Representative Carolyn Maloney has come out against privatization of Rivercross.

"I urge the Rivercross Board of Directors to maintain [the building's] Mitchell-Lama status," the Member of Congress wrote in a press release dated May 3, saying, "I am deeply disturbed by the continuing decrease in the availability of middle and low-income affordable housing in New York City." She continued, "I will continue to pursue this cause vigorously."

The State Mitchell-Lama law provides that buildings constructed under the program may privatize after 20 years, shedding the controls on resale prices, inheritance, and the relationship of family composition to apartment size. In 1997, two-thirds of Rivercross owner-tenants voted to explore privatization of the cooperative; there have been efforts to assemble the elements of a workable plan since then.

Rivercross is the only cooperative on the Island. Island House, Westview, and Eastwood are the Island's other Mitchell-Lama buildings. An Island House committee has been working toward cooperatization, but has not yet reached the point of having a well-developed proposal to present.

Rivercross privatization depends, in part, on getting an extension of the building's ground lease so that a new mortgage can be obtained from a private lender. While an extension of the Rivercross ground lease might set a precedent, making it somewhat easier for the owners of Island House and Westview to get similar extensions, and then privatize, such a move could be politically difficult for both RIOC and the owner. But in Manhattan and other parts of the City, owners have increased rents substantially after privatization.

Within Rivercross, the prospect of privatization has produced divisions, some deep. Dr. Richard Wade, a resident of the building who worked with Ed Logue on the original plan for Roosevelt Island, has been a steadfast and vocal opponent. In a lengthy April letter to The WIRE that was not accepted for publication, but was subsequently distributed by Wade, he called "the attempt of the [Rivercross] Board to 'privatize' Rivercross" the "most important question on the Island," continuing by charging that the Board's "purpose is to kill the cooperative and turn it over to the market prices."

Wade continued, in his letter, "Moreover, Rivercross was... the most important component in creating a 'New Town' for all races, ages, income level and health. Privatization in Rivercross breaks the public contract that created this enterprise... The [Rivercross] Directors... want to deny affordable housing at Rivercross to everyone else forever. Their neighbors, having waited all these years, will never have the opportunity the taxpayers have given to the present residents."