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WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
$2.95 NOVEMBER 2004
o 74470 94460 7
SUSAN HARRIS
1968-2004
CITY liMITS AND THE CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE LOST A DAZZliNG
colleague and dear friend on September 5. Associate Publisher Susan
Harris sold ads, handled business accounts, managed payroll and
helped produce the City Limits Week(y. But that's just a job description.
Much more important, she was an extraordinary human being with a
life to match. The baby-faced 36-year-old was born in England, her
accent still detectable in words like "rather." When she was 5, her fami-
ly moved to the Bronx, and then later to Queens, where she met and mar-
ried Derrick Calinda. After a stint in the Air Force and the birth of her
son, James, she made her way back to the Bronx, now a single mom.
It didn't take Susan long to break into publishing. She started at
Marie Claire and Harpe(s Bazaar but found her niche at City Limits. She
said she chose the small nonprofit over a better-paying job because she believed in our mission (and because she could wear sneakers
every day). Susan's commitment to City Limits was obvious. She constantly looked for ways to boost ad sales and circulation, along with
our morale. Despite an endless subway commute, she was always the first person in the office and usually the last one out.
Eventually, Susan began funneling what she learned into her own semi -secret project, Mahogany, a quarterly magazine geared
toward women of color who "think, play, create, love and live outside the box." Just like her. After one issue, with virtually no
advertising, she had more than 500 subscribers.
Susan and I became friends over late-night deadlines and early-morning chats, dissecting our up-and-down love lives, our jobs,
our plans for the weekend-and beyond. She was a lively storyteller and thoughtful listener, quick with blunt advice. When I told
her last winter that my heat was out, a space heater magically appeared at my desk. Talk of renovation brought a thick stack of Met-
ropolitan Home magazines, lugged from the Bronx. Resolutely unsentimental, she still remembered everyone's birthdays.
She was also fierce, a hot mama with a dragon tattoo and a sarcastic sense of humor that spanked us all. If she didn't like some-
thing, she didn't complain, she just changed it. whether that meant trying a new hairstyle or dismantling a computer. She wasn't
afraid of anything, and she wasn't willing to settle.
Susan consistently shot past limits in search of new experiences, deeper knowledge, more joy. It's a tragedy that someone who appre-
ciated life so much didn't get more time to enjoy it. We enjoyed every minute we got to spend with her.
Her death was sudden and unexpected. The city medical examiner has yet to determine the cause.
She is survived by an exceptional son, James, a budding filmmaker who is just as intelligent, good-looking and independent as
his mother. She's also survived by her mother, Merlyn Williams, father Denzil Nurse, sisters Natashia and Ishla Williams, and broth-
er Stephen Harris. -(ASSI FELDMAN
AS AN ASPIRING PUBUSHER, SUSAN ALSO LEFT A LEGACY OF WRITING. THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM HER BLOG,
DOCUMENTING THE BIRTH OF MAHOGANY MAGAZINE:
MARCH 4, 2004: Working a full-time job, raising the "Boy" and mak-
ing a dream come true in the wee hours of the morning-is fatiguing.
Beautiful but fatiguing.
MARCH 9: I like to work on the magazine in the middle of the night. I
like playing around with the layout, I like the whole creative process of it.
It gives me a thrill to see my words flow onto a blank page. I wanted to
keep that control.
APRIL 11: I've been working round the clock on the layout and design,
the stories, the interviews-whew! I have never had so many emails, in
such a short period of time. But in all this frantic whirlwind of activity-I
had to smile to myself because it is so much frickin' fun! I work this hard
at my day job and never have attained this level of satisfaction. NEVER-
not at my current job or any other job I have ever held. I am addicted.
JUNE 10: And I got some phone calls too-I am such a herrnit-all this
attention is a little disconcerting but I now know the mission of the mag-
azine is right and true.
JULY 8: The first issue of Mahogany magazine has garnered a nice show
of interest-I am pretty happy right now. It has been a bit exhausting
but well worth it. The next issue will be even better. The theme is "The
Hustle." I went to a meet-n-greet with the folks from crusade.net recently
and was amazed by the number of people who are doing the "9-5" gig
while working a "5-9"-you know-working full time at whatever pays
the bills while snatching time here and there to pursue their dreams. The
same damn thing I am doing. It just struck me as powerful-you might
have someone working as a secretary by day and by night is a promoter
of up and coming R&B acts. Or a janitor by day and fashion designer,
putting together shows by night. Black people are amazing, no doubt!
AUGUST 13: There is a point in everyone's life where they come into
their own. Where a writer finds that she/ he no longer struggles to put pen
to paper-words flow as easily as breathing. Singers forget do-re-mi and
belt out their hearts, unchecked by their heads. Doctors perform surgical
miracles because scalpel is now a natural extension of their fingers-I say
all of that because it is now over the last couple of weeks that I realized I
am a publisher. It felt funny. Too easy somehow. I kept waiting for the
uncomfortable feeling oj "out oj placeness"-it never came. I'm not say-
ing that publishing the magazine is an easy endeavor; in fact it is even
harder now than it was several months ago-but the manner in which I
operate now has a grace of its own. In the midst of chaos I am at peace.
Contributions for Susan's son, James, who starts college next year, can be
made to City Limits, 120 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10005 with "James Calinda" in the memo line.
CONTENTS
15 WASTE NOT
For years the outer boroughs have been
Manhattan's garbagemen. Mayor Bloomberg says
it's time for that to change-and his Upper East Side
neighbors are trashing his plans.
By Tess Taylor
18 SPEED TRAP
Reliable high speed Internet access is becoming
critical to the success of small businesses.
But decrepit technology and a lack of infrastructure
investment are keeping thousands of them logged off.
By Jonathan Bowles
22 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
With an emphasis on self-reflection,
psychologists at a Bronx homeless shelter are pioneering
a new way to coax residents into jobs.
By Rachel Blustain
5 FRO NT LIN E S: CHINATOWN'S THANKSGIVING WEDDING FLOOD . CLASS
CONSCIOUSNESS FOR CONGRESS .. SECTION 8 RENTAL VOUCHERS IN PERIL. .. THE LAST
OF THE BOWERY SRO'S .. WORKING FAMILIES PARTY CONQUERS ALBANY ... LEAD LAWSUIT
TOSSED .. NYPD'S DESK SET ... ACTIVIST HIGH SCHOOLS
12 OUT OF SITES
28 THE BIG IDEA
Affordable housing developers brave the private real estate market-
and sometimes prevail.
The problem for low-wage earners in New York isn't the lack of
government assistance. It's how to get to it. By Tracie McMillan
By Alyssa Katz
NOVEMBER 2004
31 CITY LIT
Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and
What We Can Do About It, by Mindy Thompson Fullilove.
35 JOB ADS
37 PROFESSIONAL
DIRECTORY
46 OFFICE OF THE
CITY VISIONARY
Reviewed by Michael Hudson
3
LETTERS
HEALTH COMMISSIONER
NEEDS COMMUNITY GROUPS
[Re: ''A Clean Start," by Kai Wright,
July/August 2004] Syringe exchange programs
opening soon in Queens will save lives-not
only those of people who inject drugs but also
those with whom they share needles or are sexu-
al partners. These programs were proposed for
Queens because there are high infection rates
and, unlike other areas of the city with similarly
high rates, there were no syringe exchange pro-
grams there to prevent these infections. Fortu-
nately, community boards and other leaders in
Queens with whom we have met extensively
shared our view that these programs would play
a critical role in saving lives. I consider commu-
nity involvement an integral part of HN pre-
Cover Illustration by ALR Design
vention in particular and public health action
generally. Indeed, since the beginning of the
HN epidemic, community groups have not
only been involved, they have led the way.
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Commissioner
New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene
City Limits welcomes letters to the editor.
Please send to:
Editor
City Limits
120 Wall Street, 20th floor
New York, NY 10005
or email to editor@citylimits.org
City Limits reserves the right to edit letters for
clarity and length.
City Limits and the Center for an Urban Future rely on the generous support of their readers and advertisers, as well as the following
funders: The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, The Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, The Scherman Foundaton,
JPMorganChase, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Booth Ferris Foundation, The New York Community Trust, The Taconic Founda-
tion, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Ira W DeCamp Foundation, LlSC, Deutsche Bank, M& T Bank, The Citigroup
Foundation, New York Foundation, Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, Independence Community Foundation, Stella and Charles
Guttman Foundation, Washington Mutual, FAR Fund, Child Welfare Fund, United Way, Merrill Lynch, F.B. Heron Foundation, J.B. Kaplan
Fund, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.
4
CITY LIMITS
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Gain news experience.
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CITY LIMITS
Volume XXIX Number 9
City Limits is published ten times per year, monthly except bi-
monthly issues in July/August and September/October, by City
Futures, Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to disseminating
information concerning neighborhood revitalization.
Publisher: John Broderick broderick@citylimits.org
Editor: Alyssa Katz alyssa@citylimits.org
Managing Editor: Tracie McMillan mcmillan@citylimits.org
Senior Editor: Cassi Feldman cassi@citylimits.org
Senior Editor: Xiaoqing Rong xrong@citylimits.org
Copy Editor: Ethan Hauser ethan@cilyiimits.org
Contributing Editors: Neil F. Carlson. Wendy Davis, Nora
McCarthy, Debbie Nathan, Robert
Neuwirth, Hilary Russ,
Kai Wright
Design Direction: Hope Forstenzer
Art Director: Nia Lawrence nia@citylimits.org
Photographers: Angela Jimenez, Margaret Keady
Contributing Photo Editor: Joshua Zuckerman
Contributing Illustration Editor: Noah Scalin/ALR Design
Interns: Abby Aguirre, Michelle Chen, James Connolly, Janelle
Nanos, Sarah Unke
Proofreader: Julie Bolcer
General E-mail Address: citylimits@citylimits.org
CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE:
Director: Neil Kleiman neil@nycfuture.org
Research Director: Jonathan Bowles jbowles@nycfuture.org
Project Director: David J. Fischer djfischer@nycfuture.org
Deputy Director: Robin Keegan rkeegan@nycfuture.org
Research Associate: Tara Colton tcolton@nycfuture.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Andrew Reicher, Chair
Ira Rubenstein, Vice Chair
Karen Trella, Secretary
David Lebenstein, Treasurer
Michael Connor
Ken Emerson
Mark Winston Griffith
Marc Jahr
John Siegal
Peter Williams
SPONSORS:
Pratt Institute Center for Community
and Environmental Development
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
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CITY LIMITS
FRONT LINES
Chinatown's Thanksgiving Vows
THANKSGIVING IS A TIME when most Americans
gather with families and friends to eat and cel-
ebrate. For new immigranrs in Chinatown, the
day's activities are strikingly similar, but for an
entirely different reason.
With the recent influx of immigrants from
China's southeastern province of Fujian,
Thanksgiving has become Chinatown's unoffi-
cial wedding day. It is the one time of year
when the immigrants, many of whom spend
their lives toiling in restaurants up and down
the East Coast, can all share a day off.
"There are thousands of Fujianese people
eating at wedding ceremonies in Chinatown on
Thanksgiving Day," says Jimmy Lo, president
of Fujianese of America Unity Association, who
said he normally receives more than a dozen
Thanksgiving wedding banquet invitations
each year. "Thanksgiving is the only public hol-
NOVEMBER 2004
iday in the whole year that relatives and friends
are able to gather together. "
As the new immigrant population has
exploded in downtown Chinatown, so has the
local wedding industry. Scores of wedding cen-
ters, offering everything from photography to
dress rentals, videos and makeup, have opened
in the past five years along East Broadway,
known locally as Fujian Street.
"My photographers and cameramen always
have sore arms on Thanksgiving Day," says
Meirong Song, owner of Wen Ring Bridal Center.
The restauranrs are just as busy. "You have
to book tables for Thanksgiving at least one
year in advance," says Shirley Luo, the manag-
er of Golden Unicorn, a 40-table restaurant,
which will host at least 10 wedding receptions
squeezed into three sittings during the day.
Romance aside, it can be a grueling and
expensive day. The average Fujian immigrant's
wedding will cost more than $10,000. And
sometimes grooms have to kick in a traditional
dov'ry of $33,000 to help their new brides pay
off smuggling fees, which can total close to
$60,000 (the men have usually been in America
longer, and have already paid off their own fees) .
For many new couples, even a simple wed-
ding brings debt that can take several years to
clear. Gao, a chef in a New Jersey Chinese
restaurant who provided only his last name, got
married last Thanksgiving. After the one-day
"honeymoon," he and his wife, a waitress in a
different restaurant, both went right back to
work to start paying off the $20,000 they bor-
rowed for the wedding. "We are only able to see
each other once a week for only one day," says
Gao. "We just have to work hard. "
- Xiaoqing Rong
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Barbaro at the Gates
A working-class hero runs
to oust a conservative
congressman.
By Ruth Ford
SEVEN YEARS AGO, Democrats on Staten Island
picked the gentlemanly former State Assembly-
member Eric Vitaliano to run against a young
Republican City Council member, Vito Fossella,
for the Island's sole congressional seat. They
watched in shock as their candidate, an anti-
abortion fiscal moderate, got hammered at the
polls. Within a matter of weeks, an onslaught of
radio ads sponsored by the Republican National
Committee had translated Vitaliano--the
author of New York State death penalty law-
into a raving tax-and-spend liberal.
This time around, the Staten Island
Democrats are loaded for bear.
They're putting up another former assem-
blymember to run against Congressman Fos-
sella, and this one is an unreconstructed, loud-
and-proud progressive: former State Assembly-
member Frank Barbaro, a onetime longshore-
man who passed dozens of the housing and
labor laws that protect New Yorkers.
The Dems don't necessarily believe their can-
didate will beat Fossella on November 2. Fossel-
la, who also serves Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst,
Brooklyn, is photogenic and popular. But they
do expect, in the parlance of the dockyards, to
"lump him up. " So do labor unions. "Maybe we
won't be able to get him this time, " says Ed Ott,
policy director for the New York City Central
Labor Council, "but what we can do is soften
him up and take him out in two years. "
Labor is keen to take out Fossella because he
hasn't objected to the Bush adminstration's
efforts to limit collective bargaining on federal
work sites. While moderate New York Repub-
licans, including Long Island's Peter King,
fought to protect project-labor agreements,
Fossella was silent.
So the Central Labor Council approached
Barbaro. He had been serving as a State Supreme
Court judge in Brooklyn when he took manda-
tory retirement last year, at age 76. Barbaro was
preparing to write his autobiography when he got
the call ftom Central Labor Council chief Brian
Mclaughlin. The ex-politician decided to get
back in the game. "I'm not a young man," says
Barbaro. ''I'm not looking to start a new career. "
Barbaro has run as labor's man before, and
done well. In 1981, he ran against Mayor Ed
Koch in the Democratic primary and garnered
37 percent of the vote.
Today, Barbaro's looking to reconnect with
working-class voters. "Democrats need to start
acting more like Democrats," he says. "We've
been moving away from our roots." Barbaro
outlines these in progressive and populist
broad strokes: He wants to see single-payer
health care, the protection of overtime, no war
in Iraq and a "massive public works program"
to put the unemployed back to work.
CITY LIMITS
l
The candidate comes from this world. The
son of Italian immigrants living in Bensonhurst,
Barbaro worked on the Red Hook docks in the
1950s, fighting mob control by refusing to work
in unsafe conditions. After putting himself
through law school at night, he ran for state
Assembly in 1972 and for the next 25 years
made a name for himself writing legislation to
protect renters, homeowners and city workers.
In 1982, as chair of the powerful Labor Com-
minee, Barbaro wrote New York State's version
of federal occupational safety law. He fought
rollbacks in workers' compensation, increased
the minimum wage and pensions for widows of
fuefighters and police officers, and established
the "warranty of habitability" that gave tenants
the right to occupy safe and healthy apartments.
But in 1992, after Barbaro blocked effons to reduce
workers' compensation for livery drivers, he was
stripped of his labor chair by Speaker Sol Weprin.
"Weprin wanted to make an accommodation on the
issue about cost," recalls Brooklyn Assemblymember
Jim Brennan. "Frank was inflexible."
Barbaro's inflexibility on workers' rights may
be the key that turns the vote in staunchly Repub-
lican Staten Island, where some of the candidate's
other positions-like support for legal abortion-
are not popular. "My guys are more traditional-
values guys, and do tend to be Republican," says
Jack Kinle, political director for District Council
9, the painters union. He plans to personally ask
each of his 550 members living in the district to
vote for Barbaro. "When we got to talk to our
members, we don't get involved in side issues like
gun control and gay marriage," says Kinle. "We
talk strictly about labor, putting food on the table,
rights to work. We're not talking about candidates
as much as issues, and Vito Fossella gives us a very
good excuse to knock on doors."
Ousting an incumbent congressman is diffi-
cult, especially in New York City, where advertis-
ing is extremely expensive, points out Joe Mercu-
rio, a Republican political consultant. As of Sep-
tember, Fossella had raised $873,655; Barbaro,
$244,897. That's why labor's support becomes
crucial. "Vito's district has the highest proportion
of union members in the country," notes Mercu-
rio. "Barbaro is a very big labor guy. All the unions
are going to go to bat for him."
So is the Working Farnilies Party, which has
put Barbaro on its ballot line. "From our point of
view, we could not have a more crystalline clarity
between candidates," says Executive Director Dan
Cantor. "On the one hand, you have Frank Bar-
baro. On the other, the most right-wing member
of the New York Congressional delegation."
Ruth Ford is a contributing editor to Habitat
magazine.
NOVEMBER 2004
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CITY LIMITS

HUO's Give and Take
IN A SEEMINGLY endless game of "now you see it,
now you don't," the Bush administration pro-
posed yet another round of cuts to Section 8
rental voucher funding.
The latest formula change, which would drop
individual subsidies to local low-income families
by as much as 14 percent, came just weeks after
New York City celebrated a restoration of close
to $55 million in 2004 Section 8 funding.
At press time, city officials were waiting for the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment (HUD) to finish a survey of local rents,
and hoping for yet another reversal of forrune.
At this rate, however, any good news is
bound ro be temporary. So why all the back
and forth?
While the decisions may look "arbitrary and
political," one Washington insider suggests,
there's a logic to HUD's approach. "They're
taking their hits, but they're still whittling
away, " he says.
HUD's made no secret of its concerns about
the vouchers. "Over three decades, Section 8 has
grown into an overly prescriptive and unwieldy
program, " wrote HUD Secretary Alphonso
Jackson in an August 6 New York Times op-ed.
"Costs have spiraled out of control, without a
corresponding gain in benefits. "
The push to cut costs set off a series of pro-
posed changes, starting with the administra-
tion's "flexible voucher" plan, which would
block-grant funding to public housing authori-
ties, and ending with the most recent recalcula-
tion of "fair market rent," which determines the
maximum amount of subsidy HUD will pay in
a given housing market.
The consequence of all this upheaval has
become apparent: Section 8 usage is starting to
slip. "Cuts in funding, declining payment stan-
dards, and general program uncertainty are driv-
ing landlords ftom the program, and are leading
Public Housing Authorities to reduce benefits or
cut recipients, " Senator Hillary Clinton wrote in
a September 23 lener to Jackson.
Democrats are also calling into question the
2004 restorations, which were announced right
in the middle of the Republican National Con-
vention. "Maybe it was a coincidence," quips
former HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo, part
of a coalition that had threatened to sue over
the cuts. "The ones that screamed the loudest
and the ones that were the most politically sen-
sitive got restored. New York screams the loud-
NOVEMBER 2004
est. They're having the Republican convention
here. New York gets restored."
HUD spokesperson Donna White says the
timing wasn't political. "We just wanted to
respond [to local appeals] as soon as we could,"
she explains. She says the financing, which totals
roughly $156 rnillion nationwide, shouldn't be
considered a restoration, since it's actually "addi-
tional funding" under HUD's new formula.
The National Low Income Housing Coali-
tion is still in the process of assessing the winners
and losers nationally. "It's breathtaking, the
hypocrisy from the Bush administration, " says
GOODBYE SUNSHINE
FRONTllNES
Executive Director Sheila Crowley, remarking
on the president's campaign promise to build
seven rnillion new homes for ownership. "You're
talking about creating new housing at the same
time you're dismantling the housing programs."
The Bush administration isn't the only
threat. In its budget for the coming fiscal year,
the House Appropriations committee main-
tained Section 8 funding but proposed sharp
cuts to other programs, including housing for
homeless people, seniors, Native Americans,
people with disabilities and people with AIDS.
-Cassi Feldman
The Sunshine Hotel , once home to hundreds of down-and-out New Yorkers, may soon shut its doors,
depriving the Bowery of one of its last SROs. Though the owners of the Sunshine, the Bari family-who
also own Bari Restaurant and Pizzeria Equipment across the street-say they have no intention of evict-
ing occupants, they are no longer admitting new residents and are offering to buyout current ones. Total
occupancy at the hotel once ranged from 250 to 300. Now it's down to 44. The Baris' move is just the lat-
est sign of the neighborhood's changing demographics: Already home to posh boutiques, luxury apart-
ments and pricey restaurants, it will soon welcome the New Museum of Contemporary Art, set to open
next door to the Sunshine in 2006.
9
FRONT llNES
Working Families
Party Soares
WITH THE ELECTION just a few weeks away, the
Working Families Party has a major target in
the crosshairs: Albany's district attorney office.
If its candidate, David Soares, wins, it will be
the third major victory for the party-after the
2003 success of City Council candidate Leticia
James and the legislative passage of a minimum
wage hike in Albany.
"They're probably the most traditional cam-
paigners," says Soares. "In the things they stand
for and the things that they fight for, they are
really in sync with my own personal philoso-
phy. It was just a very perfect blend."
The upstart party knocked the state capital's
Democratic machine on its heels last month
when Soares beat incumbent Paul Clyne
14,030 to 8,684 in the Democratic primary.
Soares' intense grassroots campaign had the
candidate still pounding the pavement for votes
the day of the primary, and driving in a 10-car
caravan complete with bullhorns. Leading up to
the election, an extensive coalition of groups
ranging from the Empire State Pride Agenda to
Citizen Action enlisted 1,000 volunteers to con-
"We were amazed
how much people
knew about the
Rockefeller laws."
tact 20,000 voters. But effective voter mobiliza-
tion, a growing hallmark of WFP campaigns,
wasn't the only ingredient for success. Soares
campaigned heavily on a compelling issue: over-
hauling the state's Rockefeller drug laws.
