline. Ironically, his salvation
came in the form of surveillance videotape from
a Virgin Records store-which showed Grant
listening to music at the time of the attack.
Again, we cannot be sure why he made a false
confession. His interrogation went unrecorded.
That's because New York City police offi-
cers do not videotape interrogations systemati-
cally, from the beginning of the session. They
generally record high-profUe cases or those
especially in need of a confession because they
are weak on other evidence.
Unlike New York, more and more cities and
states nationwide now mandate video records.
Once universally dismissed among law enforce-
ment circles, the careful recording of interroga-
tions is winning over increasing numbers of
police and prosecutors.
Alaska and Minnesota were pioneers in such
reform. For years, they were the only states to
mandate that interrogations of suspects in
felony cases be recorded. Since the beginning
of this year, Illinois, Connecticut and Washing-
ton, D.C. , have required taping of interroga-
tions. Meanwhile, police departments in
locales as diverse as Fort Lauderdale, San Anto-
nio and Maryland's Prince George's County
have begun their own recording initiatives, as
Louisiana, Texas and about 20 other states
weigh proposals to do the same.
Defendant advocates say using cameras to
record interrogations will curb police miscon-
duct and prevent cases of wrongful imprison-
ment. But recording the end of the process is
not enough, says Manhattan civil rights attor-
ney Ron Kuby, who represented Central Park
defendant Yusef Salaam during the early stages
of his appeal. "After a suspect has been poked,
prodded and, in some cases, rehearsed, the
camera light goes on and the suspect steps up
for his 15 minutes of fame to make a confes-
sion," says Kuby. "But you never get to see
what led up to it."
A
rash of other cases nationwide, in which
questioning was taped, make it clear that
practices similar to what Esposito
describes can easily prompt false confessions.
Dr. Richard Of she is a Pulitzer Prize-win-
ning former journalist and now professor of
sociology at the University of California who
has studied false confessions for over a decade.
He says applying the right amount of psycho-
logical force can drive someone to make false
statements to an interrogator. "An interroga-
tion is really about overcoming resistance and
getting someone to say what you want them to
say," Of she notes. Suspects "have to be made to
feel that their situation is hopeless. It's only
when someone feels they're far better off by
confessing than continuing to tell the truth
that you get a false confession."
That's a feeling Michael Crowe knows all
too well. One morning in January 1998, his
29
30
Rewind to Central Park
Would beginning-to-end videotaping of their interrogations have changed the fate of
the five defendants in the Central Park jogger case? The recent reversal of their convic-
tions has inspired calls for the NYPD to methodically record all police questioning-but
the truth is that it's impossible to say whether it would have made a difference.
The five young men-Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana
and Kharey Wise-have filed a $2S0-million lawsuit against the NYPD and the Manhattan
D.A:s office charging both with malicious prosecution and ignoring evidence that proved
their innocence. The most significant is DNA, acquired earlier this year, that implicated ser-
ial rapist Matias Reyes in the rape of jogger Trisha Meili.
After lengthy interrogations immediately following the 1989 rape, detectives got
written confessions from all five teenagers. Then four gave videotaped statements. The
tapes show each boy graphically describing the sexual assault-mostly as if they were
mere observers, placing blame upon one another in accounts that were vastly different
and contradictory.
False confession expert Richard Ofshe, of the University of California, has examined
the Central Park jogger tapes and argues that the teens did not realize they were produc-
ing confessions. "What these kids wound up telling is what I call a 'witness story: It arises
after police tell a suspect, 'Look, I know you were there. We have overwhelming evidence
linking you to the scene. We don't think you had anything to do with the crime, but you
need to tell us what you saw:" Hoping to be released, suspects may comply by making up
stories. "Unfortunately;' Ofshe says, "they don't realize how their statements are linking
them" to the crime.
It also appears the police improperly fed details of the rape to the suspects before
they could make independent statements. Kharey Wise was taken back to the crime
scene, then shown pictures of Meili's wounds while being questioned about her injuries.
In using suggestion during questioning, detectives "contaminated their search for the
truth by providing information to the suspect" that he might not have known otherwise,
says Steve Drizin of Northwestern University, another expert on false confessions who
has evaluated the Central Park Jogger tapes.
Furthermore, the police used tactics some call unfair. Then-16-year-old Wise, for
instance, was reading at a second-grade level-yet he was interrogated without a lawyer
present. And at Salaam's trial, a detective testified that during his interrogation, Salaam,
then 15, repeatedly denied involvement in the rape until he was told-falsely-that his
fingerprints were found on the victim's pants.
Full videotape would have put these coercive moves on the public record. Even so,
taping might not have exonerated the teens. For one thing, the young men gave ready,
consistent descriptions of their roles in assaults that seriously injured a homeless man
and a male jogger in the park that night. What's more, there is evidence that at least
some of the Central Park Five freely admitted to participating in the rape. The mother
of a friend of Wise, for instance, testified that shortly after Wise confessed, he spoke to
her on the phone from jail and described taking part in the sexual assault. And instead
of blaming his friends, McCray often used the first person "I" in his confession when dis-
cussing the attack.
In a report issued in January, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly concluded that the
teens probably helped Reyes with the rape. Harlem community activist Sharonne Salaam,
mother of defendant Yusef, doesn't believe that. "I don't know what happened in the
interrogation room;' she says. Video cameras "would have helped" get to the truth.
-CS
The Innocence
investigated
.
In
suspects nevert
I2-year-old sister, Stephanie, was found
stabbed to death in her bedroom at their San
Diego home. Though neighbors told investiga-
tors about a suspicious, disheveled man seen
banging on doors the night of the murder,
detectives believed that, with no signs of forced
entry, the culprit could only be someone who
lived in the house. The drifter, Richard Tuite,
was found, questioned by police and ruled out
after a brief interrogation. Instead, police
zeroed in on Michael and his friends after dis-
covering some of his drawings and role-playing
video games like Dungeons & Dragons, with
themes of rape, murder and bestiality set in the
medieval era.
Michael, then 14, was taken into protective
custody and subjected to grueling questioning
with neither his parents nor a lawyer present.
Over the course of a Videotaped II-hour inter-
rogation, Michael denied any involvement in
the murder. He eventually broke down and
confessed after being told he failed a polygraph
exam and that Stephanie's blood was found in
his room. And during a withering, IO-hour
videotaped interrogation, detectives informed
Michael's friend Joshua Treadway, who denied
any role in the murder, that Michael and
another friend had already confessed and
implicated him. After being told that a knife
found in his room tested positive for
Stephanie's blood, Joshua confessed.
None of what the cops told Joshua and
Michael was true.
As Michael's trial neared, defense attorneys
put Richard Tuite's clothes, which had been in
police custody, through a DNA test and found
traces of Stephanie's blood. The DNA evidence,
as well as the videotaped confessions-which a
San Diego judge ruled were illegally obtained-
led Michael's case to be thrown out of court.
Richard Tuite is slated to stand trial in February
for Stephanie Crowley's murder.
Saul Kassin, a professor of psychology and
chair of Legal Studies at Williams College, has
conducted extensive research on interrogations
like Michael Crowe's. He argues that there are a
number of flaws in the process, including the
inability of some detectives to entertain the pos-
sibility that someone other than the suspect
committed the crime. "Interrogators have a high
degree of confidence that the person they're
interrogating is guilty," Kassin says. "With that
presumption of guilt, it doesn't matter what the
suspect says. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. "
CITY LIMITS
Project notes that in nearly a quarter
which DNA subsequently proved their
heless had confessed their guilt during
of the cases it
.
Innocence,
interrogations.
has
The power of that presumption is clear
from data compiled by the Innocence Project,
a New York-based national organization that
analyzes DNA evidence in order to free falsely
convicted defendants. The Innocence Project
notes that suspects had confessed their guilt
during interrogations in nearly a quarter of the
cases it has investigated in which DNA subse-
quently proved their innocence.
Even when used on the guilty, interrogation
is less science than it is art. As felons attempt to
conceal the truth, cops seek to destabilize them
in a game of verbal hardball. On fictional TV
cop shows, defiant suspects confess once they're
confronted with evidence against them. In real-
ity, things are rarely so easy. The stakes are high
for police to get a confession in cases with little
or no evidence. To do so, detectives use manip-
ulation during interrogations.
For more than 50 years, the Chicago-based
firm John E. Reid and Associates, Inc., has
specialized in training police officers in the
United States and Canada. Its handbook,
Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, which
recommends the use of a nine-step interroga-
tion technique, has been widely adopted by
law enforcement departments nationwide.
While the NYPD refuses to comment on its
own interrogation guidelines, a spokesperson
at Reid and Associates says the firm conducts
two seminars a year in New York City on
interrogation methods.
In the Reid system, each stage of questioning
is carefully planned. A suspect is first put in a
windowless and virtually empty room, then lefr
alone for a few minutes. After anxiety has built,
a detective arrives and calmly tells the suspect
that he or she is thought to be the perpetrator.
The detective then observes the suspect's
reaction. Passive denial is said to signal guilt,
but even a highly emotional protestation of
innocence might be mere play-acting. If denials
persist, the detective cuts them off and paints a
picture of how the suspect might have com-
mitted the crime. Such scenarios include the
idea that it was an "accident, " or that the sus-
pect doesn't remember because he or she was
drunk or on drugs.
Nothing prohibits the detective from lying. In
crimes thought to be the work of more than one
person, a detective can play suspects against each
other by telling one that another has already con-
fessed and implicated the rest of the group. Sus-
pects may also be told they'll be treated leniently
NOVEMBER 2003
if they admit to merely observing the crime while
others in the group actually committed it. Ulti-
mately, the whole process can make suspects feel
there is no way out but to concede guilt.
Such tactics may be dirty pool, but most cops
and courts feel they're acceptable. In a landmark
1969 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed
the right of police officers to use deceit while
interrogating criminal suspects. And although
young people and the mentally ill are especially
vulnerable to trickery, courts have consistently
ruled that if they understand their Miranda
did generations ago, before they were banned.
During four years of researching criminal
cases nationwide, Drizin has discovered at least a
dozen cases of probable or certain false confes-
sions in New York City. He thinks the city has
the same problems as municipalities elsewhere.
New York police officers and prosecutors, Drizin
says, need training in recognizing false confes-
sions and gathering information from suspects
who are mentally ill, of low intelligence or juve-
niles. Above all, he says, all interrogations should
be recorded from the beginning.
Northwest ern University's Steven Drizin says New York City needs t o record
f elony interrogati ons.
rights but waive them and voluntarily confess,
their statements are admissible during trial.
What if a suspect isn't guilty? In theory, cops
are prohibited from using tactics that would
drive an innocent person to confess. But theory
and practice are two different things, observers
say. Steven Drizin, a law professor at Northwest-
ern University and an expen in false confessions,
notes: "When you have an innocent person
denying over and over that they're innocent and
the officer cuts off those denials to suggest sce-
narios, it's the equivalent of torrure." Interroga-
tions may produce false confessions as readily as
"third degree" rubber hoses and electric shock
F
or the last 20 years, detectives and prose-
cutors in New York City have taped con-
fessions at their own discretion, starting
and stopping the video camera whenever they
choose. But after false confessions became a
burning issue earlier this year in the Central
Park jogger case, the Innocence Project, Legal
Aid, former Manhanan Assistant D.A. Philip
Russom, New York State Assemblymember
Adam Clayton Powell N and other advocates
began issuing pamphlets, holding rallies, speak-
ing out and sponsoring legislation in an effort
to win reform. "This is something whose time
has come, says Harlem City Councilmember
31
Bill Perkins. He introduced a bill to the City
Council last September seeking to mandate
that all suspects held in felony cases have their
interrogations recorded from start to fl1lish. A
hearing on the bill by the Public Safety Com-
mittee is slated to be held by the end of the
year. A similar bill, sponsored by Assembly-
member Powell, has been introduced in the
New York State Assembly.
But bruised feelings and infighting about the
Central Park jogger case between the DA's
office and the police [see "Rewind to Central
Park," page 30] threaten the effort. "Soon after
the convictions were thrown out" in that case,
says Sarah Tofte, program coordinator for the
Innocence Project, "we had a meeting with the
NYPD and thought there was some momen-
tum. " That faded, she says, after Manhattan
DA Robert Morgenthau recommended that the
convictions be vacated. Councilmember Perkins
adds that the NYPD has "an instinctive reaction
of being picked on whenever reforms are
attempted in the wake of blatant misconduct."
"In order for the police to sign on," says Tofte,
mandated recording "may have to be freed from
the spotlight of the Central Park jogger case. "
Even if that spotlight dims, law enforce-
ment officials and politicos may not be wild
about videotaping. New York City, after all, is
far bigger than Broward County, Florida or
Houston. The city's five boroughs contain 75
police precincts and 38,000 officers who grap-
ple with about a quarter of a million arrests a
year. Robert McCrie, professor of security
management at John Jay College of Criminal
Justice, estimates it would cost $500,000 to
implement across-the-board videotaping of
felony suspect interrogations. That figure does
not include the costs of transcribing the inter-
rogations and making copies.
Some believe the price is too high. "We have
undercover officers who don't have working
police radios," the late Councilmember James
E. Davis, a former police officer, told City Lim-
its during an interview shortly before his death
in July. "Now you're telling me the police
department, during this $3 billion budget gap,
is all of a sudden going to have enough video
cameras and tape recorders to use in all felony
cases? I don't think there's enough money."
Detectives---and their union, the Detectives
Endowment Association-aren't enthusiastic
about the idea either. There's deep concern that
mandatory videotaping could result in fewer
true confessions. "Some defendants will admit
to something. Then when you tell them, 'Well,
now we're going to videotape,' they won't
32
respond," says Detective Thomas Scotto, presi-
dent of the union. Scotto also worries that if
videotaping is mandated, defense lawyers will
gain the advantage. In every case, he predicts,
attorneys will be asking the police, '''When did
the defendant make the admission? Did you
record it appropriately?' All this will tie up the
courts endlessly with the technical aspects of the
issue rather than the crime itself"
Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., a former
prosecutor and chair of the council's Public Safe-
ty Committee, agrees. He calls mandated video-
taping problematic because "it puts another
technicality in a process that is already over-
loaded with them. I am very hesitant to have a
good confession thrown out for ridiculous rea-
sons by a New York City judge." Storage and
chain-of-evidence logistics are another issue: The
late Councilmember Davis, who also served on
the committee, asked, "Who's going to protect
the tape and make sure it isn't doctored?"
In cities that have started recording confes-
sions, many prosecutors have come to embrace
the mandates. They have a good reason to:
Videotapes can beef up their success rate
with convictions.
After the Miami Herald reported last year
that at least 38 cases of questionable murder
confessions had been thrown out of Broward
County courts since 1990, the sheriff's office
decided to record felony interrogations in full.
The move cost $100,000 to outfit rooms at six
police stations with DVD equipment. Mean-
while, the San Antonio Police Department, a
longtime opponent of recording interrogations,
made a stunning about-face in August when it
announced plans to obtain a $612,000 federal
grant to begin taping the interrogation of sus-
pects in all homicide and other felony cases.
Such reforms may not be received with
enthusiasm at first, but they are often wel-
comed later. Alaska's video recording legisla-
tion, for instance, was enacted in 1985, and
Minnesota's was passed in 1994, following
state Supreme Court decisions in appeals of
criminal cases where suspects claimed they
were forced to confess.
Alaska and Minnesota law enforcement
authorities were wary of interrogation video-
tape requirements, but they soon proved help-
ful for prosecutors. "When you've got it on
tape, you can judge the demeanor of the offi-
cers and the defendant for yourself, " says Paul
Scoggin, a prosecutor in Minneapolis. "Most
defendants are pretty cleaned up and sitting
quietly by the time they get to trial, but some
are much rougher and tougher on the night
they are arrested. It's very helpful to get a
glimpse at the whole picture."
"A picture is worth a thousand words," says
John Leggio, a spokesman for the Houston
Police Department, which has recorded inter-
rogations for about a decade. "Why not let
what happened during an interrogation play
out before the eyes of a jury?"
Jurors- including those in New York
City-seem increasingly wary of confessions
that are not recorded. In 1999, a Manhattan
panel handed down a surprising verdict when it
acquitted a 27-year-old man in the 1997 mur-
der of Jonathan Levin, son of Gerald Levin, for-
mer chairman of Time Warner. Despite an 11-
page written confession, the jury believed the
defendant was too drunk or high on drugs to
have committed the crime. They believed his
confession was false.
Northwestern law professor Drizin wel-
comes the new public skepticism. "We're
nowhere near the point of no return," he says.
"But I think far more prosecutors and juries are
beginning to realize that a confession isn't the
golden nugget it once was. "
For Frank Esposito, that nugget still weighs
heavy. "I wasted all my parents' money" in legal
defense fees, he says, "for something I didn't
do. " As a result, "My parents are struggling. I'm
struggling." His emotional trauma is perhaps
worse than the financial burden. The experi-
ence of being innocent but "treated like a mur-
derer" has alienated him from friends who can-
not understand what he went through. And he
feels soured on the community.
"I went through everything on my own,"
Esposito says. "I don't hang out with the
friends I used to. I don't stay with them no
more. I want to get out of Brooklyn."
Cftrtis Stephen is a Brooklyn-based freeulnce
writer and media fellow with the Open
Society Imtitute.
CITY LIMITS
INTELLIGENCE
THE BIG IDEA
Service Interruption
If Hun gets out of the
homeless services business,
whos going to pick
up the slack?
By Cassi Feldman
flOYD WILLIAMS doesn't look much like a
gourmet chef The 52 year old has sharp cheek-
bones and a concave smile, physical remnants
of a long-term heroin habit. But on this partic-
ular Thursday, he's the consummate profes-
sional: twisting calamari into rings and sim-
mering scallops in a creamy butter sauce.
Williams has spent the past seven weeks in
the Culinary Arts Training Program, a cooking
boot camp run by Project Renewal in the base-
ment of its East 3rd Street shelter. It took a
brush with prison to get Williams into the pro-
gram, but now, he says, "I'm in it for the long
haul." He's not the only one: Culinary Arts has
enrolled 885 formerly homeless students over
NOVEMBER 2003
the past six and a half years, placing half of
them in steady jobs.
Despite its apparent success, however, the
program's days are numbered. It is one of 57
New York City homeless programs slated to
shut down when their contracts expire in 2004
and 2005. The list, which includes drug treat-
ment, transportation, mental health care, and
outreach, reflects years of hard work by agen-
cies like Project Renewal that specialize in serv-
ing homeless people. And their shaky future
reveals a major federal shift in thinking about
homelessness itsel[
For years, these programs have been funded
by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, which oversees the
nation's billion-dollar homelessness budget.
But now HUD is shifting gears. Rather than
spend the bulk of its funding on homeless ser-
vices, the Bush administration wants the
agency to concentrate first and foremost on
creating permanent housing. This way, the
thinking goes, it can move habitual shelter-
dwellers into housing and open up emergency
beds for newcomers.
The feds have made clear they want the
funds to build more "supportive" housing-
linked up with on-site extras like meals and
case management. Yet by pushing cities to
focus on bricks and mortar, they put freestand-
ing homeless programs, those not limited to
residents of a particular housing facili ty, at risk.
"Intuitively, people support the idea that HUD
should provide housing; that's not the issue,"
says Brad Paul, housing policy director for the
National Coalition on Homelessness, a D.C.-
based advocacy group. "But the question is,
who's going to fund services? Where's the
money going to come from?"
TRADITIONALLY, THE RESPONSIBILITY has been
shared. Since 1987, when Congress passed the
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, named
for its chief sponsor, Connecticut Republican
Rep. Stewart McKinney, a host of federal agen-
cies have teamed up to tackle homelessness.
The Department of Agriculture, for instance,
offers food stamps; the Department of Health
and Human Services provides medical and
mental health care. And HUD manages the
33
INTELLIGENCE
THE BIG IDEA
34
NEW REPORTS
To hear the Bush administration tell it, owning
property is the gateway to salvation from
poverty. But this ominous report warns that the
housing market has been out of sync with eco-
nomic reality since 1995, and says working
families will feel the bubble's eventual burst the
most: Homes that moderate-income folks
bought in recent years are likely to drop in value
by 25 percent or many owners in
debt to mortgage lenders for more than their
homes are worth.
Homeownership in a Bubble:
The Fast Path to Poverty?
The Center for Economic and Policy Research
www.cepr.netor 202-293-5380
Only 44 percent of out-of-work New Yorkers
actually got unemployment insurance in 2002,
this report estimates. Moreover, low-income
workers and people of color were the most likely
to fall through the cracks. Researchers surveyed
2,500 people who were jobless at some point in
2001 and 2002: 88 percent of those making
more than $22 an hour collected UI, while only
38 percent of those who made less than $8 an
hour did. And while nearly 75 percent of white
workers cashed in, only 43 percent of Latinos
and 55 percent of blacks did. So much for rest-
ing assured.
Recession and 9111: Economic Harr/ship
and the Failure of the Safety Net
Brennan Center for Justice
www.brennancenter.org or 212-998-6730
New York spends nearly $70 million in staff time
alone to verify Child Health Plus enrollees' eligi-
bility each year, but finds less than 7 percent
who are in fact ineligible. Advocates have long
complained that too many people are wrongly
pushed out of public health insurance every year
by the cumbersome process of constantly prov-
ing they Qualify. This report adds that, in fact,
the lower a family's income, the less likely it is to
go through the rigmarole of keeping coverage.
Rethinking Recertification
The Commonwealth Fund
www.cmwf.orgor 212-6116-3853
largest chunk: A host of emergency shelter and
housing programs that now total over $1.2 bil-
lion per year. That money trickles down to
local "Continuum of Care" planning boards
that apply for the federal funding each year-
and decide how their cities spend it.
But local boards don't have total control. In
1999, after years of throwing millions of dol-
lars down the emergency services well, frus-
trated pols led by New York Republican Rep.
