"Repairs weren't done. Sometimes the building went days without heat or hot water. The front door didn't lock, so nonresidents would loiter in the lobby. Ana, who has worked as a medical assistant and a phlebotomist, told me that she assumed she'd always be stuck shelling money out to someone who wouldn't take care of her home. "And while they take lavish trips and we pay their mortgage, what happens to us?""
"That all changed in 2023, when a group of tenants, in tandem with the East New York Community Land Trust (ENYCLT), began helping residents to improve conditions in the building-and ultimately to take control of it completely. In February 2024, after raising almost a million dollars in private capital and securing $700,000 in low-interest loans, ENYCLT and 248 Arlington's tenants purchased the building."
Ana lived at 248 Arlington in East New York for over 50 years under a succession of negligent landlords, facing unmade repairs, intermittent heat and hot water, and unsecured entrances. In 2023 tenants partnered with the East New York Community Land Trust (ENYCLT) to improve building conditions and pursue ownership. In February 2024 ENYCLT and the tenants bought the building after raising nearly $1 million in private capital and obtaining $700,000 in low-interest loans. The purchase reflects a broader NYC movement of tenants and community land trusts reclaiming resources to create deeply and permanently affordable, resident-controlled housing without profit motive.
Read at The Nation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]