Haven Plaza Tenants Demand Repairs, Question Rent Hikes
By Nilsa Fiol

On Monday, March 16, over 100 tenants from the Haven Plaza Tenants Association met with City Councilmember Margarita Lopez (D-Manhattan) to seek her help in resolving problems with maintenance, rent increases, and cuts in federal Section 8 funding. Haven Plaza is a 350-unit Section 8 complex located on Avenue C in the Lower East Side, subsidized by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“In the last three years we have repeatedly met with the management office, HUD and other politicians, and we are still facing the same problems of poor repairs and maintenance, dangerous old windows, old appliances, constant rent increases, and no more Section 8 for tenants who face financial difficulties,” a tenant association leader said. “And now we need action,” she continued. “We demand the new windows as promised by Haven Plaza and HUD, we need to have the Haven Plaza books audited to see if the rent increases were justified, and we need to know the status of the Section 8.”

Tenant after tenant testified about the deteriorating living conditions in the houses. Councilmember Lopez, clearly moved but not surprised, pledged her total support and help. She said she would convene a meeting of all the appropriate agencies and officials in this matter, and encouraged the tenant association to continue organizing to keep the level of participation and unity among tenants up.

Other invited guests speaking at the meeting were Wasim Lone of the Lower East Side Tenant Union and Deborah Schutt of Met Council. Haven Plaza Tenant Association renewed their affiliation with Met Council with a $200 donation, and voted to become an official member of the newly formed Lower East Side Tenant Union, which is fighting to try to stop the further displacement of low-income tenants from the neighborhood.