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IPN Timeline: Key Dates and Developments in the Process
A deal to keep future IPN rents affordable, struck last month
between tenants and the complex's new owner, was a long time in the making.
It was also only the latest development in what has been a long struggle
for tenants and workers of the complex. Here's a look at key dates and
developments in the process.
March 28, 2000: IPN management, in what it says is a cost-cutting
move, fires the complex's staff of 24 security guards, many of whom had
worked at IPN for more than 15 years, and hires an outside company to
take over security. Tenants are angry. For the previous two months, the
workers and many tenants had expressed concerns about rumors that the
guards would be fired, but in February, management denied any such plans.
April 2000: Tenants protest the firings
and what they say is a decline in maintenance, security and other building
services problems as compared to the previous year. The workers file a
grievance through their union against management. At a meeting attended
by more than 150 tenants, Councilwoman and IPN tenant Kathryn Freed calls
for a rent strike.
June 2000: Fabricant is elected president
of the IPN Tenants Association, together with a new executive board.
October 2000: In a deal with the security
guards' union, IPN management agrees to rehire 12 of the workers.
November 20, 2000: More than 250 tenants
fill IPN's community room to discuss fears that the complex's owners plan
to withdraw IPN from the Mitchell-Lama program, a move known as a "buyout."
Ownership will have the right to buy out as of January 2002. Fabricant
says he believes that a buyout is planned, that tenants may not be protected
and that they have to build a legal defense fund to prepare to fight the
owners. "We need a war chest," he says. That month, IPN management
tells the Trib that there are no plans for a buyout in the immediate future.
Winter 2000-01: Tenant anxiety about
a buyout rises. The tenant association launches a fundraising and membership
drive, and begins studying strategies to oppose a buyout. Harvey Cohn,
general manager of IPN's management company and nephew of the complex's
principal owner, says that "there's been no serious consideration
given" to a buyout.
April 2001: 300 tenants attend a meeting
at IPN to hear representatives of other city Mitchell-Lamas discuss their
own court battles against buyouts. Fabricant says he anticipates "at
least a two-year fight" at IPN. In a letter to the Trib the following
month, management's Harvey Cohn denies that a buyout is planned.
September 2002: Developer Laurence
Gluck informs the tenant association's executive board that he had signed
a contract the previous month to buy IPN and that he intends to buy out
of the Mitchell-Lama program. But the prospective sale is subject to review
by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
The tenant association seeks support from local elected officials to find
a way to block a buyout or keep rents affordable. "We're getting
ready to fight," Fabricant said.
October 2002: Fabricant tells several
hundred tenants at an Oct. 16 meeting at Borough of Manhattan Community
College that they will have to raise $350,000, round up substantial political
support and remain united to keep their rents affordable. He asks households
to pledge $500 each to a defense fund. "We're not going to let them
kick us out of our homes," he says. In an interview, Gluck says that
three-quarters of the tenants will be eligible for government vouchers
that will protect them from rent increases and that he plans to negotiate
reasonable increases for other tenants. He says he hopes to negotiate
"an agreement that is comfortable for both sides.
February 2003: The tenant association
seeks support from Bloomberg administration officials for a tenant-led
purchase of IPN as alternative to Gluck's buyout plan. The association
works with its lawyers to draft a City Council bill that would impose
fees and other requirements on owners seeking buyouts.
April 2003: The tenant association
hires Geto & de Milly, a prominent public relations and lobbying firm,
to help win political support.
May 2003: HPD approves Gluck's purchase
of IPN. Fabricant and tenant association lawyers discuss their proposed
bill with City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. They also meet with Deputy
Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who says the administration will work to ensure
a "fair outcome" for IPN's tenants and owner.
June 2003: On June 25, more than 700
tenants from IPN and other city Mitchell-Lamas call for rent protections
at a rally at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Gifford Miller tells
the audience that he will support the Mitchell-Lama buyout bill. Fabricant
says that if the tenants and Gluck can't negotiate a deal to protect tenants,
"there will be a lengthy litigation." The same day, Gluck takes
ownership of IPN and the following day he informs tenants in a letter
that he has initiated the buyout process, which requires a one-year waiting
period.
August 2003: The Mitchell-Lama buyout
bill is introduced at the City Council.
October 2003: On Oct. 16, Gluck addresses
IPN tenants in a packed auditorium at P.S./I.S. 89, saying that rents
will remain affordable after a buyout. After the tense meeting, tenants
say they remain fearful. On Oct. 29, at a City Council hearing, IPN tenants
speak in support of the Mitchell-Lama buyout bill. Representatives for
Gluck and the Real Estate Board of New York testify that the bill is unconstitutional.
December 2003-March 2004: In a series
of meetings mediated by Gifford Miller's office, the tenant association
and Gluck try to negotiate a deal. In late January, Fabricant says the
talks are winding down, with "significant unresolved issues."
But in a flurry of meetings and phone calls in late February and early
March, the two sides close in on an agreement.
March 8, 2004: Fabricant announces
a tentative deal with Gluck that will keep IPN rents affordable. The agreement
is signed four days later.
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