[Westview meeting:]

I've known some of you first-hand, and have seen a number of you, but have never met you, here on the Island.  I date back to 1974, and I'm sure there are some of you who've been here that long, too.  It's been a goal of mine, when I first put my investors into the ownership of Island House, that some day we would see the property run on a more tenant-friendly basis.  I had the pleasure of meeting with the Task Force members from both apartment houses over the years, and I know what the complaints have been.  I've been sympathetic to those complaints.  I've tried, from an ownership position, to influence the management company to be more responsive to the tenants, and finally, to be more economic.  I have not enjoyed seeing the economics over the years.  In 1997 we had to enter into a debt repayment agreement because when this Island and the apartment complexes were first opened, people acted as though Roosevelt Island had been a place for lunatics.  And it was.  So we took some doing before the general impression of Roosevelt Island was improved among the New York City populace.

We've been fortunate.  I think it's an asset to have a lot of you tenants who have weathered the storm over the years.  We've had a turnover but, as apartment complexes go in New York City, I think there's been a lot of stability on this Island, and we hope that continues.

I made a decision after the workout agreement was signed to do my best to go forward in a direction that would enhance living on Roosevelt Island.  I was thwarted.  A number of you know RIOC better than I do over the years, so I think you can be sympathetic in knowing what I was up against in trying to get some constructive, positive changes with our arrangements with the RIOC administration...  Administrations, because there have been a number of them, as you well know.

When I reached the point, and my fellow partners reached the point, of total frustration, there was only one alternative left to us, and that was to try to find a partner – someone who deals with similar properties in New York State – someone who's not afraid to be said þnoþ to, and who still perseveres, in trying to accomplish the objectives.  In my meetings with Chris Daly, among many other interested parties, I thought and my partners thought that it was in our best interests, and the Island's best interests, to bring Chris Daly on board as a partner to accomplish what I could not.  Chris, and his organization manage in excess of 3,500 apartments in New York State, and in reviewing what he is doing, not without some problems – if you're in this business, you've got to accept that problems will develop from time to time, but by and large, he has been [a] very successful [owner] – I use the word þsuccessfulþ as tenant-oriented success – for the residents of those apartment complexes.

So, with that in mind, I entered into a sale-purchase agreement with the Sheldrake Organizations, only after it was satisfactorily demonstrated to me that they had the financial capability to go down the path that I had envisioned doing myself.  So there's no change in format between what I would have done and what the Sheldrake Organization intends to do.

As you in Westview know, there are discussions going on.  Westview was smart.  Westview had the perception to take the preliminary steps before Chris Daly showed up.  And by doing what they did, you tenants and your organization is now in a position to deal effectively with the new ownership, and I'm delighted that that has occurred.

Regarding the management side, the Belson organization and certainly Doryne Isley have provided very valuable service over the years.  I felt and concluded that there was an inherent conflict between my making arrangements with Sheldrake with respect to the change in ownership, and particularly the arrangement with the Belson organization.  So, Sheldrake and I have partnered; we've formed a management company, Blackwell Management, LLC, and that company is now housed just down the yard here, in a very successful space.  They've tried to make their hours more accommodating to the tenants, and as owners, they have a much greater interest in satisfying the needs of the tenants.  So going forward, I look to meeting with the tenants.  I will be on top of what is happening in the management company.  I am a partner in the management company, and hopefully the changes in the management operations will be forthcoming so that you will see first-hand an improvement in response of the kind that you feel you're entitled to.

[Island House meeting]

As you may know, in 1996 I took over the general partnership of Island House and that was to facilitate the investors' ability to work out an arrears payment agreement with UDC – at the time, RIOC was not involved in the negotiations regarding the mortgage.  When I took over, I had great hopes and aspirations.  As the members of the Island House Ownership Committee and I discussed how we might improve the quality of life in Island House and steer toward a common objective, I tried valiantly over the years to get the numerous RIOC administrations to cooperate so that we could go forward as owners and as tenants toward what our mutual objectives were.

I was prevented from doing so...  Because the various administrations at RIOC either were unprepared to, or were unable to, we never made progress, and I reached, and my partners and I reached, a point where we felt we had to go outside and find a partner or a new owner who was capable of succeeding where we could not.  In the quest to find a new owner, I was given many offers.  However, those offers did not meet the objectives that the tenants and I had been discussing.  It was not until I met with Chris Daly and the Sheldrake Organization and had an opportunity to investigate what Chris had been doing in the business, the number of apartments he owns, the type of operation he has, that I felt comfortable with, that he was, is the right person, to carry on with the plans that I aspire to.  So that's what's the rationale behind my partners and me making the arrangements to sell the properties to Chris Daly and his organization.

You have a steering committee, a number of the members are members who were in the Island House Ownership Committee, and I feel that there is some continuity and hopefully we will be able to proceed within the framework of law and not antagonize the authorities as to what our plans are.

Now, one of the important elements in the transition to new ownership was to evaluate the management of the property and to make a change in the management of the property.  I attended a number of Budget Rent Determination hearings, heard the complaints; your committees send me copies of your reports regarding the physical condition of your apartments and the buildings, so I was aware that there was not satisfaction with the management company that was managing the building.  At this point I made the decision to change and to facilitate the change.  Chris and I have an agreement that I will continue to be involved in a supervisory capacity so that I remain aware of what is being done with the management of the properties.

This is a meeting for you tenants to talk with management, to tell them the problems you may be having, and talk about principles and ideals, because it is based on my understanding of the ideals that I felt comfortable making the arrangement that I have made with the Sheldrake Organization.