Rick Lazio's housing committee mandated that
cities spend at least 30 percent of their McKin-
ney funds on permanent housing.
Now the Bush administration has taken that
shift a step further, arguing
that many homeless ser-
shelters rarely or episodically, the other 10 per-
cent had come to rely on them as homes, occu-
pying half of shelter beds on any given night.
By finding permanent housing for these chron-
ically homeless, Mangano reasons, you not
only make the "customer" happy, but also free
up resources for those who need them more.
"This makes sense on a moral, spiritual
and policy level, " he says. ''And it's economi-
cally sound."
For Maureen Friar, executive director of the
Supportive Housing Network of New York, all
this is exactly the kick in the pants needed to
end homelessness. Rather than "continuing
the continuum continu-
ously," she says, the
vices could be subsumed
under existing programs
like Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families and
Medicaid. Rather than cre-
ating a new job-training
program for homeless peo-
ple, for example, a city
could refer them to one
already funded by the u.s.
Department of Labor or
the Workforce Investment
Act. To help grease the
wheels, Bush revitalized the
Interagency Coalition on
Homelessness, a relic from
the McKinney Act, and
appointed Philip Mangano
as its executive director.
The administration
found an eloquent and
persuasive spokesperson in
Mangano. As former presi-
dent of the Massachusetts
"When you ask
people what they
want, they say, 'I
want a place to
live,'" says Philip
Mangano. "Any
results-based
strategy has to
start there."
shift toward permanent
housing "forces people
to think about what
is the best investment
of HUD dollars. It
forces groups to work
more efficiently."
New York, she points
out, is already ahead of
the curve. Because the
city's "right to shelter"
consent decree requires a
bed for anybody who
needs one, New York has
developed a strong net-
work of emergency ser-
vices and is therefore less
reliant than other cities
on McKinney money to
cover the cost of beds. In
fact , McKinney funds
make up only about 10
percent of the $600 mil-
Housing and Shelter
Alliance, a coalition of 75 agencies, he has
enough grassroots credibility to push an effi-
ciency agenda without sounding coldhearted.
"When you ask people what they want, invari-
ably they say, 'I want a place to live,'" he explains.
"Any results-based strategy has to start there. "
That's why the administration has chosen
to address the housing problem first, with a
plan to eliminate "chronic homelessness" in 1 0
years. The concept, inspired in large part by the
research of academics Dennis Culhane and
Marty Burt, uses a business model to under-
stand homelessness---one that keeps a close eye
on the bottom line. In a pivotal 1998 study,
Culhane and colleague Randall Kuhn found
that while 90 percent of homeless people in
New York and Philadelphia used emergency
lion a year the city spends
on homelessness. Los
Angeles, by comparison, spends only $70 mil-
lion total, federal and local money combined.
So while other cities have struggled to make
sure that 30 percent of their McKinney funds
were spent on permanent housing, New York
has already surpassed 40 percent, according to
the Department of Homeless Services, and
helped pioneer the supportive housing model.
But now Washington wants to see more.
HUD built incentives into this year's McKin-
ney application to entice cities to spend that
money on housing and refer homeless people
to mainstream services. "The feds made it
overtly clear that they expect localities to pick
up services dollars," says Andrew Coamey, co-
chair of the policy committee of New York's
Coalition on the Continuum of Care, which
CITY LIMITS
prepares the city's annual application. "We're
stuck in the middle."
Given the large number of contracts that
come up for renewal each year, the coalition
had an impossible choice: Cut programs to
finance more housing or risk losing out on new
federal money in a city where homelessness has
hit record highs. The 57 services-only con-
tracrs, already viewed unfavorably by HUD,
were the obvious sacrifice.
WELL, OBVIOUS TO SOME. Those who run the
threatened programs say their tailored
approach can't necessarily be duplicated by
mainstream agencies. "I think it's terrible,"
says Tori Lyon, associate executive director of
the Jericho Project, a local service provider that
stands to lose a computer lab in its Harlem
housing site. "A homeless person with a dis-
ability requires a lot of support services. If you
look at the goals of supportive housing, the
services are what enable them [to stay out of
the shelters]."
Mangano says he has no intention of forget-
ting about services. Already, he says, the presi-
dent's Interagency Council has gotten the
Department of Health and Human Services and
Commitment is
the Veterans Administration to pitch in and fund
a $65 million, three-year pilot housing and ser-
vices program targeting chronic homelessness.
But local advocates say the cooperation
Mangano envisions at the city and state level
simply doesn't exist. At a meeting designed to
address the service contract curs last November,
the city Human Resources Administration and
its subsidiary HIV/AIDS Services Administra-
tion didn't even send representatives, says
Coamey. And those who did come weren't
much help. ' ~ we heard was, 'Our budgers are
being cut, too,'" he complains. "Nobody was
jumping up to offer any dollars. "
The idea of focusing resources on chronic
homeless people also has its critics. "Of course
we think that population should be targeted,"
says Jeremy Rosen, staff attorney for the
National Law Center on Homelessness and
Poverty. "But we also think that the other 90
percent of homeless people-those who are liv-
ing doubled up, people who aren't on the
streets and visible-that population is impor-
tant, too."
In a July 21 letter to Mangano, 26 homeless
advocacy groups challenged the administration
to take a wider view. "We have witnessed
INTELLIGENCE
THE BIG IDEA
growth in the scale and severity of homeless-
ness among families with children, unaccom-
panied youth, and other populations who do
not fit neatly into the 'chronic homeless' para-
digm," they wrote. "Current federal mandates
are forcing our communities to overlook these
gaps and needs in favor of a narrowly con-
structed national priority."
Mangano shot back his own seven-page let-
ter. "To imply or indicate that the chronic
homelessness initiative is responsible for so
many policy misdirections, most existing long
before irs inception, overstates reality and
undermines substantive dialogue," he wrote.
His harshest critics remain unmoved. If
Washington really wants to solve homelessness,
they ask, why did the White House propose
cutting an estimated 100,000 Section 8 vouch-
ers this year, a move that could easily push
thousands of people at the bottom of the hous-
ing ladder off their rung? And if it values a full
range of services, why would it let programs
like Culinary Arts slip through the cracks?
"It's pretty disingenuous for this administra-
tion to say that they're pushing supportive
housing," Paul charges. "Where does [that
housing] come from, and at what cost?"
Tomorro\N starts today
Deutsche Bank's commitment to
global corporate citizenship recognizes a
responsibility to improve and enrich the com-
munities throughout the world in
which we conduct business.
With a focused strategy of support for com-
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ronment, Deutsche Bank partners with local
organizations to build a brighter future.
leading to results
Our commitment to a better tomorrow
starts today.
Deutsche Bank IZI
NOVEMBER 2003 3S
INTELLIGENCE
CITY LIT
Keeping it Real
A collection of first-person narratives bypasses pathos
to illustrate immigration's rich complexities.
By Debbie Nathan
Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America
By Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan
W.W. Norton & Company, 400 pages, $35
"ALWAYS MY MOTHER is with problems in her
mind which is why she almost got hit by car
crossing Queens Boulevard," says 21-year-old
Arthur Gulkarov. He was raised in Tajikistan in
the Soviet Union; now he and his parents are
struggling as Jewish refugees in the Brave New
World of Rego Park. "The light says WALK,"
muses Arthur, as he explains the phenomenon
that gave Crossing the BLVD its title. "And you
step off to walk and halfway across it begin to
flash DON'T WALK, DON'T WALK,
DON'T WALK. The cars rush forward and
many immigrants, they are thinking, what I'm
going to do with my life here? Smack, they get
hit by car. "
In the last decade, in a borough whose pop-
ulation is the most ethnically and internationally
diverse of any locale on earth, scores of people
have been killed trying to cross 12-1ane Queens
Boulevard. It's the sort of story that is supposed
to make you feel sorry for immigrants, doleful
about immigration, and mad at the relentless
globalization that wrests people from their con-
flict- and poverty-stricken countries, like
Dorothy spun from Kansas by tornadoes.
If Arthur and other interviewees told only
such tales of suffering, Crossing the BLVD
would be just another sad-sack plaint about the
hardships newcomers to America face these
days. Yet even before you open this stunningly
innovative book, it's already clear that it goes
beyond pathos and into the kaleidoscope of
experience that defines real immigrant life, in
all of its complexity.
The cover jacket gives a preview, with a riot
of colors and faces-including two men wear-
ing make-up. One is Prajwal, a Hindu sacred
dancer from Nepal who lives now in Wood-
side. The other is young and beautiful Arthur
Gulkarov, who has brought with him from
Tajikistan a suite of bejeweled and contortion-
ist folk-dance skills.
Design innovation continues in the book's
36
pages, which are filled with snippets of the
Hagstrom street grid of Queens, layered onto
maps of the narrators' native countries:
Afghanistan and Forest Hills, Nigeria and
Far Rockaway. There are color photos of the
storytellers and of their chockablock bor-
ough neighborhoods, of their favorite
tchotchkes from the old country and of
newer mementos from here (for one man,
from India, albums of the Butthole Surfers).
The cumulative effect is that going through
this book does not feel like dodging deadly traf-
fic on mean streets. It's more akin to stepping off
the Number 7 train at Roosevelt Avenue on a
sunny Saturday. You encounter people from
practically every ethnic group in Queens-
which is to say from many of the groups on the
planet-and their stories come so alive that read-
ing is like chatting with them under the el tracks.
Sure, they complain of how cold and nasty
Gotham can be. "I call my friend at his home
in Astoria, " mourns Prajwal, the male Nepalese
dancer with the lipsticked face. "He doesn't
have time to see me . .. . He's blaming me the
whole time, he's losing a hundred dollars just to
visit with me .... This is New York City: Friend-
ship is loss." And Arthur Gulkarov's aging
father critiques runaway capitalism in a pidgin
English that makes poetry of Marx: "In Amer-
ica you musician, famous artist nobody know,
you shoe repair, you sell coats, you push
broom, you homeless-all one person. Amer-
ica is free country, is working, working, work-
ing. Is money, money, money. Afrer saving
their money, money, money, they die. No
good. Money is die. "
But immigranrs start assimilating as soon as
they get here (if not before), and it's not long
before their brand of bitching melds with that
of native New Yorkers. One ensemble inter-
view in Crossing the BLVD recounts an incident
in 1999 when some Mexican entrepreneurs
organized a rodeo at a parking lot in Queens-
boro Plaza. A bull escaped from its corral, and
police chased it down and shot it.
A Greek-American, Helen, starts the tale. "I
was just sitting down to enjoy my cup of coffee
and the Sunday paper when I heard BAM
BAM BAM. I jumped up and saw a bull com-
ing down 36th Avenue at a pretty good clip,
and cops chasing behind it in their cars shoot-
ing .. .. His horns were polished and his coat
was so neat and clean .. .. Clearly he was some-
body's manicured pet. .. . The cops were sitting
in their cars cross-shooting through the park-
ing lot. They denied later, but they lied."
A long-haired, South Asian immigrant
named Leo picks up the thread and launches it
into the stratosphere. "In India you couldn't
even hit a cow or a bull with a stick without
getting into trouble ... . Normally I don't go in
for any of that religious bullshit, but 15 cops
shooting a helpless animal, there's no reason for
that." Leo says he's worried about a comet
crashing into earth, but adds that he's studying
computer technology because his dream is "to
invent a way to change the magnetic fields so
we could change the direction of the comet.
We don't have to destroy it. That's the old way
of thinking that comes from the part of the
brain that shoots bullets at bulls. I'm talking
about a totally new technology that could
change the force of gravity. Once we do that,
we wouldn't have to worry about comets or
meteorites anymore. We would just have to
worry about killing each other."
CITY LIMITS
Finally, one of the Mexican entrepreneurs
brings things back to weird, New York City
earth. "The bull story," he notes, "carne out on
the first page of every newspaper comparing
the bull to the guy they shot in the Bronx,
because the bull was black."
BUT MANY IMMIGRANTS wrest pleasure from
America's hard edges, and given the background
of the book's authors, it is no surprise that Cross-
ing the BLVD deeply appreciates the fact. Co-
author Judith Sloan is an actress, monologuist
and oral historian, so she's used to exploring
emotional and vocal nuance. Her husband,
Warren Lehrer, is a writer and award-winning
book designer who has filled this one with a
bazaar of photos, graphics, and typefaces that
are as crowded and vibrant as the main drags of
Flushing's Chinatown
long so we could stay in his New York City
apartment. Our sponsor pick us up at airport
and drive us to Manhattan. I say, Oh my God,
the city's so beautiful. Then he drive us up to
Harlem. I say, Oh my God, it's so scary .... I
went to bartender school and srarted working
nights at a strip bar rwo blocks from the World
Trade Center. I love it. So many good-looking
guys. To me, that was heaven. Lots of girls say,
Oh my God, how can you work in a place like
that? All these terrible guys? I say, 'Yeah, like
your husband or your boyfriend.'"
Most narrators seem far more ambivalent
about the United States than Lana; even so,
many have made touching compromises with
their new home.
"Even when I go outside and people yell at
me, I am happy," says the Nepalese man whose
friend is too busy to
or Jackson Heights'
Little India. Lehrer
and Sloan live in
Queens and met many
of their interviewees at
story-telling work-
shops held in conjunc-
tion with their organi-
zation EarSay, which
documents ordinary
people's lives and peri-
odically airs on public
radio. Clearly, the
authors are enamored
of their neighbors.
Says one immigrant:
visit. "It's a Buddhist
teaching: If everybody
IS liking you-
Some of Crossing
the BLVD's immigrants
"America is
working, working,
working. Is money,
money, money. No
good. Money is die. "
ego ness will be
there. You are too
proud. But if some-
one doesn't like you, it
makes you more sen-
sitive. I want to
understand them.
Find out what it is
they don't like. Even if
they're wrong about
me, there's truth in
their dislike too. I
must learn from that.
are also smitten, in ways so bound to the glitz of
imperium that detailing their enthusiasm is not
quite Pc. Wisely, though, Lehrer and Sloan give
space to people like Lana Dihn, a native of South
Viemam who now works in a topless bar in
Flushing. "When I was young" in wartime Viet-
nam, she says, "I love American soldier .... They
all big and tall and good-looking .... I first started
going around with American GI's when I was 14.
Every night me and my cousin used to go to the
officers' club to watch Hollywood movie with
them. Talk to them. We love them. See so many
Elvis Presley movies with them. Oh my God, I
love Elvis!. ..
"Soon as Americans start pulling out of our
country, I cried. Oh my God. What we do
without them? A few days before the Commu-
nists take over Saigon, a friend of mine who is
a foot man on a big ship come over to my
house. He say, 'Come on .. .'
"Six months in Guam I found an American
Indian Merchant Marine. He on sea all year
NOVEMBER 2003
"New York is very
good for this kind of learning."
Bonds of friendship--and more-are also
formed in Crossings pages among members of
different national groups, even berween people
who are supposed to keep to their own kind.
Sixty-rwo-year-old Mary Goldman, from
Shanghai, describes a match made in heaven,
with a detour through the Latimer Senior Cen-
ter near Kissena Boulevard:
"A classmate say to me, 'You always stay
with Chinese people, no chance to practice
English. I have neighbor, this senior man is
very nice. Wife is gone and I ask him if he be
your conversation teacher.' Every Saturday
afternoon, three hours talking with Mr. Gold-
man, first basic sentences, then about my life.
About his life .... Six months later, he say, 'You
don't have to stay your cousin's house. You
move in my house.' .. . After we talking about
customs, I see Jewish people and Chinese peo-
ple very similar. Next time I go to his house he
asks if I will marry him.
INTELLIGENCE
CITY LIT
NOW READ THIS
Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds,
and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide
to Films About labor
By Tom Zaniello
Cornell University Press, $52.50
Here's the most fun you'll ever have reading a
400-page tome on labor. Zaniello, a National
Labor College professor, has updated his encyclo-
pedia of movies about the blue-collar world to
include a whopping 350 titles-from obscure
documentaries about labor legends like A. Philip
Randolph to Cheech Marin's Born in East L.A. In
addition to the usual encyclopedic synopsis and
cast and production info in each entry, Zaniello
offers reading lists forthe film's subject and sug-
gests similar flicks to check out.
The Betrayal of Work
By Beth Shulman
The New Press, $29.95
You read Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed,
now here's the study companion. Shulman's slim
volume offers an articulate round-up of the policy
decisions that leave millions working for pennies.
A former United Food and Commercial Workers
Union exec, Shulman wants to break the intellec-
tuallink between "low-wage" and "low-skill": Less
than 5 percent of low-wage jobs are in fast food.
People making minimum wage include nurse
technicians, pharmacy assistants and child care
workers. Meanwhile, safety-net programs poorly
serve moms and part-timers, who make up a
growing share of the workforce. Shulman's solution
for all of this is predictable: Unionize. It leaves you
wanting more, but that's a good start.
No Fire Next Time: Black-Korean Conflicts
and the Future of America's Cities
By Patrick D. Joyce
Cornell University Press, $45
Here's a cautionary note for voters considering
Mayor Bloomberg's nonpartisan elections pro-
posal this month. Joyce asks why L.A. and New
York City neighborhoods dealt with inter-ethnic
tensions so differently throughout the 1990s-
rioting out West; controlled protest back East. His
answer: Traditional political parties' longstanding
presence in Gotham's 'hoods gave people a stake
in the political process, encouraging them to
mobilize the machine rather than rage against it.
37
New, Revised and Updated Edition!
CITY FOR SALE
The Transformation of
San Francisco
By Chester Hartman
"Hartman wonderfully illuminates
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promises, brutality, waste, incom-
petence, and sheer silliness that
characterized the ill-fated
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Renewal and puts it into a social
and economic context."
-Jane Jacobs, author of The Death
and Life of Great American Cities
$24.95 paperback at bookstores or order
(800) 82.26657 www.ucpress.edu
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA PRESS
from CUPR PRESS
CHESTER HARTMAH with Sir. Clmtdsa
BETWEEN EMINENCE AND NOTORIETY
Four Decades of Radical Urban Planning
CHESTER HARTMAN with a Foreword by JANE JACOBS
In a career that spanned America's turbulent journey from urban renewal
through the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the ever-
widening economic chasm that engulfed whole populations in the United
States, Chester Hartman has worked tirelessly with grassroots activists and
progressive planners to bring about meaningful social change. This book
is an anthology of his most important writing.
In a compelling 56-page autobiographical essay, Hartman contextualizes his work in the events of the
time, reveals the motivations and perspective that drive his passions, and focuses a spotlight on the frailty
of the planning and policy professions. The essay sets the stage for the anthology of Hartman's
wntlngs that follow, organized into five parts: DISPLACEMENT AND URBAN RENEWAL; HOUSING PROBLEMS ANO
POLICIES; ORGANIZING AND AmvISM; POVERTY AND RACE; and PLANNING EDUCATION. In thirty-two colorful, no-
holds-barred chapters, the reader accompanies Hartman through four decades of planning and activism for
social equity. Now executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Poverty & Race Research Action
Council, Hartman chronicles his work from Boston to San Francisco; from Cuba to Paris; from a focus on
gentrification and displacement to public and military-family housing; from interactions with Daniel
Patrick Moynihan and James Q. Wilson to Paul Davidoff and Harvey Milk; to his founding of the Planners
Network. Whether you are a student, educator, practitioner, historian, or political activist, these
essays will inform, delight, and inspire.
CUPR PRESS-CENTER FOR URBAN POLICY RESEARCH
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
33 Uvingston Avenue, Suite 400, New Brunswick. NJ 08901-1982
Telephone: 732.9323133, ext. 555 emall: cuprbookOrcl.rutgers.edu
Fax: 732-9322363
38
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Paper, $24.95 ISBN 0882851721
424 pp., 2002
plus $5 shippinglhandling (U.S. orders)
NJ orders: Add 6% sales tax
"Five years now, I live with Frank I got sec-
ond spring .... It's hard to translate to English.
Chinese people say, the feeling has no words-
I love you. You love me.
"Highest spirit love don't need words
like that."
Maybe not, but in Crossing the BLVD, the
words of New York's immigrants soar, in print
and in sound as well. Besides crafting a book,
the authors have collaborated with composer
Scott Johnson to produce a CD that jangles
interviewees' speech with music often played or
sung by the immigrants themselves. The result
is a bricolage of foreign accents, world melodies
and flinty comment. ''Americans all looked the
same to me, " one Chinese woman chuckles
ruefully. Then her remark-and uneasy
laugh-shatter inco spooky recombinants of
consonants, vowels and rock music.
It all sounds and reads like echoing subway
stations and big newsstands where you don't
know all the languages but wish you did. Cross-
ing the BLVD lets you listen and browse and
understand .
In Their Own Words ...
Excerpts from Crossing the BLVD, written by
Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan, published
by W. W. Norton & Company.
Camilo Perdomo and
Juan Carlos Veloza, Colombia
CAMILO: We miss our country. We did not come
here to have money to buy our first Osterizer,
because we had an Osterizer and a car and a
house and a garden in our country. We just can't
live there anymore without being dead.
One year and one month we are here in
New York and then we get our interview with
the INS.
... How do you prove calls you get on your
cell phone from men who call you by our
name, saying "Maricon de la mierda" [Faggot
piece of shit]' and all these things I don't even
want to repeat? What can we show? We have
no police report .... To tell the Colombian
police that people are trying to kill you because
you are gay, is like telling wolf you are a
chicken coop ....
JUAN CARLOS: I don't remember the exact date I
met Camilo. What's it matter if it's two years or
three? What's important is we love each other.
CITY LIMITS
INTELLIGENCE
CITY LIT
Miguel and Marianna, left, met in a Mexican passion play; Arthur Gulkarov is pursing a career as a dancer and actor.
