City Council candidate Deidre Olivera held her press conference on affordable housing yesterday standing in the shadows of the Atlantic Plaza Towers in Ocean Hill for a reason.
To Olivera, the set of two 24-story brick buildings symbolize the damaging side effects of gentrification in Brooklyn: transforming neighborhoods, higher rent rates, and, potentially, eviction.
“Brooklyn has the highest rate of evictions out of all the other boroughs,” Olivera told a crowd of about 20 supporters yesterday evening. “As we have become something to be desired by other states — as other people have begun to invest within our communities — we find it is harder to maintain homes.”
According to data compiled and visualized by ProPublica, the Atlantic Plaza Towers recorded 300 conviction cases with New York City between 2013 and 2015.
“What I find a lot of residents are saying is that their rent is going up, they are not receiving notification beforehand, and then when the rates aren’t going up and they are not paying the difference, they [are] processed a surcharge,” Olivera said in an interview before the press conference. “And then they are being brought to court based on not paying the surcharge. I’ve had quite a few people, in various buildings across our district, that have said that’s the problem.”
Olivera said she received a threatening phone call Wednesday from Nelson Management, the company management company in charge of the plaza towers – Nelson Management.
Olivera said a co-owner of the company claimed the eviction numbers were incorrect, and threatened legal action against Olivera for highlighting the rate.
Olivera also alleged the towers leadership is backing a different city council candidate for the 41st district, but declined to name the candidate. Olivera added that, under these circumstances, she has been discouraged from leafleting inside Atlantic Plaza Towers.
“It’s a bad thing when management — or people who are supposedly representing larger groups of people – get involved and they sway or try to control the vote for everyone else,” Olivera said. “I think it takes away the democratic process.”
A Nelson Management spokesperson disputed the Propublica report on the number of evictions, while defending its’ role in the community.
“We are proud to be part of the Ocean Hill community and are committed to providing the highest-quality housing for residents at Atlantic Plaza Towers and at all of our buildings. Unfortunately, misinformation is being circulated regarding evictions at one of our properties, the 718-unit Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brooklyn, where only 11 residents have been evicted over a period of two years,” said the spokesperson.
Olivera, a Brownsville native who belongs to the Laborers’ Local 731 union, said she won’t accept any developer money during her campaign. She has made affordable housing a cornerstone of her race for the 41st district, which encompasses Brownsville and parts of Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and East Flatbush.
Brooklyn is one of the fastest growing boroughs and is experiencing a housing crisis. Last year, the City Council approved the East New York Rezoning Plan that aims to bring affordable housing and economic development to the area.
In March, KCP highlighted some of Olivera’s other campaign plans, including collective bargaining rights, women’s rights, education and economic reinvestment.
She is running to replace term-limited City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, and has the endorsement of many local leaders, including business owners and reverends.
On Thursday evening, Reginald Bowman, a longtime affordable housing advocate, voice his support for Olivera. Bowman, 64, serves on the City-Wide Council of Presidents, the body representing the 344 public housing development in the city.
“Most people that are trying to represent us in Albany, and city council and in Congress, are all in bed with the developers that are going to put us put out of this community,” Bowman bellowed. “Do we want that?”
“No,” a group of supporters bellowed back.
“Too many of us – not only those of us that live in public housing, but those of that live in the towers, those that live in private housing – we are being priced out of this community by gentrification,” Bowman continued. “We are being priced out of this community by plans that don’t include us in the future of this neighborhood.“
Among the other frontrunners in the multi-candidate Sept. 12 Democratic Primary are East Flatbush resident Cory Provost, Bed-Stuy resident Henry Butler and Brownsville resident Alicka Ampry-Samuel.
