A ray of hope for run-down buildings? (Kim Velsey)

It's been six weeks since the apartment building at 2 Thayer Street in Washington Heights had gas or hot water—ConEd shut it off as a safety precaution because of leaks in the pipes. The walls are cracked, pieces of plaster crumble from the ceilings and as of a week ago, the 47-unit building had 94 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. But on paper, at least, 2 Thayer Street doesn't number among the city's worst buildings. Not even close.

In the past, a building with only two violations per apartment would have had a hard time attracting the city's attention. In the wake of the housing crisis, as hundreds of multi-family buildings fell into disrepair, HPD relied on individual tenant complaints to gauge the level of building deterioration, focusing their energies on the most egregious violators, the city's "worst buildings," which often have 10 or more violations per apartment.

Hundreds more were also in bad shape, of course,  and getting worse, as tenants became the victims of real estate speculation gone bust, but inspections and intensive intervention efforts started only after the the building's racked up an appalling number of violations.

But in late April, not only did a team of HPD inspectors come to check out 2 Thayer Street, but so did deputy commissioner Vito Mustaciuolo, who spoke to a group of tenants gathered in the lobby.

"If conditions in your apartment are bad, call 311," Mr. Mustaciuolo said."This is only step one, it's not going to happen overnight, but we'll do it together."

The tenants nodded, somewhat dubious expressions on their faces.

The inspection was part of the Proactive Preservation Initiative that HPD started in 2011. The initiative focuses on kind-of-bad buildings that are at risk of deteriorating into disasters, which are bad for tenants, obviously, but also for the city, which must often make emergency repairs, and then place a lien against the building, without a guarantee of repayment. The initiative aimed to inspect 500 buildings in its inaugural year, but managed to check out 642 buildings, 152 of which were placed on an at-risk list. After a year, 18 have been discharged from the list and 134 remain.

As for 2 Thayer Street, despite its relatively low number of violations, it had come to HPD's attention after Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez told the agency that many problems in the building had gone unreported (also, gas being shut off is the kind of thing that does not go unnoticed).

"It is clear that the landlord who owns the building has not been providing the services that they should, and they should know that it's their responsibility," Mr. Rodriguez told The Observer in a phone interview. "Being a supporter of tenants' rights is one of my first priorities."

The owner of the building is Susan Moy, whose registered address with the city is a P.O. Box in Brooklyn. She could not be reached for comment.

"The building is dirty all the time, we don't have gas, many times we don't have water, we can't cook," said Rosanna Aran-Rodriguez, who lives in the building with her husband Virgilio Oscar Aran and 10-month old son. Mr. Aran is the founder of the labor organizing group the Laundry Workers Center, which has taken up 2 Thayer as a cause. "The landlord doesn't resolve the problems that we have," she concluded.

Ms. Aran paused to situate the baby more comfortably on her hip.

"When he was born, I called the landlord to repair the big hole in the ceiling and he doesn't listen to me," Ms. Aran said. "I was scared because the walls have asbestos and that's toxic for my baby. And me and my family."

Her mother-in-law Ramona Caraballo, has lived in a rent-stabilized one-bedroom for the past 15 years. She said that she'd like to move to affordable housing, but she's been on the waitlist for 10 years and she can't afford to move anywhere that's not affordable.

"When I came here, I needed an apartment, I had two children," Ms. Carabollo said. "The problem is that things are getting worse, instead of improving."

Resident Ilemar Espinal agreed. It had never been good, but things were going downhill.

"From the cracks in the wall we're getting mice like there's no tomorrow," she said with a sigh.

Deputy commissioner Mustaciuolo said that there are many reasons why people don't report problems to 311—sometimes the owner persuades residents that the condition will be fixed, sometimes people are specifically told not to contact 311, and sometimes people simply don't realize that they should.

As it happens, buildings recommended to proactive preservation by local nonprofits, community groups or council members often turn out not to look as good in reality as they do on paper.