Clyne has been a vocal opponent of drug
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law reform. Though the DA. holds no direct
power over state laws, the New York State Dis-
trict Attorneys Association--of which Clyne is
a vice-president-has been the only organized
opposition to reform. The soul of Soares' cam-
paign, in contrast, was revising the laws, partic-
ularly mandatory minimum sentences for drug
convictions.
Even the Working Families Party was sur-
prised by the pull of the drug law issue. "We
were amazed how much people already knew
about the Rockefeller drug laws, and how
strongly people felt about it," says WFP
spokesperson Alex Navarro. "They got the
message, and they cared enough to vote out an
incumbent who was fairly popular. "
The issue garnered significant support from
quarters as disparate as the Drug Policy Alliance
(DPA) , a George Soros-backed drug policy
reform group that contributed over $80,000 to
the campaign, and former Secretary of the Trea-
sury Paul O'Neill, who chipped in $2,000.
Soares drew criticism for accepting funds
from the DPA, which Clyne supporters lam-
basted as a drug-legalization group.
Albany democrats were so riled up about the
race that a handful of Clyne supporters, includ-
ing County Democratic Chair Berty Barnette,
flied an eleventh-hour lawsuit seeking to bar the
Working Families Party from campaigning on
behalf of its candidate in his bid for the Demo-
cratic nomination. But once Soares won the
primary--openly vowing to turn Albany Coun-
ty into an example of drug law reform-the
county's Dems lined up behind the candidate,
and Barnette dropped the suit.
The intrigue continued, with political
tongues wagging over Clyne's next move. Some
observers thought he might switch parties and
run as a Republican if Roger Cusick, the Repub-
lican nominee, stepped aside. At press time, how-
ever, that prospect was waning as the Republicans
began to campaign in earnest for Cusick.
It's hard to say what kind of fight Cusick or
Clyne will put up for November. In the wake of
his defeat, Clyne estimated he'd need $500,000
to mount an effective campaign against
Soares-quintuple the amount he spent on the
primary. While the WFP continues to rally
around Soares, the fact that Albany County's
Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to
1 offers some comfort-though Soares isn't
taking any chances. "A lot of the traditionalists
will say, 'Don't worry, you won the primary,
you won the election," he says. "But I'm going
to continue doing exactly what I did in the pri-
mary: work like a dog." -Tracie McMillan
CITY LIMITS

Lead Lawsuit Tossed
A MANHATTAN JUDGE has dismissed a suit
brought by Community Preservation Corpo-
ration (CPC) and other housing groups chal-
lenging the validity of the city's new lead
paint laws. Justice Louis York of State
Supreme Court found that CPC did not have
legal standing to sue. The ruling states that
though the groups' economic concerns were
"sufficiently concrete," they were not proper
grounds for a lawsuit under the State Envi-
ronmental Quality Review Act. The same
judge also dismissed a nearly identical case
brought by the Rent Stabilization Association
(RSA) , a landlords group. Matthew
Chachere, staff attorney with Northern Man-
hattan Improvement Corp., who helped draft
the legislation, isn't surprised. "When the
final [city) regulations came out, it undercut
everything they had argued," he says. The
rulings are the latest in a series of legal scuf-
fles that have surrounded lead paint laws in
the city for the past two decades. The RSA
has appealed the decision. No word yet on
whether CPC will follow.
-James Connolly
Reading, Writing and ... Revolution?
FRONT LINES
Duty Calls
Desk jobs at the NYPD must be filled by civilian
employees, not by cops, arbitrator Maurice Benewitz
recently ruled. Benewitz ordered the police depart-
ment to stop giving clerical work to police officers,
whose salaries average more than $60,000, and to
reassign desk duties to administrative aides, who
earn roughly half that amount. The decision was a
milestone for DC 37, which spent nearly 10 years
preparing its case. The union expects the ruling to
free up at least 3,500 police officers for street duty
and save New York City over $100 mill ion per year.
- Abby Aguirre
Like biology? Head to Bronx High School of Science. Performing arts? That's LaGuardia. Changing the world? Take your pick: New
City is home to at least 10 public middle and high schools that aim to inspire students with classes that emphasize commu-
nity activism and political leadership. The idea first took hold in the early 1990s, but the recent focus on small schools has spawned
a whole new generation of activist academies, partly funded by private New Visions grants. The newest addition: Brooklyn's School for
Democracy and Leadership, which opened in Crown Heights this fall. Nobody tracks exactly how many social justice-themed schools are
out there, but we found several prime examples. Watch out, City Hall-these kids are ready to rumble. -Sarah IInke
ACORN High School Bushwick School Community School EI Puente School for Thurgood Marsha"
for Social Justice, for Social Justice, for Social Justice, Academy for Democracy and Academy for Learning
Bushwick Bushwick South Bronx Peace and Justice, Leadership, and Social Change,
Williamsburg Crown Heights Harlem
Year Founded 1999 2003 2002 1993 2004 1992
Grades Taught 9-12 9-10 (plans for 9-12) 9-11 (plans for 9-12) 9-12 6 & 9 (plans for 6-12) 7-12
Enro"ment 652 250 258 161 150 470
Principal Barbara Alleyne, Teny Byam, former Sue-Ann Rosch, Hector Calderon, former Nancy Gannon, Johnson, 34
educator for 33 assistant principal activist for Latino and former Peace in education
of Street kademy alternative high schools Caribbean studies, Corps volunteer with
cofounder of 10 in education
EI Puente kademy
Attendance Rate 78% 89% 90% 87-90% WA 90%
Graduation Rate 68% WA WA 85% WA 91%
Funding Public: $3.3 million New Visions grant- New Visions grant- Fundraising by New Visions grant- Public: $2.7 million
$400,000 over $325,000 over El Puente, $1.5 million $400,000 over
in public funding and
$2 million $1.8 million donations from $1.1 million
in public funding in public funding Boricua College in public funding
NOVEMBER 2004 11
INSIDE TRACK
Out of Sites
Affordable housing developers fight to thrive in a brutal
real estate market. By Alyssa Katz
HE RAN THE NEW YORK CITY government pro-
gram that repossessed run-down real estate and
sold the property at low prices to new landlords
eager to house low-income tenants responsibly.
Jerry Salama practically gave these buildings
away, hundreds of them during the 1990s,
along with government subsidies to help keep
rents reasonable.
When Salama left the housing department, he
decided to get into the business himself (with the
blessing of the mayor's Conflicts of Interest
Board). When the city ran out of abandoned
buildings to redevelop and sell, he and his partner
in Janus Property Company started looking for
real estate to purchase in the private market.
12
"We've been trying to buy multifamily rentals and
fix them up-stabilize them, make capital invest-
ments, get rid of drug dealers," explains Salama.
Subsidies would help them maintain low rents.
For a while, the projects kept coming. But
with New York City's real estate market too hot to
touch, being a savvy and connected entrepreneur
just isn't enough anymore. "I haven't been able to
buy anything in the last year and a half," Salama
laments. Everything is priced way out of reach.
Speculators are now purchasing these apart-
ment buildings for as much as seven and a half
times their annual rent rolls. With that kind of
overhead, there may not be enough money left
over to pay for heat, maintenance and other
basics. A lot of buyers don't care-they are
looking to flip the buildings within a year or
cwo, for a quick profit. Often they've never
even seen the real estate they're purchasing.
Salama's former employer, the Department
of Housing Preservation and Development
(HPD), is just now trying to figure out how to
respond. When Salama met recently with cwo
new men in charge-Commissioner Shaun
Donovan and Deputy Commissioner for
Development Rafael Cestero-they asked him,
"What can we do to help?"
LESSONS IN CREATIVITY
There's no shortage of ideas for how HPD and
CITY LIMITS
.-
me ciry's housing finance agency, the Housing
Development Corporation, could help build
more affordable housing: Give communiry
development corporations (CDCs) immediate
access [0 cash for down payments; offer low-
interest bond fmancing and subsidies; have me
ciry help financial institutions shoulder me risk
on loans. And while HPD has succeeded in
transferring [0 private ownership tens of mou-
sands of units of housing mat had been taken
over for nonpayment of taxes, me Ciry of New
York silll owns various pieces of properry and
could make mem available for development.
As HPD gears up [0 address mese needs [see
"Rafael's Reforms"]' its partners in me private
sec[Or haven't waited. Determined [0 keep mak-
ing new low-cost, high-qualiry housing avail-
able [0 low- and moderate-income New York-
ers, CDCs, supportive housing organizations
and entrepreneurs like Salama are diving head-
long in[O me private market--on meir own,
wimout a net.
The creative prevail. When he was looking
for a Bronx site last year for a new lIB-unit
apartment building for formerly homeless peo-
ple, Eric Galloway, executive direc[Or of me
Lantern Group, didn't bomer looking in a res-
idential neighborhood. He went to an indus-
trial wne in Bamgate and picked up mree lots
for $925,000. A loan from me Corporation for
Supportive Housing tided him over until state
financing carne through. There was just one
problem-he needed a wning variance [0
build apartments mere, and mere was no guar-
antee me ciry's Board of Standards and Appeals
would grant one. As it happens, it did.
"We look for land mat has less of a value [0
bigger players," explains Galloway. "There's a
risk we take, of course." The Lantern Group is
currently negotiating wim the Landmarks
Preservation Commission [0 partially demolish
and renovate a former Police Athletic League
building and turn it into 125 apartments, a
project mat will also require a wning change.
But Galloway is now discovering mat he
can't even find industrial sites in his price
range. The state's new brown fields tax credit
rewards developers lucratively for rebuilding in
mese spots, which have mus become hot prop-
erties. [See "The Green Lady," September!
Oc[Ober 2004.]
Affordable-housing developers say mey
need faster, easier access [0 cash [0 help mem
pounce on properties before omer buyers do.
They also typically need [0 have a site secured
before mey qualify for any government subsi-
dies mat will help finance construction. Hous-
NOVEMBER 2004
ing finance institutions are starting [0 respond
[0 the demand.
In me north-central Bronx, Shaun Belle
watched as his own organization's success in
improving me neighborhood made it attractive
for private developers [0 build new apartments,
without government subsidy. These homes,
marketed as "affordable luxury," rent for
$1,000 a monm and up, more man most
neighborhood residents can pay.
When two vacant lots became available,
Belle's organization, Mount Hope Housing
Company, turned [0 the Enterprise Founda-
tion for a speedy loan and was able to buy
mem. Mount Hope is now seeking Low
Income Housing Tax Credit financing to
make the new apartments available at a frac-
tion of market prices.
The Enterprise Foundation is considering
making such loans routine business in New
York Ciry, says Normeast Regional Director
Bill Frey. "We've heard from our nonprofit
partners about me importance of getting access
to properry," says Frey. "We understand mat's
important and are looking at putting togemer
a fund." In July, Enterprise announced a com-
mitment of $25 million for acquisition of new
sites for supportive housing, along wim $125
million to finance meir development.
The omer major national CDC finance
group, Local Initiatives Support Corporation,
is creating its own "strategic acquisitions"
fund," wim the help of private grants.
Securing sites is particularly important for
creators of supportive housing, who rypically
count on multiple slow-moving government
agencies [0 finance development.
Recognizing mat supportive housing
groups are in a bind, Deutsche Bank recently
changed me rules for its Supportive Housing
Grants Program. Starting mis year, applicants
no longer need [0 have a site already secured.
MIDDLE INCOME'S NOT MUCH EASIER
Wim tight budgets and downscale tenants,
developers of low-income housing have me
hardest time picking up real estate in me mar-
ketplace. These days, though, companies
building apartments for middle-income renters
are reporting mat they can no longer buy
development sites, eimer. The sale prices are
just too high [0 make me projects feasible, even
wim rents as high as $2,100 a monm and sub-
sidized bond financing through HDC's New
Housing Opportunities Program. "Some of me
owners think meir properry is more golden
than it is," says Vinny Riso, a principal of me
RAFAEL'S REFORMS
HPD Deputy Commissioner for Development
Rafael Cestero is new to the city's housing agency
but not to New York. Cestero was previously direc-
tor of New York programs for the Enterprise Foun-
dation, a national intermediary that delivers
affordable housing tax credit funds to communi-
ty development groups. Six weeks in at HPD, Ces-
tero outlined for City Limits how his agency will
help affordable housing developers secure sites:
NEW VENTURES INCENTIVE PROGRAM
A year ago, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and
JPMorgan Chase came together to create a $40
million pool to help affordable-housing develop-
ers purchase sites in former manufacturing
areas. Since then, bank commitments have
grown to $200 million. But so far, that money
hasn't been spent. HPD had put up just $8 mil-
lion to guarantee the loans-not enough to
assure banks they can lend the money to CDCs
without risk. Cestero says HPD wi II now use
"philanthropic dollars" to increase the city's
guarantee sufficiently to get the banks moving.
VACANT lAND
Though much has been auctioned off, the city
still owns scattered undeveloped parcels. HPD
is now doing a survey of these holdings. Cestero
plans to enlist CDCs to help identify adjacent
private property that can be bought and com-
bined with public land into viable housing sites.
ONE-STOP SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
Supportive-housing developers must secure
funds from a dizzying number of sources. Ces-
tero, who once headed Enterprise's supportive
housing efforts, promises "a virtual one-stop
shop" instead.
INCLUSloNARY ZONING
The Bloomberg administration is evaluating
incentives it could offer housing developers in
former manufacturing areas, rewarding them
for including affordable apartments in their
plans. Advocates are still pressing for non-
negotiable mandates.
13
Briarwood Organization, which until now
focused on redeveloping city-owned land in
Harlem and Far Rockaway.
So Riso is making property owners an offer:
Become joint parmers with Briarwood and
reap the rewards of investment instead of sit-
ting on an empty lot. Riso says he's "actively
negotiating four or five sites, in Harlem and
the Bronx."
Unlike Salama, Riso and other major New
HOP developers are contractors as well as deal-
makers, which gives them an edge in control-
ling their costs. In the past year, however, the
nationwide construction boom has driven up
the price of building materials significantly,
and labor and insurance costs remain high.
Alan Bell, principal of the Hudson Companies,
a Brooklyn-based developer, says that the cost
crisis is even making it prohibitive to build fed-
erally subsidized housing for senior citizens,
formerly a straightforward transaction. Says
Bell, "You can't make the numbers work."
PICKING UP PROPERTY ON THE WAY DOWN?
Bell and other vets of New York City real
estate say they're confident the market will
calm down sometime soon. In the Bronx, Jim
Buckley, executive director of University
Neighborhood Housing Program, anticipates
it could descend with a crash, leaving specu-
"Some of
the owners think
their property is
more golden than it
is," says a leading
builder of middle-
income homes.
lators stuck with apartment buildings they
have no commitment to maintaining over the
long haul. Some troubling signs suggest that
Planning for Communities, Cities
and the Environment at Pratt.
14
Pratt's planning programs prepare students with the theory and skills necessary to respond to the diverse needs of
communities and foster comprehensive social, physical, economic and environmental development. Through courses,
studios and fieldwork, students learn both the principles and the practice of participatory, equity focused urban planning.
The faculty, which includes practitioners from every arena of planning, introduces students to the real-life challenges
of urban development by engaging them in projects in New York City.
The Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment offers:
Master of Science degree in City and Regional Planning
Master of Science degree in Environmental Planning
Joint degrees combining planning with law or undergraduate architecture
Concentrations include:
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Pratt
Draw it. Build it. Make it.
Preservation planning with a focus on integrating historic preservation with
community development
Physical planning, land use and urban design
Courses are offered in the evenings at Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses to
accommodate working professionals.
might already be happening. In 2002, after
years of steady improvement, 13 predomi-
nantly low-income neighborhoods saw an
increase both in serious housing code viola-
tions and the number of buildings where
landlords had failed to pay taxes for more
than a year-indications that these neighbor-
hoods could see habitable housing aban-
doned, not gained.
Buckley doesn't want the Bronx to repeat its
history of large-scale landlord abandonment-
and he does want his CDC and others to con-
tinue to rebuild and manage affordable apart-
ments. He is working with financial institu-
tions, including Enterprise and Fannie Mae, to,
as he puts it, "lay the groundwork for acquisi-
tion as the market drops."
The working concept is a Multifamily
Assistance Center that could advise lenders-
who have the right to intervene if their prop-
erty becomes degraded-on how to rescue
their real estate from negligent landlords.
Buckley sees this effort as a potentially vast
source of affordable housing in the long term.
"We may see more buildings moving to afford-
able housing opportunities," says Buckley."
"We're thinking preventively now. "
Pratt Institute
Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment
200 Will oughby Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11205
(718) 399-4314 ext. 100 e-mail: gradplan@pratt.edu
CITY LIMITS
..
I
l
Sick of sharing her streets with sanitation trucks, Bronx mom Marta Rodriguez (with daughter Jaeleen McMillan) wants other
neighborhoods to share the load.
Mayor Bloomberg says it's Manhattan's
turn to help take out New York's trash.
His Gracie Mansion neighbors vow
to stop a garbage station from opening
on their riverbank. Welcome
to environmental justice, East Side style.
BY TESS TAYLOR
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARGARET KEADY
NOVEMBER 2004
M
ana Rodriguez is well acquainted with the
reek of trash. For the past 18 years, a steady
stream of roachlike trucks has heaved past
her house on Bryant Avenue, bearing the city's garbage
to transfer stations dorted around the South Bronx.
Rodriguez knows that the trucks bring vermin, spread
bad smells and belch diesel fumes. She's seen them
artract prostitutes who come to service idling drivers.
In the storefront office of Sustainable South Bronx,
on Hunts Point Avenue, Rodriguez, a petite mother of
two, talks about her nieces and nephews with asthma
and the 6-year-old neighbor who was hit and killed by
a speeding garbage truck this spring. "You go to other
areas, and you see how different it is," she says. "Here
there's always garbage, garbage, to the point you just
don't pay no mind to it. " But the more Rodriguez, a
recently minted community activist, learned about
garbage in New York City, the more she did mind.
15
"Manhattan generates 5,000 tons a day of com-
mercial waste, but a few neighborhoods in the
Bronx and Queens take it," Rodriguez says.
"Eleven thousand trucks pass through this neigh-
borhood every day. Manhattan dumps on the
poorer neighborhoods."
Yet these days, Manhattanites feel dumped on,
too. From the entrance of the Vmegar Factory, an
industrial site-turned-gourmet shop at 91st
Street, just off the FDR, Carol Tweedy points
across the street. A narrow asphalt ramp rises
there, smack between an Astrorurf athletic field
and the five-story gym of the Asphalt Green recre-
ation facility. At the end of the ramp is a dock that
dates to the 1940s, which used to load 1,200 tons
East Siders Carol Tweedy and Tony
Ard want to protect their park from a
return of putrid garbage trucks.
of garbage each day onto barges bound for the
Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island.
When the landfill closed down a few years
ago, the transfer station did, too, but Tweedy,
who directs Asphalt Green, still hasn't forgorten
their nauseating smell. "When the garbage trucks
ran next door to our center, I had parents pulling
their kids out of lessons," she says. "We've been
16
able to expand our neighborhood programs
immensely since then."
Upper East Siders have been told that their
respite may be temporary. This fall, the Depart-
ment of Sanitation is slated to release its plan for
how New York City will dispose of its garbage
for the next two decades. Reopening-and
expanding-the 91st Street station, along with
seven others around the five boroughs, is at the
heart of the new blueprint.
The prospect of reviving the marine transfer
station is encountering staunch resistance from
Manhattanites who live near the sites, and they
are determined to do whatever they can to make
sure that the stations are not reopened. For their
part, outer borough residents are preparing to
fight any version of the citywide plan that does-
n't reopen all eight of the old waterfront trans-
fer stations-including Manhartan's. As com-
munity groups sharpen their plans of atrack, the
city's plan to deal with garbage-to get rid of it
at a low cost, in a way that minimizes environ-
mental consequences-hangs in the balance.
The plan meant to solve the city's trash woes
may be headed for deadlock.
D
eadlock is the last thing New York can
afford right now. Besides the environ-
mental strain of thousands of diesel
trucks hauling garbage and recyclables on city
streets, highways and the George Washington
Bridge, the cost of transporting and dumping
trash has exploded to record levels-nearly $70
a ton last year. The city has come to depend on
a single private contractor, Waste Management,
Inc., to process refUse after it leaves the curb.
The city's garbage budget has ballooned to
nearly a billion dollars. Vito Turso, deputy
commissioner for the Department of Sanita-
tion, calls the arrangement a "fiscal disaster."
Not long ago, the city ran the show. Garbage
trucks took their loads to municipal waterfront
transfer stations, and the waste got barged from
there to Fresh Kills. The stations handled
household waste, which was carted by city
trucks, as well as trash that private companies
hauled from businesses. But in 1987, in an
artempt to appease disgruntled Staten Islanders,
the Department of Sanitation raised fees of pri-
vate haulers, and those truck companies started
building cheaper alternatives. Private waste-
transfer stations sprouted in the semi-industrial
wnes of outer-borough neighborhoods, includ-
ing Red Hook, Hunts Point and Williamsburg.
After Fresh Kills closed in 2001, the city shut
down its marine transfer stations entirely and
began sending 13,000 tons a day of household
waste through these private street-side sta-
tions-a costly and unpopular solution.
After nearly two decades of wrangling with
outraged outer-borough communities, the
Department of Sanitation wants to tout its plan as
the blueprint for a new, neighborhood-friendly
era in municipal waste management. It's a major
victory for the citywide Organization of Water-
front Neighborhoods (OWN) and its mem-
ber5--{:nvironmental justice groups, including
Sustainable South Bronx, that have fought for
years for a fairer and healthier solution.