CAMILO: We got a job delivering food for different
restaurant. ... First I think it's below me. Then I
think we are together-<iriving our car with road
map of New York and a lantern, talking, eating. It
become like we are carrying sacred things-food
for people to eat. We drive five hours in a row
without a break and we're smelling the food in
our hungry noses. One time Juan Carlos looks
inside. "Hmrnrn, chicken wings, french fries. You
want just one or two french fries?"
"Yeah."
"And maybe one small chicken wing?" We
become experts to open and close again the
food like nobody was there. I feel sorry about
that. Really.
Miguel and Marianna,
Puebla, Mexico
MIGUEL: When we first met, I was Marcelo, the
soldier who kills Christ, and she was the Virgin
Mary .... It's a piece of theater called La Pasion
del Cristo (The Passion of Christ) they do every
year in my town. She denounced Rome and
tried to interfere with the crucifixion, so I had
to get her out of the way at any cost.
MARIANNA: I pushed him and then he lashed
me five or six times. I liked the way he used
the whip ....
NOVEMBER 2003
MIGUEL: I was 15, she was 18.
MARIANNA: We went to Tijuana to get away
from our mothers-but we ended up with his
crazy cousin. A 28-year-old man married to a
68-year-old woman. Nothing but a liar and a
thief, his cousin. I kept saying, "Miguel, let's go
north, to New York. ... "
Right before we got to the crossing point
my baby started crying ....
MIGUEL: I think the immigration guy heard the
baby crying. He starts hitting the car with a
stick. I was trembling. No matter how hard he
hit the car, the baby was suddenly silent.
We stayed with Marianna's father and sister
in the attic they were renting in Corona,
Queens. Even though her father had only been
five years in the United States, he called us
Mexicans. Like that is a dirty thing to be. To
this day, he doesn't speak a word of English ....
We met a white man named George who
had a house he was willing to rent for $500 a
month ... then we saw the water was getting
more and more yellow .... Next time he came
for the rent, I said, "What about the yellow
water?" Thar's when he called me a damn Mex-
ican. He said he could get me in trouble
because he knew that we were undocumented.
I told him I WAS documented. He told me I
wasn't. I told him, "Every month I pay the rent.
What's the difference who ... " That's when the
gringo pushed me. I told him, ''I'm not going
to hit you because you're an old man, otherwise
Ie parto fa madre!" [I'd kick your ass!]
He said, "Do it! I dare you."
He picks up the phone to call the police. I
run out of the house, thinking, why is this man
so cruel to me? .. I ran one block to Queens
Boulevard past the deli on 69th Street. When
the light turned green, I dashed across the
Boulevard and a car hit me.
MARIANNA: It took a long time for Miguel to
learn how to walk again. For the sake of the
children I got a job in a factory stamping T-
shirts. I only made $200 a week. .. so I put a
flier on my door and at church to do heal-
ings .. .I have various lotions: ammonia with
lemon or lime, different things I get from the
botanica. I pass one egg with my hand over the
body of the person. I start to pray, Our Holy
Father, Ave Maria ... you break the egg into a
glass of water, and you can see what's going on
with the person by the bubbles that are formed
and the shapes the egg takes ....
I pray that my husband will get a job with
better pay and that my children have a chance
to study .. .. More than anything, I want my
son, Laio, to have the opportunity to study. It
is better for him here in the U.S., even if it is
not better for us .
39
INTELLIGENCE
NYC INC.
Model Cities
What New York can learn from
the economic recoveries in
Houston and L.A.
By Joel Kotkin
NEW YORK'S ECONOMIC policymakers probably
don't spend a lot of time sitting around lament-
ing, "Why can't we be more like Houston?"
But maybe they should.
New Yorkers are not known for their will-
ingness to look outside the ciry limits for edifi-
cation, but sometimes the experiences of other
cities have important lessons for us.
Like New York today, Houston in the late
1980s and Los Angeles in the early 1990s were
suffering from massive corporate downsizing
and a devastating loss of civic direction. Yet
under the leadership of strong, business-ori-
ented mayors-Bob Lanier in Houston and
Richard Riordan in LA.-these rwo cities
were able to stave off collapse by drastically
remaking their economies. Today, even amid a
stubborn national recession, both cities have
been able to use their now highly diversified,
small-business-oriented economies to stay on
an even keel.
Some might thumb their noses at such
comparisons. New Yorkers may prefer to look
at other global cities, such as London or Paris,
as models. Yet in realiry New York is more like
Los Angeles and Houston than it may want to
believe: All three are highly immigrant-domi-
nated magnets for young people with ideas.
At the moment, however, Houston and
L.A. are doing much more to leverage those
assets into entrepreneurial strength. In several
key indicators-including minoriry-business
growth and expansion; the Inc. 500, Inc. mag-
azine's annual ranking of the fastest-growing
private companies in the United States; and
the National Commission on Entrepreneur-
ship's Growth Company Index-Houston and
Los Angeles far outpace New York. New York
would be better off seeking ways to boost its
standing in these areas than worrying about
the relative prestige of museums and restau-
rants in Paris, or the number of celebriry sight-
ings in London.
Houston may be the strongest case. Back in
the 1980s, the ciry went through a near-total
economic meltdown; berween 1982 and 1987,
the area lost one out of every eight jobs.
40
)3 'fI' i: '19 i iY) tIC
A project of the Center for an Urban Future
Dependent even more upon energy than New
York is upon Wall Street, Houston's economy
disintegrated when energy prices plummeted.
"See-through" office towers-buildings with
entirely vacant floors-replaced construction
cranes as the metaphor for the ciry, which lost
more than 200,000 jobs during this period.
Yet over the next decade, Houston rein-
vented itself and vastly diversified its economy.
By the mid-1990s, the ciry had one of the
highest rates of new-business formation in the
nation. It had the third highest Growth Com-
pany Index-a measure of high employment
growth-in the 1990s, according to the
National Commission on Entrepreneurship's
study of the 13 largest metro areas.
Houston's method for achieving this turn-
around was a radical one: Unlike New York,
which sees high real-estate prices as a summum
bonum of economic development, Houston
allowed "creative destruction" to take full force.
Sagging real-estate prices helped draw a swarm
of new entrepreneurs into the ciry.
Andrew Segal headed out to Texas to make
his fortune after graduating from New York
Universiry Law School in 1994. Young, aggres-
sive and full of entrepreneurial energy, Segal
decided to stake his nest egg on properties in
both Dallas and Houston--cities not fashion-
able at the time among the real-estate "experts"
who saw Texas' oversupply of vacant office
space as a disaster for investors.
But to Segal and others like him, Houston's
predicament represented an enormous oppor-
tuniry. "The whole real-estate infrastructure
here was dead," Segal recalls. "These buildings
had lost 90 percent of their value overnight in
the oil bust. It was a totally open field."
Since then, Segal has accumulated some
four million square feet of space in Houston.
Segal says most of the demand for space has
come not from oil companies or other tradi-
tional bulwarks of Houston's economy, but
from a new generation of small firms covering
everything from food processing to specialry
chemicals. "There's the beginnings of explo-
sive growth here, but very few people have
focused on it," he says. "People still look for oil
companies that can buy up big blocks of space.
What I did is turn my focus on smaller com-
panies and startups, because that's where the
growth is."
Segal and other observers credit three fac-
tors for Houston's recovery: the ciry's entrepre-
neurial culture, immigrants and the six-year
tenure of Mayor Lanier.
Immigrants and minorities, who now com-
pose roughly rwo-thirds of Houston's popula-
tion, have built some strong economic institu-
tions there-something they have not achieved
in New York. Perhaps the most important of
these is Metrobank-founded by local entre-
preneur Don Wang-which now has over
$840 million in assets and stands as Houston's
fourth-largest bank.
"In the 1980s, everyone was giving up on
Houston, but we stayed," Wang observes in his
brightly painted office in the ciry's second Chi-
natown, a few miles from the swank Galleria
area. "It was cheap to start a business here and
easy to find good labor. We consider this the
best place to do business in the country-even
if no one on the outside knows it."
Finally, government played an important
role here. In 1992, Lanier, a former developer,
became mayor. Like Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
in New York, he concentrated on reducing
crime-but he also made bringing services to
the ciry's varied neighborhoods a prioriry.
Lanier focused mainly on infrastructure-
roads, sewers, street cleaning and other essen-
tial services-and gave no overwhelming pref-
erence to any part of the ciry. Not only did
downtown recover, but many of the ciry's other
neighborhoods came back as well.
Lanier took a similar approach to supporting
business. His administration focused largely on
making it easy for companies to start up--with
a minimum of interference from Ciry Hall. His
goal was to diversifY Houston's economy and
create wealth across a broad spectrum of com-
munities. Lanier said his primary goal was to
CITY LIMITS
improve the neighborhoods: "First you bring
back the residents, and then the commercial
flows, and then the jobs come back."
To a remarkable extent, he turned out to be
correct. During the 1990s, Houston enjoyed
one of the most buoyant economic expansions
of any major American city, recovering all the
jobs lost in the 1980s and then some. Even
after the collapse of Enron, the city's economy
has done somewhat better than the national
average, outperforming those of most large
metro areas and faring far better than New
York's. Although some areas, particularly
downrown, have seen an increase in vacancies
as a result of the company's implosion, most
other parts of the city have continued to do
well, as smaller firms and the burgeoning med-
ical sector have taken up the slack.
Los Angeles, by all accounts, did not recover
as well, nor has it
withstood the current
ing mainstays such as entertainment, but also
new ones such as digital media. Most notably,
there was actually a surge of blue-collar job cre-
ation, particularly in the garment, textile, food
processing and warehousing sectors. Unem-
ployment dropped dramatically.
As in Houston, one critical factor in the
recovery was the presence of large, minority-
owned banks. By 2001, four of LA.'s six largest
financial institutions were run by minorities and
immigrants. These and a host of much smaller
community banks-most run by fust-generation
Asian immigrants-financed much of the
growth that took place in the mid-1990s, when
most national and mainsuearn banks were busily
writing off Los Angeles as a hopeless dystopia.
But government policy also made a differ-
ence. In sharp contrast to the actions of New
York's leaders during the same period, L.A.'s
Riordan, elected
mayor In 1993,
believed it to be the recession nearly as
comfortably as Hous-
ton. Yet the city,
which shares liberal
politics and high costs
with New York, did
stage a remarkable
comeback from what
might be considered
an even deeper crisis.
The first blow was
structural: a meltdown
of the once-dominant
aerospace industry in
the aftermath of the
By 2001, four of L.A.'s
six largest financial
institutions were run
by minorities and
immigrants.
job of the city govern-
ment to help all busi-
nesses, large and
small, high-tech and
low. Organizing what
became known as
"mayor's business
tearns," Riordan dis-
patched scores of his
most trusted people
to help firms leap reg-
ulatory hurdles. Some
of these businesses
Cold War. The second
was a massive escalation of costs for businesses,
mostly imposed by state government in Sacra-
mento. The third came from a sweeping with-
drawal ofJapanese capital following the onset of
that nation's long recession.
Adding to these problems, Los Angeles suf-
fered the worst riots in modern American his-
tory in May 1992. Fires, a major earthquake
and floods all added to the devasration. By
1993, Los Angeles had lost 400,000 jobs, its
unemployment rate was close to 10 percent
and a great number of large, established com-
panies-such as defense-industry giant Lock-
heed-were deserting the city.
Yet despite these problems, Los Angeles was
able to turn itself around. As in Houston, one
key to its success turned out to be the eco-
nomic decline itself: When older firms moved
out of the city, new ones, particularly those run
by immigrants, stepped in. The vast upsurge of
new businesses came in a host of fields, includ-
NOVEMBER 2003
were located around
the downtown core,
but many were in outlying sections such as the
San Fernando Valley, the Eastside and even
hard-hit south Los Angeles.
"What the business teams did is make firms
feel welcome in LA. and expedite things,"
explains Riordan, a retired venture capitalist
and native of Flushing, Queens. "It didn't mat-
ter to us whether they were large or small, and
we actually went after manufacturing firms
because they created the jobs we needed."
Over the course of Riordan's eight years, the
tearns helped more than 3,000 businesses in an
array of fields ranging from new media to food
processing. This hard work has helped Los Ange-
les mainrain a far more diverse economy than did
many areas that depended on the stock market
boom of the 1990s, such as San Francisco, Seat-
tle and, of course, New York. As a result, the city
has lost far fewer jobs---even in a bad economy
and despite an unprecedented srate budget crisis.
Houston and Los Angeles offer both specific
INTELLIGENCE
NYC INC.
and general lessons for New York. Using city
resources to help a broad range of industries and
neighborhoods is a notion that New York lead-
ers have rejected for far too long. And focusing
as Houston and L.A. did on such specifics as
improving basic infrastructure and assisting
small businesses could restore New York's long-
lost sratus as an entrepreneurial hotbed .
Joel Kotkin is a Senior Fellow at the Davenport
Imtitute for Public Policy at Pepperdine Univer-
sity and at the Center for an Urban Future. This
column is adapted from "Engine Failure, " a Cen-
ter for an Urban Future report authored by
Kotkin and the center's research director,
Jonathan Bowles.
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41
HOME
ECONOMICS
continued from page 27
and lenders often "flipped" the foreclosed properties by buying them at
auctions, then reselling them at ever-higher prices. Again, they took
advantage of the FHA.
Realtors also bought decrepit, foreclosed houses, made cosmetic
repairs, then advertised them to "first-time owners" who often couldn't
really afford a home. These realtors sent the FHA misleadingly rosy
reviews of buyers' finances, and appraisals that intentionally ignored
structural defects. Purchasers have ended up with overpriced, distressed
properties in need of major rehab that many can't pay for. Houses have
been foreclosed. Then they've been "flipped" to other naIve buyers, at
higher and higher prices.
This scenario is especially pronounced in New York City-and so is
the foreclosure rate for FHA-financed loans. Nationally from 1992 to
2002, it doubled. In New York City it shot up sixfold.
Cypress Hills LDC subscribes to a local service that sends out week-
ly listings of every owner in default on a mortgage. Foreclosure preven-
tion workers Rene Arlain and Odell Suero regularly comb the list and
mark the names of owners in the East New York/Cypress Hills area.
Then they send out letters, offering counseling to help fight foreclosure.
In the months after the World Trade Center attacks, Arlain began notic-
ing the list was getting longer. "Our counselors, " he remembers, "were
talking a lot about people who'd lost employment or were having diffi-
culties collecting rent from tenants who'd lost work.
From their offices in Manhattan's garment district, Neighborhood
Housing Services counselors Kennedy and Davis also help people living
throughout the city who are threatened by foreclosure. Even before 9/11,
NHS was seeing more of them. "They've lost civil service jobs, manu-
facturing jobs, jobs that paid $35,000 to $55,000 a year," says Davis.
According to Cypress Hills LDC's Suero, these people "are using their
credit cards to pay their bills. Then, to payoff the credit card debt,
they're trying to refinance their mortgages." That move can push them
into the clutches of predatory lenders.
During the recent refinancing boom, Kennedy says, whole neighbor-
hoods were targeted. "People are coming to us whose original mortgages
were 7.5 to 10 percent; now their second mortgage is 12 to 18 percent.
Many of these new loans are predatory-but again, not all." Other
home counselors agree that predatory lending is not the only problem,
or even the main one. "I would say 50 percent of the loans in default that
I'm working on now are legitimate subprimes or conventionals," says
Erica McHale, a counselor for Pratt Area Community Council, which
helps homeowners mainly in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn.
South and east of Bed-Stuy, Canarsie has also experienced an uptick
in mortgage defaults, according to statistics available at Cypress Hills
LDC. One Canarsie resident worried about losing his home-he asked
to be called 'kdy" -is threatened by foreclosure even though he has a
low-interest loan. Andy is a Panamanian with Afto-Caribbean ancestry
and an English surname. He lives with his wife and seven children near
the last stop on the A train. The area is edgy but vibrant. Litter mars the
curbs, but the wood-frame houses are freshly painted, and breezes from
Jamaica Bay ruffle leaves on tree-lined streets.
Andy and his family are relieved to be here. They arrived in early
42
2002 from Bushwick, where they were disgusted by the glut of street
drugs and substandard apartments they were compelled to live in. "A
pusher in the park tried to sell to my son when he was 13," remembers
Andy's wife. Another son got lead poisoning from paint in the family's
dilapidated rental. Even putting up with bad conditions did not assure
stability. "We were jumping from apartment to apartment," Andy says.
"When you have seven kids, landlords will take you one year, then get
rid of you so they can get a big vacancy increase. That's why I bought
this house."
It's a sprawling duplex with four bedrooms in each unit. The price was
$330,000. Several years earlier, Andy was injured in a car accident, and
recently he won a large cash settlement. He used it for a down payment,
which enabled him to get an FHA loan at only 5.25 percent interest.
Even so, his loan had predatory earmarks. Andy's job is in Midtown,
and his tasteful suits and ties make him indistinguishable from a profes-
sional or executive. In fact, he works in administrative support; when he
bought the house, he was employed by a company that handles copying,
mail and messenger service for large law firms. His monthly take-home
pay was less than $3,000-hardly enough to cover his $2,300 mortgage
payment. No problem, the mortgage company assured him: just rent the
other half of the house to a family with a Section 8 voucher, and they'll
end up covering most of house payment. So Andy rented to a family of
nine, for $1,500 a month. After everyone moved in, he discovered a seri-
ous leak in the roof that would take real money to fIX. Still, the finances
seemed manageable.
Then things turned sour. After 9/11, his company lost its contract
with the law firm, and Andy was laid off for months. Eventually the law
firm directly rehired him, for little more than half what he'd previously
earned. By the time he returned to work, Andy was hopelessly behind on
his mortgage payments. He had not been able to depend on his tenants
to help. The head of that family has a low-paid job with Airborne
Express; his wife is a home-health attendant. They are chronically tardy
with the rent, or only pay part of it. "They've got seven kids and they're
struggling just like us," Andy says. "I can't put them out."
Tony's wife has tried to help by finding a job. In years past, she
worked in home health care and in a hospital kitchen. But when she puts
in applications these days, she says, ' ~ l I hear is, 'We'll call you.'" A
daughter who is in the Navy sends a little money each month.
"What will happen if I lose the house?" Andy asks rhetorically. "I
don't think about that because I just don't know." What's virtually cer-
tain is that a block in Canarsie will lose a family, and their house will be-
empty for a while.
B
ut probably not for long.
Foreclosure used to leave homes empty and boarded up for
months or years. Even today, Cypress Hills LDC's Neugebauer
says, almost every block in East New York has at least one foreclosed
property. If abandoned for long periods, she says, "they're an eyesore.
They get broken into. They're vandalized. Antisocial behavior hap-
pens in them."
Yet few look this bad. On a four-block stretch of Hendrix Street with
several foreclosed homes, one is plagued with boarded up windows and
weeds, but another looks occupied and normal. A third, otherwise tidy
place shows water damage, but a fourth has newly grouted brickwork.
Foreclosed homes nowadays are "largely being turned around quickly,"
Neugebauer says. "Abandonment isn't happening."
Instead, there's been a wave of quick flips pushing prices higher
and higher. Ray Adkins, Director of Community Development at
Cypress Hills LDC, notes that because of the weak stock market,
many investors-virtually none of them local residents-have turned
to real estate, even in struggling communities like Cypress Hills.
They're most likely to buy HUD property, since that agency "owns
CITY LIMITS
more foreclosed homes than any other entiry here. " HUD's appraisal
prices, Adkins says, "have skyrocketed 100 to 200 percent in the last
few years."
With virtually no subsidized building or rehabilitation of homes cur-
rently going on, Adkins says people in Cypress Hills end up buying
overpriced homes they can't afford. To make matters worse, the proper-
ties often have "serious defects that have been slapped over" with grout
work or a coat of paint. These are the homes that typically go into fore-
closure. But, says Deb Howard, director of homeowner services for the
Pratt Area Communiry Council (PACC) , in Bed-Stuy, another buyer
always comes along quickly-then another. "I've seen the same compa-
ny do three flips. The lenders push for foreclosures because they can
take back the house and sell it for $425,000. It doesn't pay for them to
work out a settlement with the owner."
Foreclosure prevention counselors have varying success helping their
clients. "We save the houses of almost everyone who contacts us," says
Suero, of Cypress Hills LDC. "If we can, we refinance at a lower rate-
we can get them down from 8 to 5 percent." [See "High Refinance, "
page 27.] Howard notes that late last year, Governor Pataki signed a bill
into law to combat predatory lending. It outlaws loans that exceed the
Treasury rate by 8 points or more, and if a lender violates the law, a bor-
rower in foreclosure can stop the proceedings. "You can get some relief
for buyers by going to court and defining their loan as predatory and
stopping a foreclosure," says Howard.
But that loophole doesn't address complications of the economic
slump. "People who bought with FHA and an 8-percent loan, then lost
their jobs-they don't fit the letter of the law," says Howard. "They
have no protection."
How many people actually lose their homes? Perhaps most of them.
Counselors at agencies like PACe, NHS and Cypress Hills LDC try to
arrange repayment or mortgage refinance plans for clients in default. If
worse comes to worst, there's always bankruptcy, which stops a foreclo-
sure. The counselors say they can help most homeowners who seek their
assistance. But, says Suero, nine out of 10 people in default to whom he
sends letters never respond. In all, he estimates, only one in 10 or 20
homeowners who go into foreclosure manage to keep their pro perry.
Activists worry that the constant churning of homes and people caused
by foreclosure weakens communities already suffering from the eco-
nomic downturn.
"Cypress Hills LDC runs a food pantry," notes Neugebauer, "and
these days we have a lot more requests for emergency food than a cou-
ple of years ago. Our after-school program is overextended because
more and more people are trying to work and need child care. At our
job center on Fulton and Schenk Streets, traffic has almost doubled
since 2000." In this context, says PACC's Howard, foreclosure becomes
"incredibly destabilizing to a community because people don't stay.
