Building by Building - Bushwick Housing Independence Project and Brooklyn A combat tenant displacement in Bushwick

By Dan Hafetz

On a blistering July morning, Father John Powis came to Brooklyn housing court to advocate for one resident and wound up advocating for four more. He was there with a tenant facing non-payment proceedings when a woman without a lawyer asked him if he was from Bushwick. Before he could answer yes, she and three others waiting outside the court room, each one also without a lawyer, began telling him about their housing problems. Father Powis, who hasn't had a single day of law school agreed to help these residents on the spot, and by lunch-time, four of the five had won adjournments.

Father Powis in a meeting with tenants.

A retired priest who has worked in Brownsville and Bushwick for over 45 years, this was not an unusual day in the fight against displacement of low-income tenants in Bushwick. Powis, along with Sister Kathy Maire, Kennedy Rivera and Yolanda Coca runs the Bushwick Housing Independence Project (BHIP), a not-for-profit community based organization which works closely with Brooklyn A's Bushwick office. "Most of the people in housing court get eviction notices and go unprepared," says Sister Kathy Maire, Executive Director of BHIP, commenting on Powis' morning in court. "What that indicates is that there are a huge number of people slipping through the cracks," she adds. And if it is a rent stabilized unit "that usually means an affordable unit is lost forever."

These five residents are part of the larger story of gentrification and the vigorous resistance it is meeting in Bushwick. "Gentrification is the process whereby long term rent stabilized and rent controlled tenants are moved out of their apartments so that the building can be gutted and revamped, and then the rents raised enormously," says Brooklyn A's David Bryan. (Bryan is the Managing Attorney of the Bushwick office and also Director of the Comprehensive Rights Unit, addressing the needs of those affected by HIV/Aids). The problem is particularly acute in Bushwick in part because it is the next neighborhood east from rapidly gentrifying Williamsburg, and also because its low-income tenants are so vulnerable to displacement. Many tenants in Bushwick tend not to have the knowledge of how to challenge landlord harassment, which results in many being constructively evicted, being priced out, or taking the small sum their landlords offer them to walk away from a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment, which in Brooklyn is a gold mine.

BHIP has dedicated itself to "putting families first" by fighting to keep affordable housing in Bushwick. It was started in 2004 by Father Powis, who had been doing housing work in Bushwick and Brownsville for over 45 years. Joined by Sister Kathy Maire, Kennedy Rivera and Yolanda Coca, BHIP primarily dedicates itself to organizing tenants in preparation for court fights like the one with the tenants Powis defended that July morning.

Brooklyn A's relationship with BHIP began when Bryan reached out to Powis after becoming manager of Brooklyn A's Bushwick office in the fall 2006. "We knew him from around housing court, and had talked about working cooperatively with him for a while," says Bryan. The relationship solidified when BHIP and Brooklyn A were awarded a joint grant from the Independence Community Foundation to bring on attorney Vance Gathing, full-time, to deal with tenant displacement and representation of tenants associations in Bushwick. Bryan explains that Brooklyn A's Group Housing work brings to BHIP "our effort to address problems in multiple dwellings that exceed the scope of individual advocacy. The result is something more sustainable and coordinated with a long-term effect," he explains.

Despite the large scope of the crisis, residents typically come to BHIP with one of only a few problems: whether rent-stabilized tenants have to accept rent increases above the annual NYC Rent Guidelines Board October rent increase (currently set at 4.5% for a 1-year lease and 8.5% for a 2-year lease) before it takes effect, what they should do if they receive an eviction notice, what they should do if the landlord offers them money to move out, and how they can put an end to a landlord's harassment or get the landlord to do something about building code violations.

BHIP responds to these problems with a variety of tactics. In addition to organizing rent stabilized and rent controlled buildings and defending individual cases in housing court, BHIP also leads training sessions to educate the community about how to exercise their rights as tenants, as well as working with court-appointed administrators, called 7A Administrators, who are making repairs to buildings. Altogether they represent about 38 buildings in Bushwick, which includes about four to five hundred individuals or families.

While BHIP appears in housing court around 40 times a month, acting as a lay advocate for tenants, they rely on their partnership with Brooklyn A for assistance on the more complex legal issues. This work usually involves cases like 01-02 Bushwick Avenue* . 01-02 Bushwick is a rent-controlled building, but somehow the landlord is getting tenants to sign lease agreements that raise the rents above the legal maximum. "It's a mystery," says Father Powis. "What Vance is doing is the detective work of figuring out how the landlord is managing this scheme so we can take him to court." Father Powis adds that without the solid legal representation of Brooklyn A, BHIP and the tenants at 01-02 Bushwick would be powerless.

The bread and butter of Gathing's work with BHIP comes to light in the 'lobby meetings' that take place in the buildings of tenants associations that are a part of BHIP. Such meetings underscore the potency of when lawyers team up with tenant organizers, a perfect complement. BHIP brings tenants into the process, mobilizing them through tenants' rights awareness campaigns, and organizing them into building-based associations. BHIP then funnels to Brooklyn A select cases. In turn, Gathing then uses the knowledge and complaints that pool together at a tenants' meeting to make a stronger case.

"The key is that when one tenant mentions something about their tenancy they think might not be that important, it resonates with others in the group who may have a similar experience. Before you know it another pattern of landlord abuse comes to light," says Gathing. He then uses this knowledge against the landlord in order "to show the landlord that they need to treat their tenants like customers," and that the tenants "can't just be bullied around."

There is a lot at stake in this fight against displacement. As long as rents increase and wages don't, there will be a breaking a point, and that breaking point might be October of this year. Father Powis and Sister Maire predict that come October the rent-stabilization increases, which are set by the City, will drive tens of thousands of Brooklyn residents to homeless shelters. "It will be the straw that breaks the camel's back," says Sister Maire. "If half of your income is already going to rent, the extra $85 a month will be enough to make continuing in the apartment impossible." Maire believes there needs to be a long-term plan, perhaps in the form of City Council legislation that provides funding to help working tenants pay their rent increases.

Until that happens it will come down to a building-by-building fight. BHIP's recent canvassing initiative reflects this reality. This past summer, BHIP was gearing up for the October rent stabilization increase, embarking on a massive community education campaign. In east Bushwick, Father Powis and a team were handing out fliers to people in every building covering a ninety block area. In west Bushwick, BHIP's Yolanda Coca was reaching out to churches of all stripes--from the larger Catholic congregations to the smaller Pentecostal groups--as well as going to food distribution centers, making face-to-face contact, and letting people know about their rights. The fliers give tenants enough information to self-advocate on a basic level, but invite them to come to BHIP for more substantial assistance.

As a result of the canvassing, BHIP may be flooded with thousands of residents coming to get information on dealing with their housing problems. "We might be asking for it," says Father Powis. "But it's worth a try."

* An alias address is used to protect the identity of the residents of this building.