On July 25, a crowd of about 25 people gathered outside 63 Tiffany Place, where residents are fighting to avoid being evicted from their homes.
The 70-unit building is one of the few in Cobble Hill that provides affordable housing, but the building’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) regulatory agreement expires on December 31, 2023. This means there is no guarantee that the building will continue to have affordable housing beyond that date. What happens afterward is up to landlord Irving Langer.
Langer took over as the building’s landlord in 2010. Cases of deferred maintenance, displacement of tenants, and deregulation of affordable housing resulted in his name appearing on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist.
In 2016, a story in the New York Post said of Langer, “A city landlord who lives in a $3 million Long Island mansion pays his building supers and porters as little as $3.45 an hour while housing them in rat-infested hovels, a new lawsuit charges.”
Folks chanted “Fight, Fight, Fight! Housing is a Human Right!,” and then residents at 63 Tiffany Place, and local politicians spoke to the crowd.
“This is an atrocity,” said John Leyva, who has lived in the building for 29 years. “This is a story about how low-income families are being evicted from their homes after 30 years just so this man can make a few extra millions. Because of his vast wealth already, this isn’t life-changing money but it will make 70 families homeless. I understand people want to get their money but Mr. Langer can still do the right thing and make an incredible return on his investment while we live happily ever after.
“We have people of every race and ethnicity. Many are retired but many are still working. Many of us have disabilities and health issues. We have civil service employees, and quite a few hospital workers. We have a singer, a teacher, a part-time actor, a chef, a classical artist, a veterinary assistant, a union labor organizer, and a military veteran. We have someone who had a kidney transplant earlier this year, and someone else battling multiple sclerosis. One neighbor just had a stroke and is learning how to walk again. We’re people and this is our home. For them to try to force us out just isn’t right.”
Joy Foster, another long-time resident said, “ We are not just dollar signs, we are humans, and this is our home. We’ve been here for up to 30 years, and we are an essential part of this community. We are nothing but pawns with dollar signs to Irving Langer, and if you remove us, who will be next, because it’s just going to keep going.”
After speaking, residents from 63 Tiffany Place presented Ben Fuller-Googins of the Carroll Gardens Association with an award for fighting for the residents in the building and helping the community.
“We don’t know how to organize and put things together like this so without him, this wouldn’t have been possible,” said Leyva. “He has taught us so much and he has been an amazing resource.”
Many local politicians were also in attendance and spoke at the event, including Comptroller Brad Lander, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Council Member Shahana Hanif, and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon.
“Despite years of outreach, the landlord, the city, and the state have failed to come together to ensure a new regulatory agreement is made to keep these working-class residents in their homes,” said Hanif. “I’m here to stand in solidarity with these tenants and demand a solution. We cannot allow this shining example of affordable housing to become another luxury condominium at the expense of our long-term neighbors.”
Simon also made the point that Cobble Hill has become one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city and if residents are forced out of 63 Tiffany Place, it would be very difficult for them to find another home in the neighborhood.
“This is a battle for the soul of New York City and now is the time for folks to show what side they’re on,” Lander said. “On one side are people like Joy, and John and this whole Tenant’s Association; people who have made this place a community. The question is will this place be there for them and for their kids or will we allow greed to literally evict them into the street?”
Right now the answer to that question remains unknown.
One Comment
We the residents of 63 Tiffany Place would like to thank you for this amazing article. For more information and updates on our situation we’d like to invite you and your readers to our website, http://www.Save63Tiffany.com.
Working NYers who have paid their rent for the last 30 years, even through a pandemic, and have been good residents, should never be forced out of their homes. Forced into homelessness just so a multi-multimillionaire sitting in his mansion in Long Island can make a few more millions. This is wrong. People that moved in in 30s, 40s & 50s are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s , and we even have a 92 year old couple who fought in the Korean War, where will they go now? Many are now retirees, sick and disabled, etc.. Shouldn’t they be allowed to live out their final years in the homes they’ve lived n for decades,, in dignity?
This fight is bigger than us. This is a fight for housing justice. This is a fight for all working NYers who are slowly being priced out of our beloved city. Please join us in this fight.
Thank you for your time and consideration
#Save63Tiffany 🙏🏼