Independence Plaza North Tenant Association

(IPN Status) Ruppert Towers

Aug 08, 2002

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT / CARNEGIE HILL
Tall Towers Are in Flux, And Maybe an Area, Too
By ERIKA KINETZ

The confident thrust of the Ruppert Yorkville Towers, two tall brick apartment complexes from 90th to 92nd Streets between Second and Third Avenues, is at odds with the insecurity that buzzes through its hallways.

On July 19, after four years of haggling, landlord and tenants completed a deal letting the landlord convert the 1,257 apartments into condominiums and leave the Mitchell-Lama program. The program gives tax breaks and low-interest mortgages to landlords who accept rent limits.

Tenants have until Aug. 23 to buy their apartment at 30 percent below market value. They can then remain in their apartment or "flip" it to an outside buyer, who must pay the full market price. As of last week, 90 tenants had chosen to buy.

Their decisions may make waves that ripple far beyond the two towers. The complex is one of Manhattan's largest islands of subsidized housing, and any change in its occupants could radically alter the character of the neighborhood.

But tenants are facing the biggest questions. Besides buying or moving, they can keep renting, and are eligible for rent subsidies if their income is low enough.
"We feel this was a very good deal for everybody," said Lila Dyas, president of the Ruppert Yorkville Tenants Association.

While many tenants are grateful for the options they won, they deplore the loss of what was. "You can't fight the system," said Donna Levinstone, an artist who pays $1,700 a month for a three-bedroom she shares with her husband and two children. "This is what housing has come to."

She said it would cost $5,000 a month, including mortgage and maintenance fee, to buy her apartment. She hopes instead to buy a two-bedroom and not follow the 10 neighbors she knows who are leaving the area. "The ride is over," she said.

But for many, Florida, the Bronx and Westchester have suddenly become real options.
Naomi Shriver, 64, pays $975 for her one-bedroom apartment. She said she planned to retire next year and simply couldn't afford the $1,500 a month she would pay if she stayed. "It is very upsetting to me," said Ms. Shriver, who hopes to buy in Riverdale or Hartsdale, N.Y. "I have lived in Manhattan for 25 years. It is going to be hard to move back to the suburbs."

When it opened in 1974 and 1975, the Ruppert Yorkville Towers brought middle- and working-class residents to what many thought an underdeveloped area.
"It was a changing neighborhood, a community just beginning to happen," said Ms. Dyas, who arrived in 1978. "Now it is again changing."

Naomi Shriver, 64, pays $975 for her one-bedroom apartment. She said she planned to retire next year and simply couldn't afford the $1,500 a month she would pay if she stayed. "It is very upsetting to me," said Ms. Shriver, who hopes to buy in Riverdale or Hartsdale, N.Y. "I have lived in Manhattan for 25 years. It is going to be hard to move back to the suburbs."

When it opened in 1974 and 1975, the Ruppert Yorkville Towers brought middle- and working-class residents to what many thought an underdeveloped area.

"It was a changing neighborhood, a community just beginning to happen," said Ms. Dyas, who arrived in 1978. "Now it is again changing."