But when the city unveils its plan this fall, it
is hardly likely to meet a welcome wagon. Each
neighborhood presents its own potential for
quagmire. On the Upper East Side, Tony Ard, a
snowy-haired former gas industry executive
from Indiana, heads the Gracie Point Commu-
nity Council, a neighborhood group backed by
real estate interests, deep pockets and a 3,500-
member email list. GPCC has hired a Ruben-
stein and Associates publicist to handle media
queries, as well as a prominent environmental
artorney to defend its interests as an environ-
mental review process gets underway. Gracie
Pointers say that the new facility would block
their waterfront park and esplanade. Stinky
barges would idle at the dock. Queuing trucks
would block an already congested corner near
CITY LIMITS
the FOR The facility would process 4,200 tons
of waste per day-more than triple what the
marine transfer station last handled in the
1990s. "We're talking about hundreds of chil-
dren playing on the field right next to that con-
stant barrage of noise and stench!" exclaims
Tweedy. Adds Ard: "These stations were built at
a time when this neighbor-
hood was industrial. This is a
er long-suffering community's loss. In Harlem,
next door to a waste-water treatment plant that
already churns torrents of New York City
sewage, the Department of Sanitation wants to
retrofit a station on the Hudson River at 135th
Street to handle roughly 4,000 tons of waste
per day. Cecil Corbin-Mark, the program
"We have the diesel bus depots. A quarter of
the kids in this neighborhood have asthma."
He points out that a reopened waste facility
will be right next door to a state park, a pro-
posed city park, public housing and schools.
"This neighborhood should not have to handle
another facility of this type," he says. "And we
are confident that the state will
recognize it. "
completely inappropriate
space for a garbage facility. "
Rick Leland, the group's
legal counsel, says that the
group's position is that "no
residential neighborhood
should have to accommodate
this type of facility. " He has
spent the summer scheduling
meetings all over Manhanan
to make East 91st Street's
objections clear to city and
state officials. Leland notes
that the community he's rep-
"The plan must make Manhattan
deal with Manhattan's waste, and
it must lead to a way to shut down
commercial land-based transfer
stations. If the plan doesn't do
these things, we will mobilize all
our efforts to block it."
E
ven as it prepares to release
its plan this fall, the Depart-
ment of Sanitation seems to
recognize it will be a hard sell.
Vito Turso wants to reassure
OWN members that when the
Solid Waste Management Plan is
released this fall, all eight transfer
stations will still be slated for
reopening. "But," he admits
elliptically, "there's no telling
where the permitting process
resenting includes poor peo-
ple as well as wealthy ones, a
fact he hopes the state's envi-
ronmental review process will
consider. "There are the Stan-
ley Isaacs Houses, facilities
for seniors and people of
color, and, of course, Asphalt
Green," he ticks off. And
then he moves on to a second
list: the numerous clearances
the city will need to get to
reopen the site. "There are
city wning regulations. The
city EIS [environmental
impact statement] process
mayor may not represent an
opportunity for litigation.
There is the state environ-
mental quality review
process. There is the process
of getting permits for marine
construction." He doesn't
mention it, but the city's
overall plan also needs to be
approved by the City Coun-
cil and the state's Department
of Environmental Conservation. Each permit
presents an opportunity to shut down the
process entirely.
Gracie Point residents aren't the only Man-
hattanites gearing up to fight the mayor's plan.
Across town, Manhanan's leading environmen-
tal justice group sees the Bronx's gain as anoth-
NOVEMBER 2004
-Elena Conte,
solid waste coordinator,
Sustainable South Bronx
will lead." He concludes with a
grim smile: "The environmental
review process will certainly be
in teresting."
All the opposition puts OWN
activists in a hard place. Every
day that the new plan stalls is
another day filled with trucks,
stench and vermin. But Elena
Conte, Solid Waste Coordinator
for Sustainable South Bronx,
says that the outer boroughs
won't accept a plan that doesn't
include trash facilities in Man-
hattan. She says that OWN has
two issues they consider non-
negotiable: "The plan must
make Manhattan deal with
Manhattan's waste, and it must
lead to a way to shut down com-
mercial land-based transfer sta-
tions. If the plan doesn't do these
things, we will mobilize all our
efforts to block it." Like the
Manhattan groups, OWN is
poised to challenge the city's
coming environmental impact
director at West Harlem Environmental
Action, has spem the summer mobilizing 45
community organizations, 13 churches, state
and local politicians, and a 3,300-person mail-
ing list to protest. Corbin-Mark is looking for
legal counsel as well. "We already have the
lion's share of Manhattan's scourge, " he says.
statement-in OWN's case,
they'd contest the EIS if the documem does not
effectively support the plan to reopen the Man-
hattan waste transfer stations. Challenging
state permits is a possibility down the line, says
Conte. Of the tons and tons of garbage New
York throws out, she declares, "We'll take our
Continued on page 34
17
Businesses can't compete without broadband
internet-but thousands of New York City
companies can't plug in. Here's what's
short-circuiting them, and what we can do about it.
HIQIl Ipeed
"broadband" internet access is no longer the
sole domain of dot corns and high-tech compa-
nies. Today, fast access to the web is a critical tool
for smaller enterprise, from architects and animators to
freight forwarders and food manufacturers. Broadband's
fast, always-on connection lets companies reach vast pools of
customers, as well as take full advantage of e-mail, videoconfer-
encing and other web-based applications that can make them
more efficient. These benefits can't be overstated at a time
when businesses in nearly every industry are facing intense
competition from around the block and across the globe.
18
By Jonathan Bowie.
Ima,e. by ALA De.IQn
Especially for businesses operating in high-cost locations like New
York City, broadband can help level the playing field and give firms
the competitive edge they need to thrive.
Yet, in New York, thousands of businesses- particularly small and
mid-sized firms located outside of Manhattan's office districts-are still
using superslow dial-up connections to access the internet, and many
are not hooked up to the web at all. In some of the city's most impor-
tant commercial districts, far too many businesses that do have access
to broadband struggle to receive service that is reliable and affordable.
A new digital divide has thus emerged in New York, one that could
have profound implications for the city's future economic growth. "It's
in the city's interest to have broadband available to all the businesses
that need it, " says Allan Dobrin, former commissioner of the city's
Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
(DoITT). "It's tough to have a thriving business without internet
access."
The paradox is that parts of New York City possess some of the
world's most advanced telecommunications infrastructure and are
home to some of the globe's most technology-savvy businesses. The
vast majority of buildings in Manhattan's two central business dis-
tricts are wired with some form of broadband. Most companies
located in midtown or lower Manhattan can choose between a host
of service providers and multiple forms of high-speed internet service-
from Tl and T3 lines that run over state-of-the-art fiber-optic cables to
less powerful digital subscriber lines (DSL). And in every borough,
businesses that are located in residential neighborhoods or mixed-use
districts are now likely to have access to broadband service.
But in many of the industrial parks and other low-density commer-
cial areas around the five boroughs, businesses continue to have
CITY LIMITS
J
extremely limited options for obtaining broadband and often find it
downright impossible to access a reliable high-speed connection.
The broadband gap threatens to diminish the city's economic com-
petitiveness, at a time when some of the city's brightest prospects for
economic growth lie outside of Manhattan's central business districts.
AI a general rule, the larger a firm is, the more likely it is to have
broadband. Virtually evety large business utilizes high-speed connectiv-
ity as a matter of course. But for companies with fewer than 100
employees, the picture is mixed. Only 65 percent of businesses in the
U.S. with 20 to 99 employees have broadband, according to a 2002
study by the Yankee Group, a telecommunications research firm. For
businesses with between 2 and 19 employees, the figure falls to 40 per-
cent.
Data on broadband's penetration among businesses in the New York
City market is hard to come by. Verizon, which is the primary provider
of DSL service, guards its numbers closely. So do the cable companies
serving the five boroughs: Time Warner, Cablevision and RCN.
The limited information Time Warner Cable of New York was will-
ing to share with the Center for an Urban Future indicates both the
recent growth of the small business market for broadband and the con-
straints on its further expansion. Time Warner's Road Runner service
nearly tripled its number of business customers in just the past two
years, most of them outside Manhattan.
Yet Road Runner still doesn't reach into several industrial neighbor-
hoods in Time Warner's franchise area, including much of Williams-
burg, DUMBO and Red Hook. In the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Time
Warner is just now wiring two buildings, but company officials
acknowledge that they do not currently have plans to provide service to
any of the more than 40 other buildings in the complex.
In Sunset Park, cable modems are available to businesses located east
of Third Avenue in the residential part of the neighborhood, but service
remains elusive for most of the several hundred firms located in Sunset
Park's industrial zone. "Nobody down here can get cable," says Leah
Archibald, executive director of the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial
Development Corporation. "Because there's no residential down here,
you just can't get it. Some businesses have tried."
In most cases, small companies are left with just one option: DSL.
In theoty, DSL should be more than sufficient, and its lower cost makes
it a first choice for many small firms. But service interruptions and sys-
tematic problems-ranging from antiquated telecommunications infra-
structure to an absence of real competition among providers-render
DSL a constant source of headaches. "Our DSL line is inherently unsta-
ble," says Dennis Sanford, a manager at Legion Lighting, an East New
York-based firm that manufactures fluorescent lighting. "I'm bumped
off-line several times a week. Bad weather seems to affect it a lot."
DSL transmits high-speed data over the same copper wires that pro-
vide phone service. Generally, customers simply have to be located
within roughly three miles of a phone company's central office; in New
York, most firms are. But in many induStrial neighborhoods and other
isolated business districts, the copper phone wires are a century old and
in bad shape. Numerous companies in these areas say that their DSL
service goes down several times a week, a disruption that is both annoy-
ing and costly.
Fiber-optic lines are far more reliable, and they can be used for T1,
T3 and even bigger-bandwidth communications services, as well as
DSL. But while pervasive in midtown and downtown Manhattan, fiber
NOVEMBER 2004
is virtually absent in the boroughs. According to a 2003 study by the
City Council, of the roughly 3,400 "fiber lit" buildings across the city,
only 54 are in Queens, 205 in Brooklyn, 140 in the Bronx and 40 in
Staten Island. While fiber-optic cables do run under main Streets
throughout all five boroughs, it typically costs between $50,000 and
$200,000 to dig under streets and extend fiber over the "last mile," to
a company's office. In midtown and downtown Manhattan, telecom
companies and property owners usually end up swallowing this cost
because most buildings have scores of potential customers. But else-
where businesses tend to be more spread out. As a result, most of the
fiber in the other boroughs is "dark."
So copper remains the main option in much of the city. Even then,
many businesses can't use it. In industrial areas from Red Hook to the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, some firms still have difficulty getting hooked up
to DSL or can get service only on a few lines. These problems exist even
in up-and-coming areas like Long Island City. "Many buildings in Long
Island City are not close enough to a central office to get DSL," admits
one Verizon official.
Small businesses report Verizon is often slow to make the needed
changes-if it does so at all. Just ask Dan Chase. The owner of Chase
Office Supply, located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Chase has spent
more than two years trying to get DSL service from Verizon. Finally, in
mid-September, Verizon told him that his company is clear to receive
DSL. Verizon wouldn't, however, guarantee that it will work. "They're
saying it's a 50-50 chance that it will be functional," says Chase, who
had yet to install the necessary equipment by the time this article went
to press.
Chase needs the service badly since his business does all its ordering
online. But he's had too many bad ezperiences with Verizon to get excit-
ed prematurely: "We've been trying to get [DSL] for a long time. They
just say, 'It's not available. It's not available.' Now they say it might be."
Verizon did not respond to calls
for comment.
For telecom companies, the
economics of wiring business
areas outside of Manhattan just
don't add up. Peter Rust is the presi-
dent of Con Ed Communications, a company
that has been building its own fiber-optic networks
around the city and, according to Rust, now delivers T1 ser-
vice to more than 125 buildings around the region, mostly
in Manhattan. While the company has wired a handful
buildings in Brooklyn, Rust says that it has largely chosen to
avoid the small-business market. 'The issue in Brooklyn is finding
buildings with enough businesses to justifY [the investment]''' Rust
says. "When you're investing in infrastructure, you need a certain
return. It takes about six small- to medium-sized businesses in a
building to break even."
Inveltorl' caution marks a big change from the boom
years of the late 1990s, when it looked as if fiber-optic
technology would be universally accessible. That was a
period of unbridled optimism in the financial mar-
kets about the growth of new technologies, and
telecom companies were flush with investors'
money, eager to spend a large chunk of it
building out fiber-optic networks and
19
confident that demand would arise to justifY the expense. At one point,
about two dozen telecom companies were laying fiber around the city
and, in some cases, wiring buildings speculatively. Not sutprisingly, the
bulk of the fiber deployment occurred in the densest parts of the city,
although some companies looking for niches in the market targeted
small businesses and underserved areas.
A considerable amount of fiber was laid underground outside of
Manhattan's central business districts. But before most was connected
to offices and homes, the stock market's bubble burst and the telecom
industry was among the hardest hit. A number of telecom providers
declared bankruptcy. The handful of firms in New York that survived
have been considerably more cautious with their capital investments.
Cable companies like Time Warner, Cablevision and RCN have
been looking to flil some of the gaps in New York's broadband market,
but today's economic realities make it very difficult to justify the neces-
sary infrastructure investments in lower-density areas. "It's very expen-
sive to build a fiber network," says Gary Linde-
mann, director of alternate sales channel devel-
opment for RCN. "Five years ago you could get
a lot of people to lend you money to do it. You
can't get anybody to lend you the money now. "
That's certainly true for the vast low-rise
areas of the city, where businesses, even when
they're clustered together, tend to be spread out
over larger distances and housed in small build-
ings that rarely have more than a few tenants.
What's more, when the telecoms consider
making investments in these areas, what they see
is a lack of demand. Even as more and more
companies across the city are awakening to the
benefits of broadband, many small businesses
and old-economy firms are still way behind the
technology curve. The CEOs of some of the
city's industrial businesses still don't even use a
computer or have e-mail. Many other business
owners realize the value of the internet but aren't
yet able to justifY the additional cost associated
with making the leap from dial-up to broad-
band service.
For the same reasons that cable companies
haven't extended their fiber networks to isolated
commercial areas, Verizon has been reluctant to repair or
replace its aging copper telephone infrastructure in these
neighborhoods. Verizon also has little incentive to upgrade
copper wires when they believe, understandably, that within
a few years' time fiber-optic technology will render copper
wiring obsolete.
To cap it all off, Verizon feels little pressure from com-
petitors to improve service in these parts of the city. It still
controls much of the telephone infrastructure from its days as
the city's state-sanctioned monopoly phone company. Com-
petitors offering DSL have to lease the phone lines that Veri-
zon owns, an arrangement that makes it difficult for them to
offer lower rates and gives them little leverage to improve
infrastructure. A recent court ruling makes it even tougher for
other broadband providers to compete, by allowing Verizon
and other companies controlling the wires to charge more.
20
Small businesses say Verizon
service available. Dan Chase
get broadband in the Brooklyn'
that it's a 50-50 chance that it '
All of this spells trouble for the thousands of small businesses in New
York that are now getting by with a spotty DSL connection. The speed
and reliability of broadband will only become more crucial in the years
ahead, as companies begin to use broadband for Voice over Internet
Protocol service-an alternative to traditional phone lines-and other
new money-saving technologies.
Since the market alone isn't taking care of
many companies technology infrastructure
needs, some business leaders are looking for local
government to spring into action. After all, in
New York City, government runs much of the
infrastructure and regulates the rest. Public tran-
sit, bridges, street maintenance, sewers-we've
managed to make sure that New York residents
and businesses have access to all of them. So can
City Hall lend a hand?
It can, and should, but it won't be easy.
The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996
sharply limits the ability of municipal govern-
ments to make demands on broadband
providers. Since the law passed, cities have been
unable to require telecom companies to provide
universal coverage for high-speed internet ser-
vices, a standard that cities like New York were
able to insist on for the rollout of cable television
in the 1980s and 1990s.
So policymakers in New York City will have
to be more creative. They can work with indus-
try associations to get more small businesses to
recognize the value of broadband, or they could dangle
incentives in front of telecom firms and building owners to
make infrastructure upgrades in underserved areas. Or they
could push for the development of more multi-tenant build-
ings where a cluster of similar ftrms can share resources,
including broadband. One idea on which many telecom
experts agree is that the city should be aggressive in promot-
ing a broad rollout of wireless internet technologies.
Wireless is significantly cheaper to install than fiber
wires, and it is also free from many limitations of the 1996
Telecom Act. It can draw upon existing city assets, such as
lampposts and the rooftops of municipal buildings. In
addition, it doesn't rely as intensively on the existing tele-
com infrastructure and can thus be brought more easily to
areas currently underserved by major telecom providers.
Thus far, wireless deployment in New York has largely
been limited to public/private initiatives to make WiFi, the
CITY LIMITS
is slow to make high-speed
waited two years to
Navy Yard. "They're saying
will work."
wireless fideli ty standard, available in city parks, coffee shops and orher
public spaces, predominantly in Manhattan. But next generation wireless
technologies like WiMAX and MobileFi offer extraordinary potenrial to
penetrate much deeper into all five boroughs. Offering connectivity over
distances up to 10 miles--considerably farrher rhan WiFi, which is lim-
ited to about 100 feet-rhese technologies can penetrate indoors, elim-
inating rhe need for antennas on rhe toof of every building.
"WiMAX, more rhan any other technology, including WiFi ,
has huge potenrial to enable rhe service of all sorts of underser-
viced areas to get real inrernet connectivity," says Dana
Spiegel, a technology consultant and member of the board
of directors at NYCWireless, a nonprofit group rhat seeks
to expand access to wireless technology. "There's no rea-
son why you couldn't take rhe same model and beam
service from a cenrral office in Brooklyn 10 miles
out, which should cover just about every part of rhe
borough."
Even proponents like Spiegel, however, concede
rhat wireless companies probably aren't going to
reach out to underserved areas without some combi-
nation of carrots and sticks from the government.
A recent ini tiative from the Bloomberg administration
suggests a model. In August, the city's Department of Information
Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) announced an agree-
ment to lease 18,000 city lampposts-1 a percent of all lampposts in
the city-to six cellular phone companies that want to use rhem to
improve cell phone coverage. The plan includes an incentive to boost
phone coverage in underserved areas: The city will lower rhe costs of
renting lampposts in wealthier areas coveted by cellular companies if
the firms agree to offer inexpensive WiFi telephone service to neigh-
borhoods where less than 95 percent of residents have a phone in their
homes. Unfortunately, the project only explicitly covers phone ser-
vice, not broadband.
Other cities have put forrh more ambitious plans to take advantage
of wireless technologies. For instance, in August, Philadelphia mayor
John Street unveiled an ambitious plan to make rhe entire city a wire-
less internet hot spot. The plan, which would involve installing wireless
transmitters on lampposts across Philadelphia, aims to bring extremely
low-cost internet access to all parts of the city.
Perhaps the Bloomberg administration will take notice. The city's
Economic Development Corporation recently assembled a task force of
telecom experts and business leaders to advise rhe agency on how to
address some of rhe five boroughs' key telecom infrastructure chal-
lenges. The agency subsequently hired a consulting team to examine the
issue more closely and make recommendations rhat ensure rhe city "will
be capable of maintaining and attracting new businesses and resi-
dents . .. and of providing cost effective broadband telecommunications
NOVEMBER 2004
infrastructure to rhe greatest number of people in New York City." The
consultant's report is expected later this year.
This article was adapted from "New Yorks Broadband Gap, " a report from
the Center for an Urban Future. For a full report and recommendatiom,
visit www.nycfuture.org.
ChlclQo Unplugged
Sometimes the boldest ideas are a little too bold. Several
years ago the city of Chicago launched its ambitious CivicNet
initiative, an effort to provide broadband access to businesses
and residents in far-flung neighborhoods with-
out spending new publ ic money [see ''The
Underground Railroad," February 2002] .
The city government-with key sup-
port from the business and civic commu-
nities-sought to hi re a single telecom-
munications company to install fiber-optic
lines to meet the needs of its various
agencies, wi th the understanding that the
infrastructure built for the city's own use
would also be available to businesses, orga-
nizations and residents who wished to pur-
chase broadband seNice from the company.
To help finance the rollout, CivicNet would
aggregate all the money local government
agencies had been spending on telecommuni-
cati ons seNices into one pool , amounting to
more than $30 million.
But earlier this year, CivicNet fell victim to
budget cuts, and the program has been sus-
pended indefinitely. It had been the highest-pro-
file effort by a city government to build a broad-
band infrastructure on a large scale.
The sudden demise of CivicNet was striking for a
project Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had compared
to the creation of railroads in the 19th century. Mayor
Daley's influential Council of Technology Advisers had
championed the effort, and Daley himself had been
outspoken on the importance of technology and tele-
com in making Chicago businesses competitive in the
global economy.
Going forward, Chicago and the local Metropol i-
tan Planning Council are working on more modest
initiatives to expand broadband access, with a
focus on expanding high-speed wireless net-
works. - TARA COLTON
21

~ c c u a lona
22 CITY LIMITS
NOVEMBER 2004
e r a ~
At a Bronx homeless shelter,
residents r-md jobs
by finding themselves.
By Rachel Blustain
Photographs By Angela Jimenez
S
even years ago, Tom Hameline, a
family therapist and vice president
of HELP USA, New York City's
largest nonprofit provider of transi-
tional housing and services for homeless
families, approached a psychologist named
Peter Fraenkel and asked him for help with a
problem of his own. Welfare rules required
residents in his housing to get jobs. Yet most
of them weren't interested in cooperating
with job counselors.
It was dear people wanted to work. When
Hamelin talked to shelter residents, he says,
"they'd sound like a meering of the Republican
Chamber of Commerce." Still, for every 15 resi-
dents his staff approached, only four or five
would agree to see a job adviser.
The residents had lots to gain from par-
ticipating. The counselors encouraged clients
to hold out for positions that paid $8 or $9
an hour rather than minimum wage, because
higher rates, research showed, increase the
chance people will stay at a job. And the
counselors had experience finding employers
willing to take a chance on homeless people.
About 7 out of 1 0 residents who worked with
a counselor found jobs. At the end of six
months, some rwo-thirds were still
employed-a very decent track record for a
welfare-to-work program.
But Hameline couldn't stop thinking
about everyone else: the people who never
got jobs, those who lefr quickly, and the
majority his staff couldn't convince to see a
counselor in the first place. He wanted
more. "How can we get people more
engaged in planning for their work futures
while they're still in the shelters?" he asked.