Essentially, equity is drained. "
So are people like Fish. The counselors at Cypress Hills LDC are
trying to save his house, but to do so and avoid bankruptcy, he will need
a job. So far he's had no luck finding one, even though he spends most
of the week looking.
"I leave my house at 4:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and get
back at 9:30 or 10:30 p.m. I go to construction sites in the Bronx, Man-
hattan, Staten Island, Long Island City. I put my name on the lists. I
talk to other laid-off workers who are there just like me, looking for
work. We all huddle and say a prayer that maybe things will change real
soon. We try to hold our heads up.
"What will happen to my. house and my family if I don't get a job?"
Fish asks. "Lady, I don't want to think about it. " He does anyway. You
can tell by how he tugs-and tugs-on his beard.
Research assistance: Megan Kenny
NOVEMBER 2003
ADVERTISE IN
CITY
LIMITS!
To place a classified ad In
City Umits, e-mail your ad to
advertIseOcItyIlmils.org or fax
your ad to 212-479-3339. The
ad wHI run In the City Umits
Weekly and City Umits mag-
azine and on the City Umits
web site. Rates are $1.46 per
WOld, minimum 40 words.
SpecIal event and professional
directDI'I advertising rates are
also available. For more infor-
mation, check out the Jobs
section of www.cilyItmils.org
or call AssocIate Publisher
s....Hantsat
212-479-3345.
JOBADS
ACCOUNTANT - The Accountant will be
responsible for maintaining the organization's
financial records; vouchering and/or billing;
purchase orders and accounts payable; petty
cash; and bi-weekly payroll for approximately
50 full- and part-time employees. The Accoun-
tant will report directly to the Director of the
Fiscal Department. Qualifications: Associate's
Degree . Fax cover letter and resume to: Jesus
Fernandez 718-585-5041
ADMINISTRATIVE Ie PROGRAM ASSISTANT -
Manage office, volunteers, facilities; member-
ships and donations; secretary to director;
coordinate meetings, fundraiser. Requires
high-energy team player, with top-notch com-
puter and administrative skills, and interest in
our mission (see:www.naminycmetro.org).
Salary: mid-$20s. Send cover letter, resume,
reference list: [email protected], or Asso-
ciate Director, NAMI-NYC Metro, 432 Park
Avenue South, #710, New York, NY 10016.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Administra-
tive Assistant to assist Managing Director in
daily operations. Diverse responsibilities
include: following long-term & short term pro-
jects to completion, faxing, filing & phones.
Requirements include: Masters Degree, simi-
lar prior work experience, multitasking, profi-
ciency in MS Office, high levels of organiza-
tion, excellent social skills & attention to detail
& ability to work independently and follow
direction. Compo Salary (in 40s) Comp. salary
& exC. benefits. Pis. Fax resume to: HIR @
(212) 534-8221.
JOB ADS
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Bilingual
English/Spanish (speaking and writing)
Administrative Assistant wanted to work in
non-corporate, frenetic office environment.
Good people skills necessary, flexible person-
ality and ability to multi-task a must.
Microsoft Work, Outlook, Excel and Access
required. Salary 3511, excellent benefits. Fax
resume to 212-388-2130
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Excellent
entry-level opportunity for candidate interest-
ed in arts administration. Offer general sup-
port including box office and financial data
entry, mailing list maintenance, scheduling,
donor recognition and education program
assistance. Resume to POB 15, Hartsdale, NY
10530, [email protected]; Fax:
914-682-3716.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - leading
foundation seeks Administrative Assistant for
VP for Administration to help with all aspects
of her day. Must be a self-starter, proficient in
MS Office, detail oriented, organized, have
strong interpersonal skills, be comfortable
with figures, and a team player. Competitive
salary and excellent benefits. Mail cover letter,
resume and salary requirements to: Elizabeth
Dixon, The New York Community Trust, Two
Park Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10016
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - The Center
for Employment Opportunities, an employ-
ment and training project for adult men and
women ex-offenders, seeks an Administrative
Assistant to the Associate Director. The
essential functions include, but are not limit-
ed to, the following: Assist Associate Director
with administrative and clerical tasks related
to program development, operational and
management. Effectively manage Associate
Directors schedule and calendar. Responding
with good judgment in confidential situa-
tions. Act as daily liaison with other company
departments and outside contacts. Prepare
reports, memos and other correspondence.
Develop and maintain filing system. Generate
weekly and monthly reports. Occasional par-
ticipation in office-wide meetings. Assist
Associate Director in planning and coordinat-
ing small projects. Other Duties: Performs
other job-related duties and responsibilities
as may be assigned from time to time. Candi -
date must possess the following: Bachelor's
degree or 3 to 5 years equivalent experience.
Three to five years experience as an executive
administrative assistant. Excellent written,
verbal , phone communication skills. Ability to
prioritize and multi - task many different
things at once. Advanced PC skills (proficient
using Word, Excel , PowerPoint, and the Inter-
net).Strong attention to detail and organiza-
tion. A strong sense of urgency. Proficiency
Qualifications: You should have 3-5 years
year's experience working with a team of
managers, have excellent writing skills,
multi-task skills, be able to meet deadlines,
and have good phone skills. Demonstrated
ability to prioritize and coordinate projects
with minimum supervision. Maintain high
standards in attention to detail. Excellent ver-
bal and written communication skills. Pos-
sess a strong sense of professionalism and
43
JOB ADS
responsibility. Commitment to mission of CEO.
Salary 35K. Please email/fax resume to
[email protected]/212-248-4432.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - The Harm
Reduction Coalition is hiring an Administrative
Assistant for its Training Institute. Duties
include data entry, database management,
phone, travel arrangements, copying, mailing,
participant registration, training coordination
and interfacing with clients. Must have strong
technical skills, initiative, team player, excel-
lent interpersonal skills. Experience in non-
profits desired, knowledge of drug use and
harm reduction a plus. Salary $25,000 -
$30,000. Start October 13. Fax resume to Don
McVinney at 212-213-6582.
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR - Presti-
gious non-profit organization seeks part-time,
well-organized self-starter to join the Child
Health Forum in the Division of Health and Sci -
ence Policy. Excellent organizational & office
management skills, BAIBS degree req'd with
exp & demonstrated competence in MS Office,
WP, database, Web-literate w/good communi-
cation and interpersonal skills. Competitive
salary & excellent benefits. Send resume to:
Human Resources, The New York Academy of
Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, Box HSP,New
York, NY 10029. EEO/M Employer. F:212-534-
8691 E: [email protected]
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR(FT}--(ESR)
National seeks experienced non-profit profes-
sional to administer finance systems, manage
its NYC office, provide executive assistance,
and coordinate program admini stration. ESR is
a leading national center for training, staff
development and curricular resources that fos-
ter the social, emotional , and ethical develop-
ment of children. Qualifications: BA; 3-5 years
experience as administrative coordinator,
office manager and/or executive assistant;
experience managing budgets using Excel ;
excellent computer, and verbal and written
communication skills; ability to manage multi-
ple tasks; interest/background in education
and social and emotional learning. Salary:
$33,000 - $38,500 plus excellent benefits.
Deadline for Applications: September 26. Apply
to: Administrative Coordinator Search Commit-
tee, ESR, 40 Exchange Place, Suite 1111, New
York, NY 10005. Fax: 212-509-1095; e- mail:
[email protected]. ESR recognizes
and appreciates the benefits of diversity in the
workplace. EOE.
ADMINISTRATIVE HOUSING DEVElOPMENT
SPECIALIST - Full time Employee, Salary:
$50,000 - $70,000 per year. The position to be
filled is the Production Manager in the Division
of Special Needs Housing, which will be pro-
ducing an increased number of supportive
housing projects in coming years. Under the
policy direction of the Assistant Commissioner
for Special Needs Housing, the Production
Manager will be responsible for implementing
the development of housing production for the
Division. Duties may include: Solicitation and
evaluation of new proposals; Assignment of
projects to project managers; Implementation
of schedules for project development; Manag-
ing obstacles in the development process.
44
Skills required include significant experience
with real estate development, knowledge of the
construction process, experience with budget-
ing and project scheduling, and familiarity
with Microsoft Excel. The successful applicant
should demonstrate capacity for analysis of
development proposals and independent judg-
ment, the performance of multiple tasks and
the superior negotiating and communication
skills. Familiarity with financing mechanisms
in the field of low-income housing develop-
ment is highly desirable. Demonstrated super-
visory skills required. Qualification Require-
ments: 1. A baccalaureate degree from an
accredited college and four years of full -time
satisfactory professional experience in the
development, design, construction, appraisal ,
financing, negotiation or disposition of real
estate or in real estate law, or in urban plan-
ning, design or renewal , or analytical and coor-
dination work related to housing programs; at
least 18 months must have been in an execu-
tive, administrative or managerial capacity or
supervising professional personnel performing
work in the fields noted above; or, 2. Education
and/or experience which is equivalent to "1"
above. Graduate study in the field of urban
studies, city planning, business or public
administration, finance, architecture, engi-
neering or other related fields may be substi-
tuted for up to one year of the required experi-
ence on the basis of 30 credits equaling one
year of experience. Graduation from an accred-
ited law school may be substituted for one year
of the required experience. However, all candi-
dates must have three years work experience
including at least 18 months of executive,
administrative and managerial or supervisory
experience as described in "1" above. Special
Note: Experience as a real estate broker, real
estate salesperson, manager or real estate or
similar experience that is primarily involved
with the sale, lease, rental or management or
real estate or experience which is primarily
involved with the monitoring of construction is
not acceptable. MUST BE A NYC RESIDENT.
HPD AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK ARE EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS. Contact informa-
tion: David Rouge, Housing Preservation and
Development, 100 Gold Street, Room 9-C9,
New York, NY 10038, or email to
[email protected].
ASSET MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE - NYC LlSC
seeks an Asset Management Associate to
assist in the provision of technical and analyt-
ical support to Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
development sponsors on compliance issues;
leasing and occupancy reports; quarterly oper-
ating statements and the maintenance of pro-
ject files and databases. In addition, conduct
site visits and undertake research projects. A
bachelor's degree in accounting, real estate
finance, economics, business, or related field
is required. See www.liscnet.org for full
description. Send resumes to Miriam Colon,
Director of Asset Management, NYC LlSC, 733
Third Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES
- Maintain Agency adherence to Quality
Assura'nce Plan, including data entry require-
ments. Coordinate the development of individ-
ual social services plans for homeless clients
in transitional residential setting within a
harm reduction modality. Supervise Case
Aides and other staff involved in supporting
social services, assign caseloads. Maintain
case loads. Experience/Requirements: MSW.
CASAC a plus. Computer literacy. Experience
working with population living with HIVIAIDS,
long-term unemployment and substance
abuse. Hrs/wk - some night, weekends
required. Salary: $38K - $45K. Send
resume/cover letter to Human Resources via
fax 212-293-8420
ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER - Common
Ground Community (CGC), a supportive hous-
ing developer and property manager seeks an
Assistant Project Manager to provide research
support and technical assistance. S\he will
assist in conducting feasibility studies and in
researching sources of funding; establish and
monitor predevelopment project schedules;
preparing developmental and operating pro
forma budgets, and documentation for real
estate acquisitions and loan closings. Require-
ments include a baccalaureate degree and
some comparable project management experi-
ence. Cover letter with salary history and
resume to CGC/HR, 505 Eighth Avenue, NY, NY
10018. Fax: 212-389-9313.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - BQLI AREA HEALTH
EDUCATION CENTER (AHEC) - Not-for-profit
organization seeks Associate Director to assist
Executive Director with the development and
management of the Brooklyn, Queens & Long
Island (BQLI) Area Health Education Center.
Will be responsible for developing programs to
encourage youth to pursue health careers.
Masters in health-related discipline or equiva-
lent with three years experience in student
placement related efforts & program develop-
ment. Demonstrated sense of leadership &
self-direction. Please send resume w/cvr Itr
w/minm salary required to: Shoumya Roy-
Choudhury, Fax: 212-989-6170,
[email protected]
BOOKEEPPER/OFFICE ADMIN (PT) - for
small alternative media company. Must know
Access, Excel , Word, Quickbooks. Experience
with non profits a plus. Must be organized,
detail oriented. Spanish speakers welcome.
Fax resume to 212-244-3522.
CANVASS DIRECTOR - We're seeking some-
one to lead our expanding, year-round
issue/electoral door canvass, which is a
uniquely powerful tool because of its connec-
tion to a ballot line. To apply, fax resume, cover
letter, and salary requirements to Tom at 718-
246-3718.
CASE AIDE - Handle an assigned caseload of
clients in transitional residential setting with-
in a harm reduction modality. Assist in devel-
opment and implementation of social service
plans. Conduct intakes and assessments,
escort clients to entitlement appointments,
facilitate and assist with workshops as
assigned, conduct daily door knocking and
other follow-up activities with residents.
Maintain accurate client case notes and files.
High School Diploma/GED required. Microsoft
Office and data entry skills. Experience work-
ing with people who are HIV-positive and AIDS
preferred. Salary: $20K. Send resumes and
cover letter to Human Resources Department,
Fax: 212-293-8420
CASE MANAGER - The Center for Urban Com-
munity Services is currently recruiting for the
following position - Case Manager. This posi-
tion provides case management services for
approximately 33 clients on a core services
team. Responsibilities: Tenant outreach and
engagement, psychosocial assessment, ser-
vice plan development, counseling, referral ,
crisis intervention and advocacy. This individ-
ual is expected to possess a strong knowledge
of resources and have a wide range of skills
which are applied to the complete range of
responsibilities and performance expectations
of the position. Requirements: High School
Diploma or equivalent. One year related experi-
ence preferred. A Bachelor's degree can substi-
tute for experience. Some college preferred.
Good written and verbal communication skills;
computer literacy preferred. Bilingual Span-
ish/English preferred. Salary: $26,413. Bene-
fits: compo benefits include $65/month in tran-
sit checks. Send resumes and cover letters by
8/6/03 to: Sophie Miller, CUCSlTimes Square,
255 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Fax:
212-391-5991, Email :[email protected]. CUCS
is committed to workforce diversity. EEO
CASE MANAGER - Our organization is seeking
a Case Manager with a Masters degree in
Social Work and significant experience provid-
ing a full range of Case Management and con-
crete services (group and individual) to a spe-
cial needs population. You should have famil-
iarity with issues of substance abuse, home-
lessness, HIV/AIDS. This position requires
excellent computer skills in a Windows envi-
ronment. You will need to be committed and
energetic and be able to communicate on a
high level both in writing and orally. The com-
pensation package is excellent as is the work-
ing environment. Please respond with a
detailed cover letter and resume indicating
your salary requirements to: Bob Raphael, fax
718-602-9107.
CASE MANAGER - Queens-based nonprofit
organization seeks an experienced case man-
ager. Candidate must have a bachelor'S in psy-
chology, social work or related field and/or
experience or 4 - 5 years in Human Services.
For immediate consideration fax: 718- 263-
8326.
CASE MANAGER (SINGLE STOP PROJECT) -
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large,
multi-service non-profit organization serving
the Bronx for more than 31 years. The agency
provides a broad range of individual and fam-
ily services, including walk-in assistance and
counseling, services to special-needs popula-
tions, such as immigrants, children, adoles-
cents, seniors, homeless families and singles,
individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS.
CAB provides excellent benefits and offers
opportunities for advancement. Resumes and
cover letters indicating position of interest may
be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453,
or faxed as directed. CAB seeks a Case Man-
ager to assist individuals in a walk-in capaci-
CITY LIMITS
ty on social service needs. Responsibilities
include working in the Single Stop Project to
assist individual's access to public benefits,
legal assistance, family assistance services,
and low or no-cost tax preparation. The Single
Stop Project seeks to provide a wide range of
services for families in the area. The position
requires a bachelor's degree, and a broad
knowledge base in social services especially in
the area of housing and eviction prevention.
Fax credentials to John Weed at 718-590-5866
or email to [email protected]. CAB is an equal
opportunity /affirmative action employer.
CASE MANAGER - The Salvation Army
FWT&RS is currently seeking 2-case managers.
Applicant must have a BA. Experience with
program serving the homeless or similar.
Please Fax Resume to 718-842-9828 ATTN:
Director of Social Services
CASE MANAGERS (HOMELESS PREVENTION
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, mUlti-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054
Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's Homeless Prevention Program
seeks four (4) Case Managers. The positions
require a bachelor'S degree, good communica-
tion and organizational skills, and the ability to
worll in a fast paced environment. Knowledge
of public entitlements and bilingual
English/Spanish is a plus. Fax credentials to
M. Edwards at 718-293-9767 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal
opportunity /affirmative action employer.
CASE WORKER! COMMUNITY ORGANIZER -
Multi-service Queens settlement house NORC-
SSP seeks BAlBSW for part-time case manage-
ment, outreach and program development for
multi-cultural tenants. Manage caseload of
elderly residents. Team-player, ability to worll
independently. Detail-oriented, good organiza-
tional and computer skills. Experienced with
elderly and bi-lingual a plus. Flexible hours,
excellent fringe benefits. E-mail resumes to:
[email protected] or fax 718-760-4723.
CASEWORK SUPERVISOR - Qualifications:
All applicants must have an MSW with at least
three years supervisory experience in an SRO
residential setting. Applicants must have at
least five years experience worlling with the
homeless mentally ill and substance abuse
population. Job responsibilities include pro-
gram planning for clients that promotes inde-
pendence and self- sufficiency, maintaining
chart documentation, conducting suite and
tenant meetings and supervising a staff of five
counselors. This position requires good writing,
communication, computer and managerial
skills. Bi-lingual preferred. Resumes, cover let-
ters with salary requirements are to be faxed
NOVEMBER 2003
to: Columbia Kavanagh House, Inc., Marian
Wilkinson, CSW, Director of Residential Ser-
vices, Fax 212-426-6315.
CASEWORKER - Bronx Violence Prevention
Program seeks caseworller to do crisis inter-
vention with teenagers and their parents in
Spanish (required)/English. BSW or equivalent
required. Salary commensurate with experi-
ence. Resume to: Derek V. Schuster, SCAN New
Yorll, 207 East 27th Street, NewYorll, NY 10016
or fax to 212-683-2695
CERTl FIEO TEACHER - Do you want to make
an impact? We are seeking excellent science
certified teachers to impact classrooms where
they are most needed. Use your skills and expe-
rience to ensure that all students in NYC's pub-
lic schools fulfill their academic potential. The
Excelsior Teacher Initiative (ETI) is a selective
program designed to bring outstanding teach-
ers to New Yorll City's classrooms this fall. Ben-
efits of the program include an easy application
process, quick response, intensive paid pre-
service training, a networll of support, and
opportunities to meet with principals. Apply
now at: www.excelsiorteacherinitiative.org. We
challenge you to teach in a classroom where the
potential is limitless and change is possible.
CITY COUNCIL INTERN - Eva Moskowitz is a
former teacher who has represented Manhat-
tan's 4th District in the New York City Council
since November 1999. Her constituents re-
elected Eva in 2001 by a margin of two to one
and, in January 2002, her colleagues in the City
Council voted unanimously to make Eva Chair
of the Education Committee. She is an
extremely hard worker and a passionate advo-
cate on behalf of this city's l.2 million school
children. We are looking for a motivated stu-
dent who is interested in local government and
community organizing. Applicants must have
basic computer skills (Microsoft Office, Inter-
net search) and an agile mind. We would like
our intern to learn the process from the bottom
up and responsibilities will grow as our intern
gains experience. We are looking for people
who can commit to at least 1 full day per week.
Intern duties include: Event Planning (for
forums on Education); Administrative Duties
(phones, copying, faxing, etc.); Mail; Data
Entry; Database Consolidation and Mainte-
nance; Community Outreach; Assisting in the
writing and editing of our bi-annual newslet-
ter; Small research projects. Salary range (if
any): $0. Please fax or e-mail resume and
cover letter to the attention of Abby Wilson.
Email: [email protected] or fax: 212-
442-1457
CLINICAL COORDINATOR - The Clinical Coor-
dinator is responsible for the supervision and
direct oversight of Vocational Counselors in
employment program that serves mentally ill,
former substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS
and individuals with other disabilities livi ng in
supportive housing. This position has signifi-
cant decision-making, supervisory, adminis-
trative, and program management responsi-
bilities. Inter- team coordination and contract,
regulatory and policy compliance are key func-
tions to this position. Reqs: CSW. A minimum
of 3 years post-masters direct experience wi th
population(s) served by the program including
administrative and supervisory experience;
strong writing and verbal communication
skills, and computer literacy. Salary: $46,459.
Benefits: compo bnfts incl $65/month in tran-
sit checks. Send resumes and cover letters by
9/29/03 to: Carlene Scheel , CUCS/Career Net-
work, clo The Prince George14 E. 28th Street,
New York, NY 10016. Fax: 212-471- 0790,
Email :[email protected]. CUCS is committed to
wor1lforce diversity. EEO
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS & E-ADVDCACY COOR-
DINATOR - Yes, Planned Parenthood! PPNYC
is currently recruiting for a Community Affairs
& e-Advocacy Coordinator. Reporting to the
Associate Vice President, the Coordinator will
be responsible for mobilizing people both in
communities throughout New York City and
within PPNYC to support and secure full access
to reproductive freedom and sexual health.
Identifies key constituencies and develops and
carries out mobilizing strategies. Works closely
with other staff members to coordinate activist
recruitment, retention and activation efforts in
line with agency lobbying and legislative goals.