In the last two weeks, HPD inspectors have visited 2 Thayer Street twice, gaining access to a total of 38 apartments in the building. The result: the building now has 423 open violations (59 class A, 247 class B and 117 class C, according to the Buildings Department). Bad on paper, and in reality.

kvelsey@observer.com

Photos via Osvaldo Ribeiro Filho

This weekend 49 protesters were arrested in an effort to occupy Duarte Square Park: a vacant lot owned by Trinity Church (aka Hudson Square Properties). Although the turnout wasn't quite as big as last month's OWS anniversary (that mayhem in the streets known as the "Day of Action"), the attempt to claim the half-block in Tribeca by scaling and cutting the fence surrounding the area was nonetheless inspiring in its imagery. But was Occupation 2.0 a success?

While we covered the event from the street, photographer Osvaldo Ribeiro Filho provided photos from the ground at Sixth Avenue and Canal, where he noted that the "priest who was the first inside the park was also arrested." That would be Episcopal Bishop George Packard, whose arrests in religious garb makes him the Captain Ray Lewis of the cloth. (Though not all bishops agreed with the overtaking of an Episcopalian church's property.)

Also on hand marching on Saturday was City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who was injured by police while trying to observe Zuccotti Park's evacuation on November 14th.

This month, OWS has had to deal with the decentralization in many of its branches, and have been focusing on the "reoccupying" foreclosed homes. This is a smart strategy. However, calling the occupying of Duarte Square Park a "reoccupation" is not: no one has ever had claim over that land other than the Church. So far, the reason for picking that empty lot to enact an earlier hunger strike as well as this weekend's movement was summed up by Queens attorney, Randi Freedman, speaking to BusinessWeek: "The church should give OWS the space. It’s not like they’re using it for anything now."

(All photos courtesy of Osvaldo Ribeiro Filho, author of Peace Love and Pepper Spray. You can find his photojournalism on his website.)

"City Hall knows that he's been arrested, they've put in calls with the NYPD to see his status," Mr. Segal said. Read More

City Councilmen Dan Halloran and Ydanis Rodriguez visit Occupy Wall Street HQ

Normally we'd say that there is no way New York City Republican Councilman Dan Halloran just happened to be at the Occupy Wall Street protests today, and just happened to run into his Democratic coworker Ydanis Rodriguez, and those two just happened to break out with an impromptu civil argument about taxes. But that's what both of these elected officials'' spokespeople are saying to Capital New York, so who are we to argue that this was a pre-planned event?

After all, City Hall isn't that far away from Zuccotti Park. And what good would a public forum do for Mr. Halloran, when Mr. Rodriguez has been down to the protest on at least one other occasion, mingling amongst his people and giving Spanish-language interviews. The best Councilman Halloran could do was invoke Ron Paul and hope there were some Libertarians in the audience. There was actually an accidentally candid moment of the Republican speaking to protesters today, captured on a video walk-through of the park this afternoon. (Clip starts at 1:45)

Unfortunately, there is no video yet of Mr. Halloran vs. Mr. Rodriguez, but we're sure it was great. According to Capital:

According to the Rodriguez spokesman, Halloran spoke about his support of term limits and believes everyone, including poor people, should pay taxes.

Rodriguez, in turn, argued a position more in line with that of the left-leaning, anti-corporate protesters, which is that wealthy New Yorkers and Americans needed to pay more than they currently do in order to lessen the financial burden on struggling members of the lower and middle classes.

We're sure that went over really well: Councilman Halloran is lucky to have made it back to the office without being pelted with rotten produce Chicken McNuggets.

According to sources present at a Zoning Committee hearing today regarding Columbia University's plan to expand their athletic facilities in Inwood, Jackson said that Washington Heights City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and State Senator Adriano Espaillat have been "poisoining the process" by meeting with constituents directly and rebuffing Jackson's efforts to work together.

Jackson said that the duo were telling neighborhood residents that he was "anti-Dominican." Rodriguez accused Jackson of telling university officials not to meet with any other elected officials other than him.