Coaxing residents to cooperate wasn't a
new challenge for Hameline. People in shel-
ters have experienced extraordinarily high
rates of trauma, such as experiences of child-
hood violence, sexual abuse, family violence
and dissolution, and drug and alcohol addic-
tion. But even when homelessness is only a
bad moment in an otherwise functional exis-
tence, "many people are overwhelmed by the
experience," explains Hameline. "They feel
their primary focus has to be looking for
housing and taking care of their children,
and they will think about work only afrer
they get out of the shelter system."
He thought another critical obstacle was
lack of trust. Shelter residents often have had
"so many negative experiences with helping
agencies, they think, 'It's better if we hadn't
met.'" Hameline hoped Fraenkel, a former
colleague of his from the Ackerman Institute
for Family Therapy who is now a City Col-
lege psychology professor, could develop a
program that would rebuild residents'
trust-and help them find, and keep, jobs.
W
hen the nation took the plunge
eight years ago into welfare
reform, there was scant informa-
tion about what approaches were
most efk:ctive in getting recipients into the work-
force. For the most part, programs focused on
immediately placing participants in jobs. The idea
was that a job, any job, was the best way to start
people on the road to steady employment. "Job
23
readiness" emphasized quick-and-dirty attitude
adjusnnem-reacillng participants to romb their
hair, stand up straight and speak with ronfidence.
With 33 offices in 21 cities, STRNE (Suppon
and Training &suIt in Valuable Employees) is a vivid
example ofhardrore job prep.
At 10:30 a.m. in East Harlem, the eyes of
40-odd people in the room are on social work-
er Rob Carmona, and their ears on his steely
voice. An ex-heroin addict and ex-con, Car-
mona started STRIVE in 1984 in the basement
of a housing project.
Everyone had bener learn to smile, Carmona
tells the group. The game-face plays well above
125th Street, but as far as your potencial boss is
concerned, it just seems like a threat. "If you look
like the guy who used to beat me up and take my
lunch, I'm not going to hire you," he instructs.
Carmona seems to dare anyone to defY
him, and he's only been talking a few minutes
when one woman does. He has asked people
to state their age, and when the woman refus-
es-it's personal-he won't let it slide. "Per-
sonal information is who you're having an
affair with," he retorts. She gathers her belong-
ings and leaves. A few minutes later, Carmona
24
loses another one, a young man who says all
this talk about changing your attitude is wast-
ing his time.
Unfazed, Carmona tells the room about his
brother-a chaplain in the same prison system
where Carmona was incarcerated-to show
that ultimately, it wasn't his mother, neighbor-
hood, friends or a racist society that landed him
in jail, but the choices he made. His toughness
is love, he tells the group. Love is not the ego
stroking you're going to get when you go back
to your block and your friends tell you, "You
don't have to listen to that chump."
There's something inspiring about Carmona's
passion. But the two counselors who follow lack
his charisma. One barks that the men in the
room should take their earrings out. The mes-
sage is clear: You'd bener shape up because the
way you are now, nobody's going to want you.
Just a couple of miles away, a different expe-
rience is unfolding. Homeless and jobless men
and women, all residents at a HELP USA shel-
ter in the South Bronx, gather in groups of
seven or eight to talk about their dreams for the
future. This is Peter Fraenkel's program, Fresh
Start. The atmosphere is relaxed and convivial.
Fraenkel is protective of his cliems' privacy but
is willing to share a video of one of the sessions.
One young woman tells the group she
would like to aid other people facing hard
times. Recently she was watching late-night
television when an infomercial for a charity
carne on. It featured a woman in Appalachia
and her three children. They lived in a shack
and used a ditch for a bathroom. The Fresh
Start woman cries as she recalls the scene. She
says it's wrong that in this country of plenty,
the government doesn't do more to help peo-
ple. Then, still tearful, she tells the group how
much she wants to be like her mom-a person
she has conflicts with-who started out as an
activist and now works in a literacy program.
It seems the young woman is crying for many
reasons, including that she hasn't yet proven
herself to be as worthy as her own mother.
Moved by what's just been said, a heavyset
blond woman talks about how she wants to be a
lawyer who provides legal services for the home-
less. Her partner adds that he would like to do
Big Brother work with children. Both say that in
addition to raising their baby, they'd like to take
in foster children when they get on their feet: "to
CITY LIMITS
do right by someone else's child," the woman
says. Some participants seem at a loss to define
their dreams. But others light up. A young man
with little braids and a button-down shirt, who
is trying hard to get a job as a janitor and just
landed an interview, glows shyly as he outlines a
plan to eventually open his own maintenance
business. It's interesting to problem-solve, he
says, and he's good at fixing things.
The group's homework for the following
week is to think about what advice they might
offer their fellow group members. They them-
selves will be the helpers-not the group facil-
itator or any other experts in poverty, home-
lessness or job searches.
F
raenkel says he's not sure why people are
poor, or what to do to assist them. "Me?
I'm a white, middle-class guy," he says.
"How the hell would I know what's
going on in their lives?"
The Ackerman Institute, where Fraenkel
and Hamelin were trained, is a cutting-edge
marriage and family counseling center on
Manhattan's Upper East Side. Both psycholo-
gists share a progressive vision that people
should be partners in the programs that serve
them instead of simply recipients of help.
Fraenkel hopes helping Fresh Start partici-
pants define their dreams will motivate them
when they're struggling in the job market. He
believes, too, that helping people create com-
munities--even ones that exist only for the
months people live in a homeless shelter--can
provide critical support to help them stay
employed and reach other goals.
He also hopes that from the recordings he
makes of the sessions he'll be able to cull
quotes and stories. His aim is to show policy
makers that homeless people can benefit from
the seemingly fuzzy stuff of group therapy:
introspection, peer assistance, having a chance
to fantasize about their futures.
Fraenkel and his City College psychology stu-
dents run chis nine-week, nine-session program
three to four times a year in a family shelter and
in a domestic violence shelter in New York City.
Residents frequently spend many months in these
places while they wait for a permanent home.
Fresh Start isn't elaborate. Participants meet once
a week over dinner. They discuss work experiences
they're proud o They write letters to their future
selves, and design an arrs-and-crafts mask to illustrate
the face they present to the wodd to hide their vul-
nerabilities. Because participants will likely face long
bouts of unemployment, facilitators believe that
encouraging them to set long-term goals is patticu-
NOVEMBER 2004
lady important. Having dreams, they maintain, will
help them through the haId times. So will knowing
how to build a support nerwork.
The psychologists also do intensive inter-
views with each participant before the work-
shop because, Frankel believes, if people feel
listened to, they'll be more likely to participate.
In the fust year of the program, four out of five
people selected at random to be interviewed
agreed to participate in Fresh Start and a
roughly equal proportion of participants actu-
ally began working with a job counselor. Even
accounting for the initial self-selection of par-
ticipants, those numbers were far higher than
for shelter residents who didn't have an inter-
view or enter Fresh Scart.
Fraenkel doesn't have much more in the way
of numbers to show results. Setting up a control
group for purposes of statistical evaluation would
cost money HELP doesn't have to spare. Such
data does matter. Under their city-government
contracts, organizations that provide job training
are typically paid on the basis of how many
clients they place in jobs, and get paid more for
jobs that last. Fraenkel can't prove statistically
that his efforts make a difference. All he and
Hameline can do is trust what they already
know: People who feel connected, supported and
motivated are generally more likely to succeed.
I
t's well established by now that more and
more people entering welfare-to-work pro-
grams have multiple barriers to finding
employment, such as substance-abuse
problems and mental illness. Others struggle
with nonclinical but potentially debilitating
problems, like lack of confidence, explosive
tempers and garden-variety depression.
As agencies struggled to find employment
for people who had serious problems in the
workplace, they started embracing the idea that
peer support can help people find and keep
jobs--even though so far, there's no defmitive
research showing they're right, says David But-
ler of MDRC, a national welfare think tank.
In recent years, STRIVE, for one, has begun
to offer support services for job seekers. Today,
it has a peer group for women and one for
men, in which graduates discuss such things as
self-esteem, anger and parenting.
Compared to STRIVE, Fresh Start's group
therapy for the unemployed seems dreamy and
impractical. But Fraenkel believes that dreams
have practical value. "We all have to wash up
and go to work. But we all have to dream too,"
he says. "The providers may say, 'It's fine to
have a dream exercise in your program, but do
people get jobs as a result?' I don't know. But
here's the psychodynamic perspective: Without
At HELP USA,
Renee Fuller,
Tom Hameline and
Edward Parrott
have to convince
homeless people
that it's worth
looking for a job.
the fuel of fantasy, we grind to a halt pretty
quickly, no matter who we are. "
Instead of reading the scholarly literature,
Fraenkel and his students spent months inter-
viewing shelter residents about their experiences.
Inadequate child care and the problems of being
a working parent were their number one con-
cerns. But they also talked about emotional issues,
like "my own negative attitude," depression, anx-
iety and hopelessness, the frustrations of the wel-
fare and shelter systems and of dead-end jobs.
With those answers and approximately
$110,000 a year through the fund-raising arm
of HELP USA, the Ackerman Institute, and a
number of private foundations, Fraenkel
launched Fresh Start.
Dianne Lewis came to her first meeting only
because Fresh Scart promised a small stipend.
'Tm saying, 'They're here trying to help the little
2S
"Without the fuel of fantasy, we grind
to a halt pretty quickly, no matter who we are,"
says psychologist Peter Fraenkel.
poor black and Puerro Rican community. Oh,
we're feeling sorty for these people,'" she recalls.
Lewis had been a housewife, married ro a car
salesman for 29 years. But when her husband
died from pancreatic cancer, she didn't know
how ro support herself or her two teenage sons.
So she decided to make a few drug runs for deal-
ers in her neighborhood in return for $5,000.
During her 14 months in prison, she attend-
ed a culinary program, but when she applied for
positions after her release, she was always turned
down. She once enrolled in a welfare-ro-work
program, but all she recalls is being placed in a
large room with phones and phone books and
told to call businesses to set up interviews. "It
was like being in an empty space, " she said.
"You hear what they're saying, but you know,
'Hey, this is not going to make a difference. '"
At Fresh Start, she started to feel different.
Lewis liked that each week the facilitarors
asked how she and her sons were getting along.
In the meeting she had a chance to explain
some of what had occurred in her life, and in
particular to talk about the paralysis that came
with all the "shoulda-coulda-wouldas" con-
stantly running through her head. One week,
Fraenkel encouraged Lewis to visualize putting
26
her past in a bag and throwing it out the win-
dow. For Lewis, imagining that her past didn't
have to define her future felt liberating.
Lewis also made friends. Before Fresh Start,
she said, residents at the HELP shelter had avoid-
ed each other. (Fraenkel says people in shelters
tend ro stereotype each other as much as the rest
of the world does--shunning one another for fear
that they might be a bad influence.) But then they
began ro sit around and talk. Lewis felt important
when, one evening, twO younger women rold her
they liked hearing what she had ro say.
Those same women made the difference when
she went ro her first interview, for a job supervis-
ing a playground at a private apartment complex
in the Bronx. Lewis was scared. She got up ro
leave. But the women, also there for the interview,
rold her: "You're always telling us what we can do.
You'd better go in there and show what you can
do." Lewis got the job, for $7 an hour.
During the five years she has worked there,
Lewis has gotten a raise, ro $9 an hour. And she
has become a neighborhood fixture: "I care about
the kids. I take my money and buy arts and crafts,"
she says. "On hot days, I turn on the sprinklers
and I'm in there getting wet with them." But the
work is seasonal and Lewis has had no choice but
to hunt down odd jobs every winter.
S
ince Lewis left the shelter, she's stayed in
rouch with four women from her group
who have also done as well as she has.
But she has run into a couple of others
who haven't been as successful and have even
gone back into the shelter system.
Even though he can't afford a formal evalu-
ation, Fraenkel does try ro stay in touch with
people. Six months after the workshop ends,
the program attempts to contact former partic-
ipants and manages to reach about 65 percent.
Most, he says, end up much like Lewis: They
hold on for their lives in the face of unpre-
dictable circumstances.
He finds himself in a strange position,
encouraging people in their job search when
the odds against them are high. "I feel awful
about the way this country is eliminating liv-
ing-wage jobs," he says. "But except as citizen,
I'm not in a position to do much about it. "
What he can do, he figures, is provide the
poor a space for dreaming that the more com-
fortable social classes take for granted. Fresh
Start, Fraenkel says, gives people a chance "to
hang Out, ro spend hours talking" about their
hopes. That may feel like luxury, he says, but
it's necessary-for everybody.
"There are statistics," concludes Fraenkel.
"And there are stories."
From the videos he has recorded of Fresh
Start members at their sessions, he envisions
culling word-for-word testimonies. He's got a
dream of his own: He wants to present them to
politicians, policy makers and others who could
influence the creation of productive, living-wage
jobs for the people he works with. "The home-
less, the poor," Fraenkel says, "have complex,
laudable aspirations. Just like everyone else .
Rachel Blustain is a former editor of Represent,
a magazine by and for teens in foster care, and
currentfJ a student at the Hunter College School of
Social WOrk.
Homeless people typically
distrust job counselors like
Veranda McKnight, left. Damon
Tyron Brown is an exception.
CITY LIMITS
THE BRONX INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES, INC.
PRESENTS
FREE TO THE PUBLIC
DISABILITY AWARENESS DAY 2004
(MAKINGA WAYFORALL
JJ
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6,2004
Rain Date: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2004
Time: 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
IN CROTONA PARK
AT INDIAN LAKE AND THE NATURE CENTER
JOIN US FOR A DAY OF FOOD & FAMILY FUN FEATURING
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BY THE WINNER OF LATINO MIX
105.9'S T ALENTO LOCAL CANDELA SOUL & solo Latino hip hop
artist ENEMIGO
ASL Interpreter wiD be present
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT EILS @ 718-515-2800 EXT. 19
The Bronx Independent Living Services, Inc. (BILS) is a non-profit, community based advocacy
and resource center for borough residents with disabilities. We are proudly celebrating our 21st
anniversary by raising awareness, pointing toward opportunities and opening doors through
community education and involvement for people with disabilities.
Visit our website at www.bils.org to learn how you can become a sponsor, contributor, partner or
volunteer. Or simply make a donation to our cause by visiting our website and using PA yP AL.
NOVEMBER 2004
27
THE BIG IDE A
JOBS 2004
How to Keep New York Working
Work Details
New York outpaces other states in aid to low wage
earners-and makes it very, very hard to sign up for help_
By Tracie McMillan
NEW YORKERS ALWAYS want the best. And usually,
we get it. We've got the tallest buildings, the tasti-
est street food, the lowest crime, the hottest ball
teams. But when it comes to making sure poor
people can stay afloat on meager paychecks, New
York is not always at the top of the heap.
Our poor can get job training, tax breaks,
health insurance and other resources to help
them get by. We offer one of the nation's most
generous state tax credits for the working
poor, and New York City just upped the ante
by adding its own. We offer high-quality pub-
lic child care. And two-thirds of qualified
adults are enrolled in public health care pro-
grams-well above the national average.
As anyone who's ever tried to get that kind of
help can tell you, the ptoblem isn't that the pro-
grams don't exist. It's that there isn't enough to
go around. What aid does exist can be nearly
impossible to obtain without professional assis-
tance, and it's generally earmarked for people
already in "the system." "There's no way into
these systems unless you're on welfare," says Bar-
bara Zenan, vice president for programs at
WHEDCO, a Bronx organization that trains
and supports low-wage workers. "Even if you're
eligible for a housing subsidy, you can't get it.
Even if you're eligible for a child-care subsidy, you
can't get it. "
Diana Dorch could tell you a few things about
that. Formerly homeless, the single mother of two
made her way off of welfare and into a clerical
position at a law firm. Today, her rent of $980
would eat up most of her monthly check of
$1,575 if she didn't have public housing subsidies.
She and her children also get public health insur-
ance, and she still gets some help with child care.
Add food stamps and a tax credit for the working
poor, and she's just barely able to keep it
together-though she's not always sure it's worth
the trouble. "I don't feel better to be working," she
laments. "I like my job and the fact that I earn
money; but I'm within the same budget, actually."
If Dorch is to move on up, what she needs,
quite simply; is more money, and that takes
higher wages. Moving up within the company is
28
one option, but an
increasingly rare one.
"The idea of somebody going
to a firm ... and then moving up a
career ladder in that firm is kind of old-fash-
ioned," says Diane Baillargeon, president of
Seedco, a nonprofit that runs programs for low-
wage workers. "That's not the way the job market
works anymore.
The prospects for increasing pay for most low-
skill work aren't good, either. Efforts to raise the
minimum wage have met formidable hurdles, and
unions-the driving force that turned manufac-
turing into stable, middle-class employment-are
struggling to survive, much less expand.
Since wages for low-skill jobs are unlikely to
rise, it makes sense to train workers for higher-
skill, better paying positions. In 1998 the feds
created the Workforce Investment Act, the
nation's main education and job training pro-
gram. Roughly four out of every five participants
find jobs that last for at least six months-not
bad. Yet it's moved at a glacial pace, and funding
has withered under the Bush adminisuation.
Across the country, then, the working poor
are finding it a struggle to earn more and live
better. On the following pages you'll find data
from California, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio
and the U.S. overall. Is it any different in New
York? In this town that thrives on excellence,
we shouldn't even have to ask that question .
This article is adapted from research for the report
"Between Hope and Hard Times: Working Poor
Families in New York, "a joint project of the Cen-
ter for an Urban Future and the Schuyler Center
for Analysis and Advocacy. It is part of the
national Working Poor Families project, from
which data on other states was drawn.
CITY LIMITS
Take the I nterstate New York has a flood of immigrants, a healthy rural-urban mix and a rapidly
expanding population. Here's how the Empire State compares when it comes to aiding the working poor.
WHO ARE THE WORKING POOR?
Percent of workers
in low-wage jobs
NY CA Il
32 25 23.4
NJ OH USA
26.2 23.4 23.8
NYers are more likely than other Americans to earn low wages.
Percent of poor
families that work 41 51.5 45.3 43.7 43.1 46.3
2 in 5 NY families under the federal poverty line have at least one working member.
Percent of poor families
in which a parent lacks a
high school diploma 41.2 62.2 38.2 20.7 23.6 41.2
In NY, a large share of the poor have low levels of education ...
Percent of poor families
in which one parent
attended college 36.3 27.4 36.9 39.6 35.6 34
... but higher education is still no guarantee against poverty.
Percent of poor
working families
with one pa rent
age 25-54 88.1 91.1 86.8 89.7 81 85.3
Most of the working poor are adults, not teens at burger joints.
WHAT ELSE IS GOVERNMENT DOING TO HELP
THE POOR GET BY?
NY CA Il NJ OH USA
Maximum Earned
Income Tax Credit
(family of 4) $1,261 No ElTC $210 $841 $207 $ 4,204
NY offers a generous tax refund to the working poor,
on tof!. of a federal credit
Highest income
eligible for Medicaid
(family of 4) $15,080
3
$20,170 $13,572 $8,294 $18,850 NlA
NYers have to be quite f!.oor to qualify for free health insurance from the feds.
Percent eligible workers
receiving Medicaid 67 49 NlA 57 N/A 54
NY does do a good job making sure those who qualify
for federal health assistance get it'
Annual child care
copay , one child,
(family of 3, income
of $28,275)' $2,748 $528 $1,608 $1,596 $2,280 NlA
NY's public child care is fairly affordable. It's targeted to families on welfare.
Highest income
eligible for public child care,
(family of 3)' $31,340 $35,100 $27,936 $30,520 $23,505 N/A
Once NY families leave poverty, they soon become ineligible for help with child care.
DEFINITIONS FEDERAL POVERTY LINE Less than $18,979 a year, or $9.49 per hour, for a fam-
ily of four. The poverty line is widely regarded as an inadequate measure of income needed to get
by. Doubling it-$37,70D-is considered a more accurate gauge of who can benefit from aid.
LOW-WAGE Wage below full-time, annual income, adjusted to local cost of living, required to keep
a family of four out of poverty. POOR Falling below the federal poverty line.
NOVEMBER 2004
DO WORKERS HAVE OPPORTUNITIES
TO INCREASE EARNINGS?
Percent of graduates of
federal job training who
stayed employed
NY CA Il NJ OH USA
for 6 months 78.9 80.8 86.1 83.9 82.9 NlA
Nfs federal job training programs get most of their graduates jobs that last ...
Of adults without
HS diploma, percent
graduated from job
training program 0.34% 0.30% N/A N/A 0.49% NlA
. .. but they reach few of those who need training ...
Education counts
toward welfare work
requirement No No No No No Yes in
19 states
... and NY has strict rules limiting welfare recipients' ability to enter them.
Unionized jobs! 24.6 16.8 17.9 19.5 16.7 12.9
Unions raise wages by roughly 20 percent, but they're
struggling to retain membership.'
WHAT ARE THEY UP AGAINST?
Share of income received
by middle 20%
NY CA Il NJ OH USA
vs. bottom 20% 3.1:1 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9
Nrs gap between the middle class and the poor is the second-worst in the country ...
Share of income received by
most aftl uent 20%
vs. poorest 9.9:1 9.3 8.5 8.5 7.4 8.4
... and the gap between its richest and poorest is the worst
Percent of working
families making
less than twice the
federal poverty line 26.5 29.6 23.0 17.4 26.2 27.4
Minimum wage
Percent of poor
working families
spending more
than 1/3 income
1 in 4 NY families that aren't officially poor are still struggling.
$5.15 $6.75 $6.50 $5.15 $5.15 $5.15
NY's minimum wage is the lowest allowed by the feds.
on rent 78.9 80.4 82.3 83.2 71.6 75.4
Yet the proportion of poor NYers paying unaffordable rent is close to the national
average, thanks to federal subsidies.
SOURCES AND NOTES: Unless noted otherwise, data is drawn from the Working Poor Families Project,
which is supported by the Annie [ Casey, Ford and Rockefeller foundations. 1. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. 2. Economic Policy Institute. 3. This does not include NY's Family Health Plus, which allows
families with incomes under $28,284 to qualify for less comprehensive coverage. 4. National Kl7men's
Law Center.