Worlls closely with other departments to lever-
age agency resources in support of grassroots
advocacy goals. Trains current and potential
activists, mentors other organizations, and
coordinates lobbying events. Recruits and
retains activists through diverse activities,
including strategic use of the PPNYC GetAc-
tiveAction Network on-line communication sys-
tem, tabling at various outside events, speak-
ing to community and campus groups, and
direct mailings. Develops recruitment and
retention materials, including regular activist
updates. Plans and executes outreach, educa-
tion and appreciation events, leveraging
agency and community resources. Bachelor's
degree and 2 - 3 years of related and/or applic-
able experience. The ideal candidate must
have strong speaking, writing, organizational
and people skills. He or she must be able to
work effectively in coalitions and with econom-
ically diverse communities. Must have working
knowledge of on-line advocacy systems. Must
have knowledge offend demonstrated commit-
ment to reproductive health care issues. Inter-
ested candidates should submit their resume
and cover letter with salary requirement to:
Human Resources Department - Fax 212-274-
7243 or Email [email protected]. Planned
Parenthood of New York City, Inc. is an Equal
Opportunity Employer committed to a diverse
wor1lforce. For more information on our pro-
grams and services, please visit our website at
www.ppnyc.org.
COMMUNITY FOUOW-UP WORKER - The Cit-
izens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-
service non-profit organization serving the
Bronx for more than 31 years. The agency pro-
vides a broad range of individual and family
services, including walk-in assistance and
counseling, services to special-needs popula-
tions, such as immigrants, children, adoles-
cents, seniors, homeless families and singles,
individuals and families affected by HIVIAI DS.
CAB provides excellent benefits and offers
opportunities for advancement. Resumes and
cover letters indicating position of interest may
be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453,
JOB ADS
or faxed as directed. CAB's COBRA Program
seeks a Community Follow-Up Worker to worll
as part of an intensive case management
team worlling with HIV positive individuals and
their families. Responsibilities include home,
office, and field visits, filing, and writing
progress notes. The position requires good
organizational skills. Bi lingual English/Span-
ish is a plus. Fax credentials to J. Smith-Houk
at 718-293-9767 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal opportuni-
ty /affirmative action employer.
COMMUNITY LIAISON (pn - Half time posi-
tion. Duties include constituent service, com-
munity relations, policy worll. Must be comput-
er literate, organized, have excellent communi-
cation and writing skills, and be available for
some evening meetings. Knowledge of New
York City politics is a plus. Please fax resume
and cover letter to: Brad Usher, Chief of Staff at
212-490-2151 or email [email protected].
COMMUNITY LIAI SON/SCHEDULER - NYS
Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick is looking
for a Community LiaisonlScheduler for her dis-
trict office. The Liaison will be responsible for
keeping the Assemblymember's schedule, pro-
viding administrative support and working
with individual constituents, as well as repre-
senting the Assemblymember at community
meetings, public hearings and other events.
Must be computer literate, organized, have
excellent communication and writing skills,
and be available for some evening meetings.
Knowledge of New Yorll City pol itics is a plus.
Salary commensurate with experience and
great benefits. Please fax resume and cover
letter to: Bethany Jankunis, Chief of Staff at
212-674-5530 or email to
[email protected]
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER - This is a full-time
position responsible for organizing CUCS staff
and consumers to influence public policies
that affect the CUCS community. The Commu-
nity Organizer is an agency-wide position that
works with all of the CUCS service sites includ-
ing two transitional service programs and nine
permanent supportive housing programs.
Resp: Coordinate and provide administrative
support to the CUCS Advocacy Committee.
Develop tenant and staff leadership. Plan
advocacy- related events and activities. Coor-
dinate voter registration/education/get out the
vote efforts. Prepare summaries, updates and
correspondences on policy issues. Develop and
maintain systems for the efficient dissemina-
tion of information throughout the organiza-
tion. Represent the agency at various commu-
nity meetings. Serve as a resource on public
policy issues. Reqs: Bachelor degree. Experi-
ence in advocacy and/or community organiz-
ing. Minimum of two years experience worlling
with people who have experienced homeless-
ness, mental illness, or HIV disease. Excellent
verbal and written communication skills-pub-
lic speaking experience helpful. Computer lit-
eracy and strong organizational skills. Supervi-
sory experience preferred. Benefits: compo
bnfts incl $65/month in transit checks. Send
resumes and cover letters by 9126/03 to: Vuka
Stricevic, CUCS/Housi ng Resource Center, 120
Wall St. 25IFL, New York, NY 10005. Fax: 212-
45
JOB ADS
635-2191. CUCS is committed to workforce
diversity. EEO
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER (CHILDREN AND
YOUTH DEPT.) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054
Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's Children and Youth Depart-
ment seeks a Community Organizer. The posi-
tion requires a bachelor's degree. Experience in
organizing preferred. Responsibilities include
recruitment of parents in the community, facil-
itation of committees and their work, develop-
ing campaigns around school issues, and
making educational information accessible to
parents and the community. Fax credentials to
R. Parithivel at 718-590-5866 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal oppor-
tunity /affirmative action employer.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER ON ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE ISSUES - Organize for social and
environmental justice! Build power with people
in the South Bronx! Salary starts at $27,500,
with pension, health, dental, and high Quality
training. Contact MOM c/o James Mumm, Co-
Director, 928 Intervale Ave.,
Bronx, NY, 10459, 718-842-2665 fax,
[email protected].
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER/INTERFAITH
Organizer sought to staff committees of local
clergy and laity. 5 yrs. exp in community orga-
nizing and/or interfaith work, Spanish pre-
ferred. Salary to $37-42 K, good benefits.
Email cover letter and resume to Sara Wohlleb
at [email protected] or fax to 718-
329-2848
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING ASSISTANT - (20
HOURSIWEEK) - The Community Organizing
Assistant is primarily responsible for working
with the Community Organizer to increase
CUCS tenant/consumer participation in policy
advocacy and community organizing efforts.
Essential duties will include in person, phone,
and mail outreach to tenants, attendance at
advocacy- related meetings, events coordina-
tion, database maintenance, and providing
clerical support. ReQs: Commitment to
increasing consumer activism on issues relat-
ed to homelessness, mental health, and
HIVIAIDS. Life experience as a recipient of
CUCS services preferred. Good verbal and writ-
ten communication skills required. Computer,
public speaki ng, and public advocacy experi-
ence preferred. Salary: $10.30/hour. Send
resumes and cover letters by 8125/03 to: Vuka
Stricevic, CUCS/Housing Resource Center, 120
Wall St. 251FL, New York, NY 10005. CUCS is
committed to workforce diversity. EEO
COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER - Sylvan
46
Education Solutions is seeking a Community
Relations Managerfor our No Child Left Behind
supplemental tutoring programs in New York
City. Responsibilities include promoting pro-
grams to parents of eligible children, develop-
ing relationships between Sylvan and key com-
munity leaders and organizations and estab-
lishing a network of school sites, community
sites and faith-based sites as appropriate for
the delivery of Sylvan's programs. For more
information and to apply, please visit Careers
in our K-12 Education Services section at
www.sylvan.net. EEO
CONTRACT SPECIALIST - Manhattan Office.
New York Quadel Consulting Corporation, Con-
tract Administrator for HUD's project-based
Section 8 contracts, is seeking a full time Con-
tract Specialist. Responsibilities include; con-
ducting annual management reviews of
assigned properties, including reviews of ten-
ant file documents, rent calculations, FHEO
and provide follow-up monitoring of properties
to ensure compliance with HUD requirements.
Conducts follow up inspections of Section 8
project-based units referred by HUD docu-
menting conditions. Previous property man-
agement experience working with multi-family
project based Section 8 properties. B.A.IB.S.
preferred, additional work experience may be
considered in lieu of degree. Evidence of train-
ing in Section 8 and/or housing related certifi-
cations (CPM, AHM, etc') preferred. Computer
skills required. Travel throughout NYC and
valid NYS drivers license required. Excellent
salary & benefits package. Qualified appli-
cants send resume & salary requirements to:
NY Quadel Consulting Corp., H.R. Admin, 217
Montgomery St. Suite 400, Syracuse, NY
13202, fax 315-428-0088 or e-mail
[email protected] EOE
COORDINATOR OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT -
Responsibilities: Coordinate the ongoing
development of an existing Career Readiness
component targeted for Bronx high school stu-
dents. Organize and implement appropriate,
targeted outreach strategies and materials.
Recruit, interview and select youth appropriate
for program. Research and develop curricula
and workshop materials. Implement topic
workshops, recruit guest speakers and orga-
nize community service projects. Maintain
progress reports on all program participants.
Organize and implement college tours, sum-
mer internships and other relevant education-
al and cultural activities. Supervise part-time
staff. Qualifications: BA in Social WorklEduca-
tion/related field. Experience in adolescent
development, crisis intervention and conflict
mediation. 2-5 years prior experience in
designing and implementing youth service
programs. Capacity to work collaboratively
within a team setting. Salary commensurate
with experience, comprehensive benefits pack-
age. Send or Fax Cover Letter and Resume to
Ms. Evans, Coordinator of Program Operations,
Mount Hope Housing Company, Youth Services
Department, 2003-05 Walton Avenue, Bronx,
NY 10453. Fax: 718-466-4788. No Phone Calls.
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER - The
Corporate Development Manager is responsi-
ble for coordinating efforts to acquire financial
support from external grants agencies by
researching grants opportunities, coordinating
grants planning activities, preparing final pro-
posals and monitoring accountability of fund-
ed proposals. Must have a Master's Degree in
Business, Public Health or Health
Service Administration and a proven record of
accomplishment in securing and
administering grants. Send resume and cover
letter to HR by fax to 718-522-2916 or email
[email protected].
CSW - TEAM LEADER - Lutheran Social Ser-
vices seeks highly motivated Certified Social
Worker with minimum 3 years experience work-
ing with substance abusers, HIV, formerly
homeless and mentally ill population(s).
Understanding of HUD, DHMH, DHS and NYC
contracts. Supervisory experience a must. Can-
didates must possess excellent organizational
skills and communication skills. Bilingual a
plus. We offer comprehensive salary and bene-
fits. Please email cover letter and salary
requirements to [email protected]
or fax to Joanne Ruiz, Program Director 718-
624-7775.
DANCE INSTRUCTOR (FAMILIES TOGTHER
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054
Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's Families Together Program
seeks a part-time Dancer. Responsibilities
include teaching and providing dance instruc-
tion to program participants. Fax credentials to
F. Thomas at 718-716-1065 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal oppor-
tunity /affirmative action employer.
DATA-ENTRY PROFESSIONAL (POSITIVE LIVING
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial -needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054 Mor-
ris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as directed.
CAB's Positive Living Program seeks a Data-
entry Professional. The position requires
GEDIHS Diploma and must have excellent com-
munication skills and at least one year of data
entry and/or secretarial experience. Bilingual
of Spanish is a plus. Fax credentials to R.
Bowens at 718-716-1065 or e-mail it to her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal opportu-
nity /affirmative action employer.
DAY CARE DIRECTOR (COMMUNITY CENTER) -
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large,
multi-service non-profit organization serving
the Bronx for more than 31 years. The agency
provides a broad range of individual and fam-
ily services, including walk-in assistance and
counseling, services to special-needs popula-
tions, such as immigrants, children, adoles-
cents, seniors, homeless families and singles,
individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS.
CAB provides excellent benefits and offers
opportunities for advancement. Resumes and
cover letters indicating position of interest may
be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY
10453, or faxed as directed. CAB's Community
Center seeks a Day Care Director. The position
requires a Master's degree in early childhood
education with a minimum of 2 years of super-
visory experience licensed by the NYC Board of
Education or certified by the NYS Education
Department as a teacher in early childhood
education. Responsibilities include operation
of the learning center, supervision of staff,
staff training, classroom activity preparation,
enrollment procedures, and fiscal manage-
ment. Candidates must possess knowledge of
day care routines and policies and have strong
organizational, writing and verbal skills. Fax
credentials to J.weed at 718-590-5866 or e-
mail her at [email protected]. CAB is an equal
opportunity /affirmative action employer.
DESIGNER - Must be proficient in Quark
Xpress AND Adobe InDesign (knowledge of
InDesign is new to the client, but key to the job).
Also: Well versed in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe
Photos hop. The candidate will be working on
catalog and related print materials, reporting
to the Associate Creative Director. The appli-
cant should have strong design experience,
though a background in production can be
helpful (though it shouldn't be that exclusive-
ly). They should be creative, able to handle both
attention to details and conceptualization.
Fast, self-starting, follow direction, seek more
information when necessary. Salary: 42K - 45K.
Email [email protected]
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE - Seeking a
Development Associate to prepare, submit,
and negotiate governmental funding propos-
als. Experience with city, state and federal
housing agencies, and an interest in afford-
able housing development preferred.
College degree, strong writing and
computer skills required. Resume to
[email protected].
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE (fT) - Assist
Director in all areas of fundraising, including
major gifts, special events, database manage-
ment, donor research, direct mail , etc.
Requirements: Minimum 2 years development
experience; typing 50 wpm; database manage-
ment, preferably fund raising software. Excel-
lent opportunity for a creative and proactive
collaborator, with an ability to work with
diverse populations. Salary commensurate
with experience; excellent benefits, in hard-
working, cordial environment. Send cover let-
ter, resume and salary history/requirements to
[email protected], Fax to
212-473-2807 or mail to: S. Gabriel, Correc-
tional Association, 135 E. 15th Street, NY, NY
CITY LIMITS
10003. No phone calls please. See our web
site (www.correctionalassociation.org) for
more information.
DIRECTOR - The Correctional Association
seeks a committed activist to lead its Women
in Prison Project. Duties include developing
and initiating advocacy strategies; organizing
a coalition of organization and individuals
concerned with women in prison issues; and
preparing public education materials. The suc-
cessful candidates must be able to do
research and policy analysis and write clearly
and concisely. Compensation including salary
commensurate with experience plus excellent
benefits. Interested persons should send writ-
ing samples and a resume to Robert Gangi,
Correctional Association, Attn: WIPP Search,
135 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003.
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT - Center for
Urban Community Services (CUCS), a national
leader in housing and services for homeless
people, seeks a dynamic, results-oriented
Director of Development. This is an exception-
al opportunity for an experienced development
professional to build on CUCS impressive
funding track record. The right candidate must
be well-versed in foundation, corporate and
individual gift solicitation, capital campaigns
and special events; have a proven track record
and knowledge of the NYC funding communi-
ty; Bachelor's degree plus 5+ years of suc-
cessful fund raising experience; strong organi-
zational , written, interpersonal and computer
skills; the ability to manage multiple projects
concurrently. Salary: Excellent salary & bene-
fits CUCS is committed to workforce diversity.
EEO. No phone calls. Send resume, cover letter
and salary history to: K.w. Murnion and Associ-
ates, Inc. CUCS Executive Search, 50 Park
Avenue, New York, NY 10016
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE - To perform daily
accounting functions - code expenditures, AIR,
AlP, Payroll , ETC. In charge of human
resources, including personnel manual,
employee relations and benefits. Consult with
Executive Director on issues that may impact
the agency, including cash flow. Responsible
for the completion and timely submissions of
all budgets, budget modifications, technical
submissions, desk audits, monthly vouchers,
invoices and all quarterly/annual reporting.
Qualifications: BA or BS in Accounting, CPA
desirable. Min 5 years experience dealing with
government grants. Experience with the non-
profit accounting system Araize or similar sys-
tem a plus. Salary: $55+ based on qualifica-
tions, plus benefits. Send cover letter and
resume to our consultants: E-mail:
[email protected], fax 516 785- 4803 or
mail to Klee Wolff Consulting, llC, 908 Bruce
Drive, Wantagh, NY 11793
DIRECTOR OF POLICY & ADVOCACY - The
Human Services Council (HSC), is seeking a
full-time Director of Policy & Advocacy. The
Director of Policy & Advocacy reports directly to
the Executive Director and is responsible for
creating and implementing HSC's policy and
advocacy activities. Specific responsibilities
include: analyzing NYC and State budgets in
relation to their impact on recipients of social
NOVEMBER 2003
services and the nonprofit sector; coordinating
and staffing committees of the Board of Direc-
tors; preparing and presenting the agency's
policy positions through testimony, briefs, and
other advocacy materials; organizing and
leading advocacy initiatives, including forums,
legislative visits, and media events; and work-
ing with government and elected officials to
adopt and implement policies that will
enhance the efficacy of the social service
delivery system in the City and State. Candi-
date should possess a master's degree in pub-
lic policy, public administration, social work, or
other relevant area. Previous advocacy and
public policy experience is a plus. The ideal
candidate should have excellent research,
analytic, and writing skills; public speaking
and presentation skills; and the ability to work
in a fast-paced environment. Computer litera-
cy is a must. Salary and Benefits: Commensu-
rate with experience. Generous fringe benefit
package. Broad exposure to the not-for-profit
human services sector. Please send resume
and two writing samples to: Michael Stoller,
Executive Director, Human Services Council , 2
Park Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY
10016, Fax: 212-755-9183 or email :
[email protected]. The application dead-
line is July 31. No phone calls please. The
Human Services Council (HSC), a member-
based association, represents the policy, leg-
islative, advocacy, and convening needs of 200
not-for-profit social service agencies. EOE.
DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES - HELP
USA, a nationally recognized leader in the pro-
visions of transitional housing, residential
and social services, presents the following
opportunity: - Director of Social Services -
Supervises Team leaders, Case Managers and
Housing Specialist in delivering a comprehen-
sive program of social services, which
includes recruitment, assessment, counseling
and linkage with health, education, vocation-
al and housing programs and services. The
successful candidate will also ensure that the
programs established stabilize the displaced
families living at the facility, maximizes the
benefit of their stay in the facility, to ensure
their successful and expeditious placement in
permanent housing; and to strengthen their
dependent family living skills. Requirements:
An MSW or related MS degree in Public Admin-
istration, Psychology, or Counseling. 3-5 years
minimum of supervisory/management experi-
ence. A thorough knowledge of casework
practices and strategies, proven supervisory
and staff development skills. Proficiency in
computers and Windows based software.
Valid US driver's license required. Salary
starts at $44,000. Send resume to: Gena Wat-
son, Assistant Executive Director, HELP I , 515
Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, fax 718-
485-5916, email [email protected],
EOE. A drug free workplace.
DIRECTOR OF YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVElOP-
MENT - West Harlem Environmental Action
(WE ACn seeks a motivated individual com-
mitted to youth leadership development and
social justice to direct our Youth Leadership
Development Program. The Director of Youth
leadership Development must have: A proven
ability to develop curricula for urban youth;
Strong communications skills (written and
oral); Knowledge of environmental justice,
environmental health or public health; Project
management skills; An ability to work collabo-
ratively; Experience with youth organizing, and
Proficient computer skills, particularly with
Microsoft Office Suite. The responsibilities for
the position include: Primary responsibility for
daily program management; Develop a long-
term program vision, in collaboration with the
program director and the executive director;
Developing curricula for the program; Develop-
ment and coordination of a youth mentoring
program; Write reports to funding sources doc-
umenting program accomplishments; Out-
reach to parents of youth participating in the
program, and Cultivate relationships with
other youth development practitioners and
organizations. Salary: Mid-30s to $40,000.
Previous teaching experience, and familiarity
with after-school programming is a plus. Bilin-
gual (English/Spanish) applicants and resi-
dents of Northern Manhattan are strongly
encouraged to apply. To apply: please send a
resume, a cover letter and a writing sample to
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. via
fax: 212-961-1015 or email :
[email protected]. WE ACT is an equal
opportunity employer and maintains a smoke-
free environment. (For a more details, please
view our website, www.weact.org.)
DIRECTOR, COMPREHENSIVE EVENING TEEN
PROGRAM - To lead year- round, community-
based, educational and recreation program,
evenings & summer, for 200 youth aged 12-18,
and supervise 18 p- t staff. Requirements: 2
years' supervisory experience in similar set-
ting. Afternoon & evening hours + 1 Saturday
per month. B.A.; advanced degree preferred.
Spanish bilingual a +. Annual salary: mid-
$30s-40,OOO + comprehensive benefits, incl.
401(K). New Settlement Apartments & Com-
munity Services have a strong track record in
youth development, community building &
organizing. See website of idealist.org, under
"new settlement apartments" for more info. To
apply: Send letter, resume and contact info for
3 professional references to Search Committee
- Teen Program Director, New Settlement
Apts.,1512 Townsend Avenue, Bronx, NY
10452. Fax: 718-294-4085. Email :
[email protected]
DIRECTOR, CONTRACT TRAINING - Dynamic
director of lUCED will sell contract training
programs for area employers, develop new cur-
ricula to meet changing business needs, man-
age staff to meet fiscal & service goals. Bach-
elor's req., master's pref. Min. 7 yrs program &
mgmt experience in business training or relat-
ed setting; successful sales record. See
www.rfcuny.org. Mid $70s-low $90s depending
on expo By Sept. 15th, resume & cover letter to:
C. Chui , Rm C236, laGuardia Comm. College,
31-10 Thomson Ave., long Island City, NY
11101 or fax to: C. Chui 718-609-2036.
DISTRICT MANAGER - Brooklyn Community
Board #2 is accepting resumes to fill the posi-
tion of the District Manager. The District Man-
ager, under the direction of Community Board
#2, represents the Board in monitoring, evalu-
ating and actively coordinating municipal ser-
JOBADS
vices within the district. Candidates must
have 2 - 6 years of experience in community
work, public administration/urban planning or
related fields, or public information or relations
of which one year must have been in a super-
visory or administrative capacity. Comprehen-
sive working knowledge of New York City Gov-
ernment and its supporting agencies is pre-
ferred. Excellent writing, communication and
interpersonal skills are mandatory. Interested
candidates should mail or e-mail their resume,
cover letter, references and writing samples to:
CB2 Search Committee, Attn: Jon Quint, Chair-
person, 350 Jay Street, 8th Floor, Brooklyn, New
York 11201/ [email protected]. Deadline for
submissions: August 5, 2003. A full job
description can be obtained at the CB2 Board
Office at 350 Jay Street, 8th Floor. For addi-
tional information please call the Board Office
at 718-596-5410
EDUCATION MANAGER - Westchester Phil-
harmonic seeks enthusiastic proponent of
the arts to manage award-winning Educa-
tion Program. Supervise visiting artists and
outreach activities, develop curriculum,
coordinate teacher training workshops. Good
people skills, education experience. Resume
to POB 15, Hartsdale, NY 10530,
[email protected]; Fax: 914-682-
3716
mc EDUCATOR - NYC Department of Con-
sumer Affairs, Communications Division: com-
munity outreach, overseeing production of
web-based educational materials. Need:
Webtop publishing, HTMl, knowledge of NYC
government, communication & organization
skills including public speaking. Per diem, 35
hours/wk. E-mail [email protected]. Fax
212-487-4221.
EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - Responsibili-
ties: Candidate will assist participants ages
17 - 21 in securing employment, develop
internship sites, establish an employer bank,
develop curricula & lesson plans, and utilize
existing materials to conduct career readiness
workshops. Qualifications: Minimum BA Min-
imum two (2) years of prior vocational training
school experience. Competent computer skills,
strong verbal and written communication
skills are required. Experience educating ado-
lescent population is essential. Bi-lingual
EnglishlSpanish a plus. Salary commensurate
with experience, comprehensive benefits pack-
age. Send or Fax Cover Letter and Resume to
Ms. Evans, Coordinator of Program Operations,
Mount Hope Housing Company, Youth Services
Department, 2003-05 Walton Avenue, Bronx,
NY 10453. Fax: 718 466-4788. No Phone Calls
Please.
ENTITLEMENTS ADVOCATE AND SERVICES
COORDINATOR - Leading Brooklyn CDC
seeks a FIT person to assist neighborhood res-
idents with governments benefits problems,
including public assistance, food stamps,
Medicaid, SSI, Jiggetts, one-shot-deals, and
other programs. Qualifications: high school
diploma, or equivalent, familiarity with bene-
fits programs, commitment to fighting for
social justice, bi-lingual EnglishlSpanish a
plus. Salary commensurate w/experience.
47
JOBADS
AA/EOE. Letter, & resume to Tracy Anderson,
FAC, 141 Fifth Ave, Bklyn, NY 11217,
[email protected], or fax to 718-857-
4322. More info at www.fifthave.org
ENTITLEMENTS SPECIALIST - The Entitle-
ments Specialist provides benefits planning,
assistance and advocacy services to partici-
pants of the CUCS/ Career Network, a unique
job training and placement program serving
various special needs population. Through
individual and group counseling, the Entitle-
ments Specialist educates program partici-
pants on the impact of income on their bene-
fits as they pursue, maintain, or improve
employment. In addition, this individual devel-
ops and maintains resource materials, referral
services and contacts relevant to public bene-
fits supports for program participants. The
Entitlements Specialist also provides support
services, consultation and training to program
staff. Reqs: BA + 2 years direct service expe-
rience; BSW + 1 year relevant experience
(excluding fieldwork); or HS Diploma + 6 years
relevant experience. For applicants without a
college degrees, every 30 credits can be sub-
stituted for one year of experience. Qualified
individuals should possess a strong knowl-
edge of entitlements resources and systems.
Experience working with individuals with men-
tal illness, HIVIAIDS and/or a history of sub-
stance abuse preferred. Good verbal and writ-
ten communication skills; computer literacy
required. Bilingual SpanishlEnglish preferred.
Vocational services experience a plus. Salary:
$31,696. Benefits: compo bnfts incl
$65/month in transit checks. Send resumes
and cover letters by 8118/03 to: David Cl inton,
CUCs/Career Network, c/o The Prince George,
14 E. 28th Street, New York, NY 10016, Email :
[email protected]. CUCS is committed to work-
force diversity. EEO
ENTRY LEVEL HOUSE COUNSELOR - Qualifi-
cations: High School Diploma, preferably two
years in college in a related human services
field. Applicants must have two years experi-
ence working with the homeless mentally ill
and substance abuse population in supportive
housing. Bi-lingual preferred. Resumes, cover
letters with salary requirements are to be faxed
to: Columbia Kavanagh House, Inc., Marian
Wilkinson, CSW, Director of Residential Ser-
vices, Fax 212-426-6315
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - A "first of its kind"
training institute for workforce development
professionals seeks a dynamic leader with
strong entrepreneurial skills to launch this
national model. The Institute's mission is to
prepare a cadre of well- trained employment
practitioners to enable NYC's unemployed,
underemployed, and never-employed to attain
and retain good jobs. This high profile Execu-
tive Director will work closely with the NYC
Employment and Training Coalition, an associ-
ation of workforce practitioner professionals
which provides policy, research and profes-
sional development opportunities to its NYC
members, and will be responsible for: guiding
the implementation of the Institute's 3-year
Business Plan; creating competency-based
training for workforce development practition-
ers; marketing classes and workshops; devel-
48
oping and implementing a methodology for
outcome evaluation and continuous improve-
ment; developing diversified income streams
including fees and continue to build on the
considerable funds already raised for the first
year; managing the budget process and ensur-
ing the financial soundness of the organiza-
tion; hiring, managing, evaluating and train-
ing staff; maintaining a positive working rela-
tionship with the Board of Directors and
assisting in its development; representing and
promoting The Institute to external publics.
Qualifications are: Master's degree preferred
with a minimum five years as a senior manag-
er; experience in the workforce development
and/or adult education field; strong oral , writ-
ten, and interpersonal skills are essential. To
apply: NO PHONE CALLS. Send resume plus
salary expectations to: KW Murnion, The Insti -
tute Executive Search, 50 Park Avenue, New
York, NY 10016
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Acclaimed orches-
tra seeks dynamic administrator to plan,
manage, implement, and evaluate adminis-
trative program. Liaison to Board of Directors,
manage staff. Five years experience; out-
standing management, fundraising, commu-
nications, interpersonal skills. Resume/salary
history to POB 15, Hartsdale, NY 10530,
[email protected]; Fax: 914-
682-3716
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Coro New York Lead-
ership Center, a leadership training and devel -
opment institute, seeks an Executive Director
to provide vision and direction for the organi -
zation's operations and programs. Coro New
York currently runs six major programs for
youth, recent college graduates, mid- career
professionals, immigrants and elected offi-
cials. Working closely with and reporting to the
Board of Directors, the ED will develop a
strategic plan focusing on expanding and
developing programs for youth, while ensuring
ongoing support for other programs. ED man-
ages programs, finances, fundraising, external
relations, and board relations. Ideal candidate
will be a hands-on generalist with significant
fundraising exposure, proven experience as an
executive, have financial ability, an under-
standing of and commitment to leadership
training, education and public affairs, and will
be an inspiring leader. Send cover letter and
resume to Rebecca Skaroff at
[email protected] fax 212-248-2970. No
calls please. www.coro.org
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Nationally-recog-
nized Brooklyn CDC seeks experienced leader
to direct innovative mix of programs in afford-
able housing, community organizing, work-
force development, criminal justice reform and
adult education. Responsibilities: overall orga-
nizational administration, management, plan-
ning and fund raising; leading senior staff
team. Full posting at www.fifthave.org. Letter,
salary requirements, writing sample, resume
to [email protected], or fax 718-
857-4322.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - PSNFC seeks an
Executive Director. Must be motivated hands-
on manager with fund raising experience. Will
handle day-to-day building operations and
building the organization's capacity. Could be
part-time. Salary: High $30,000 plus benefits.
Fax resume to 718-768-2919.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - The Coalition for
Asian American Children and Families (CACF)
is an advocacy organization that speaks out
for underserved Asian American children in
New York City. CACF is seeking a full-time
Executive Director to lead the organization into
a new phase of growth. Responsibilities
include: fund raising, financial management,
public relations, research and information
gathering, program planning, evaluation,
coalition building, and government relations.
The ideal candidate will be passionate about
CACF's mission; knowledgeable about Asian
American communities; and experienced in
fundraising, public policy and nonprofit man-
agement. The candidate should have a Mas-
ters degree in a relevant field; have demon-
strable leadership experience; and reputability
in the nonprofit sector, Asian American com-
munity and/or child advocacy world. Salary is
commensurate with experience. Interested
candidates should send resume and cover let-
ter with salary history and requirements via e-
mail by October 3 to [email protected]. No
phone calls, please. For further information,
please visit our website at www.cacf.org.
FAMILY WDRKER (CAPS PROGRAM) - The
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-
service non-profit organization serving the
Bronx for more than 31 years. The agency pro-
vides a broad range of individual and family
services, including walk-in assistance and
counseling, services to special-needs popula-
tions, such as immigrants, children, adoles-
cents, seniors, homeless families and singles,
individuals and families affected by HIVIAIDS.
CAB provides excellent benefits and offers
opportunities for advancement. Resumes and
cover letters indicating position of interest may
be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY
10453, or faxed as directed. CAB's CAPS Pro-
gram seeks a Family Worker. Responsibilities
include working with students that have a his-
tory of absenteeism, calling students homes,
communicating with parents about the stu-
dents future, and conducting home visits.
Other responsibilities include providing ongo-
ing counseling with students and family mem-
bers, reporting to school personnel , and partic-
ipating in meetings. Fax credentials to J. Weed
at 718-590-5866 or e-mail him at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal opportuni-
ty /affirmative action employer.
FIELD ACCOUNTANT - The Field Accountant
prepares accounting and financial reports and
assists in ensuring accurate accounting sys-
tems and record keeping. He/she will be
responsible for preparing journal entries,
expense vouchers, bank reconciliations, and
conducting internal control audits. Reqs: BA in
Accounting, Business Administration, Finance
or related field. Minimum of three years of
direct experience in the areas of accounting,
budgeting, or finance in not-for-profit. An
Associates degree + 3 years of experience may
be substituted for the Bachelors degree.
Demonstrated skill in, and experience with,
accounting software (American Fundware a
plus) as well as database and spreadsheet
software. Strong customer service and inter-
personal skills required. Salary: $38,799. Ben-
efits: compo bnfts incl $65/month in transit
checks. Send resumes and cover letters by
9/29/03 to: David Rivera, CUCS Administrative
Offices, 120 Wall St. 251FL, New York, NY
10005. CUCS is committed to workforce diver-
sity. EEO
FIELD ASSOCIATE - Project Vote, national
non-partisan organization registering and
mobilizing low income and minority voters for
the 2004 Presidential election. Provide head-
quarters support for field operations around the
country. Duties include managing national
weekly reporting system, disseminating train-
ing materials, managing system for contract
payments. Email resume and cover letter to
[email protected] or fax 718-246-7939. To be
filled immediately; reply ASAP. Women and peo-
ple of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
FIELD INVESTIGATOR - Innovative public
defense organization seeks Investigators to
work wllawyers, social workers, support staff
to represent indigent clients in criminal cases.
Work w/clients, families, community. Take
statements from witnesses, photographs. Cre-
ate diagrams, evidence for trials, testify. Must
communicate effectively, adapt to new situa-
tions, have excellent writing skills and be com-
mitted to social justice. Spanish preferred.
$30,000 entry level, excellent benefits. Send
cover letter, resume to Adam Romero, Investi -
gator Fax.718-665-0100/Phone.718-838-
7878.
FINANCE & FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS
(short and long term assignments) - Profes-
sionals for NonProfits is seeking fundraising
and finance professionals for immediate short
and long term temp assignments. Great hourly
rates are available! Nonprofit experience is
preferred. Please send a resume and cover let-
ter to [email protected] or fax
your materials to 212-546-9094.
FINANCE MANAGER - The Amethyst Women's
Project is a rapidly growing nonprofit providing
crisis intervention and prevention services in
Coney Island for people with HIVIAIDS and sub-
stance abuse. The Finance Manager will report
to the Executive Director, developing the bud-
get, implement fiscal systems, manage and
process all financial activities including
accounting and contract management, devel-
op and implement internal controls, fiscal poli-
cies and procedures, coordinate annual and
regulatory audits and provide regular financial
reports to the Executive Director, the board and
funders. The position will also oversee IT and
perform administrative and human resource
management functions. The ideal candidate
will have a BA in Finance or Accounting, 6
years progressively responsible nonprofit
accounting and management experience, pro-
ficiency in nonprofit accounting software,
preferably FUND-EZ and excellent written and
oral communication skills. Salary: Up to
$55,000+ benefits, depending on qualifica-
tions. Send resume and cover letter to: Search,
CRE, 39 Broadway, 10th floor, NY, NY 10006.
CITY LIMITS
Fax: 212-616-4994 or [email protected].
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT -
Organizational Development unit of Nat'l non-
profit community development support org
seeks creative, experienced financial profes-
sional to provide training and technical assis-
tance to community-based developers nation-
wide on accounting and financial mgmt. 5yrs
exp non-profit fin mgmt, community develop-
ment/real estate exp pref. Strong accounting,
project management, analytics, communica-
tion skills. Training exp preferred. Travel req.
Competitive salary, excellent benefits. Resume
to Rose, LlSC, 733 Third Avenue, 8th Floor, NY,
NY 10017 or [email protected]. EOE.
FUNDRAISING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT -
Housing Works, the nation's largest AIDS ser-
vice org providing services to the homeless
seeks an individual to work directly with the
Director of Development and the Board of
Directors to organize and coordinate events,
compile & analyze data, perform research and
implement strategic plans with an emphasis
on individual donors. In addition, you will
assist in the development of corporate donors
for our furniture campaign. To qualify you will
need a Bachelors degree or 1-2 years develop-
ment exp , excellent communication skills and
the ability to write clearly. In addition you
should possess proven organizational skills &
enjoy communicating on the phone. Knowledge
of Microsoft Word, the ability to perform mail
merges; & database exp highly desirable. The
ability to work overtime as needed is also
important. We offer a competitive salary com-
mensurate w/exp and excellent benefits. Email
cover letter and resume, stating position, to:
[email protected]. An EOE. No
phone calls please.
GRANTS WRITER - Housing Works, the
nation's largest AIDS service organization
seeks an individual to prepare foundation and
corporate proposals, reports and renewal
requests, research funding opportunities, and
manage database. BA and 3 years grant writ-
ing experience required. Background with
HIVIAIDS, homeless and MICA populations a
plus. Competitive salary commensurate with
experience and excellent benefits. Email cover
letter and resume, stating GW in the subject,
to: [email protected] An EOE. No
phone calls, please.
HEALTH PROMOTION COORDINATOR - Not-
for-profit primary healthcare organization
seeks Health Promotion Coordinator for Bronx
sites to develop and implement health educa-
tion activities and programs to increase com-
munity awareness of the importance of nutri-
tion and exercise to reduce risk of diabetes.
Activities incl ude patient education & coun-
seling and staff training. BS in health educa-
tion, nursing or related field, Masters pre-
ferred. Experience developing health promo-
tion programs for low-income, ethnically
diverse population, especially in diabetes,
nutrition & exercise required. Bilingual Span-
ish required. Send resume w/cvr letter stating
minimum salary required to: Shoumya
Roychoudhury, Fax: 212-989-6170,
[email protected].
HIV HEALTH EDUCATOR - Not-for-profit
healthcare organization in NYC seeks experi-
enced HIV health educator to work with per-
JOBADS
sons living with HIVIAIDS in the Bronx. Will pro-
vide information to HIV patients about new
treatment & promote adherence to treatment
regimen. Will work with healthcare team in pri-
mary care setting. Should have strong clinical
knowledge of HIV illness and current treat-
ments. NYS licensed RNiLPN or masters in
human services preferred. Minimum one year
experience in HIV health education required.
Bi-lingual Spanish preferred. Send resume
with cover letter stating minimum salary
required to: Virna Little, IUFH, 16 East 16th
Street, New York, NY 10003. Fax: 212-627-
2958, Email: [email protected]
HOMEOWNERSHIP COUNSELOR - Pre-Pur-
chase, budget and credit counseling; facilitate
mortgage closings; prepare loan packages;
facilitate homebuyer education courses. Mini-
mum of 3 to 5 years experience as a home-
ownership counselor. Assertive, organized and
results oriented. Work 2 evenings weekly.
Bachelor's preferred. Salary range: $32,000 to
$35,000. Submit cover letter, resume and
salary requirements or request job description
at HOMEOWNERSHIP, Faith Center for Com-
PROFESSIONALD IRECTORY
Nicole Lisa
Spanish to English Translation
Copyediting Proofreading
Specializing in Non-Profit Language,
Human Rights, Women's Rights,
Development, and Law
[email protected] . 917-385-0267 www.auroralanguage.com
Social Policy Research Design and Evaluation
Val mont Consulting LLC
Mary Eustace Valmont, Ph.D.
Phone: 7187888435 Fax: 7187880135
Email: [email protected]
SPECIALIZING IN REAL ESTATE
J-51 Tax Abatement/Exemption 421A and 421B
Applications 501 (c) (3) Federal Tax Exemptions All forms
of government-assisted housing, including USC/Enterprise,
Section 202, State Turnkey and NYC Partnership Homes
KOURAKOS & KOURAKOS
Attorneys at Law
Eastchester, N.Y.
Phone: (914) 395-0871
NOVEMBER 2003
.JULIA REICH GRAPHIC DESIGN
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49
JOB ADS
munity Development, 120 Wall Street, 26th
Floor, NY, NY 10005 or fax 212-785-2787 or
email [email protected].
HOUSING COUNSELOR - Established Brook-
lyn community based organization seeks an
experienced Housing Counselor. Must have in
depth knowledge of rent rules and regulations,
housing court procedures and DHCR. Prior
experience in tenant and community organiz-
ing required. Excellent interpersonal and writ-
ten and oral communication skills required.
Bilingual and demonstrated fundraising abili-
ty a plus. Fax resume and salary requirements
to: Personnel 718-382-6453.
HOUSING COUNSELOR - Nonprofit communi-
ty based organization seeks experienced hous-
ing counselor. Knowledge of NYS & NYC rent
rules and regulations and housing court
essential. Bilingual and demonstrated
fund raising ability a plus. Fax resume and
salary requirements to: Personnel 718-382-
6453.
HOUSING LOCATOR - The Center for Urban
Community Services/Housing Resource Center
(CUCSlHRC) has an opening for a Housing
Locator. This individual will be responsible for
contacting landlords, brokers and managing
agents to locate apartments throughout NYC
that can accommodate or are adaptable to
meet the needs of survivors of traumatic brain
injury (TBI) and graduates of supportive hous-
ing. Additionally, the successful candidate will
develop and provide trainings to service
providers and assist in the review of state-
wide applications for TBI housing. Reqs: Bach-
elor's degree or High School Diploma with five
years relevant work experience, a valid drivers
license, strong written and verbal communica-
tion skills, strong interpersonal and organiza-
tional skills, good public speaking skills, com-
puter literacy and strong attention to detail.
Experience working with special needs popula-
tions preferred. Experience with real estate or
sales a plus. Benefits: compo bnfts incl
$65/month in transit checks. Send resumes
and cover letters by 9/2/03 to: Anne Mullaney,
CUCSlHousing Resource Center, 120 Wall St.
251FL, New York, NY 10005. Fax: 212-801-
3360. CUCS is committed to workforce diversi-
ty.EOE
HOUSING SPECIALIST - Housing Specialist
position opened for dynamic individual. Experi-
ence with the homeless preferred. BAIBS
required. Salary starts at $28.6K. Fax resume
to Ms. Scott at 718-574-2713 or email to
[email protected]
HOUSING SPECIALIST - Provide housing
placement assistance to persons
infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. Housing Spe-
cialist will primarily be responsible for hospital
outreach, intake/assessments. Conduct fol-
low-up activities with clients, appropriate
housing. Conduct pre/post-placement home
visits and co-facilitate client educational
workshops. Make appropriate referrals where
necessary to develop and enhance client inde-
pendent living skills. Advocate for clients when
necessary. Haitian Creole a+ Good writing
skills req'd. Salary commensurate w/experi-
50
ence. FaxlEmail Resume to: Heather Anderson,
Director of Operations, Haitian Women's Pro-
gram, 464-466 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY
11217, Fax 718-399-0360 Email
[email protected]. No Phone
Calls
INDEPENDENT LIVING CASE MANAGER -
Bronx Supported Housing Residence seeks
case manager experienced in working with
special needs populations. Member of support
services team with responsibilities of case-
load, group work, and service planning in col-
laboration with clients. Must have Masters
degree in social work, psychology, counseling,
or public health. Track record in substance
abuse and HIV preferred; excellent listening
and communication skills; patience; energy;
computer proficiency. Salary 40K+ commensu-
rate with experience. EOE. Fax cover letter and
resume: 718-508-3013.
INTENSIVE CASE MANAGER - A growing not-
for-profit social service agency seeks an Inten-
sive Case Manager to work on an interdiscipli-
nary team serving HIV+ homeless individuals
and families at outreach sites. Heavy field
work. Experience required. MSWIMA preferred.
Spanish a +. Excellent benefits. EOEIMinorities
encouraged to apply. MaiVtax cover letter &
resume to: A. Winarsky, Care for the Homeless,
12 West 21st Street, 8th floor, New York, NY
10010-6902, FAX 212-366-1773.
JOB DEVELOPER - Brooklyn Workforce Inno-
vations (BWI) seeks job developer and job
readiness trainer for its commercial driver
training program. Responsibilities: job devel-
opment and placement of program graduates;
conduct job readiness workshops; assist with
resumes and interviewing skills; oversee par-
ticipant database. Qualifications: 3 years of
job development experience; workshop facilita-
tion experience; well-organized, with excellent
communication skills; computer literate; bilin-
gual (EnglishlSpanish) a major plus. Send
cover letter, resume and salary requirements to
Julio Perez, fax 718-857-4322 or e-mail
[email protected]. AAlEOE.
JOB DEVELOPER - The Center for Employ-
ment Opportunities, an employment and train-
ing project for adult men and women ex-
offenders, seeks a Job Developer to strengthen
placement outcomes for participants Essential
Functions: The essential functions include, but
are not limited to, the following: Develop and
maintain a targeted list of potential and cur-
rent employers. Assess and assist program
participants in the formulation of both short-
and long-term vocational plans for placement
into permanent, unsubsidized, full-time
employment. Provide follow-up services to par-
ticipants and employers. Act as the liaison
between participants and the funding sources.
