Corporation Works to Satisfy Suing Tenants

Embroiled in a lawsuit with its tenants over alleged failure to address housing violations, the Abyssinian Development Corporation says that, for now, it awaits funds to rehabilitate buildings and is in the process of dealing with plaintiffs’ concerns.

ADC, the nonprofit development corporation affiliated with Harlem’s iconic Abyssinian Baptist Church, boasts 100 employees and a consolidated budget of nearly $58.3 million. It was sued in October 2006, when residents of West 135th and 137th Streets initiated a legal action which allows tenants to sue landlords for repairs in both private and public areas of their apartment buildings. Though the ADC promised to improve building conditions, tenants claim that the company withholds information about anticipated renovations.

“We want rehab and relocation to be pulled off impeccably,” Zanetta Addams-Pilgrim, vice president of external affairs at the ADC, said. But in order for this effort to succeed, she explained, the corporation needs sufficient funds. Due to the buildings’ status as federally funded projects, ADC must first acquire finances through the city government, which it has been unable to do despite what Addams-Pilgrim calls “adamant” efforts.

Harlem Legal Aid Society attorney Megan Palmer, who is representing the residents, condemned the ADC’s silence.

“They [the ADC] don’t want to admit what kind of loan it is,” she said of the financial plans surrounding ADC’s renovation project. She added that more open discussion about finances would ease difficulties in tenant-corporation negotiations. “This is all conjecture though,” she said, “because they haven’t really told me anything.”

But the corporation tells a different story. According to Addams-Pilgrim, the ADC’s property management force has sat down with tenants, made requests for repairs, and encouraged residents to work with their landlords.

“When you are transacting a deal, being ‘professional’ means that you and the other party sit in a room and negotiate that deal with them,” she said. But the local community’s weariness and aggravation, she said, has strained communication between the two sides.

“There are some tenants who don’t want to talk to us, who don’t like us, who don’t want to hear what we have to say,” she said.

Given the condition of some apartments, landlords say they understand why communication might be closed off. A 70-year-old woman missed numerous doctor’s appointments because of a broken elevator. Plumbing can be faulty, and water pressure uneven. One of the buildings could use a new roof, and a non-functioning intercom system creates its own set of communication dilemmas.

Though they vary from building to building, tenants say that violations have piled up. Lisa Jones, the leader of a local tenant group, attributes the faults to a: “20-year lack of maintenance. Someone neglected to go out and do it right,” she said. Palmer admits she has witnessed worse, but is particularly perturbed by the ADC’s denial that outstanding violations exist—though no one can locate them in the public records.

Issues of miscommunication have also centered around the corporation’s links to the Abyssinian Baptist Church and its reverend, Dr. Calvin Butts. Celebrated for his rapport with such politicians as U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, Butts serves as chairman of the board for the ADC. Although ADC confirms he has no active hand in housing management, past events force some to question his proprietary interests, and many tenants hold him accountable for the corporation’s actions.

The Reverend C. T. Walker Housing Fund Development Corporation, once chaired by Butts, is still listed in public records as owning Abyssinian’s property at 179-181 W. 135th Street. Yet Butts said that “no one has ever asked me that question [about the property ownership],” and that, though the name on record has not changed, the Reverend C. T. Walker Housing Fund is a dissolved entity.

In contrast to how some view his conduct, Butts expressed concern about the current housing circumstances. “I’ve encouraged and asked and even directed the ADC’s staff to meet,” Butts said, and mentioned that he forwards all letters and complaints he receives to the ADC.

“Butts has already seen himself as his own orbit ... as his own part separate from Harlem establishments,” Harlem Tenants Council director Nellie Bailey said. Her words echo much of the criticism the reverend has recently received—as a symbol of the church, some believe Butts should take accountability for the Abyssinian lawsuit now spanning over 18 months.

In reality, ADC’s CEO Sheena Wright and James Howard, its vice president for real estate and asset management, shoulder much of the responsibility. “He [Butts] does not have any practical ... management of anything we do ,.. but he absolutely wants this to conclude as well as possible,” Addams-Pilgrim said.

Wright did not return repeated calls for comment.

Both sides remain determined that this lawsuit, currently wracking a Harlem institution otherwise known for striving to quell social problems, can result in a win-win situation.
“If we could work this out faster, we would have,” Addams-Pilgrim said, adding later that, “we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars in our pockets.”

Jones voiced similar aspirations. “We’re working on resolving this,” she said. “We see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

scott.levi@columbiaspectator