29
THE BIG IDEA
NEW REPORTS
The latest quick fix for America's health care
woes-individual health savings accounts-may
not solve much. Designed for people with hefty
deductibles, the accounts offer incentives to save
up toward the deductible, letting people draw down
on it once expenses loom. The underlying premise is
simple: If people, not insurers, have to payout for
services, they'll economize and spend less, keeping
health costs down without compromising care. Not
so, says this brief, which analyzed health expendi-
tures by working adults. The bulk of health costs
come from people whose medical care fully exceeds
their deductibles, which means that they'd have
little incentive to economize.
Most Households' Medical Expenses
Exceed HSA Oeduc/ibles
Tax Policy Center
www.urtJan.orgor 202-833-7200
Further proof that the recent economic recovery is
jobless: Corporate profits have risen 14 percent,
while wages and salaries have inched up by less
than 1 percent. That's in striking contrast to past
economic recoveries, says this brief, which notes
that the post-World War II boom saw wages
increase by 5 percent-and corporate profits by 12.
An Uneven Recovery New
Govemment Data Show Corporate
Profits Enjoying Unusually Large Gains,
While Workers' Incomes Lag Behind
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
www.cbpp.org or 202-408-1080
With all the worries over Medicaid's ballooning
budget, here's one nugget of good: Federal health
spending provides a sizable boost to local
economies. Indeed, the feds coughed up more than
$473 billion for health care in 2002, with impres-
sive multiplier effects, says this overview of
spending nationwide. And with health-services
jobs rapidly expanding-the U.S. had 11.9 million
of them last year, and they're expected to make up
16 percent of all jobs created by 20l2-that
means health spending is going into local pockets.
The Other Side of the Ledger:
Federal Health Spending in Metropolitan Economies
Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program
www.brookings.edulmetroor202-797-6139
Child care may have expanded under welfare reform,
but it's harder to come by nonetheless, says this brief.
Federal funding has dipped by $2 million since 2001,
and states have clamped down on eligibility. More
than half the states lowered their income cutoff, so
families have to be poorer before they can get child
care help. And evidence is mounting that child care
is one of the most significant barriers to maintaining
employment. Single mothers who get help with child
care are 40 percent more likely to keep jobs than
those who don't; former welfare moms are 82 percent
more likely to keep their jobs.
Child Care Assistance Policies 2001-2004:
Families Struggling to Move Forward, States Going Backward
National Women's Law Center,
www.nwlc.orgor202-588-5181
Milano
Earn a Master of Science degree in:
30
Courses Available
Degree and Non-Degree
Day and Evening
Saturday
On-Line -
Site-line (liz on-line and liz in-class)
Nonprofit Management
Health Services Management and Policy
Human Resources Management
Organizational Change Management
Urban Policy Analysis and Management
Ph_D. degree:
Public 0 Urban Policy
Wednesday, November 10
Wednesday, December 8
6:00p.m.
to KSVP or for more information. call 212 2 2 9 ~ : ; I : ; O or ('milll milanoa(\mlsslOns(vnew'ichool.e(\u
72 Fifth Avenue. New York. N. Y. 10011
www.newschool.edu/milano
CITY LIMITS
~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C I T Y LIT
Emotional Ecosystems
A psychiatrist documents the trauma
of urban renewal
ROOT SHOCK
HOW TEARING UP CiTY NEIGHBORHOODS
HURTS AMERICA. AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT
By Michael Hudson
Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods
Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It
By Mindy Thompson Fullilove
One WorldlBaliantine Books, 304 pages, $25.95
TO TAKE A PEOPLE'S LAND, to destroy their
homes, flatten their neighborhoods, annex
what is theirs and use it to benefit yourself and
your own kind, you must invent a vocabulary.
their place, they built expressways and
coliseums and high-rises, or simply
allowed the space to lie fallow, creating
urban prairies that scill exist.
First, define the problem. Don't call the place
a neighborhood. That suggests families sitting
down over steaming platters of food, children
hopscotching along familiar sidewalks, intricate
networks of relations and institutions that nur-
ture and uplift. Call it a slum. It's an ugly word,
one that calls to mind ditt, decay, violence, fear.
If someone says that word is too judgmental,
soften your language. Call it a "blighted area."
Who would object to erasing blight? And before
you unleash the powers of eminent domain,
before you call out the bulldozers and summon
public officials eager to turn over ceremonial
spadefuls of earth, you need a hopeful, compas-
sionate phrase that justifies and whitewashes the
whole enterprise: urban renewal.
They didn't replace much of what
they razed. By mid-I967, the effort
had demolished 400,000 residential
M indy T h omps o n F ullil ove, M . D .
Between 1949 and 1973, the U.S. govern-
ment's program of urban renewal bulldozed
2,500 neighborhoods in 993 cities. One million
people were dispossessed and many millions
more had their lives, neighborhoods and eco-
nomic fortunes altered by this massive program
of social and geographic engineering. The tar-
gets were ethnic and racial enclaves that lacked
the power or pedigree to stop the bulldozers.
Urban renewal was mostly "Negro removal," an
effort to push black residents from city centers
and appropriate the land for other uses. As many
as 1,600 black neighborhoods fell victim.
The decisions were made by the federal gov-
ernment and many allies: state and city politicos
and bureaucrats, industrialists and bankers and
developers, newspaper publishers and municipal
planners. In the name of progress, they knocked
down homes and destroyed business districts
where small grocers and jazz clubs flourished. In
NOVEMBER 2004
units but built only 10,760 low-rent
public housing units on these urban renewal
sites-knocking down nearly 40 homes for
every one put up. Additional public housing
was erected elsewhere, but often bunched into
segregated areas that were physically isolated
from the flow of city life and amenities.
There's more to the story, however, than bricks
and mortar. In her new book, Root Shock: How
Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America,
and What m Can Do About It, Columbia Uni-
versity psychiatrist Mindy Thompson Fullilove
confronts the toll of urban renewal in human
terms. What happens, she asks, when people are
uprooted not just ftom the structures where they
live and shop and work, but ftom friends, schools
and churches, from neighbors always ready to
baby-sit or help jump-start a stalled car? Black
communities were knitted together by bonds of
worship, commerce and familiarity in ways that
provided mutual aid and safety, a cushion against
the tribulations of poverty and racism.
Urban renewal, Fullilove argues, ruptured
these bonds and left black America with little
protection against the assaults that came in
ensuing decades: the flight of unskilled jobs,
the influx of drugs, the slow collapse of fami-
lies and the hurts brought by AIDS, asthma
and violence. "Each disaster," she writes,
"increased the impact of the next, and the spi-
ral of community disintegration began to spin
faster and faster, just as the last domino seems
to fall much more quickly than the first. The
present state of Black America is in no small
measure the result of ' Negro removal. '"
Fullilove isn't the first to describe the mor-
bid effects of tearing up minority communi-
ties. Epidemiologists Deborah and Rodrick
Wallace did something similar in A Plague on
Your Houses, published five years ago. They
examined the 1970s burn-out of the South
Bronx and other New York City neighbor-
hoods after the city selectively decreased fire-
department services to poor, minority areas.
As a result, whole communities went up in
flames, and people fled by the hundreds of
thousands. The Wallaces used statistics to doc-
ument the ensuing public-health disaster:
huge increases in tuberculosis, alcoholism,
drug abuse and AIDS among the refugees.
Now, Fullilove looks at the psychic damage.
She defines "root shock" as "the traumatic
stress reaction to the destruction of all or part
of one's emotional ecosystem." She focuses her
analysis on Pittsburgh, Roanoke, Virginia, and
Newark, New Jersey, but the lessons she
learned apply to New York or any other city.
She draws on the experiences of people like
David Jenkins, a homeless man in New York
who grew up in Elmwood, a semirural section of
Philadelphia near the Delaware River werlands.
Elmwood was consumed by a 2,500-acre
urban renewal project, one of the biggest in
America. David was 11. Often he'd run back
and sit by his old house and cry. He recalls the
31
CITY L I T - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~
funerals that followed the uprooting: old folks
who, he believes, simply gave up after their
worlds had been shattered. "They couldn't do
anything, their hands were tied, they didn't
have no city, they didn't have no pull," he says.
"They died. They couldn't handle it. "
Root Shock may frustrate those looking for
hard data and tidy lists of solutions. It's an
impressionistic work that, at times, meanders
in its search for metaphors and examples. But
it's important and captivating because it offers
new ways of thinking about community and
displacement-and about how we can reframe
the debate and take back our cities from the
ghosts of the bulldozers.
Too often, journalists and activists try to
address cities' problems with little understanding
of how urban renewal altered landscapes and
lives. One of the few journalists to take an in-
depth look at urban renewal was Mary Bishop, a
former colleague of mine at The Roanoke Times.
In 1991, she attended a reunion for an extinct
neighborhood; all the homes had been knocked
down to make way for an interstate, a civic cen-
ter and other big, ugly projects. The routine
newspaper assignment inspired Bishop to spend
years unearthing the block-by-block story of
urban renewal in Roanoke. Between 1955 and
the 1980s, she found, Roanoke demolished
1,600 homes, 200 businesses and 24 churches. In
the city's urban renewal rone, people watched in
slow-motion horror as the government-nurtured
cycle of decay progressed. People assumed-
rightly or wrongly-that their homes would be
condemned. So they stopped putting money into
fixing them. This degraded property values and
left houses vulnerable to wind, water and, espe-
cially, fire. One house burned, then another, and
decline and despair accelerated, providing author-
ities a self-fulfilling justification for expanding
their program of condemnation and clearing.
Displaced people can suffer deep emotional
scars, wounds made worse by the chorus telling
them it was done for their own good. Until the
wrongs are acknowledged-until apologies are
made and angers vented-people and neigh-
First, define the problem.
Don't call the place
a neighborhood.
Call it a slum.
borhoods won't be able to heal and rebuild.
Healing a group's psyche, Fullilove believes, can
only come through "a collective process that
requires organizing ways in which people come
together to learn facts, share ideas, raise ques-
tions and search for solutions."
In the late 1990s, she helped residents of
Pittsburgh's Hill District resist a new round of
urban renewal. Authorities planned to bull-
doze two "distressed" housing projects, an ini-
tiative sure to disperse many families and, in
Fullilove's view, driven by designs and ideas
"identical to the plans and processes of urban
renewal 40 years before." To make the prob-
lems worse, some of the people who were los-
ing their homes were those who had first
moved to the projects as a result of the
destruction of the Lower Hill. Fullilove asked
residents to "remember and preserve all the
good that had happened in those buildings."
She and other agitators held teach-ins,
mapped the neighborhoods and recast the
debate. They objected to the "distressed" des-
ignation, seeing it as a term that stigmatized
residents while absolving those who had done
a poor job of managing the housing projects.
One resident told Fullilove, "The developers
tell us not to be sentimental about where we live."
Fullilove shot back, "But of course you
should be sentimental about where you live-
it's your homd"
Media began to scrutinize the demolition
plans. Community views gained a public air-
ing. One housing project was razed, but the
other was saved.
There is hope, and it begins with the stub-
bornness and creativity of those who have suf-
fered great losses. Root Shock is vital reading most
of all because it honors the sparks of real renewal
in America's cities-the defiant spirit of the res-
idents of Pittsburgh's Hill District, the joy of dis-
placed people reclaiming their pride and their
memories. "In that process of making some-
thing out of our grief," Fullilove writes, "we stop
that part of the downward spiral which is pro-
pelled by the weight of unshed tears."
Michael Hudson is a staff writer with The
Roanoke (Virginia) Times and investigative
editor at Southern Exposure magazine.
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WASTE
NOT
Continued from page 17
share, bur we won't settle for a plan where we
take more."
OWN has already lined up a core group
of five City Council members representing
members' neigborhoods-including David
Yassky and Diana Reyna in Brooklyn and the
Bronx's Jose Serrano-who will have to figure
out how to sell other members on the mayor's
plan. That includes Council Speaker Gifford
Miller, whose district includes the 91st Street
site.
So far, communication between the embat-
tled camps has been scarce. There are a few
alternative ideas floating around: Some envi-
ronmental justice groups talk about pushing to
open another Manhattan transfer station in
the meatpacking district, at Gansevoort Street.
34
Others have suggested including a new
garbage facility as part of the World Trade
Center redevelopment site. Corbin-Mark, in
particular, stresses the need to find places in
lower Manhattan to deal with commercial
waste. "Commercial waste is a large part of
what started all this, " he says, "and 70 percent
of the city's commercial waste is generated
below 59th Street. "
Indeed, the prospect of dealing with trash
from businesses poses the messiest problem of
all. Even if the city avoids a showdown
between neighborhoods and reopens the
marine transfer stations swiftly, commercial
transfer stations may continue to plague
Hunts Point and other neighborhoods. Cur-
rent plans propose building facilities with the
capacity to take commercial waste but don't
yet specify a mechanism that would make
commercial haulers use them. In order to get
private haulers to use the new transfer stations
the city would need to establish private fran-
chise agreements to regulate where commer-
cial haulers dump-a long and potentially
contentious process, likely to be unpopular
with private sector carting interests. Alterna-
tively, the Department of Sanitation (DOS)
could try to entice private haulers by making
its prices cheaper than the private stations'-
even while investing between $50 and $100
million to retrofit each of its new facilities.
The bottom line for neighborhoods is that
the city has no obligation to shut down the
commercial transfer stations. The city's own
recent commercial waste study, released ear-
lier this year, asserts that commercial haulers
don't adversely impact the neighborhoods
they're in.
Even if they end up keeping commercial
transfer stations as neighbors, the Hunts Point
activists say there's a deep benefit to getting
Manhattan back in the game-and face to
face with its own garbage. Says Conte, "Right
now, only poor people deal with trash. If the
stations were equitably distributed, everyone
would have an incentive to push for better
systems of dealing with waste. " Rodriguez
agrees. "What if, instead of just shutting us
down, the Manhattanites used their resources
working to make the DOS not use diesel
fumes, or to recycle even more effectively, or
to make better laws for commercial waste?"
she asks. "We'd all work together, and we
might get somewhere. "
Tess Taylor is a Brooklyn-based freeulnce writer.
CITY LIMITS
ADVERTISE IN
CITY
LIMITS!
To place a classified ad in
City Limits, e-mail your ad to
advertise@citylimits.org or fax
your ad to 212-479-3339. The
ad will run in the City Limits
Weekly and City Limits mag-
azine and on the City Limits
web site. Rates are $1.46 per
word, minimum 40 words.
Special event and professional
directory advertising rates are
also available. For more infor-
mation, check out the Jobs
section of www.citylimits.org
or call 212-479-3345.
JOB ADS
AlP BOOKKEEPER - Nonprofit has immedi-
ate need for an AlP Bookkeeper. The person
should be detail oriented with excellent orga-
nizational skills. Relevant two-year experience
is required. Degree in Accounting and Fund EZ
experience preferred. Please fax resume to the
attention of Maruja Saavedra at 212-255-
8722 or email Msaavedra@whedco.org.
ACTIVITY SPECIALIST - FEGS is one of the
largest not-for-profit health and human ser-
vice organizations in the country with an oper-
ating budget in excess of $170 million,
3,500+ staff, 12 subsidiary corporations and
a diverse service delivery network including
operations in over 250 locations throughout
the metropolitan New York area. The FEGS
Education and youth Services Division seeks
an Activity Specialist for an after-school youth
program in Far Rockaway, Queens, which pro-
vides academic, cultural , and recreational
programs for elementary school students in
grades K-5. Our program requires caring indi-
viduals with strong skills in working with
school-aged children. Individuals must be
able to plan and implement engaging work-
shops and activities, deliver effective class-
room management, maintain safety on field
trips, assist in recreational programs, and
complete administrative duties. A successful
candidate will have the ability to enhance the
academic achievement, artistic expression,
and positive social development of our pro-
gram participants. We offer a competitive
salary and benefits package. If you are inter-
ested, please send resume and cover letter
with salary requirements to our HR ConSUl -
tants: HR Dynamics, Inc. (Dept. ECs/sS) 315
NOVEMBER 2004
Hudson Street, 6th Floor, New York, New York
10013 or fax 212-366-8555 or email
sgsmalls@hr-dynamics.com. EOE, MlFIDN.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - (Bi-lingual pre-
ferred) - West Harlem Group Assistance,
Inc/Family Advocacy Integrated Resources,
Inc. seeks a full-time Administrative Assis-
tant. High school diploma or equivalent, plus a
minimum of 3 years Administrative Assistant
or equivalent experience required. The individ-
ual must also have good communication
skills, be computer literate and have a pleas-
ant and professional manner in the office and
on the telephone. Responsibilities: The Admin-
istrative Assistant serves in the implementa-
tion\Of good office procedures and practices.
Specific Responsibil ities: Represents FAIR in
initial and foll ow-up telephone contacts with
the public regardi ng Early Intervention infor-
mation and eligibility. Establishes and main-
tains a good working relationship with
providers, agency representatives and EI fam-
ilies. Assists in the establishment and imple-
mentation of program requirements. Provides
efficient office management and performs
clerical duties as required. Performs billing
and rebilling requirements and checks remit-
tances for accuracy. Maintains office record
and filing system. Utilizes and updates office
equipment. Prepares reports as required.
Assists in organizing, coordinating and con-
ducting quarterly meetings with providers.
Assists in the organizing and distributing of
mail, and other professional materials. Per-
forms other duties as required. Salary Range:
$22,000-$26,000. All interested parties,
please fax or mail resume to: WHGA/Family
Advocacy Integrated Resources, Attn: Jewel
Johnson, 127 West 127th StreetIRoom 416,
New York, NY 10027, or fax 212- 280-1865.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Brooklyn
Workforce Innovations, a Brooklyn-based non-
profit workforce development organization
seeks a motivated individual to work as a full -
time Administrati ve Assistant for our commer-
cial driving training program. Responsibilities
include managing all incoming phone calls,
Managing registration & coordination of pro-
gram registration and permit prep classes,
assist program staff with recruitment, and fol -
low up with graduates to track retention rates.
Qualifications: Excellent communication,
organizational and computer skills required.
Database experience strongly preferred. Bilin-
gual (English!Spanish) a plus. Salary: DOE;
good benefits. AAlEOE. Fax or e-mail resume,
cover letter and salary requirements to: Julio
Perez, 718-857-4322 or jperez@fifthave.org.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR - Progressive
grant-making foundation seeks senior staff to
oversee financial management, office mgt.,
info systems, monitor budgets, supervise
admin staff, and work closely in small office
with grants, development, membership staff
and Exec. Dir. Familiarity with Blackbaud Gen
Ledger, Raisers Edge, Gifts & MS Word highly
desired. Great benefits. EOE and active Affir-
mative Action policy. Low $60's. Apply ASAP to:
Funding Exchange, Attn ADM, 666 Broadway,
Rm 500, NY, NY 10012 or info@fex.org.
EOE/Active Affirmative Action Policy.
ADULT HOME COMMUNITY ORGANIZER -
Non-profit advocacy organization of adult
home/nursi ng home residents seeks commu-
nity organizer to strengthen resident councils;
conduct training programs; handle com-
plaints; and assist in policy activities. Strong
organizing, public speaking, and writing skills
and ability to work independently/colla bora-
tively. Experience with people with psychiatric
disabilities helpful. Send cover letter, resume
by mail/e-mail to ClAD, 425 East 25th Street,
New York, NY 10010, ciadny@aol.com.
AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT SERVICES ASSOCI-
ATE - Responsible for researching literature
relevant to affi rmati ve action/diversity; assist-
ing in development of Best Practices model
policies in diversity, human resources, finan-
cial and legal program management; writ-
ing/editing documents; assisting in special
projects. MA plus 3 years experience; research
and writing skills; computer literacy. Cover let-
ter, resume, three references, and writing
sample to ACLU, ASD Mgmt Services,125
Broad Street, 18th FI. , New York, NY 10004.
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM COORDINATOR -
Responsibilities: Project R.EAD.Y. (Resources
for Employment and Academic Development
for Youth) is a Bronx-based, educational
enrichment and vocational training initiative,
targeted for youth ages 6- 22. The After School
Program Coordinator position entails working
with grade school age youth, ages 6-11. Can-
didate must possess: strong administrative
and educational development skills; capacity
to hire, train, supervise and evaluate staff;
solid teaching experience at the grade school
level; and experience with curriculum develop-
ment and lesson planning. Experience with
planning and implementation of summer
camp program a plus. Qualifications: Mini-
mum BA in Education or Human Services (MA
in Education and Teacher Certification pre-
ferred). Bi-lingual (English !Spanish) a plus.
Minimum 5 years supervisory/managerial
experience. Strong verbal and written commu-
nication skills. Salary commensurate with
experience and credentials. Comprehensive
benefits package. Send resume and cover let-
ter to: Estel Fonseca Vice President of Youth
Services The Mount Hope Housing Company
2003-05 Walton Ave. Bronx, NY 10453 Fax:
(718) 466-4788. No phone calls.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - needed for holistic
day treatment center. C.A.S.A.C, MS and five
years experience in the field of substance
abuse with three of those years working as a
supervisor. Send resume, salary requirements
and cover letter to hr@osborneny.org.
www.osborneny.org. EEO
ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR - The
Bridge Fund of NYC seeks experienced individ-
ual to work as Associate Program Director for
unique homeless ness prevention program.
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
JOB ADS
Good understanding of housing court proceed-
ings and govemment benefits is required.
Strong writing/computer skills and Bachelor's
degree. Salary commensurate with experi-
ence. Fax cover letter and resume to 212-674-
0542.
ASSOCIATE STATE DIRECTOR (Community Ser-
vice) - We're 35 million members strong -
with more joining us every day - the largest
and "most powerful grassroots organization"
around, according to Fortune magazine. In
fact, we're more involved in your state and
community than ever before. If you're ready,
here's your chance to take action in our New
York, New York office. Working to ensure AARP
is seen as a visible force you will develop and
implement activities related to priorities in the
state including community service programs,
diversity outreach, and education/learning
activities with a focus on various consumer
health and/or economic security issues, advo-
cacy and other campaigns. You will develop
effective partnerships with diverse community
organizations and businesses, maintain visi-
ble statewide coalitions dealing with commu-
nity service strategic issues and recruit, train,
orient and recognize volunteers. Requires a
bachelor's degree; 5 - 7 years of relevant expe-
rience; knowledge of the state's diverse com-
munity service environment; and excellent
communication and interpersonal skills. Trav-
el up to 50%. Qualified candidates are invited
to apply online at www.aarpjobs.com (see
State and National Initiatives Job Code
EC2004260). AARP - The power to make it bet-
ter. We are an Equal Opportunity Employerthat
values workplace diversity.