Document all participants and employer con-
tact, including field visits to worksites, into a
computerized case systems management.
Other Duties: Performs other job-related duties
and responsibilities as may be assigned from
time to time. Minimum Qualifications: Degree;
three to five years experience as a Job Develop-
er or equivalent, sales/marketing experience a
plus. A network of current contacts with poten-
tial employers. English/Spanish language
skills a plus. Please email/fax resume to
[email protected] 212-248-4432.
JOB TRAINER/CAREER COACH - for innova-
tive, multi-service non-profit located in down-
town Jamaica. Part-time, 12 hours per week.
Experienced professional needed for training
program in job search skills and techniques.
Good management, communication, and pre-
sentation skills required. Operate successful
group supportive JOB CLUB and provide job
seekers with one-on-one career development
counseling and technical assistance. Fax
resume to 718-297-0841.
LEAD ORGANIZER - The New York Civic Par-
ticipation Project (NYCPP) is a labor and com-
munity initiative that promotes immigrant and
worker rights through engaging union mem-
bers in community organizing. The Lead Orga-
nizer will be responsible for leading the Pro-
ject's organizing work. Shelhe will work with
the organizing team (3 organizers) to imple-
ment a city-wide strategy that brings together
key groups and communities around a pro-
worker / pro- immigrant agenda in New York
City. Qualifications: Prior union organizing
experience preferably as a team leader; or At
least 5 years community organizing experience;
Experience in team building and developing
new organizing initiatives; Excellent writing
and presentation skills; Hands-on experience
with labor and immigrant rights issues and
organizations; Strategic thinker and good
communicator; Fluency in English and Span-
ish is required; and Strong commitment and
passion for labor and immigrant rights.
Salary: Up to $ 50,000 with excellent benefits
package. E-mail cover letter, resume and three
references to: Gouri Sadhwani NYCPP 101
Avenue of the Americas, 18th Floor New York,
NY 10013 [email protected] 212-388-
3208
LPN (14 HRSlWEEK (SAT. & SUN.) - The Cen-
ter for Urban Community Services (CUCS), a
national leader in the development of effective
housing and service initiatives for homeless
people, seeks dedicated staff for its new
Assertive Community Treatment (ACn Team in
the Northeast Bronx. ACT is a multi-discipli-
nary service delivery model with proven suc-
cess in serving adults with psychiatric disabil-
ities in community-based settings. Resp:
Assess physical health and psychiatric needs,
make appropriate referrals, manage medica-
tion; provide a range of treatment, rehabilita-
tion and support services. Involves significant
field work. Reqs: LPN (14 hrs/week position).
Computer literacy. Experience in mental health
and bilingual SpanishlEnglish preferred. NYS
drivers license a plus. Salary: $24-$27.50lhr;
commensurate with experience. Send resumes
and cover letters by 9/8/03 to: Kristin Yavorsky,
CUCS/Assertive Community Treatment (ACn
Program, 665 Pelham Pkwy North(Suite 402),
Bronx, NY 10467. Fax: 718-881-8714,
Email :[email protected]. CUCS is committed
to workforce diversity. EOE
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT 1111 - National
non-profit organization seeks professionals
with organizational development background
and experience in either resource develop-
menVmarketing or real estate development
and management. Individuals will provide
management consultation, technical assis-
tance, training, coaching & coordination of
resources to non-profit organizations. Qualifi-
cations include experience in non-profit com-
munity development, training, strategic plan-
ning. Must possess excellent oral/written com-
munication & computer skills. Must be solu-
tion-oriented, able to resolve conflict & guide
consensus, able to work with diverse team of
colleagues. Frequent travel involved. Positions
are located in NYC or Ithaca, NY. Company
offers competitive salary, doe & excellent ben-
efits. Please apply online and send cover letter
& resume to [email protected]. For more infor-
mation, visit us at www.nw.org.
MANAGER OF BACK OFFICE OF NEW YORK -
The Doe Fund, a non-profit organization com-
mitted to ending homeless ness through paid
work training programs and transitional hous-
ing, is seeking a Manager of Back Office of
New York, it's direct mail and data-entry fulfill-
ment business. Back Office of New York pro-
vides competitive letter shop services for non-
profit and corporate clients and also supports
the operation of The Doe Fund's Ready, Willing
& Able program serving homeless men and
women by providing work and job training
opportunities for program participants.
Trainees learn clerical skill through working at
Back Office of New York prior to seeking main-
stream employment in the clerical field. The
Doe Fund is seeking a seasoned manager to
oversee the business operations of Back Office
of New York. Candidates should have a mini-
mum of 3 years experience in direct mail ser-
vice, marketing or a related business, as well
as a strong commitment to the mission of pro-
viding work training to homeless men and
women seeking to become self-sufficient
through work. Candidates should forward a
resume and cover letter with salary require-
ments to [email protected]
MANAGER SUPPORTIVE SERVICES - Cre-
ative/energetic professional to run program in
new permanent supportive housing for special
needs population. Must have: MSW/CSW with
supervisory/administrative experience; min. 5-
yr track record with homeless, substance
abuse, mental illness or HIVIAIDS populations;
familiarity with harm reduction; patience and
strong leadership; excellent writing and com-
puter skills; commitment to culturally diverse
workplace. Fax cover letter, salary history and
resume to: 212-398-3071. $60k+ commensu-
rate with experience; EOE.
MICA COUNSELOR - Qualifications: Bache-
lor's degree in human services or related disci-
pline. At least three years experience working
with the homeless MICA/substance abuse pop-
ulation in a residential setting. Responsibili-
ties include maintaining a caseload, chart
documentation, conduct suite meetings, mak-
ing appropriate referrals and facilitating
groups. CASAC and bi- lingual preferred.
Resumes including cover letter with salary his-
tory and requirement are to be submitted to:
Marian Wilkinson, CSW, Director of Residential
Services, Fax 212-426- 6315.
CITY LIMITS
MSW/CSW - Cathol ic Charities, Brooklyn,
seeking dynamic individuals to join Supported
Housing Program staff. MSW/CSW responsible
for casework, group work, community resource
development. some supervision; travel
between three sites. Case manager based at
one site. Assist tenants with community refer-
rals, entitlement advocacy. Bachelors degree
in human services or related field. Experience
with homeless, mentally ill or MICA popula-
tions. Bi-lingual Spanish a plus. Send cover
letter and resume by fax to 718-782-6690.
OFFICE MANAGER - Non-profit city-wide
good government organization - 20 hours a
week. Responsible for the operation of a small
office supporting activities of volunteer board
and membership, including maintenance of
membership and financial databases, and
related correspondence; preparations for meet-
ings, special events, mailings and ordering
supplies. Experience with Word and Excel
required. Familiarity with Filemaker Pro a plus.
Fax resume and references to 212-725-3443.
OFFICE MANAGER/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIS-
TANT - This position for CONNECT (Domesti c
Violence service provider) entails managing
employee benefits enrollment, purchasing and
petty cash, processing bills, managing office
equipment maintenance and vendor relations,
managing supplies and inventories, reception-
ist, and general admin support. Contact
[email protected] 212-683-0016
OPERATION MANAGER - The Salvation Army
FWT&RS is currently seeking a Operations
Manager applicant must have a BA plus 3
years experience in a facility providing eating
or sleeping arrangements for a minimum of
fifty disadvantage persons and staff Supervi-
sions. Please fax resume ATTN: Ms. Baptiste
718-842-9828
OPERATIONS MANAGER - The National Hous-
ing Institute/Shelterforce magazine, a small ,
progressive nonprofit, seeks operations man-
ager to provide administrative and other sup-
port for publishing, fundraising and research
activities. Duties include office administration,
bookkeeping, marketing and logistical support.
Excellent nonprofit management learning
opportunity. Apply at www.nhLorg.
ORGANIZER/PROJECT COORDINATOR
Research and organizing project with four NYC
community groups to create public account-
ability in the new school system. Six month
position (potential for more), full or part time.
Salary scale starts at $30,000, with pension,
health, dental, and high quality training. Con-
tact MOM c/o James Mumm, Co-Director, 928
Intervale Ave., Bronx, NY, 10459, 718-842-
2665 fax, [email protected].
OUTREACH ASSOCIATE - God's love We Deliv-
er, the nation's leading non-profit, non-sectar-
ian organization, providing meals and nutri-
tional counseling to people living with cancer,
HIVIAIDS & other serious illnesses, seeks an
Outreach Associate to conduct outreach pre-
sentations, attract new clients and local meal
distribution centers along with maintaining
Outreach calendar and contacts. Candidates
NOVEMBER 2003
will have a minimum of one year of communi -
ty outreach experience, strong written, oral and
interpersonal skills. Bilingual in Spanish,
French or Creole and proficient in database
management as well as MS Office 2000. Trav-
el is required. Must be able to work a flexible
schedule including holidays. Desi re to work
with a diverse group of clients, staff and vol -
unteers. Sendlemail resume with cover letter
and salary requirements: HR, GlWD, 166 Sixth
Avenue, NYC 10013, [email protected],
EOE.
OWNER'S REP - DEVELOPMENT GROUP -
UHAB, a growing nonprofit cooperative housing
organization seeks a highly-skilled profession-
al with experience in the design and construc-
tion of affordable housing, and who has the
technical and negotiation skills to drive a pro-
ject through to completion in a highly complex
funding and regulatory environment. Complete
job description listed on our web site:
www.uhab.org. Send letter and resumes to:
[email protected]
PIT BAR/CONCESSION SUPERVISOR - For
non-profit theater. Duties: Order, track, main-
tain inventory; sales reporting. Manage staff.
Full knowledge of NYS Sale of liquor Act and
Health Dept Standards with 3+yrs saleslmgmt
exp a must. Fax resume w/cover 212-662-2288
PARALEGAL, NATIONAL LEGAL DEPARTMENT
- Working with legal Director, manage intake
and document discovery; recruiUsupervi se
interns; coliecUanalyze statistical data; draft
affidavits; cite-check briefs; conduct research.
Some travel. Excellent research/writing skills,
strong computer skills, Windows 2000 environ-
ment, Word Perfect 10; MS Excel , database
software, Westlaw. letter of interest, resume,
two references to Robin Dahlberg, AClU, 125
Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004.
PARALEGALIFIELD INVESTIGATOR - large,
progressive labor union seeks paralegallfield
investigator to work in NYC, U, and NJ. Inter-
view witnesses, prepare statements, chart
data. Detail oriented with excellent
writing/people skills. Some evenings and
weekends. $30K w/excellent benefits. Fax
resume, cover letter to 212-388-2062.
PAYROLL CLERK - The Payroll Clerk responsi-
bility will be to assist the Payroll Accountant in
performing a vital function of processing pay-
checks. On occasion the Payroll Clerk will have
other clerical duties as they relate to employee
compensation. The payroll clerk will research,
maintain and correct employees record as
needed. The payroll clerk will screen electronic
timesheets for accuracy each pay period. Work
related or educational experience is sufficient.
A high school diploma is mandatory. Fax
resume to Diane Braxton at 212-337-7279.
PHYSICAL PLANT MANAGER - Responsible
for overall maintenance of three hundred units
of six buildings in the Wash-
irlgton Heights and Harlem area. Supervision
and administrative responsibility for a staff of
ten. Responsible for oversight of routine main-
tenance, building repairs, maintaining yearly
calendar, as well as compliance with required
permits, including Section 8. Certification in
related fields, computer literate. Spanish
speaking preferred. Must have seven years
experience of which three must be in a super-
visory capacity. Fax resume and cover letter
with salary requirements to 212-568-2038,
Attn. Mr. Vance E. Granby
POLLING - SENIOR ANALYSTS (PT) - Polling
firm seeks freelance senior analysts (7 years+
FT supplier side experience qual/quan, includ-
ing SOCial-political work) who can handle pro-
posals, questionnaire, analysis, write-up on
complex social-political projects. Excellent
writing essential ; overseas experience, lan-
guages a plus on some jobs. Fax resume, ref-
erences to 212-932-1030.
PROGRAM ASSISTANT - Groundbreaking,
one-of-a-kind program that provides foster
children with opportunities for interest devel -
opment seeks extremely reliable, thoughtful ,
energetic assistant with direct service expe-
rience and knowledge. Position entails con-
tact with parents, foster parents and others,
and a variety of administrative tasks. 16
hrslweek. Please respond with letter and
resume to [email protected].
PROGRAM ASSISTANT - NYC office of nat'l
community development org. seeks Program
Assistant to administer and monitor various
programs and projects. The incumbent pro-
vides administrative and clerical support in a
fast-paced setting involving multiple tasks,
projects, partners and staff. Requires 5 yrs exp
as program or admin assistant, post-sec-
ondary education preferred. Forward resume
with cover letter and salary requirements to fax
410-772-2702 or e-mail hr@enterprisefoun-
dation.org with HRlPA- NYC in subject line.
Details at www.enterprisefoundation.org. EOE
MlFNIH
PROGRAM ASSISTANT - Project Vote, nation-
al non-partisan organization registering and
mobilizing low income and minority voters for
the 2004 Presidential election. Synthesize elec-
toral and demographic information into field
campaign plans and budgets for project areas;
write proposals. Oversee headquarters support
for field operations. Email resume, cover letter
and a short writing sample to [email protected]
or fax 718-246-7939. Women and people of
color are strongly encouraged to apply.
PROGRAM ASSISTANT/CHILD CARE WORKER
(FAMILIES TOGETHER PROGRAM) - The Citi-
zens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-
service non-profit organization serving the
Bronx for more than 31 years. The agency pro-
vides a broad range of individual and family
services, including walk-in assistance and
counseling, services to special-needs popula-
tions, such as immigrants, children, adoles-
cents, seniors, homeless famil ies and singles,
individuals and famil ies affected by HIV/AIDS.
CAB provides excellent benefits and offers
opportunities for advancement. Resumes and
cover letters indicating position of interest
may be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY
10453, or faxed as directed. CAB's Families
Together Program seeks a part-time Program
AssistanUChild Care Worker. The position
JOB ADS
requires a high school diploma/GED, and
enjoyment from working with children.
Responsibilities include providing child care
for children whose parents participate in the
program. Bilingual EnglishlSpanish preferred.
Fax credentials to F. Thomas at 718-716-1065
or e-mail her at [email protected]. CAB is
an equal opportunity /affirmative action
employer.
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE - Project Vote, nation-
al non-partisan organization registering and
mobilizing low income and minority voters for
the 2004 Presidential election. Synthesize elec-
toral and demographic information into field
campaign plans and budgets for project areas;
write proposals. Oversee headquarters support
for field operations. Email resume, cover letter
and a short writing sample to [email protected]
or fax 718-246-7939. Women and people of
color are strongly encouraged to apply
PROGRAM COORDINATOR (SAFE PASSAGE
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi -service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami -
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054
Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's Safe Passage Program seeks a
Program Coordinator. The position requires a
BA in a related field and experience working
with youth. Responsibilities include supervis-
ing staff, overseeing day-to-day operations of
the program, and working closely with teens.
Fax credentials to J. Goldsmith at 718-590-
5866 or e-mail her at [email protected].
CAB is an equal opportunity /affirmative action
employer.
PROGRAM COORDINATOR (AFTER SCHOOL
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami -
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054
Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's After School Program seeks a
Program Coordinator. The positions require a
bachelor's degree in a related field, and expe-
rience working with youth. Responsibilities
include supervising staff, overseeing day-to-
day operations of the program, and working
closely with teens and the principal of the
school. Fax credentials to R. Parithivel at 718-
590-5866 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal oppor-
tunity /affirmative action employer.
Sl
JOBADS
PROGRAM COORDINATOR (TENANT RELOCA-
TION PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice
Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-service non-
profit organization serving the Bronx for more
than 31 years. The agency provides a broad
range of individual and family services, includ-
ing walk-in assistance and counseling, ser-
vices to special-needs populations, such as
immigrants, children, adolescents, seniors,
homeless families and singles, individuals and
families affected by HIVIAIDS. CAB provides
excellent benefits and offers opportunities for
advancement. Resumes and cover letters indi-
cating position of interest may be mailed to
2054 Morris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as
directed. CAB's Tenant Relocation Program
seeks a Program Coordinator. Responsibilities
include directing service delivery systems
including the implementation of surveys and
case management services. Other responsibil-
ities include being a liaison with HPD, commu-
nicating with Section 8 tenants and landlords
receiving the subsidy, and supervision of three
to four workers. The position requires a Bache-
lors Degree and some social service and evic-
tion prevention experience with a minimum of
two years of supervisory experience. Please fax
credentials to John Weed at 718-590-5866 or
email to [email protected]. CAB is an equal
opportunity /affirmative action employer.
PROGRAM OEVELOPMENT - Large Social Ser-
vices Department seeks candidate to write
RFP's for new and existing shelters/programs;
provide technical assistance on programmatic
enhancement for established shelters/pro-
grams; manage department statistics; write
and edit for quarterly newsletter. BA Req., low
$40's. Resumes to Patricia DeLouisa, The Sal-
vation Army, 120 West 14th Street, NY, NY
10011 or fax 212-337-7279.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL ASSIS-
TANCE CLEARINGHOUSE PROGRAM - Bailey
House, Inc committed to empowering people
living with HIVIAIDS, their loved ones, commu-
nities, agencies that serve them to operate at
their fullest potential through the development
and provision of housing and supportive ser-
vices. Description: Administer Technical Assis-
tance Clearinghouse Program and coordinate
resources, services provided by the Program.
Provide information, referrals to TA providers,
NYC based AIDS service organizations. Assist
with agency TA self-assessments, mainte-
nance, expansion, regular updates of TA
resource database and Web site. Develop and
present trainings, workshops, publications and
curriculum. Qualifications: MAIMSIMPH degree
preferred. Minimum two years experience pro-
viding TA to AIDS service, non-profit providers
or five years non-profit management. Excellent
computer, analytical , communication skills.
Ability to work independently and as part of a
team of professionals. Please send resume,
cover letter in confidence: [email protected],
mail: Bailey House, Inc. 275 Seventh Avenue,
NY NY 10001 Attention: Human Resources, Fax:
212-414-1431. Bailey House, Inc. is an Equal
Opportunity Employer. We offer competitive
salaries along with a comprehensive benefits
package that includes medical/dental insur-
ance, life/disability insurance, pension plan
and five weeks vacation.
52
PROGRAM MANAGER-PERFORMANCE MAN-
AGEMENT SYSTEMS - The Performance Man-
agement Systems position combines two sys-
temic functions: 1) overseeing the implemen-
tation and use of CAMBA's organization-wide
outcome management system for all of
CAMBA's contracts, programs, and services,
and 2) setting and managing performance tar-
gets by position. Essential Duties and Respon-
sibilities: In order to achieve the above results,
the person filling this position is expected,
under general direction, to: (1) manage the
outcome-based performance management
and automated outcome management sys-
tems of the organization; (2) plan, develop,
and coordinate performance management sys-
tem services among all of the programmatic
and administrative departments of the organi-
zation; (3) develop policies and procedures to
enhance the delivery of performance manage-
ment system services to enhance the delivery
of performance management system services
across the organization. Has consistent coor-
dination responsibility and supervises imple-
mentation and uses of performance manage-
ment systems. Education/Experience Required:
Master's degree in Human Resources or a
related field or Bachelor's Degree in Human
Resources or a related field from a four-year
college or university and at least five years
applicable training/experience including a
high level of knowledge of computer systems
and of outcome thinking. Send cover letter &
resume to: CAMBA, Inc. 1720 Church Ave, 2nd
floor, Brookl yn, NY 11226, E-mail :
[email protected]. Fax: 718-693-3576
PROGRAM OFFICER - FT program officer with
strong community organizing experience, good
writing skills, and willingness to travel. Experi-
ence with Jewish community and philanthropy
a plus. Salary: low-mid $50,000's. Resume,
cover letter, one page writing sample to jfjus-
[email protected] or PO Position, JFJ, 260 Fifth
Avenue, 701, NY, NY 10001. Full description at
www.jfjustice.org/abojobopen.htm. EOE.
PROGRAM SPECIALIST (FOOD STAMP ACCESS
PROGRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, mUlti-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIV/AIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054 Mor-
ris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as directed.
CAB's Food Stamp Access Program seeks a
Program Specialist. Responsibilities include
food stamp prescreening and work in the com-
munity to pre-screen clients in the community,
performing outreach, pre-screening potential
clients, assisting the clientele with making
appointments with HRA, and provide follow-
up. The program specialist will carry a laptop
in the field and work in a team of four food
stamp program specialist. The position
requires a high school diploma/GED. Fax cre-
dentials to John Weed at 718-590-5866 or
email to [email protected]. CAB is an equal
opportunity /affirmative action employer.
PROGRAM SPECIALIST (POSITIVE LIVING PRO-
GRAM) - The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is
a large, multi-service non-profit organization
serving the Bronx for more than 31 years. The
agency provides a broad range of individual
and family services, including walk-in assis-
tance and counseling, services to special-
needs populations, such as immigrants, chil-
dren, adolescents, seniors, homeless families
and singles, individuals and families affected
by HIV/AIDS. CAB provides excellent benefits
and offers opportunities for advancement.
Resumes and cover letters indicating position
of interest may be mailed to 2054 Morris Ave.
Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as directed. CAB's
Positive Living Program seeks a Program Spe-
cialist to work with clients that are affected by
HIVIAIDS. The position requires a bachelor's
degree, and the ability to perform intensive
field work. Responsibilities include creating
service plans and assessments to meet client's
needs. Fax credentials to M. Cortes at 718-
716-1065 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal opportu-
nity /affirmative action employer.
