Editorial...

Divided. And Falling?

Roosevelt Islanders in the original WIRE buildings - Westview, Island House, Rivercross, and Eastwood - face critical housing issues. We're moved to wonder if they're doing enough of the right things to protect themselves and their homes.

The Sheldrake Organization is in negotiations with the tenant organizations of Island House and Westview. The leaders of those organizations have accepted gag agreements under which the amount of information they can make available to The WIRE or, for that matter, to their tenant members, is so severely limited that it's hard to judge whether those tenant leaders are doing all they should - let alone judge whether Sheldrake is being reasonable and flexible. Such "confidentiality" arrangements give those in the power position - meaning the owners - the freedom to put forward a take it or leave it stance without adequate examination and review by those outside the tight negotiating circle.

At Eastwood, there are assurances about "sticky" Section 8 vouchers, but President George Bush has tried repeatedly to cripple or kill the Section 8 program. With a sympathetic Congress on Capitol Hill, it's hard to see the merit of staking one's future on that program. And the vouchers, however sticky, are not free passes to housing off-Island if and when it comes to that.

Next week, at a closed meeting at DHCR, lawyers will attempt to untangle riddles surrounding the question of whether Roosevelt Island's Mitchell-Lama housing comes under the 50-year extension of a tax abatement voted recently by the City Council on the authority of Legislative permission. Prodded into action by Tim John's commentary in the April 2 WIRE (it's on line at nyc10044.com/wire/2515/wire2515.pdf), they will respond to a call for definitive answers on which tenants can base negotiating postures and proposals that are alternatives to take-it-or-leave-it positions.

But the most critical power in this orbit of concern and confusion lies with the RIOC Board of Directors. We have to wonder why the tenant organizations representing Island House, Westview, Rivercross, and Eastwood have not joined in a demand that the six current resident members of the RIOC Board use their power over the leases for the land on which those buildings sit to ensure a transition of reasonable pace and minimum dislocation from today's housing situation to whatever future can be shaped with the help of the power they hold.

The fact is that the RIOC Board holds the power to say No to extended ground leases if arrangements fail to protect tenants and give them a reasonable crack at ownership in the case of Island House and Westview, resident-friendly privatization in the case of Rivercross, or continuity of residence in the case of Eastwood. While each situation has its particulars, there is more in common than there is at odds among the occupants of these buildings, and a go-it-alone approach at each building gives up the power of unified action. That's especially true in making a demand that the resident members of the RIOC Board commit to using their power for the benefit of residents - not just to enrich building owners or RIOC's coffers.

There is power in unity.

From what we can see, the leaders of tenant groups seem to have relinquished that power by operating separately and in silence.

And the clock is ticking.

DL