ATTORNEY - Exciting opportunity. Legal Ser-
vices for NYC opens new Staten Island office,
opposite ferry station. Seeks attorney to help
create new project, assist low-income people,
participate in outreach, community education
and training programs. Required: NY Bar;
excellent analytical and writing skills; experi-
ence with low-income clients and family law
practice helpful. Spanish strongly desired. E-
mail cover letter, resume and writing sample
to ngoldhill@lsny.org. EOE.
AUTOMATED OFFICE SKIUS INSTRUCTOR -
HELP USA, a nationally recognized leader in
the provision of transitional housing, residen-
tial & social services, has a pOSition available
for a Computer Instructor to conduct training
classes for a vocational program serving the
homeless & substance abuse population. Will
prepare course outline & curriculum, evaluate
& grade students, & perform other duties as
required. BAIBS preferred. Computer certifica-
tion, strong communication & presentation
skills required. Must be a certified technical
trainer. Knowledge of Microsoft Office, Word,
Windows, & Powerpoint a must. Send resumes
to: HELP SEC, Attn: Belinda Eustache, MS,
Director of Programs, Fax: 212-534-9826.
EOE. A Drug Free Workplace.
BRIGHT BEGINNINGS PROGRAM COORDINA-
TOR - Coalition for Hispanic Family Services.
35
JOBADS
Innovative Community Based Organization
Seeks Spanish/Bilingual (preferred).
MSW/related clinical degree, 3+ yrs sup exp,
Experience working with infants and families.
Strong collaboration, management and orga-
nizational skills. Excellent Salary & Benefits.
Send resume and cover letter that MUST
include position desired and salary require-
ments to: HR Dept, Coalition for Hispanic Fam-
ily Services, 315 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11237 or Fax: 718-497-9495. Or E-mail :
wm a I dona do@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE.
BRONX BOROUGH COORDINATOR - The City-
Wide Task Force on Housing Court, Inc., is
seeking a full-time borough coordinator to
work at the Bronx Housing Court. We are look-
ing for someone who is passionate about
housing issues and willing to fight for tenant
rights! The borough coordinator is responsible
for running the information table at the Hous-
ing Court, monitoring the court, identifying
trends at the court and formulating strategies
to address problems at the court. The coordi-
nator must collect statistics on visits to the
information tables. At the City-Wide office, the
coordinator must respond to calls to City-
Wide's Housing Court and Rental Arrears Hot-
line. The coordinator must plan, organize and
implement the monthly meeting of the Bronx
Task Force on Housing Court, which brings
together advocates in the Bronx to address
issues in Housing Court. This description is not
complete. The best candidate will have experi-
ence in Housing Court with broad knowledge of
how the court works, the types of cases that
are heard and the defenses people can raise.
He or she will also have a broad knowledge of
the types of housing in New York City and the
different laws that apply to them, the types of
rent subsidies available and the rules used to
apply those subsidies, and a strong familiarity
with the different organizations working on
housing issues in New York City. This is a front-
line position in a critical battleground for
housing issues and it demands exceptional
competence and passion. Spanish-bilingual
preferred. Please send a cover letter and
resume addressed to the Executive Director,
City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, Inc., 29
John Street, Suite 1004, New York, New York
10038. Applications can also be made via
email to stephaniet@cwtfhc.org or via fax to
212-962-4799. We cannot respond to every
application and will contact only those people
who meet our basic selection criteria. The coor-
dinator works mornings at the court and after-
noons at City-Wide's main office in Lower Man-
hattan. Salary is competitive and we offer
excellent benefits.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE - The
Doe Fund is a non-profit organization that
empowers people to break the cycles of home-
lessness, welfare dependency and incarcera-
tion through innovative work and housing pro-
grams. We seek a Business Development Asso-
ciate to manage day-to-day operations of sev-
eral Doe Fund ventures; coordinate meetings
and reporting systems; assist communications
36
between our finance department and ventures
with budgeting process; research new busi-
ness opportunities; oversee quality control ;
maintain community relationships to maxi-
mize our community presence and attend com-
munity events. Ideal candidate must have BA
and 3 years experience in non- profit manage-
ment, business or community development.
Supervisory experience preferred and attention
to detail a must. Knowledge of NYC labor mar-
ket, government and non-profit community
required. Excellent writing and communica-
tions skills a must. Salary 50k+ based on
qualifications. Comprehensive benefits pack-
age. Please forward resume and cover letter to
Human Resources, The Doe Fund, Inc., 341
East 79th Street, NY, NY 10021; fax to (212)
570-6706 or e-mail to hr@doe.org. EOE. Dead-
line for submitting resume is ASAP.
CAMP SECRETARY/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIS-
TANT - Administrative Assistant for year
round residential camp in Rockland County, NY
for blind people of all ages and their families.
Must live at camp for 10-week summer plus
10 or more fall, winter and spring weekends.
Office work based in Lower Manhattan (when
not at camp) . Secretarial, business or college
(Associates) degree required. Computer profi-
ciency, database and office experience
required. Salary $20,000 annually, 4 weeks
vacation, health benefits, 403b retirement
plan. Send cover letter and resume to Ms.
Betsy Fabricant VISIONS 500 Greenwich Street
3rd floor NY, NY 10013 or email
BFabricant@visionsvcb.org
CASA SAFE HAVEN CASE CONFERENCE COOR-
DINATOR - Coalition for Hispanic Family Ser-
vices. Innovative Community Based Organiza-
tion Seeks Spanish/Bilingual (preferred) .
MSWlrelated deg or BSW 5+yrs. expo Child wel-
fare/clinical expo Strong community/sys coord
skills. Excellent Salary & Benefits. Send
resume and cover letter that MUST include
position desired and salary requirements to:
HR Dept, Coalition for Hispanic Family
Services, 315 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11237 or Fax: 718-497-9495. Or E-mail:
wm a Idona do@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE.
CASE MANAGER - Experienced Case Manag-
er needed to work with the elderly in Queens.
Candidate must have a Bachelors degree in
Social Work or related field, and two years of
supervised work experience in human service
field. Salary is $28,900 with benefits. Fax cover
letter and resume to Karen Gore, 718-426-
2250.
CASE MANAGER / TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
PROGRAM - DUTIES: Provide supportive ser-
vices to adult and primarily single homeless
population. Prepare the population for inde-
pendent living and assist them in securing
permanent housing. Perform housing and
pychosocial assessment. Maintain accurate
case record. Participate in case conference
and program activities. Bachelor's degree and
Bilingual preferred. Great benefits package.
Attention: James Haynes, MSW, Harlem YMCA
Transitional Housing Program, 180 West 135th
Street, NY, NY 10030 or Fax 212- 281-2195.
CASE MANAGER, HIGH SCHOOL - AIDP -
FEGS is one of the largest not-for-profit
health and human service organizations in the
country with an operating budget in excess of
$170 million, 3,500+ staff, 12 subsidiary cor-
porations and a diverse service delivery net-
work including operations in over 250 loca-
tions throughout the metropolitan New York
area. The FEGS Education and Youth Services
Division is seeking a Case Manager to provide
comprehensive case management/social sup-
port services for a school-based program in
the Coney Island, which is designed to
increase attendance and prevent drop-out
among high school students by engaging them
in career development and opportunities. The
Case Manager performs the following key
functions: facilitates workshops geared toward
career exploration and development and con-
flict resolution; advances program goals
through interaction with school administra-
tion, families and other agencies; conducts
multiple participant assessments to develop
individual service strategies (ISS), which out-
line participants' vocational , educational , and
short-termllong-term career goals; develops
employment and internship opportunities with
public, private, and non-profit organizations;
meets contractual obligations regarding
defined positive outcomes and retention mea-
sures. FEGS offer a competitive salary and
benefits package. Send resume to our HR Con-
sultants: HR Dynamics, Inc., Dept. ECS ISS.
315 Hudson Street, 6th Floor, New York, New
York 10013 or fax 212-366-8555 Attn: ECs/sS
or e-mail jgardner@hr-dynamics.com.
EOE,MlF/DN.
CASE MANAGERS - Coalition for Hispanic
Family Services. Innovative Community Based
Organization Seeks SpanishlBilingual (pre-
ferred). Bachelor'S Degree and case manage-
ment experience with high risk families Experi-
ence with housing systems a plus. Excellent
Salary & Benefits. Send resume and cover let-
ter that MUST inci position desired and salary
requirements to: HR Dept, Coalition for Hispan-
ic Family Services, 315 Wyckoff Avenue, Brook-
lyn, NY 11237 or Fax: 718-497-9495. Or E-mail:
wm a I dona do@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - The Ross Insti-
tute and Ross School, an independent day
school located in East Hampton, New York,
seeks a seasoned financial professional to join
its thriving educational community as Chief
Financial Officer. Reporting to the Founder and
President of Ross Institute, the CFO is respon-
sible for the planning and day-to-day man-
agement of the fiscal and administrative
affairs of the Institute and School. Ross Insti-
tute constitutes the official coordinating body
of Ross School , a lab school (grades 5-12) and
incubator for developing best educational
practices, and a University Consortium that
FOR UP-TO-THE- MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMI TS.ORG
fosters interdisciplinary research, interfaculty
collaboration, graduate student training, pro-
fessional development offerings and scholarly
publications. The CFO ensures that all Insti-
tute, School , and University Consortium fiscal
policies are developed, implemented, and
enforced. The CFO provides regular financial
management reports to the Founder, the Ross
Institute Board, the School's Leadership Coun-
cil and the University Consortium. For more
information, please refer to www.ross.org.
Inquiries, referrals, and resumes should be
submitted by email to Robin Johnston Tweedy
at Isaacson Miller: rtweedy@imsearch.com.
CHIEF OF STAFF - New York City Council
Member seeks Chief of Staff to implement new
management structure and performance mea-
surement mechanisms, supervise all office
operations, and perform external communica-
tions functions. Professional management
experience and experience in government and
politics required. MBA or MPA preferred. Strong
organizational , analytic, writing and interper-
sonal skills required. Bi-lingual English/Span-
ish a big plus. Email resume and cover letter to
m34camil@council.nyc.ny.us with the subject,
"Chief of Staff." Qualified applicants will be
contacted (EOE). No calls please.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER - Neighborhood
Reinvestment Corporation (NRC) seeks a Chief
Operating Officer (COO) who will be primarily
responsible for orchestrating an effective
internal operation of corporate efforts, activi-
ties and resources to maximize successful pur-
suit of corporate goals. The corporation is a
public, non-profit organization with headquar-
ters in Washington, DC, field offices nation-
wide and is funded primarily by Congressional
appropriations. NRC supports, financially and
technically, a network of local non-profit orga-
nizations led by local residents, lenders, other
business people and local government offi-
cials to stabilize and revitalize communities in
urban, rural and suburban areas and pro-
motes training for the field. www.nw.org.
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the
COO will oversee and coordinate the work of a
talented and seasoned executive team who
direct an array of services and programs to the
national network and stakeholders. Key oper-
ating divisions and business units include
Training, Field Operations, Program Integration
and Planning, National Initiatives, Applied
Research, Organizational Assessment,
Finance and Budget, Human Resources, Infor-
mation Management, Grants Administration,
Administrative Services, Staff Development
and Special Projects. Required experience
includes a minimum of 10-15 years of sub-
stantive management experience encompass-
ing coordination of multi-faceted programs,
supervision of highly experienced, entrepre-
neurial managers who are dispersed through-
out the US; a record of stimulating synergy
among programs and services; acute fiscal ,
analytical and problem-solving skills; superior
communication skills and a combination of
education and experience sufficient to suc-
cessfully perform as COO. Past experience in
CITY LIMITS
community development and/or affordable
housing is preferred. All inquiries, nomina-
tions/referrals, and resumes with cover letters,
should be sent in confidence to: Donna
Cramer, Senior Associate, Isaacson Miller, 334
Boylston Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02116,
Telephone; 617-262-6500 E-Mail
2868@imsearch.com
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MANAGER - As a mem-
ber of the City Year New York civic engagement
team, you will have primary responsibility of
City Year's community service initiatives and
alumni efforts. The primary responsibility will
include leading a diverse team of 17 to 24 year
olds who under you leadership will develop and
implement powerful , transformational com-
munity service days while leading corporate
and community volunteers. Community service
projects including painting, landscaping, and
general beautification of the physical environ-
ment of the school or community-based orga-
nization. Lead and manage a team of young
leaders: Supervise and coach diverse team of
17 to 24 year olds and train them in the areas
of project planning, managing peers, commu-
nity mobilization, and relationship manage-
ment. Plan and coordinate service days: In col-
laboration with community partners, non-prof-
its and schools, design physical service pro-
jects that meet the needs of the service client.
Develop and implement volunteer recruitment
process. Design a process that will engage
volunteers from corporations, universities, and
the larger community. Design and implement
trainings for young leaders. Teach young lead-
ers how to plan and lead powerful community
service days. Manage relationships with com-
munity & government organizations, vendors,
and corporations. Develop and maintain rela-
tionships for physical service days with vari-
ous community partners and corporations par-
ticipating in service days. Coordinate City Year
New York's Alumni Program. Create, imple-
ment, manage, and integrate City Year's alum-
ni with City Year New York programming, ser-
vice days, and corps activities. Mobilize alum-
ni to organize fund raisers, socials, and train-
ings. Serve as the site liaison to the national
alumni community. Qualified applicants
should send a resume, cover letter, and refer-
ences to: Richard Winslow, Human Potential
Director City Year New York, 20 West 22nd
Street - 3rd FIr., New York, NY 10010
rwinslow@cityyear.org
CIVIL RIGHTS TESTERS - Testers are trained
to act as apartment or house seekers. Qualifi-
cations: committed to civil rights, articulate,
conscientious, detail-oriented, and able to
enact a role according to guidelines and
instructions given. Testers are called upon only
intermittently; this position should not be con-
sidered as a substitute for employment.
FOCUS ATTHIS TIME IS ON RECRUITING APPLI-
CANTS WHO ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED.
$15/hour, $10/hour travel time. Email letter of
interest and resume to
testers@antibiaslaw.com
CLINICAL SUPERVISOR - To oversee outpa-
tient substance abuse program, supervise
counselor and handle complex cases. 3-5
years experience, MSW, Salary $40,000 -
42,000. Good clinical , computer and docu-
mentation skills required. Fax resume to Ms.
Richardson 516-505-9176
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER - The Brooklyn
Arts Council seeks professional to manage all
print and web marketing, and info materials.
Min 4 years exp, excellent writing, editing &
computer skills, knowledge of Brooklyn. Salary
$40-45K. Full job description at www.brookly-
nartscouncil.org, see 'Whats New'. Mail
resume to: Personnel Dept., BAC, 195 Cadman
Plaza West, Brooklyn, NY 11201. No calls,
faxes, email. BAC is EOE.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE -
JOB SUMMARY: The Community Development
Associate will manage the Cypress Hills Com-
munity School (CHCS) Permanent Facility
Development Project as well as Vacant Land
Development, under supervision of the Director
of Community Development. RESPONSIBILI-
TIES: Coordination/Management of CHCS
development team's activities, including the
project architect, project management conSUl-
tant and contractor, through predevelopment
and project construction. Coordinate the con-
struction bid/contractor selection process for
the project. Direct oversight of facility con-
struction, with the project architect and con-
struction management consultant, including
regular sight monitoring, review and approval
of construction requisitions, and coordination
of administrative. Coordinate involvement of
school leadership/staff/parent input in the
JOBADS
completion of project predevelopment. Perform
outreach to and coordinate involvement of
parent leadership and staff to maximize par-
ticipation in finalizing design and post-occu-
pancy planning for the facility. Assist the
Director of Community Development in orga-
nizing parent/school leadership involvement in
advocacy to ensure any necessary approvals
and funding of design. Development, planning
and coordination of the CHCS kitchen services
plan, to maximize community input and con-
trol of school menu/cafeteria usage. Assist the
Director of Community Development in forma-
tion and monitoring of agreement(s) to maxi-
mize generation of construction trade-related
jobs for local residents. Assist in project site
monitoring and overall project administration
during the construction process. Research and
maintain up-to-date records on ownership and
development status of all vacant properties in
CHLDC's catchment area. Establish contact
with local owners of identified target proper-
ties, and acquire information as to future
planned usage/asking prices for each. Map
and photograph all identified target properties
based on development priorities and availabil-
ity. Coordinate with Director of Community
Development, real estate and development
consultants to formulate project scenarios and
develop project proposals for funding by pub-
lic agencies, private lenders and potential
development partners. Upon establishment of
site control, work with Community Develop-
ment Director to assemble development teams
and carry out projects. QUALIFICATIONS: Mas-
ters degree in non-profit community develop-
ment and planning (or related field); 3-5 years
PROFESSIONAl DIRECTORY
SPECIALIZING IN REAL ESTATE
J-51 Tax Abatement/Exemption 421A and 421B
Applications 501 (c) (3) Federal Tax Exemptions All forms
of government-assisted housing, including LISC/Enterprise,
Section 202, State Turnkey and NYC Partnership Homes
KOURAKOS & KOURAKOS
Attorneys at Law
Eastchester, N.V.

Advertise Here!
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212 .721.9754
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Vahnont Consulting LLC
Mary Eustace Valmont, Ph.D.
Phone: 7187888435 Fax: 7187880135
Email: valmont-consulting@earthlink.net
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
NOVEMBER 2004
37
JOBADS
experience (or related work and educational
experience); Well organized, highly motivated
self-starter, able to work both independently
and as a part of the agency's development
team; Familiarity with word processing, data-
bases, on-line searches and mapping soft-
ware; Excellent written and oral communica-
tion skills; Bilingual - Spanish!English pre-
ferred. Salary: Mid to upper $30's (commensu-
rate with experience) + health & dental bene-
fits. Please send resumes to: Raymond P.
Adkins, Director of Community Development,
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation,
625 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208-
1203, by fax 1-718-647-2805 or Email :
raya@cypresshills.org.
COMMUNITY FINANCIAL LITERACY COOROINA-
TDR AND ADVOCACY COORDINATOR - The
Neighborhood Economic Development Advoca-
cy Project (NEDAP) , a financial justice resource
center, is hiring for the following new positions:
Community Financial Literacy Coordinator and
Advocacy Coordinator. For more information
about these opportunities and NEDAP's pro-
grams, visit www.nedap.org.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER - Bridge Street
Development Corporation is seeking a Com-
munity Organizer. Responsibilities: To educate
and engage community leaders and residents
in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community: and to
improve public safety and implement neigh-
borhood improvement projects. The organizer
will also work with other BSDC staff to ensure
that BSDC's housing, economic development
and technology programs improve the wealth
and well being of residents in the neighbor-
hood. Qualifications: BAlBS, minimum of five
years experience working within the communi-
ty development field, including organizing and
developing resident leadership, leveraging
financial and technical resources to produce
tangible improvement in neighborhoods and
facilitating collaborative efforts among com-
munity leaders, non-profits and public agen-
cies. Self-starter, computer literate with excel-
lent communication skills. Salary commensu-
rate with experience. Send resume and cover
letter to Community Organizer, Bridge Street
Development Corporation, 266 Stuyvesant
Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11221. Fax (718)
573.6874. Email : swhite@bsdcorp.org.
Women, people of color and neighborhood res-
idents are strongly encouraged to apply. EOE.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER - Economic justice
organization is seeking a dynamic experienced
individual to work on a base-building mem-
bership run economic justice and public policy
campaigns. The ideal candidate will possess
the ability to build a low-income membership
base, conduct leadership development and
political education work, work with allies, and
develop and implement campaign strategy in
partnership with senior staff and organization-
alleadership. CVH is an EOE employer. People
of color, women, GLBT, and people with experi-
ence on PA are strongly encouraged to apply.
Bi-lingual Spanish speaking highly desired
and minimum 2 years campaign experience
38
required. Salary is competitive and based on
experience. CVH offers an excellent benefits
package including pension plan, healthcare,
liberal leave time and a sabbatical. Please
send resume, cover letter, 3 references and
short writing sample ASAP to CVH 170 E.116th
St. Suite IE, NY, NY 10029. Website:
www.cvhaction.org for more information.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER - The Citizens
Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-service
non-profit organization serving the Bronx for
more than 31 years. CAB seeks a full-time
Community Organizer for the CC9 Program
(Community Collaborative to improve Di strict 9
Schools) Must have at least 2 yrs. Paid or
unpaid grassroots organization experience. BA
and Spanish !English fluency preferred. E-mail
resume/cover letter to jallen@cabny.org.
COMPTROLLER - NEBHDCo is a community-
based non-profit organization whose focus is
affordable housing development and asset
management, homeownership, economic
development and human services. We are
seeking a Comptroller to direct and mange the
overall financial plans and accounting prac-
tices of an organization. Responsibi lities
include treasury, accounting, budget, tax,
audit, human resources and management
information systems activities of the organiza-
tion and subsidiaries. Oversee financial and
accounting system controls and standards
and ensures timely financial and statistical
reports for management and/or Board use.
Establishes and maintains the firm's financial
policies and procedures by providing opera-
tional and administrative direction to the
accounting, budgeting, treasury, tax, insur-
ance, and investor relations functions; respon-
sible for ensuring soundness of company's
financial structure and managing company's
relationships with financial institutions,
investors and government agencies; Reports to
the Chief Executive Officer/ Director and the
Board of Directors. Provides direction to com-
pany's finance and accounting, planning and
legal, human resources, and administrative
support functions; develops operating policy
and procedure in support of the company's
strategic and business objectives; Evaluates
each function's progress against performance
objectives; Advises other executives and man-
agers on appropriate use of specialized ser-
vices and administrative requirements driven
by professional , state, or federal regulations.
