LES 2 BR, $493? Phone Prank Hits HPD
by Kathleen McGowan

Want a $493 apartment on the Lower East Side? So do a lot of other people, as Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Richard Roberts found out last month.

Pranksters placed an ad in the June 30 Village Voice advertising two-bedroom apartments for $493 a month and three-bedroom apartments for $564, and gave the commish’s phone number. “Call Mr. Roberts, 863-8100 re: affordable housing plan,” the ad read.

"We’re just getting on HPD’s case,” explained one of the ad authors, who works with a Lower Manhattan protest group. “It’s a prank to dramatize the fact that HPD has no affordable-housing plan at all.” A harried assistant in Roberts’ office directed callers to a recorded message that lists the agency’s low-income housing programs. The anonymous prankster said the group planned to send flowers to apologize to Roberts’ staff.

Reprinted with permission from City Limits Weekly.