ROSE GAZETTE
May 2001 Edition
Rose On Island's Housing and Development
Crisis:
"Retrofit What We Have and Blend When We Build"
If you are one of the lucky ones who are paying a reasonable rent
or mortgage and feel secure in your present affordable housing, you may have
not heard: Our Island is in the middle of a Housing Crisis!
On one hand, people who are looking for an affordable place to
live are growing more and more frustrated. If a one-bedroom apartment on the
North Shore costs at least $800 a month to rent, how is a young family with
small children on one income expected to afford a two-bedroom apartment? Our
Island, also, has people with special needs--HIV/AIDS patients, the
developmentally disabled, victims of domestic violence--who have no place to
go. Our subsidized housing stock for the working poor and seniors is aging and
residents' complaints go unanswered.
Are we at an impasse? Debi Rose says, "No! Our housing situation
must be addressed on many fronts. By retrofitting existing buildings and
underutilized manufacturing zones and, when we do build, requiring new housing
to blend or beautify the existing neighborhood, we can accommodate and grow,
but it will be Smart Growth." Here are some of the ways Candidate Rose intends
to apply Smart Growth to the North Shore:
- Develop Comprehensive Development Plan for Staten Island and
the North Shore.
- Require the City Planning Commission's assistance in re-zoning
to protect neighborhoods from inappropriate development.
- Insure that the Landmarks Preservation Commission provides
assistance in protecting historically significant areas of the North
Shore.
- Increase the city's capital budget for maintaining and
building affordable housing. · Cleanup, re-zone, and reuse run-down
manufacturing land for mixed income housing.
- Encourage renovation and reuse of existing structures, such as
the old Staten Island Hospital.
- Build new housing to blend or enhance existing neighborhood
character. · Improve maintenance in existing subsidized housing.
- Create incentives for landlords to end the warehousing of
apartments in Park Hill and other complexes.
- Create incentives for first-time home-ownership. ·
- Create sensitive senior housing.
- Plan for new infrastructure, schools, park space, and
recreational facilities.
Rose Kicks Off Petition Campaign for New NORTH
SHORE School
WHY ARE NO NEW SCHOOLS BEING PLANNED FOR THE NORTH SHORE?
Demand that the NYC Board of Education use the $30 million that is
available now to alleviate overcrowding at I.S. 51 and to move forthwith to
create new school facilities for the North Shore of Staten Island. There are
two ways to help:
- Please sign Debi Rose's school petition.
- Please write to Chancellor Levy, NYC Board of Education, 110
Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 demanding new school facilities for the
North Shore of Staten Island.
May Voter Registration Drive
Debi is mobilizing her volunteers to register 10 new voters each
by the end of May.
Here's how you can join:
- Call the Rose Campaign at 595-0550 or email us. Leave a
message with your name, address, and phone number, and we will send you the
voter registration forms. (For you Web Whizzes, you can also go to
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/vac/home.html to download and print forms
yourself.)
- Sign up your relatives and friends, neighbors, colleagues,
fellow worshippers. Some people will be new voters; others just need an address
change.
- Encourage everyone to register in the Democratic Party and
about the importance of the Democratic Primary, on September 11th.
This is one primary election where our vote will make a
difference! Look for Debi at North Shore places of worship in the month of May,
signing up new voters.
Rose Opposes Rent Increases
While Other
Candidates Take Landlord $$
Do you live in one of the one million rent-stabilized apartments
in New York City? Last year, rents for one year leases went up 4 percent and 6
percent for two year renewals. This year, the Landlord Stabilization
Association (RSA) is lobbying for rent increases of 9 and 13 percent. At their
May 8th meeting, the Rent Guidelines Board recommended rate increases of 3 and
5 percent. After public hearings, they will take a final vote on June 20th.
"Landlords will be lobbying in these hearings for higher
rates," said Rose who is the only North Shore City Council candidate who has
not received money from the landlord group, the Rent Stabilization Association
(RSA). "Another increase after last year's hikes will hit Staten Island renters
hard. We must make our voices heard."
The public hearing is scheduled for June 13th at the Langston
Hughes Auditorium at the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X Blvd. from 10:00 am to
9:45 pm. The Board has scheduled a final vote on June 20th at the Great Hall at
Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street @ 3rd Avenue from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. Comments can
be sent to the Rent Guidelines Board at 51 Chambers Street, Suite 202 NY, NY
10007, Phone: (212) 385-2934, Email: questions@HousingNYC.com.
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