Direct internal MIS/data processing function;
Provides strategic and operational direction to
the company's finance and accounting depart-
ments; Assists CEO in establishing financial
strategic objectives and operating policies and
procedures to ensure attainment of corporate
objectives. Must have 2-3yrs. Exp as assistant
to Comptroller, BA or MBA (preferred). Send
resume and salary requires to NEBHDCo c/o
Comptroller Search, 132 Ralph Avenue, Bklyn,
NY 11233.
CONSTITUENT LIAISON - Dynamic and pro-
gressive City Council Member from Brooklyn
seeking an experienced Constituent Liaison to
work in the Council Member'S District Office.
The Constituent Liaison will be responsible for
handling all aspects of constituent service for
the Council Member's fascinating and diverse
Brooklyn district. HeJShe will handle con-
stituent cases and complaints, represent the
Council Member at community meetings and
events and handle some office administrative
tasks. The constituent liaison will also be
expected to organize and manage a number of
major forumsltown halls throughout the dis-
trict. Send resume and cover letter (resumes
without a cover letter will be ignored) to
constbklyn@yahoo.com.
COOKlKITCHEN ORGANIZER - The Youth
Shelter Program of Westchester (in Mount Ver-
non, NY) houses youth, ages 16-21 in an alter-
native-to-incarceration non-secured setting.
Residents are provided educational services,
substance abuse and mental health counsel-
ing/treatment, life skills training and recre-
ation. The Cook must be able to prepare com-
plete, nutritious meals (2-3 per day) and must
complete and handle all of the paperwork
associated with the position, as well as pur-
chase food. Please fax cover letter and resume
to 914-668-4994, Youth Shelter Program.
Specify position when applying.
COORDINATOR OF FAMILY SERVICES
Brooklyn based nonprofit providing Early
Childhood Education, Family Support Services,
Transitional Housing and Literacy seeks Certi-
fied Social Worker to supervise Family Develop-
ment component. Responsibilities include
assessments, short term counseling, psycho-
educational groups, supervision of Family
Workers, child development, community part-
nerships and management of contractual
requirements. Qualifications: CSW, 3 years'
community based social work and supervisory
experience, computer proficiency, bilingual a
plus. Competitive salary and benefit package.
Send resume and cover letter to email :
coluwole88@Yahoo.comorfax: 718-330-0846.
COUNSELOR - YOUNG ADULT SUCCESS ACAD-
EMY - Energetic social worker needed for
outreach, individual and group work with at-
risk and drop-out high school students. Cre-
ativity and enthusiasm essential. B.A.
required, MSW preferred, Bi-lingual
English/Spanish preferred. Send resume to
Lowell Herschberger, Fax 718-647-2805 or
lowellh@cypresshills.org
CREDIT UNION MANAGER - Neighborhood
Trust Federal Credit Union seeks a Manager to
lead our credit union. Neighborhood Trust is a
community development credit union located
in Washington Heights with $4.8 million in
assets and 3,300 members. We are a full- ser-
vice financial institution providing the pre-
dominantly Latino, low-income residents of
Upper Manhattan with access to affordable
savings accounts, loans, and other retail
financial services. The Manager will provide
financial and operational leadership and man-
age significant growth of new products and
services, with a focus on growth and diversifi-
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
cation of the loan portfolio. Ideal applicants for
this position will speak Spanish, will have
strong strategic thinking and people manage-
ment skills, and a minimum of three years of
experience in credit union management,
accounting and/or lending. Please send
resumes to Justine Zinkin at
jzinkin@cwcid.org.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR - The Deputy Director
oversees all aspects of the Network's day-to-
day operations, including implementation of
major programs, financial management, con-
tract and grant management, administration,
human resources and technology. S/he will
manage the work of the organization's staff to
align individual objectives with organization-
wide goals and mission. The Deputy Director
leads development of an annual work plan and
budget for the organization, and is expected to
manage the career aspects of as many as
seven staff at varying levels including recruit-
ment, hiring, orientation, training, perfor-
mance review, career development and role
growth. Must have strong commitment to the
Network's mission. See www.shnny.org for
more details. To apply, fax resume and cover
letter to 212-870-3334 or rhosein@shnny.org.
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - The Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a non-profit
legal and educational organization dedicated
to advancing and protecting the rights guar-
anteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Uni-
versal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR
seeks a Development Director to plan and
manage CCR's development program, which
includes major gifts from individuals, founda-
tion grants, planned giving, annual giving
including leadership gifts, prospect research,
stewardship, and information systems. The
Development Director supervises a develop-
ment staff of 3. Requirements: minimum five
years development experience, excellent com-
munication and writing skills, and commit-
mentto progressive social change. AAlEOE. E-
mail or send resume, cover letter with salary
requirements and two writing samples to: DD
Search, Center for Constitutional Rights, 666
Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012
carolync@ccr-ny.org.
DEVELOPMENT/COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE
- The Development & Communications Asso-
ciate reports directly to the Vice President of
Development and Communications of the
Housing Company, and has the following
responsibilities and work duties: Development
,grant-writing, working with department
heads to assess specific program needs and
budgetary costs . Assists VP in developing
detailed solicitation strategies for donor
prospects tailored both to the particular histo-
ry and specific interests of donors as well as to
Mount Hope Housing's needs . Assists VP in
coordinating cultivation activities and special
events to attract and encourage donor
prospects Relationship Building (cultiva-
tion)of foundation, corporation and individual
donors, . Identifying and researching prospec-
tive donors, . Tracking donor progress, coord i-
CITY LIMITS
I
nating cultivation events and special events
Communications Assist in the centralization
and management of all communication mate-
rials (e.g. annual report, newsletters,
brochures, posters, website, etc.) .. Assist in
the preparation of communications materials
Prepare and disseminate press releases to
media outlets .. Cultivate relationships with
the media Work with Vice President to devel-
op the overall, media strategy for the organiza-
tion. . Work with Vice President to ensure
branding standards are met in all communi-
cations. Qualifications: Undergraduate degree
in related discipline: 2-3 years experience in
development, media, communications areas;
Proficient in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Quark
experience a plus. Candidate must possess
excellent verbal and written communication
skills as well as strong organizational skills.
+Knowledge of economic developmenVcom-
munity development. We seek a team player
who is willing to dive in and do what it takes to
get the job done. Salary: low to mid 40's.
Send resume and writing sample to:
Zuleika_DeJesus@mounthopehousing.org or
fax to 718 299-5623.
DIRECTOR OF ASSESSMENT/OUTREACH PRO-
GRAMS - Senior level position to oversee
Homeless Shelters and Drop-in Centers.
Minimum 5 years senior Management experi-
ence with multi-site management back-
ground. Masters degree required. Email or
fax responses to DanLockspeiser@
use.salvationarmy.org. Fax 212-337- 7279.
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS - The
Communications Director is responsible for
ensuring the clear and effective communica-
tion of the Network's mission, programs and
policy agenda to a wide range of external audi-
ences, including policy makers, industry lead-
ers, current and potential members, and cur-
rent and potential funders. This position is
responsible for projecting a consistent organi-
zational image and presentation in print, on
the web and in public events. Slhe is responsi-
ble for guiding and implementing the organi-
zation's media strategy in close partnership
with the Executive Director and other staff
working on policy and advocacy efforts. The
Communications Director plays a critical role
in organizing public events including an annu-
al fundraising benefit and statewide confer-
ence. Must have strong commitment to
agency's mission. Visit www.shnny.orgfor more
details. To apply, fax resume and cover letter to
212-870-3334 or rhosein@shnny.org.
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
- Leading provider of pro bono business law
services to non profits seeks a Director of
Finance & Administration with 5+ years expe-
rience working in finance and administration
in the nonprofit sector, including supervisory
experience. Please visit the News section of
www.lany.org for details. Send resume to: SCD,
Lawyers Alliance for New York, 330 Seventh
Avenue, 19th Floor, NYC 10001. Fax: 212-941-
7458. No phone inquiries.
NOVEMBER 2004
DIRECTOR OF GRANTMANSHIP - The Brook-
lyn Bureau of Community Service, a 134 year
old not-for-profit providing vital services to
families, children and adults with disabilities
in need, seeks fund-raiser to oversee the solic-
itation of private and corporate foundations,
and governmental entities to raise substantial
revenues for general support and critical pri-
vate initiatives. Position will supervise
research; write and oversee development of
proposals; prepare annual fundraising strate-
gy; liaise with Board, foundations, government
agencies and collaborative organizations; and
hold key role in program development process,
managing a staff of two writer/researchers.
Candidate must possess superior writing,
interpersonal , organization and analytical
skills, be an effective collaborator; be able to
meet many deadlines; handle multiple tasks;
and cultivate productive liaisons with a variety
of constituencies. B.A. , supervisory experience,
success in grantsmanship and minimum 5
years development experience with progres-
sively increasing responsibilities required.
M.A. preferred. Please send resume, salary
history and/or requirements and writing sam-
ples to: Norma Martin, BBCS, 285 Schermer-
horn St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. E-mail:
nmartin@bbcs.org. EOE.
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES - Residential School and Treat-
ment Center for emotionally disturbed chil-
dren and adolescents in foster care seeks
administrator to coordinate the provision of
health and mental health services. Supervi se
nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, social
workers, and other professionals and support
staff. Ensure quality assurance and compli -
ance with regulatory requirements. M.S. in
public health, public administration or related
degree and prior supervisory experience in
health administration required. Position is
located in Hastings-on-Hudson in Westch-
ester County. Graham Windham, one of the
nation's oldest child care agencies, provides
competitive salaries, generous benefit pack-
age, and rewards excellent performance
through its merit-based reward system. Send
resume and salary requirements to: GRAHAM
WINDHAM, 33 Irving Place, 7th Floor, New
York, N.Y. 10003 Fax: 212-358-1724
hr-general@graham-windham.org AAlEOE.
DIRECTOR OF MANAGEMENT - Cooper
Square Mutual Housing Association seeks
Director of Management to supervise propertY
managers/organizers in order to ensure quali-
ty delivery of management services to some 23
MHA buildings and prepare tenants for cooper-
ative ownership. Must have strong supervisory
skills and demonstrated ability to supervise
management and clerical staff of 6. Must be
well-grounded in LandlordlTenant law, com-
puter literate (WordPerfect 5.1 or higher, and
accounting software such as Lotus 1-2-3 and
Yardi) and have a good command of English.
Will coordinate delivery of maintenance ser-
vices with Maintenance Supervisor. Organizing
experience a plus. Bi-lingual (EnglishlSpan-
ish) preferred. Salary: Mid 40's plus benefits.
Send resume to: Valerio Orselli , Executive
Director, Cooper Square MHA, 59-61 East 4th
Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10003. Fax to:
212-477-9328.
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS - Clinton Hous-
ing Development Company. Responsibilities:
Director of Operations oversees functions of
divisions-Housing development, Housing
Management, Administrative, Financial - and
development & implementation of policies and
procedures. Manages organization's $45m in
assets & $10m annual operating budget &
future planned growth. 75 person staff. Quali-
fications: Advance degree preferred: minimum
housing development and/or propertY man-
agement. Strong background in supervision
and multiple department coordination
required. Salary: $75k to $80k, 4 weeks vaca-
tion + benefits. EOE. Resume and Cover Letter
to: L. DeKind. Fax 212-967-1649 or e-mail:
DO@clintonhousing.org.
DIRECTOR OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT -
large, multi-site social services agency seeks
experienced Quality Improvement professional
to provide direction and oversight of agency-
wide QI/Outcomes mgt. strategy. MSWIMA and
5 years of experience in quality improvement,
outcomes, and program evaluation in a social
svcs.setting req'd. Strong computer skills
(including Microsoft office suite and knowl-
edge of database development) also req'd.
Please send resumes to: L. Williams Good
Shepherd Services 305 7th Avenue, 9th fl New
York, New York 10001 Fax: (212) 243-8085
Email: hr@goodshepherds.org.
DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES - HELP USA,
a leader in the provision of transitional hous-
ing, residential and social services, seeks a
Director of Social Services to oversee social
service staff. A Master's Degree in Social Work,
or related field is required. Oversight of service
delivery includes recruitment, assessment,
counseling and linkage w/entitlements,
health, educ/vocational and housing pro-
grams, placement of families into permanent
housing and housing quotas related to the
same. Computer literate and valid driver's
license is necessary; knowledge of subsidized
programs and factors a plus. Salary: mid-
$40s. Forward resume to: HELP USA, Attn:
Assi stant Executive Director, 515 Blake
Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207 or e-mail
gwatson@helpusa.org or fax: 718-485-5916.
EOE. A Drug Free Workplace.
DIRECTOR OF TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PRO-
GRAM - Brooklyn based nonprofit seeks
experienced, innovative, committed profes-
sional to oversee transitional housing program
for young pregnant and parenting mothers and
their children. Responsibilities include man-
agement of small (14 unit) shelter, social ser-
vices, housing placement, and fiscal manage-
ment. Qualifications: at least 3 years' experi-
ence in transitional housi ng management, fis-
cal management Master's Degree in Social
Work or related field, excellent interpersonal
and written communications, bilingual a plus.
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
JOBADS
Competitive salary and benefit package.
Please send resume to attention of Christine
Oluwole at 718-330-0846.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COUNSELOR - HELP
USA, a nationally recognized leader in the pro-
vision of transitional housing, residential &
social services, seeks a Domestic Violence
Counselor to work with battered women. Key
responsibilities include clinical and group
counseling. The ideal candidate must be expe-
rienced in crisis intervention and client advo-
cacy. Requirements: MSW preferred; must be
computer literate and bilingual (Spanish &
English). Salary: commensurate with experi -
ence. Send Resume to: HELP-ROADS, 515
Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, Attn: Hayley
Carrington, Fax: 718-495-0859. EOE. A Drug
Free Workplace.
EMPIRE ZONE PROGRAM MANAGER - Man-
age business/industrial development initia-
tives, provide liaison services for businesses
seeking access EZ benefits, coordinate day-to-
day activities, monitor reporting requirements,
records maintenance, administer program
budget, ordering supplies, etc. Email:
vbrown@sobro.org , Fax: (718) 292-3115.
EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - Employment
specialist with experience in job development
for not-for-profit corp. Assist community resi-
dents seeking jobs. Must be highly motivated,
energetic, strong interpersonal and organiza-
tional skills and proactive self-starter. Bilin-
gual (Spanish) preferred. Competitive salary
and benefits. Send cover letter, resume and
salary requirements to Senior Vice President
for Human Resources, Brooklyn Navy Yard
Development Corporation, 63 Flushing Avenue,
Third Floor, Building 292, Brooklyn, NY 11205.
EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - Needed for
workforce development program that works
with ex-prisoners. Minimum two years experi-
ence working as an Employment Specialist
with active job bank. Great salary and benefit
program. Send resume, salary requirements
and cover letter to hr@osborneny.org.
www.osborneny.org. EEO
EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST (80% TIME, 28 HRS
PER WEEK) - Innovative Brooklyn CDC seeks
employment special ist responsible for day-to-
day operations of walk-in employment assi s-
tance program. Assist participants in develop-
ing career goals, facilitate job club, provide job
developmenVplacement services. Qualifica-
tions: goal-driven, professional , excellent com-
munication, self-starter, computer literate, job
development experience. Full description at
www.fifthave.org. Send cover letter, resume
and salary requirements to
ashiffman@fifthave.org. Fax: 718-857-4322.
AAlEOE
EVAlUATION AND EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION
COORDINATOR - PRIDElWeCARE, a welfare to
work program for individual s with
physical/mental health issues, seeks qualified
39
JOB ADS
candidates to supervise Diagnostic Vocational
Evaluation and Work Readiness programs.
Requirements: program management, super-
visory experience and working knowledge of
welfare to work and vocational rehabilitation
programs. MA in vocational rehabilitation or
related field required. Minimum of 5 years rel -
evant experience, at least three years as
supervisor. Contact: Doris Hohman email
dhohman@bbcs-pride.org. Fax 718-233-
6910.
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT - Clinton Housing
Development Company seeks Executive Assis-
tant to provide administrative and program
support to Executive Director in fast paced
office. Strong organizational , writing and
excellent computer skills required. BA pre-
ferred. $26 to $30K + benefits. EOE. Resume
and Cover letter to: L. DeKind. Fax 212-967-
1649 or e-mail: EA@clintonhousing.org.
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT - The Executive
Assistant has two major areas of responsibili-
ty: 1) Providing regular administrative support
to Executive Director in NYC office; 2) working
closely with Member Services Director and
other staff to implement and enhance the Net-
work's member services functions by gathering
and disseminating information, organizing
workshops and conferences and special pro-
jects. Must have strong commitment to
agency's mission. See www.shnny.org for more
details. To apply, fax resume and cover letter to
212-870-3334 or rhosein@shnny.org.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - HELP USA, a nation-
ally recognized leader in the provision of tran-
sitional housing, residential and social ser-
vices, is seeking an Executive Director to man-
age program operations at one of its facilities
in Brooklyn, NY. Duties entail overall develop-
ment and management of all program opera-
tions, including but not limited to, direct over-
sight of existing programs, ongoing assess-
ment of program needs, and identification of
funding streams to enhance program services.
Will act as a liaison to other county service
providers and community leaders. Must oper-
ate facility within approved budget limits and
must ensure adherence to regulatory agency
regulations. The ideal candidate should be a
team player with an ability to work with Safety
and Maintenance personnel housed at the
same facility. Position reports to the Regional
Vice President for Brooklyn Operations. Mas-
ter's Degree required; Master's in Social Work
or related field preferred. Minimum of 5 years
management experience required, with super-
visory skills, staff development, program man-
agement and budgetary skills a must. Com-
puter literate, specifically in Microsoft applica-
tions is essential , a valid driver's license and
exposure to FACTORS, a major plus. Salary:
$70K-$80K commensurate with experience.
Forward Resumes to: Janice
Chavannes, HELP USA, 5 Hanover Square,
17th Floor, NY, NY 10004, email :
jchavannes@helpusa.org. EOE. A Drug Free
Workplace.
40
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Manage day-to-day
operations of the organization, while enhanc-
ing existing programs and creating new fund-
ing opportunities that emanate from the
Agency's mission. Knowledge of NYC Early
Intervention service coordination and OMRDD
Medicaid Service Coordination preferred. Mas-
ter's degree and five years of management
experience in nonprofit required. $50K-$60K
based on experience. Send resume, cover letter
with salary requirement and a 3-5 page writ-
ing sample to: Search Committee, REVERE
Human Services, 889 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY
11206, (fax) 718-574-7737.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Sustainable Long
Island (SU) seeks an Executive Director to
manage all program, financial, and adminis-
trative functions for the organization. The ED
will supervise SU's staff & maintain oversight
of 2 affiliates - Long Island Redevelopment
Institute and Long Island Fund for Sustainable
Development. Candidates should be creative &
have a history of proven leadership, initiative
in developing & managing multiple projects,
working with a Board of Directors, fundraising
& managing staff. Knowledge of community
planning/economic development & environ-
mental issues is essential. Excellent written &
oral communications skills are required.
Resume & a cover letter indicating
salary requirements should be sent to:
edjob@sustainableILorg.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FAIRMOUNT HOUSING
CORPORATION - Women services/advocacy
organization, seeks, entrepreneur to lead
affordable housing corporation. Responsible
for asset management, donor and grant culti-
vation, development of new affordable hous-
ing, community relations, board management,
and staff leadership. Ideal candidate will hve
entrepreneurial drive, persuasive oral & writ-
ten communication skills, knowledge & pas-
sion for affordable housing and community
development, administrative and organiza-
tional skills, in-depth property development &
community planning knowledge, ability to
manage & develop others and desire to work in
participative and team- oriented environment.
Requirements: Knowledge & experience in
affordable housing, community development
and community planning; college degree, with
MA in a related field preferred; experience
managing multiple projects; experience writ-
ing grants; experience managing others; com-
puter literacy. Competitive salary & benefits.
EOE. Women and women of color encouraged
to apply. Send or fax cover letter and resume
to: WomenRising, Inc. attn: Search Committee;
270 Fairmount Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey
07306 - Fax (201) 333-9305.
FINANCE AND HR ASSOCIATE - Nonprofit
legal services org seeks individual to join the
four-member Finance and Admin department.
Position requires great attention to detail,
excellent communication skills and strong fol-
low-up skills. Candidate should have knowl-
edge of Word, Excel and Outlook and must be
able to work well both independently and as
part of a team. Candidate should have a min-
imum of three years of accounting and HR
experience. Responsibilities include AlP, AIR,
and Petty. Posting all contributions into donor
database and accounting system. Processing
new hires including orientation, creating and
maintaining personnel files, non-exempt pay-
roll, enrollment and administration of employ-
ee benefits, and maintaining accrual of paid
time off. Interfacing with consultants to coor-
dinate technological support. Resume and
cover letter to Nancy Nagourney,
Director, Finance and Administration,
inMotion, Fax: (212) 695-9519 or email:
nnagourney@inmotiononline.org.
FISCAL DIRECTOR - EI Puente, a community
human rights institution that promotes leader-
ship for peace and justice in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, (www.elpuente.us). seeks a Fiscal
Director to oversee its finance department.
Responsibilities include managing financial
systems and personnel functions; Supervising
bookkeeper and accounting clerk; Preparing
annual budgets, budget modifications, finan-
cial reports and annual audit. Desired Qualifi-
cations: MBA in accounting and at least 3-5
years experience in nonprofit financial man-
agement, contract management, and staff
training/supervision. Competive salary and
benefits. Email a cover letter and resume to
felucerna@aol.com.
GRANTS WRITER & ADMINISTRATOR
Beginning with Children Foundation, a non-
profit dedicated to improving public education
for urban children in NYC's low income com-
munities, seeks an experienced grants writer.
Work independently and collaboratively with
foundation and school staffs, take on varied
tasks and respond rapidly and competently to
changing priorities. Research, write and man-
age large scale public grants for two public
charter schools, assist with foundation grants.
Communicate effectively to multiple con-
stituents & public agencies. Extremely orga-
nized & detail oriented self- starter a must. BA
and 3 years experience minimum. Send
resume, cover letter and writing sample to
anorman@bwcf.org.