PROJECT DIRECTOR - The Midtown Commu-
nity Court, an innovative criminal justice
experiment, seeks a Project Director. The Mid-
town Community Court is a public-private
partnership and a project of the Center for
Court Innovation and the New York State Uni-
fied Court System; its mission is to respond
constructively to quality-of-life crime and
work to prevent further crime before it occurs.
Midtown accomplishes this goal by sentenc-
ing persons arrested for misdemeanors and
violations in limes Square, Chelsea and Clin-
ton to a range of community service and
social service sentences, including drug
treatment. Midtown's operations also include
a small claims court, a mediation program, a
street outreach technical assistance project
and a job training and placement program.
Reporting to the Center for Court Innovation's
Director of Operations, the Project Director
oversees all of Midtown's long-range planning
and day-to-day operations. Responsibilities:
Coordinate efforts of court, social service
clinic and service providers to maximize
effectiveness of court operations, sentences
and compliance monitoring; Maintain and
establish relationships with community lead-
ers and crimi nal justice agencies; Supervise
and manage staff of 25 professionals includ-
ing clinical , alternative sanctions, workforce
development, facilities and research depart-
ments; Design and implement new initiatives,
working with Center for Court Innovation and
Midtown staff; Manage Midtown's non-court
programs, including job training, street out-
reach and mediation; Coordinate efforts of
the Center for Court Innovation and the New
York State Unified Court System to institution-
alize the project within the court system;
Manage project's $1.8 million annual budget;
Fundraise through grant writing for program
development; Manage all of Midtown's city
and state contracts; Make presentations
regarding Midtown to private and public sec-
tor visitors; Oversee ongoing evaluation and
research of court operations; Develop stan-
dards by which to measure Midtown's on-
going achievements and operations; Trou-
bleshoot Midtown's operations. Qualifica-
tions: The ideal candidate will have an
advanced degree, such as a law degree or
Master's, supervisory experience and a mini-
mum of three years in a related area. Excel-
lent written and oral communication ski ll s are
a must. Compensation: Competitive salary
commensurate with experience and excellent
benefits package. Application: Qualified per-
sons should fax a cover letter and resume to:
Midtown Project Director Position, Center for
Court Innovation, Fax: 212-397 -0985 or email
[email protected]. Find us on the World
Wide Web at www.communityjustice.org. The
Center for Court Innovation is an equal oppor-
tunity employer.
PROJECT MANAGER - DEVELOPMENT GROUP
- UHAB, a growing nonprofit cooperative hous-
ing organization seeks a highly-skilled profes-
sional with housing development experience,
who is excited by the challenge of working
closely with tenants to transform distressed
properties into thriving limited equity coopera-
tives. Complete job description listed on our
web site: www.uhab.org. Send letter and
resumes to: [email protected]
PROJECT MANAGER - For community-based
non-profit housing developer; to manage day
to day construction, coordinate/negotiate with
architects, contractors and government agen-
cies. 3 years experience & SA required. Archi-
tects encouraged to apply. 30K-38K plus bene-
fits. Please send resume and cover letter to:
Ms. R. Visnauskas, CHDC, 403 West 40th
Street, NY NY 10018 or fax 212-967-1649.
PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION MGR - NYC
community based non-profit with extensive
residential , commercial and day treatment
facilities and new projects under development
seeks a proven professional to join our man-
agement team. The qualified candidate will
possess a college deg, specialized certifica-
tions or equiv 5+ yrs in personnel manage-
ment along with hands-on exp directing prop-
erty management/repairs /construction (foun-
dations, electric, plumbing, carpentry). Profi-
ciency in Microsoft Office and MS Project soft-
ware. Bilingual capability, ability to read blue-
prints and budget exp a plus. Diversified
responsibilities include overseeing the man-
agement of supportive housing facilities,
including security, housekeeping and mainte-
nance staff; acting as construction site super-
visor; and insuring adherence to administra-
tive/regulatory reqs. Will also respond to
emergency situations and pian/schedule/esti-
mate & buy for construction. We offer a com-
petitive compensation pkge. Please email
resume w/cover letter and salary reqs in con-
fidence to [email protected]. Women
& minority candi dates are encouraged to
apply.
PSYCHIATRIC NURSE - The Salvation Army
FWT&RS is currently seeking a psychiatric
nurse. Applicant must be a NYS License RN.
Experience with MICA and DETOX along with 3-
5 years experience in mental Health setting.
Please Fax Resume to 718-842-9828 ATTN:
Director of Social Services
CITY LIMITS
PSYCHIATRIST - Award winning community
based mental health agency located in Harlem
seeks a PIT Psychiatrist. Diagnoses and treats
consumers with mental, emotional and behav-
ioral disorders. Experience working with adult
population, bilingual a plus. Must have med-
ical degree. Fax resume to Attn: HR 212-316-
9618.
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST - HELP
USA, a nationally recognized leader in the pro-
visions of transitional housing, residential and
social services, presents the following opportu-
nity: - Public Assistance Specialist - Assist res-
idents in obtaining public assistance benefits.
Work as a liaison between the residents and
the agencies that provide income support ser-
vices. Requirements: Bachelor's degree.
Knowledge of income support programs
including TANF, SSI, Food Stamps, etc. Profi-
ciency in computers and Windows based soft-
ware necessary. Valid US drivers license
required. Send resume to: Gena Watson, Assis-
tant Executive Director, HELP 1, 515 Blake
Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, fax 718-485-
5916, email [email protected]. EOE. A
drug free workplace.
PUBLICIST - Small, progressive and fun
social issues PR firm seeks forward thinking,
motivated Publicist with 3-5 years social
issues experience. Must be a hardcore pitcher
and a strong multi-tasker. Salary commensu-
rate with experience. Resume MUST be accom-
panied by cover letter and salary requirements
to Andrea Trent by fax at 212-265-0593 or by
e-mail [email protected].
PURCHASING ASSISTANT - Award winning
community-based mental health agency locat-
ed in Harlem is seeking a bright articulate
recent college graduate for an entry level Pur-
chasing Assistant to handle correspondences,
working with vendors, verification of bills from
suppliers, etc. Must be able to lift boxes.
Basic knowledge of software is a plus. Fax
resume to Attn: HR 212-316-9618
RECRUITER - Social mission staffing agency
seeks a recruiter to outreach to community
organizations, screen and match applicants to
jobs with our business clients and provide job
coaching. Experience in MRDD a plus. Strong
computer and communication skills required
plus either bachelors or related experience.
Salary $30 - $40 K. Send resume and BRIEF
cover to [email protected]
REGIONAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR (NY) -
New York Quadel Consulting Corporation, Con-
tract Administrator for HUD's project-based
Section 8 contracts is seeking a full time
Regional Operations Director to oversee our
New York City Office. This position will super-
vise and monitor implementation of HUD Con-
tract Administration requirements for New York
State Section 8 properties. Oversee all daily
operations and projects assigned by the Man-
aging Director. Develop and manage up to 20
staff members. Direct staff regarding major
issues and assures the implementation of
adopted policies and procedures. Bachelor's
degree (B. A.) from four-year college or univer-
sity; Master's degree (M. A.) preferred. Ten or
NOVEMBER 2003
more years experience with the management of
multi-family housing developments in either
the private or public sector of the affordable
housing industry. Must have a broad under-
standing of HUD Uniform Physical Standards
and Occupancy requirements, policies and
procedures. Evidence of training in Section 8
and/or housing related certifications
(CPMlAHM, etc.) preferred. Specific experience
with management reviews, Section 8 rent
adjustments and contract renewals. No less
than five years supervisory experience, prefer-
ably in a large, regional organization required.
Excellent management, verbal and written
communication skills, problem solving and
analytical thinking skills are required. Experi-
ence with Windows NT, Word, Excel and Access
required. Occasional travel is required. Excel -
lent salary & benefits package. Qualified
applicants may send resume & salary require-
ments to: New York Quadel Consulting Corpo-
ration, 217 Montgomery Street, Suite 400,
Syracuse, NY 13202, fax 315-428-0088, e-
mail [email protected]. EOE
REHABILITATION SPECIALIST - The Center
for Urban Community Services (CUCS), a
national leader in the development of effective
housing and service initiatives for homeless
people seeks dedicated staff for its new
Assertive Community Treatment (ACn Team in
the Northeast Bronx. ACT is a service delivery
model with proven success in serving adults
with psychiatric disabilities in community-
based settings. ReQs: BA & 2 years relevant
direct service experience; BSW & 1yrexperience
(excluding fieldwork); HS Diploma or equiva-
lent & 6 years experience. Note: For applicants
without college degrees, every 30 credits can
be substituted for 1 year of experience. Exper-
tise in mental health, vocational services, or
substance abuseIMlCA treatment preferred.
Field work, computer literacy, and on-call ser-
vice required. Bilingual Spanish/English pre-
ferred. Valid NYS drivers license a plus. Salary:
$31,696. Benefits: compo bnfts incl $65/month
in transit checks. Send resumes and cover let-
ters (indicate position) by 8118/03 to: Kristin
Yavorsky, CUCS/Assertive Community Treat-
ment (ACn Program, 665 Pelham Pkwy North
(Suite 402), Bronx, NY 10467. Fax: 718-881-
8714, Email:[email protected]. CUCS is com-
mitted to workforce diversity. EEO
RESEARCH ASSISTANT - The project will be
developing best practice guidelines for referral
to, follow up from, and practice of HIV volun-
tary counseling and testing for adolescents.
For a full posting go to
www.hunter.cuny.edu/health/aidshp/jobs.html
Salary: $15-19 per hour, 18 hours per week.
Email and send a paper copy of letter of inter-
est, resume, a summary of relevant course-
work, and the names and telephone numbers
of 3 references to: T. Daniels, Hunter Center on
AIDS, Drugs, and Community Health, 425 East
25th Street, New York, NY 10010 huntercenter-
[email protected]
RN (FULL-TIME) - The Center for Urban Com-
munity Services (CUCS), a national leader in
the development of effective housing and ser-
vice initiatives for homeless people, seeks ded-
icated staff for its new Assertive Community
Treatment (ACn Team in the Northeast Bronx.
ACT is a multi-disciplinary service delivery
model with proven success in serving adults
with psychiatric disabilities in community-
based settings. Resp: Assess physical health
and psychiatric needs, make appropriate refer-
rals, manage medication; provide a range of
treatment, rehabilitation and support services.
Involves significant field work. ReQs: Licensed
RN (fUll-time position). Computer literacy.
Experience in mental health and bilingual
SpanishlEnglish preferred. NYS drivers license
a plus. Salary: RN ($65K1yr + full bnlts. includ-
ing $65/mo. in transit checks). Send resumes
and cover letters by 9/8/03 to: Kristin Yavorsky,
CUCs/Assertive Community Treatment (ACn
Program, 665 Pelham Pkwy North(Suite 402) ,
Bronx, NY 10467. Fax: 718-881-8714,
Email:[email protected]. CUCS is committed
to workforce diversity. EEO
SENIOR FIELD ORGANIZER - CDF-NY seeks a
seasoned organizer to work with legislators,
organizations, and individuals to build a Move-
ment To Leave No Child Behind in NY. Respon-
sibilities include grass-roots organizing/coali-
tion-building, public education, legislative vis-
its, mobilizations, materials development and
more. Qualifications: Five years experience in
community organizing, political/issue cam-
paigns, public speaking, outreach, and coali-
tion-building. Ability to interact with diverse
communities/backgrounds. Commitment to
and knowledge of children's issues, including
health, poverty, child care, child welfare, and
juvenile justice. Passion, commitment, flexibil-
ity, ability to work in a team and independent-
ly. Graduate degree or equivalent experience
required. Excellent writing and computer skills.
Travel required. SALARY: Commensurate with
education and experience, plus benefits. Send
cover letter, resume and salary requirements to
Melinda Dutton, CDF-NY, 420 Lexington
Avenue, Suite 655, NY, NY 10170. No tele-
phonelemail inquiries.
SOCIAL WORKER - The Center for Urban
Community Services (CUCS), a national leader
in the development of effective housing and
service initiatives for homeless people seeks
dedicated staff for its new Assertive Communi-
ty Treatment (ACn Team in the Northeast
Bronx. ACT is a service delivery model with
proven success in serving adults with psychi-
atric disabilities in community-based settings.
ReQs: MSW required; CSW preferred. Expertise
in mental health, vocational services, or sub-
stance abuseIMlCA treatment preferred. Field
work, computer literacy, and on-call service
required. Bilingual Spanish/English preferred.
Valid NYS drivers license a plus. Salary: $38K-
$41K, commensurate with post-masters expe-
rience .. Benefits: compo bnlts incl $65/month
in transit checks. Send resumes and cover let-
ters (indicate position) by 8/18/03 to: Kristin
Yavorsky, CUCs/Assertive Community Treat-
ment (ACn Program, 665 Pelham Pkwy North
(Suite 402), Bronx, NY 10467. Fax: 718-881-
8717, Email: [email protected]. CUCS is com-
mitted to workforce diversity. EEO
SOCIAL WORKER (NELSON AVE. FAMILY TIER II
SHELTER) - The Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB) is a large, multi-service non-profit orga-
nization serving the Bronx for more than 31
years. The agency provides a broad range of
JOBADS
individual and family services, including walk-
in assistance and counseling, services to spe-
cial-needs populations, such as immigrants,
children, adolescents, seniors, homeless fami-
lies and singles, individuals and families
affected by HIV/AIDS. CAB provides excellent
benefits and offers opportunities for advance-
ment. Resumes and cover letters indicating
position of interest may be mailed to 2054 Mor-
ris Ave. Bronx, NY 10453, or faxed as directed.
CAB's Nelson Ave. Family TIer II Shelter seeks a
Social Worker. The position requires a MSW.
Excellent clinical experience, welfare advocacy
and excellent communication skills, knowledge
of computers, time management and conflict
resolution skills: Knowledge of the foster care
system is a plus. Fax credentials to B. Lewis at
718-299-1682 or e-mail her at
[email protected]. CAB is an equal opportuni-
ty /affirmative action employer.
STAFF ASSOCIATE - Citizens' Committee for
Children of New York (CCC) is seeking a candi-
date for a part-time position of Staff Associate
for YouthAction. The position requires a mini-
mum of three years direct work with adoles-
cents, group work experience and a Bachelor's
degree. Knowledge of government operations,
public policy, advocacy and civic engagement
strategies is also required. The Staff Associate
will be responsible for planning and directing
an experiential learning course for high school
students and developing activities to improve
the civic competency of youth in a twice- week-
ly program. The position will also include plan-
ning and implementing a range of advocacy
and public education activities for both youth
and adult volunteers. We are looking for a can-
didate with excellent writing, communication
and interpersonal skills to add to the team at
CCC. Candidates must live in New York City or
be willing to relocate to New York City. CCC is
an equal opportunity employer with competi-
tive salaries. Minimum Qualifications: -Group
work experience and a minimum of three years
direct work with adolescents; -Knowledge of
public policy, advocacy strategies and civic
engagement; -Excellent writing, communica-
tion and interpersonal skills. Education: Bach-
elor's Degree Salary Range: Commensurate
with experience Reference Required Three ref-
erences required To Apply: Submit cover letter
and resumes by mail or email before July 17th
to: Rose Anello Associate Executive for Public
Affairs Citizens' Committee for Children 105
East 22nd Street, 7th Fl oor New York, N.Y
10010 [email protected]
STAFF WRITER, COMMUNICATIONS DEPART-
MENT - Produces publications for main-
stream audiences to promote and popularize
work of the ACLU and facilitate communication
with members; responsible for major reports,
newsletters, analyses, opinion pieces on civil-
liberties issues, articles and speeches for
Executive Director, website. Requires college
journalism degree journalism; five years pro-
fessional journalism experience; outstanding
writing/editing skills; proficiency in AP style;
must strongly support ACLU priority issues.
Send, letter of interest, salary requirements,
resume, three references, relevant writing
samples to: Communications DepartmentlEW,
ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th floor, New York,
NY 10004.
53
JOB ADS
. - . . -
ILL U ST RAT E D M E M 0 S
r
54
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signs of abating.
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TO AN INTRACTABLE PROBLEM? .
SEND IN

OFFICE Of THE CITY VISIONARY
CITY LIMITS MAGAZlNE
120 WALLST., 20
TH
FLOORNYNY 10005
[email protected]
CITY LIMITS
SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTI ON SPECIALl ST-
TEEN PROGRAM - Facilitate weekly life skills
groups and provide supportive counseling and
educational advocacy for teens ages 13-17.
Some evening/weekend hours required. Fax
cover letter and resume to 212-951-7037,
specify position.
TEACHER - HELP USA, a nationally recog-
nized leader in the provisions of transitional
housing, residential & social services, has a
position available for a Teacher to supervise
the planning & execution of the educational
program to provide an enriching educational
learning environment for the children. Require-
ments: BA in Early Childhood req'd with an MA
in Early Childhood Education a plus. Class-
room exp in an ACD run program desired. NYS
certification as well as bilingual skills (Span-
ish/English) are a plus. Please send resumes
to: HELP I, Early Childhood Program, Attn:
Brandy Brooks, 515 Blake Ave, Brooklyn, NY
11207, or via fax: 718-485-5916 or email:
[email protected]. EOE. A drug free work-
place.
VOCATIONAL SPECIALIST - Must have either
a Master's Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation
and I-year experience or a Bachelor's Degree in
a human services field with five years experi-
ence, preferably in a substance abuse treat-
ment setting. CRC preferred. Excellent salary +
benefits. Faxresume to HR Dept 718-522-2916
or e-mail [email protected] EOE
VOLUNTEER - Make a difference! Help a child
to achieve academic success in a fun and sup-
portive atmosphere. Be a volunteer math or
reading tutor at Interfaith Neighbors after-
school program. Volunteers work one-on-one
with the same student once or twice a week for
an hour. Students are 10-14 year olds strug-
gling with reading/math skills. Tutor/student
pairs work from lesson plans provided by our
Educational Specialists. Lesson plans include
lessons, activities, games and all supplies.
Reading/Math Specialists are present during
all tutoring sessions for support/guidance. Vol-
unteers commit to one full academic year
(October-June). Slots are available Monday-
Thursday 4-5, 5-6 and 6-7 pm. Call or Email
Jennifer Kennedy with questions or to sign up
for an informational session. 212-472-3567 or
[email protected]
WRITER - The Doe Fund, A Homeless Services
Organization - An innovative non-profit serving
the homeless, seeks individual with excellent
writing and communication skills to draft key
correspondences for the organization, its
Founder and President and key staff. The qual-
ified candidate will possess outstanding writ-
ing skills and have the ability to communicate
the message of the organization creatively and
effectively. Specific responsibilities include
writing and tracking a variety of correspon-
dences including letters to key donors, press
materials, solicitations, thank you's and arti-
cles for annual newsletter. BA with a demon-
strated focus in writing, excellent attention to
detail and organizational skills. Salary com-
mensurate with experience. EOE. Send resume
and salary requirements to Human Resources,
The Doe Fund, 232 East 84th Street, New York,
NY 10028, or by FAX: 212-249-5589, or e-mail
at [email protected]
YEP PROGRAM COORDINATOR - CASES
seeks a YEP Program Coordinator to teach par-
ticipants basic employment and entrepreneur-
ial skills. Bachelors degree; at least 3 years
experience working with at-risk teenagers;
excellent facilitation, interpersonal, verbal and
written communication ski ll s; ability to work
with diverse staff; demonstrated interest in
and commitment to program innovation; prior
experience in a supervisory position preferred;
and experience in and/or knowledge of small
business operations a plus. www.cases.org for
a full description. Email resumes to Sonja
Okun at [email protected].
YOUTH ASSISTANT(PIT 25 hrslwk) - Respon-
sibilities: To staff and design educational and
recreational programs for children ages 6 -10
years of age. Assist Youth Coordinator with
developing and scheduling lesson plans and
activities. Develop and execute daily lesson
plans to stimulate children's social, cognitive,
and motor skills. Supervise children through-
out daily activities, trips and assure safety and
comfort of children while providing encourage-
ment for positive and creative development.
Assist Youth Coordinator in the planning and
implementation of program activities. Inter-
face with parents in assessing the social , emo-
tional, and physical needs of their child. Qual-
ifications: Proven experience working with
school-age children in an after school setting
for two (2) years or more. Minimum two (2)
years experience planning and executing activ-
ities for school-age children. Experience creat-
ing lesson plans for structured activities. Bilin-
gual (Spanish/English) is a plus and (1) year of
college preferred. Must be available Monday
JOB ADS
through Fri day, 1- 6 pm. Send or Fax Cover Let-
ter and Resume to Ms. Evans, Coordinator of
Program Operations, Mount Hope Housing
Company, Youth Services Department, 2003-
05 Walton Avenue, Bronx, NY 10453. Fax: 718-
466-4788. No Phone Calls.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST (PIT, 25
HRSlWK) - Responsibilities: Candidate will
work with inner-city high school students in an
after school program. The candidate must be
experienced with inner-city high school stu-
dents in an after school program setting. The
candidate must be experienced in inter-team
coordination, developing and implementing
lesson plans & workshop materials, and
administering classroom instructions. Qualifi-
cations: Two years college experience with two
- four (2-4) years experience working with ado-
lescents. Strong verbal and written communi-
cation skills. Competent computer skills. Bilin-
gual Spanish/English a plus. Salary commen-
surate with credentials and experience. Send or
Fax Cover Letter and Resume to Ms. Evans,
Coordinator of Program Operations, Mount
Hope Housing Company, Youth Services
Department, 2003-05 Walton Avenue, Bronx,
NY 10453. Fax: 718-466- 4788. No Phone Calls
Please
YOUTH POWER PROJECTTEEN COORDINATOR
- To coordinate afterschool and summer
programming including youth organizing,
arts, and literacy-building activities for youth
ages 13 through 24. Community organizing
and teen group facilitation experience pre-
ferred. Fax resume attention Oona to 718-
418-9635.
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