Council Member Dan Garodnick (second to left) with Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and State Senator Brad Hoylman pictured at a January meeting of the ST-PCV Tenants Association meeting, with (far left) TA attorney Tim Collins (Photo by Sabina Mollot)
UPDATE: Since this story ran in the June 5 issue of Town & Village, CWCapital moved to formally take ownership of ST/PCV, a story in the New York Times reported. According to Council Member Dan Garodnick, he still expects to move ahead with the emergency legislation.
By Sabina Mollot
In response to the upcoming foreclosure sale of some of the Stuyvesant Town debt, local elected officials are drafting emergency legislation to help protect the stability of the community and others like it.
However, it’s unclear what that legislation would do or if it would impact the foreclosure process in any way.
The legislation was mention in an email sent by the ST-PCV Tenants Association to neighbors on Tuesday afternoon, in response to being asked what the association was doing about the foreclosure.
Along with scheduling a rally on the day of the sale, Friday, June 13 at 10 a.m., in front of City Hall, the email mentioned that the TA had approached the mayor as well as the attorney general to ask for help. Additionally, the TA noted, “State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, and Councilman Garodnick are working on an emergency package of legislation to be introduced at both the city and state level to help protect the long-term stability of communities such as ours.”
When asked for details on the legislation, Garodnick said he couldn’t provide any yet.
However, he said, “We are contemplating a variety of options. Hopefully we’ll have more soon. I can’t say much more than that at the moment.”
He also said that he’d been in touch with the mayor’s office about the impending foreclosure. “My sense is that they are looking at ways to be helpful,” Garodnick said.
The mayor’s office hasn’t responded to T&V’s numerous requests for comment on the subject of the Stuyvesant Town foreclosure.
Last week, Garodnick announced the formation of the Coalition Against Predatory Equity, which is aimed at keeping affordable housing from turning into overleveraged housing.
Garodnick, who’s also an attorney, added that the only parties with the power to stop or delay the foreclosure are those “in the capital stack.”
The TA said in the Tuesday email it wasn’t sure if one of the debt holders would attempt to stall the process or if CWCapital would attempt to continue to shut the TA out of the process. CW has still declined to talk business about the TA’s hope for a condo conversion plan. The company has also declined to discuss a bid reportedly being prepared by its parent company Fortress, of $4.7 billion.
“Ultimately, we can control only what we can control,” the TA said. “But we can continue to make sure our voices are heard and try in a thoughtful, aggressive, substantive way to affect what happens when CW forecloses — not just for ourselves but for those who aspire to live here in the future.”
The Tenants Association, along with asking tenants to show up for the rally, is seeking volunteers to flier buildings.
The TA is also offering bus rides to City Hall. Those who want to reserve a seat are asked to register online.