"If you have something to say, say it to my face," Jackson said to Rodriguez, according to one council member who witnessed the exchange.

Both Rodriguez and Jackson represent the area where the project would be situated, but it is actually on Jackson's side of the district line.

According to a source who witnessed the exchange, Rodriguez shot back that the district line was irrelevant, since the issue affects the entire community.

"It's not the minor leagues, it's the major leagues," Rodriguez said.

The two had to be quieted by Council Land Use Committee chairman Leroy Comrie, who suggested that the conversation should occur elsewhere.

The dispute between Jackson and Rodriguez dates from at least last year when Jackson surprised many by supporting Mark Levine, a local district leader, in the campaign to replace Eric Schneiderman in the State Senate. Schneiderman's district is historically one of the most Dominican voting districts in the country, and most of the uptown political establishment lined up behind Espaillat, who is a close ally of Rodriguez's. 

Espaillat went on to win by a double-digit margin.

"It's a turf war and it's not the first one they had," said one Council member who attended the hearing. "I have never seen people go at each other like this in a Council hearing and make it personal."

Last month, Rodriguez allegedly assaulted a member of the Council's central staff during an argument about council budget negotiations. According to news accounts at the time, Rodriguez was angry about cuts to CUNY, cuts which he apparently was unaware were happening. Rodriguez chairs the council's Higher Education committee.

According to Council rules, Rodriguez could face a range of sanctions from the Ethics Committee, including loss of a chairmanship, reprimand, censure, and expulsion, although Council sources say that option is unlikely. The committee could also decide that more closed-door hearings are necessary.

Council member Inez Dickens will chair tomorrow's hearing. Tomorrow's session will be the third one dedicated to investigating this matter.

Reached by phone, Rodriguez said he was unaware that the committee will be meeting tomorrow.

"As I said before, I respect the role that the committee has," he said, before pausing and adding, "I have no comment on this. Let's see what they are going to be addressing, but I have no comment."

Election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder sent over this legal paperwork which, if successful, could leave only one Asian candidate in the race for the Lower Manhattan district which includes Chinatown.

Goldfeder is the election lawyer for P.J. Kim, who is fending off a 57-count petition objection from another candidate in the race, Margaret Chin.

Goldfeder said the objections are baseless, and will easily be refuted.

“It's a boiler-plate lawsuit, devoid of any merit whatsoever -- a complete waste of time and resources. Jin (PJ) Kim submitted 5500 signatures. Unless an asteroid hits the earth, he is on the ballot, and is going to remain on the ballot," Goldfeder said in an email.

Through a spokesman, Chin said the objections are substantive red flags of potential wrongdoing.

"Fraud and tampering are serious allegations and severe breaches of the voters trust. It is only appropriate that these concerns are debated in a court of law," Chin said.

Also running in that race is Peter Gleason, and incumbent Alan Gerson is trying to get back on the ballot.

City Councilman Miguel Martinez stepped down from office after admitting to pocketing thousands of dollars in public money.

One of the leading candidates to replace Martinez, Ydanis Rodriguez, is campaigning with a promise to “bring dignity, honesty and transparency from District 10 to the City Council.”

Rodriguez was speaking on the City Hall steps Sunday, where he was getting endorsed by a number of elected officials.

“One commitment I made to my community: I will bring dignity, honesty and transparency from District 10 to the City Council,” he said

Rodriquez went on to talk about bringing resources to the community and “to be sure that the money is invested on those residents who really need the money.”

I asked Rodriguez if his comments about “dignity, honesty and transparency,” along with the pledge to send money to people “who really need it,” were a response to Martinez’s legal troubles.

No, he said. “This is the third time I’ve run for the City Council,” and “when I ran for the first time, I focused on those issues.”

Endorsing Rodriguez for City Council were State Senators Eric Schneiderman and Bill Perkins, Assemblymen Herman “Denny” Farrell and Adriano Espaillat, Councilman Robert Jackson and district leader Maria Luna.