Sad, is all I can say. Seems like everyone, has a "bottom line"!
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com > They need Salvation from Army > By JUAN GONZALEZ > DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER > Friday, January 19th, 2007 > > The Salvation Army, the second-largest charity in America, is quietly > evicting nearly 200 women, many of them elderly and low-income, from > a pair of 18-story Manhattan buildings. > Tenant leaders at the two single-room occupancy hotels, the Ten Eyck- > Troughton Residence on E. 39th St. and the Parkside Evangeline at > Gramercy Park, say officials from the charity have been harassing > them for months and have already frightened many long-term residents > into moving out. > > On Tuesday, lawyers for the charity hand-delivered 30-day eviction > notices as a prelude to selling the buildings. > > State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), a former tenant advocate, says > the Salvation Army is callously trying to cash in on Manhattan's > sizzling real estate market. She claims the group is taking advantage > of the charity's exemption from rent-stabilization laws. Those laws > would normally give tenants certain protections from eviction in a > building sale. > > The clear implication is that the Salvation Army is being downright > greedy. > > "That's a very negative way of looking at a service organization," > said Laura DeBuys, director of communications for the Salvation Army > of Greater New York. "We're going to redeploy our assets and move > them to where they can do the most good." > > The 276-unit Gramercy Park building could go for more than $100 > million, while the larger Ten Eyck building is expected to fetch a > slightly lower price. > > The buildings were originally donated to the Salvation Army decades > ago specifically to provide housing for women of modest income. Many > of the residents are working women who pay between $1,000 and $1,200 > a month for a room, with tenants sharing common bathrooms for each > floor. > > "We're all being harassed," said Princess Usanga, president of the > tenants association at the Parkside. "Some of these women have been > here for 20 and 30 years. Where will they go?" > > You would think the charity had enough money, considering they got a > $1.5 billion grant a few years ago from Joan Kroc, widow of > McDonald's magnate Ray Kroc. The money was earmarked to build 25 > community centers around the country, DeBuys said. > > But now the Salvation Army says it must raise more money to operate > those centers, one of which will be on Staten Island. > > New York is notorious for having some ruthless landlords, but several > housing advocates said this week they have rarely seen the kind of > tactics used by the Salvation Army. > > About 8 p.m. Wednesday, for example, Ellie Van Savage heard a loud > knock at the door of her tiny rented room in the Ten Eyck Residence > for Women. > > Van Savage opened the door to find the building's manager and four > total strangers standing in her doorway. > > One of the strangers - a Salvation Army lawyer - handed her a 30-day > eviction notice. Another stranger who was carrying a video camera > then proceeded, without uttering a word, to film Van Savage receiving > the notice. > > "I was totally shocked and shaken by the whole thing," Savage said > yesterday. > > The same day, nearly 200 other women at the Ten Eyck and the Parkside > Evangeline Residence were confronted with the same knock on the door, > the same 30-day eviction notice, and the same Fellini-like stranger > with a video camera. > > Michelle Leone also got a nighttime visit. She's a U.S. Navy veteran > battling cancer. > > "I was sick most of last year so the Salvation Army wouldn't accept > me in any of its other residences without any income," she said last > night. "I can't sleep worrying about being homeless." > > The charity relocated some of the oldest residents to another SRO it > owns on the upper West Side, but has offered no relocation assistance > to most of the women. > > "We're dealing with each resident on an individual basis," DeBuys > said, but she refused to explain what kind of help the charity was > offering. > > "They fund-raise at Christmastime to prevent people from being > evicted from their homes, and here they are evicting all these women > themselves," Krueger said yesterday. > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
