Tivoli towers (Crown and Franklin)

Yea, the state isn't going to dig unless they are embarrassed/prodded into doing so.

...and not many of us want to show off how stupid we WERE, if we are still acting in the same manner. 

The plain english is that we don't know when the owner plans to fill the units.

....the owner could refill the units NOW with folks paying below market rents, but is clearly choosing not to.

The city has decided to use some of its own funds to ease the blow of the Feds actually enforcing their long standing "downsizing policy". 

http://ditmasparkcorner.com/blog/news/city-agrees-to-ease-downsizing-burden-on-section-8-residents 

In many ways, this merely "kicks the can down the road".

...this funding won't last for long, and the Feds (aka HUD) look like they will have to impose more cuts (ie do more enforcement of existing rules) as time goes on.

Needless to say, downsizing is still very necessary despite this small influx of money.

Here's a pretty well researched article on the federal funding cuts that are driving HPD and NYCHA to enforce the rules: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/nyregion/budget-cuts-reshape-new-yorks-public-housing.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

Slowly, the building becomes more and more vacant.   However, the management agent continues to not accept applications from new tenants....



And, while the vacant units are being renovated, the occupied units are left to decay:  
 http://apartable.com/buildings/49-crown-street-brooklyn#building-issues

It seems to be subject to some kind of "affordability" as a result of agreements with HDC and HUD. There are limited circumstances wherein buildings can accept such funding without being in "Rent Stabilization", which is administered by HPD and HCR.

From NYT article linked at top of thread:
"Eager to stem the loss of housing for poor, working and even middle-class New Yorkers, the city’s Housing Development Corporation has agreed to provide Mr. Gluck with low-interest mortgages totaling about $45.7 million, an amount that includes paying off loans owed by the current owner. Rents will be allowed to rise, in many cases double. Ms. Mitchell, the tenant leader at Tivoli, said rent for her one-bedroom apartment would rise to $1,370, from $656.

But the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide tenants with larger rent subsidies to cover the increase. Tenants will be required to pay 30 percent of their income in rent.

In return, Mr. Gluck has agreed to rent regulation and is required to keep Tivoli in Mitchell-Lama until 2040. His about-face, he said, represented a change in philosophy and a recognition of the depressed market. “Our plan is to keep this building affordable,” he said.

---end quote.

I have heard of situations where buildings have become so vacant that the landlord elects to turn off the furnace and comply with the heating law by providing the tenants with electric heaters and "free" electricity.

Such situations cause the common areas to hover at around 40 degrees, just warm enough that the pipes don't freeze.

@mugofmead111 -

Here's an article that hints at how complex these deals can be:

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2015/07/30_million_rehab_project_of_st.html#incart_river

Hopefully this deal required that the landlord keep the units occupied....

The population seems really low income, which may have caused gov to fear that without intervention they would be shelter bound.

I do not believe many former M-L developments can be described that way.

The newly elected officers of the Tivoli Tenants association.

Beds	Baths	# of Units	Average SF	Available
Studio Studio 0 Br	1 Bath 1 Bath 1 Ba	40	500 SF	None of these are available.
1 Bed 1 Bed 1 Br	1 Bath 1 Bath 1 Ba	120	650 SF	None of these are available.
2 Beds 2 Beds 2 Br	1 Bath 1 Bath 1 Ba	120	800 SF	None of these are available.
3 Beds 3 Beds 3 Br	1½ Baths 1½ Baths 1½ Ba	40	1,000 SF	None of these are available.

-280 units.

-Some % of them still vacant.

-The landlord constrained by rent regulation and Mitchell Lama rules until 2024.

I wonder if the city could get the Mitchell lama and rent stabilization rules waived for the vacant units, and then pay the landlord enough to fill them with homeless tenants.

...or -um- "graduates" from the shelter system who have super enhanced Vouchers.

Seems like everyone would win until 2024.

That technique would work as well.