GRASSROOTS POLITICAL ORGANIZER - WFP
is hiring organizers for metro NY area to build
political power for our members, especially in
working-class and communities of color. Orga-
nizers build local chapters by recruiting, train-
ing and mobilizing volunteers to organize and
win issue and electoral campaigns. WFP is an
affirmative action, equal opportunity employer.
Women and people of color are strongly
encouraged to apply. Send Cover Letter and
Resume to Rachel Berkson
Email: rberkson@workingfamiliesparty.org
Fax: 718-246-3718. For more info:
www.workingfamiliesparty.org.
HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Coalition for His-
panic Family Services. Innovative Community
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
Based Organization Seeks SpanishlBilingual
(preferred) MSW or related degree with 3+
years supervisory experience. Strong clinical ,
managerial and community collaboration
skills. Experience with homeless families
strongly desired. Excellent Salary & Benefits.
Send resume and cover letter that MUST incl
position desired and salary requirements to:
HR Dept, Coalition for Hispanic Family Ser-
vices, 315 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
or Fax: 718-497-9495. Or E-mail:
wm a Idonado@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE.
HOUSING COORDINATOR - Large non-profit
housing management corporation seeks indi-
vidual to oversee local management of three
senior housing facilities in Brooklyn. Requires:
Master's degree, good communication and
problem solving skills and a demonstrated
ability to manage systems. Please forward
resume, including salary requirements to:
Director, POP Management, 191 Joralemon St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11201 or fax 718-722-6134.
EOElAA.
HOUSING INTERVIEWERIDATABASE MANAGER
- Non-profit is seeking an interviewer/data-
base manager to aid in the process of renting
low-income tax credit apartments. Duties
include: inputting and maintaining a data-
base, preparing reports, interviewing appli-
cants, obtaining detailed documentation, and
answering questions regarding eligibility.
Required skills: computer literacy (Word and
Excel particularly), mathematical , writing, oral
communication, attention to detail, good fol-
low- through, ability to multi-task, and ability
to relate to persons of diverse backgrounds.
Salary commensurate with experience. Fax or
email cover letter, with salary requirements,
and resume to Marketing Department at (212)
757- 0571 or marketing@shfinc.org. How to
Apply: Please send a cover letter (indicating
the position that you are applying for, and
summary of your interest and qualifications for
position), resume, and list of 3 professional
references (with contact information) to:
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice; Att:
Grants Team Position Openings, 116 E. 16th
St., 7th floor; NY, NY 10003; Fax: 212-982-
3321; Email: grants@astraeafoundation.org.
No phone calls, please - only applicants being
considered for interviews will be contacted.
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is an
equal opportunity employer.
INTERNAL CONSULTANTS - The Visiting
Nurse Service of NY (VNSNY) is a nearly $1 bil-
lion, not-for-profit health care organization
with 10,000 employees. We are currently seek-
ing talented individuals for our growing inter-
nal consulting unit - Performance Improve-
ment. Focusing on senior management's top
agenda, Performance Improvement works on a
range of issues that directly impact VNSNY's
bottom line as well as the quality of service we
deliver to our patients. Performance Improve-
ment is seeking talented mid- and junior-level
consultants. Responsibilities will encompass
CITY LIMITS
1 ~ - - - - -
JOB ADS
research and data collection, financial analy-
sis, business process analysis, performance
measurement and operational risk/control
analysis. You will also handle day-to-day man-
agement of projects, createltrack/monitor pro-
ject work plans, and develop and deliver pre-
sentations. Ideal candidates will have experi-
ence in management consulting, strong ana-
lytical skills, and excellent written and verbal
communication skills. Strong proficiency in
Word, Excel , and PowerPoint is also required.
MBA, MPA, or graduate degree in a related field
preferred. For immediate consideration, please
submit your resume to Attn: G. Gangadeen
With Ad Code MON090204. Online:
www.vnsny.org (preferred); E-mail:
careers@Vnsny.org, Fax: 212-504-7938 Call:
1-866-VNS-TODAY EOE MIFIDN.
JOB DEVELOPER - The Doe Fund, an innova-
tive social service organization providing job
training and transitional housing to homeless
individuals, seeks an experienced job develop-
erlrecruiter to cultivate and maintain employ-
er relationships. Candidate must posses abili-
tyto teach life skills and job preparation class-
es and experience working with homeless pop-
ulation a plus. Ability to provide full range of
job placement services - resumes, interview
training and tracking clients' job search
efforts required. This position requires a bach-
elor's degree, strong oral and written commu-
nication skills, great interpersonal skills and
at least 3 years experience as a job developer
or recruiter. Salary in high 30's with compre-
hensive benefits package. EOE. Send resume
to Human Resources, The Doe Fund, 341 East
79th Street, NY, NY 10021; e-mail to
hr@doe.org. Please respond ASAP
JOB DEVELOPER - Veteran Workforce Devel-
opment Agency seeks experienced Job Devel-
opers with solid professional history in working
with employers to initiate jobs for individuals
with multiple barriers to employment. Candi-
dates must have a viable employer contact
portfolio that spans a wide range of sectors
and industries; experience in placing the hard-
est to service in jobs; Bachelor's degree and a
minimum of three years experience in job
development or high school diploma and six
years experience in job development; possess
excellent oral and written communication
skills; is a team player; and has the ability to
work with individuals with diverse back-
grounds. Send resume and cover letter to
jobs@nyworkalliance.org.
JOB DEVELOPERS (2) - One position will be
located in the Bx; the other will be located at
the One Stop Center in northern Manhattan.
The job developers will develop relationships
with area employers, make presentations on
employment services, research market trends,
identify job opportunities to match qualifica-
tions of job seekers, screen applicants for
employers, and play an important role in prog.
development. Req. an M and 5 yrs exper or a
BA, and excel presentation & comm. skis. Bil-
ing. Eng/Span a+. Competitve sal. Fax creds
to J. Dramas at (718) 993-8089 or email
NOVEMBER 2004
joramas@cabny.org. The Citizens Advice
Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-service non-
profit organization serving the Bronx for more
than 31 years.
JOB READINESS INSTRUCTOR -to assist
unemployed and underemployed PA recipients
prepare for employment. Res incl conducting
workshops on resume writing and interviewing
skis, researching curricula & developing tar-
geted lesson plans, conducting full day activi-
ties & customized training relevant to specific
occu, performing related administrative
duties. Req's a BA. Biling Eng/Span & signif-
icant exp in workforce development are strong-
ly pref. Fax creds. to J. Dramas at (718) 993-
8089 or e-mail to joramas@cabny.org. The
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a large, multi-
service non-profit organization serving the
Bronx for more than 31 years.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGER CONSULTANT - The
Knowledge Manager Consultant, a new posi-
tion, will lead an initiative to document and
disseminate information about Civic Builders'
pioneering work. This will initially be a six-
month consulting project. Specific responsibil-
ities will include: (i) analyzing Civic's work,
documenting best practices, and creating a
model that may be replicated easily and effi-
ciently; (ii) writing case studies, white papers,
reports, website features, and other tools to
disseminate information; (iii) analyzing and
documenting how charter schools improve
communities; (iv) documenting and dissemi-
nating information learned in structuring com-
munity development relationships. Qualifica-
tions: Candidates for this position should have
a college degree and a minimum of three to
four years of research and analytical writing
experience. Strong written and presentation
skills are a must. A background in strategic
analysis or management consulting is highly
desirable. We seek individuals of all ethnic and
racial backgrounds to apply for the position.
Please email a resume and detailed cover let-
ter to hr@civicbuilders.org. No calls or faxes,
please.
LAWHELP NATIONAL CIRCUIT RIDER - Pro
Bono Net seeks a highly qualified "virtual "
community organizer and a national "Circuit
Rider" to provide consulting to nonprofit legal
aid organizations in 29 states building legal
resource web sites to serve clients, lawyers,
and pro bono volunteers. Provide strategic,
editorial and technological advice; work to
increase involvement by groups and individu-
als with a strong interest in access to justice;
and serve as a critical communication link
between the states. Must have strong self-ini-
tiative; excellent communication skills; ability
to travel frequently. Must be web-savvy and
fluent in the discussion of web-based tools.
Prefer experience working with civil legal ser-
vices, pro bono or other public interest legal
organizations. More at
httpi/www.probono.netiny. EOE. Resume to
jobs@probono.net.
LENDING MANAGERISMALL BUSINESS LENDER
- Community development credit union serv-
ing primarily low- and moderate-income peo-
ple in New York City's lower East Side seeks
lending Manager/Small Business lender. BA
and 7+ years bank or nonprofit lending experi-
ence desired. Full description at
http://www.lespfcu.org/jobs. Send cover letter
and resume to: lendingsearch@lespfcu.org or
P.O.B. 20443, Tompkins Square Station, NY, NY
10009. EOE
MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR - Cooper
Square Mutual Housing Association seeks
Maintenance Supervisor to coordinate mainte-
nance and repair work for 23 buildings. Must
be able to supervise staff of 10 maintenance
mechanics and porters. Able to maintain prior-
itized work order system, assign staff, coordi-
nate emergency/after hours coverage, ensure
that all boilers are maintained and functioning
properly. Outreach to vendors, suppliers and
contractors. Salary: Mid 40's plus benefits.
Send resume to: Valerio Orselli, Executive
Director, Cooper Square MHA, 59-61 East 4th
Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10003. Fax to:
212-477-9328.
MAJOR DONOR COORDINATOR - The Bowery
Mission & Kids With A Promise are affiliated
fast growing, faith-based, non-profit organi-
zations. Their main goal is to be the most
effective provider of compassionate care and
life transformation for hurting people. The
Major Donor Coordinator will be a member of
the Major Donor Task Force and call regular
meetings. He/she will be responsible for iden-
tifying potential donors as well as making
appointments, preparing materials for case
managers, and updating and maintaining
donor database. The candidate must be famil-
iar with Microsoft Word and Excel; Raiser's
Edge knowledge is a plus. The preferred candi-
date will have a Bachelor's Degree and 3 years
experience in recognition, solicitation, and
maintenance of major donors for a non-profit
organization. Salary commensurate with expe-
rience. Excellent benefit package. To apply,
please send resume and cover letter to Christ-
ian Herald Association, 132 Madison Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10016, Attn: Human Resources
Department or e-mail malcorn@chaonline.org.
MANAGING EDITOR (pn - Highbridge Hori-
zon, a nonprofit, monthly community newspa-
per, is seeking a part-time managing editor to
generate, report and write news and feature
stories as well as edit stories written by
interns. Nestled between Yankee Stadium and
the Harlem River in the Bronx, Highbridge is a
vibrant community that too often is overlooked
by the city's daily newspapers. Qualified can-
didates must have news reporting and editing
experience, a genuine curiosity for the new and
unique and a commitment to providing need-
ed information to the community. Spanish a
plus, but not required. Responsibilities also
include laying out newspaper in Quark. To
apply, please send your resume, a cover letter
and at least two published clips to Jill Gross-
man at grossmanj@highbridgelife.org, or at
Highbridge Horizon, 979 Ogden Avenue, Bronx,
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
NY 10452.
NEIGHBORHOOD EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
PROGRAM COORDINATOR - Innovative
Brooklyn CDC seeks coordinator for two neigh-
borhood employment services programs.
Assist participants in developing career goals,
design new program activities, manage three
staff. Qualifications: goal-driven, professional,
excellent communication, computer literate,
able to lead a small team. Full description at
www.fifthave.org. Send cover letter, resume
and salary requirements to
ashiffman@fifthave.org. Fax: 718-857-4322.
AAlEOE.
OFFICE ASSISTANT - (Bi-lingual preferred) -
West Harlem Group Assistance, Inc/Family
Advocacy Integrated Resources Inc seeks a
full-time Office Assistant. High school diploma
or equivalent required, equivalent work experi-
ence a plus. The individual must also have
good communication skills, be computer liter-
ate and have a pleasant and professional
manner in the office and on the telephone.
Responsibilities: The Office Assistant serves in
the implementation\ of good office procedures
and practices. Specific Responsibilities:
Establishes and maintains a good working
relationship with providers, agency represen-
tatives and EI families. Assists in providing
efficient office duties as required. Assists the
Administrative Assistant in billing and
rebilling requirements. Types letters and a
variety of other materials. Organizes, updates
and maintains FAIR's filing system. Answers
telephone and routes calls to the appropriate
staff. Assists in ordering office supplies as
needed and maintains an inventory of sup-
plies. Operates all office equipment as needed
to produce documents. In charge of bi -weekly
electronic billing requirements. Performs other
related duties as required. Performs other
duties as required. Salary Range: $19,000 -
$22,050. All interested parties, please fax or
mail resume to: WHGAlFamily Advocacy Inte-
grated Resources, Attn: Jewel Johnson, 127
West 127th StreetiRoom 416, New York, NY
10027, or fax 212-280-1865.
OFFICE MANAGER - DreamYard is a Bronx
based arts education organization that brings
long-term arts residencies to schools in under-
served neighborhoods. This is a jack of all
trades administrative position: it contains the
responsibilities of office manager, secretary
and human resources director. 2-3 years office
management experience required. Please send
resume and cover letter to: Jenny lynch Dream-
Yard Project 1690 lexington Ave. , 2nd floor NY,
NY 10029 jlynch@dreamyard.com.
OFFICE MANAGER I EXECUTIVE LEGAL ASSIS-
TANT - Progressive Tribeca law firm focusing
exclusively on high-impact civil rights litiga-
tion nationwide is seeking an experienced can-
didate who is committed to social justice
issues. Strong organizational , writing, admin-
istrative and problem solving skills required.
Salary commensurate with experience. Full
benefits. E-mail steve@cnscivilrights.com.
41
JOB ADS
OPTIONS SPECIALIST - Creative teen pro-
gram in Chelsea seeks Educational/Options
Specialist to coordinate Options program.
Requires B.A. in Education, Social Work or
related field, experience working with children
and adolescents. Computer literacy, familiari-
ty with high school and college selection
process, and career alternatives. Ability to plan
and work independently. Salary $30-35K. Send
resume and cover letter to:
jobs2004@nyc.rr.com. Fax: 212-924-6872.
OUTREACH WORKER - Coalition for Hispanic
Family Services. Innovative Community Based
Organization Seeks SpanishIBilingual (pre-
ferred). Two+ years experience. Experience
with domestic violence population a plus.
Excellent Salary & Benefits. Send resume and
cover letter that MUST include position desired
and salary requi rements to: HR Dept, Coalition
for Hispanic Family Services, 315
Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237 or
Fax: 718-497-9495. Or E-mail :
wm a I dona do@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE
PARALEGAL - Working with staff attorneys on
racial justice issues: summarize depositions;
assist with client!witness interviews; draft
affidavits; cite-check briefs. Must possess
excellent research, writing and computer
skills; self-motivated; very organized. Letter of
interest, current resume, two references, and a
writing sample 5 pages or less to Annie Maur-
er, ATTN: Paralegal Hiring Committee, ACLU,
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY
10004.
PART-TIME GRANT WRITER - The Bowery
Mission & Kids With A Promise are affiliated
fast growing, faith-based non-profit organiza-
tions. They are seeking a part-time Grant
Writer with I to 3 years of experience in non-
profit grant writing. This individual should
have an understanding of faith-based work in
the city. Candidate must have proposal writing
skills and ability to write, compile and organize
materials for requests and reports. Individual
must be able to research foundation and cor-
poration guidelines as well as federal funding
guidelines. Individual will assist in maintain-
ing and updating foundation files. Person
must be a team player, possess exceptional
written and verbal communication skills and
be able to meet deadlines. The successful can-
didate will possess a Bachelor's Degree and
have a proficiency in Microsoft Office software;
Raiser's Edge knowledge is a plus. Salary and
hours are negotiable. Excellent benefits. To
apply, please send resume and cover letter to
Christian Herald Association, 132 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10016, Attn: Human
Resources Department or e-mail
malcorn@chaonline.org.
PAYROLL CLERK (E-Tl ME, ADP) - HIRE
announces a challenging opportunity for a
Payroll Clerk. Our mission is to provide mental
health care, rehabilitative, and vocational ser-
vices to the underserved and economically dis-
42
advantaged populations in New York City, par-
ticularly those who are chronic mentally ill or
who are HIV+/AIDS infected. You will be
responsible for assisting in the preparation of
biweekly centralized payroll processing; main-
tenance, reconciliation of data, tables and
files; filing of payroll/benefit related docu-
ments; general correspondence. Require-
ments: Associates degree in Accounting, Busi-
ness Administration, Finance with a minimum
of I-year ADP PC Payroll , ReportSmith, and E-
lime experience. Strong attention to detail ;
mathematical; strong communication skills;
organizational excellence; interpersonal talent
required. Proficient in Microsoft Office and
Excel. Bilingual (Spanish) capabilities a plus.
At HIRE, we pride ourselves on hiring and
developing the best people. HIRE is comprised
of a diverse, intelligent, and aspi ri ng work-
force. We set high standards and recruit based
on those standards. We seek out people who
are not only technically / clinically skilled and
knowledgeable, but who enjoy challenges and
who seek to develop themselves. Please for-
ward your MS Word application via email to
gbenitez@mailhost.hire-ny.org or fax to (212)
564-3445, Giovanna Benitez, HIRE, 989
Avenue of the Americas, 12F, New York, NY
10018.
PERfORMANCE IMPROVEMENT SENIOR DATA
ANALYST - With more than a century of car-
ing, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York
(VNS) is recognized as the gold standard in
home health care. From pediatrics to elder
care, psychiatric assessment to AIDS treat-
ment, short-term intervention to long- term
management, VNS has the capabilities and
resources to deliver the entire range of home
health care services throughout all five bor-
oughs of New York City, Nassau County and
parts of Westchester. Provide analytical, pro-
ject planning coordination and implementa-
tion support to performance improvement
activities across the agency. Assist with track-
ing and monitoring effectiveness of organiza-
tional changes, designing analytical
approaches, data collection, report
writing/production, tracking project activities
and conducting data analysis. Requires Bach-
elor's Degree in Business Administration or
related field, MBA or MPA preferred. Minimum
of two years progressive experience in consult-
ing, operations, or fi nancial analysis, strong
proficiency with Word, Excel, Access, Power-
point, project management and facilitation
skills also required. We offer a competitive
salary and benefits package. If you are inter-
ested in this opportunity, please submit your
scannable resume (in Courier or limes Roman,
no bold, italics, underscoring, or handwritten
notes), to ATTN: Grace Gangadeen, via Online:
www.vnsnY.org (preferred) , Email :
careers@vnsny.org, Fax: 212-504-7938, or
Call : 1-866-VNS-TODAY, EOE MlFIDN.
PERfORMANCE IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST
- With more than a century of caring, the Vis-
iting Nurse Service of New York (VNS) is recog-
nized as the gold standard in home health
care. From pediatrics to elder care, psychiatric
assessment to AIDS treatment, short -term
intervention to long- term management, VNS
has the capabilities and resources to deliver
the entire range of home health care services
throughout all five boroughs of New York City,
Nassau County and parts of Westchester. Per-
formance Improvement Special ist Develop
practical, innovative ideas and approaches for
complex issues across the agency. Provide pro-
ject management oversight to projects includ-
ing tracking implementation, and monitoring
effectiveness of organizational changes. Lead
activities in defining the scope of projects,
develop project plans, and track/monitor work
plans. Requires Bachelor's Degree in Business
Administration or related field, MBA or MPA
preferred. Minimum of four years progressive
experience in consulting, operations or finan-
cial analysis, strong proficiency with Word,
Excel , Access, PowerPoint, project manage-
ment and facilitation skills also required. We
offer a competitive salary and benefits pack-
age. If you are interested in thi s opportunity,
please submit your scannable resume (in
Courier or limes Roman, no bold, italics,
underscoring, or handwritten notes), to ATTN:
Grace Gangadeen, via Online: www.vnsny.org
(preferred) , Email: careers@vnsny.org Fax:
212-504-7938, or Call : 1-866-VNS-TODAY,
EOE MlFIDN
POLI CY ANALYST - The Criminal Justice Pro-
gram of the Council of State Governments'
Eastern Office is hiring a policy analyst for the
Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus
Project, a national initiative begun in 1999 to
improve the response to people with mental ill-
ness who become involved in the criminal jus-
tice system. They will join a team of five pro-
ject staff. The policy analyst will: develop
agendas for small and large meetings;
describe agreements from those meetings;
analyze legislation, policies, and programs;
prepare and present reports, and facilitate
politically sensitive meetings with high-rank-
ing officials and national experts. The policy
analyst will also conduct strategic planning,
timeline development, and budgeting for spe-
cific aspects of the project, with increasing
latitude over time. The candidate must have
superior interpersonal skills, keen judgment,
excellent (not simply good) writing and
research skills, and be willing to work long
hours and to travel. A graduate degree, and/or
three years of relevant experience are strongly
preferred. Starting salary: $45,000 and
$55,000 (DOE), including benefits. Candidates
should mail , fax, or email: Cover letter, resume,
writing sample (under 3 pages) and two refer-
ences to: Maripili Rodriguez, CSG East, 40
Broad Street - Suite 2050, New York, NY 10004.
E-mail: mrodriguez@csg.org. Fax: 212-482-
2344.
POLICY RESEARCH ASSOCIATE !ECONOMIC
JUSTICE PROJECT - The Economic Justice
Project works to promote the creation of good
jobs and to ensure that everyone in our society
has access to them. The Policy Research Asso-
ciate will work with senior staff to support
local community groups in their economic
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
justice campaigns. Please see
http://www. b ren na n center.org/em p loyment!
index.html#PolicLRA_EJP for the full
announcement.
PROGRAM ASSISTANT - Workforce Strategy
Center. National nonprofit organization spe-
cializing in workforce development seeks indi-
vidual with strong writing/communications
skills to assist in program planning, opera-
tions and research. Ability to work indepen-
dently and as part of a team. Relevant experi -
ence a plus. Email a cover letter and resume
(or questions) to Melissa Goldberg at
mgoldberg@workforcestrategy.org.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR - Nazareth Housing is
a small , non-sectarian organization estab-
lished in 1983 to address the needs of poor
families on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
We provide stable living environments and
support services to homeless women and chil-
dren. Nazareth seeks a creative and energetic
individual to manage its social services as well
as to design new programs, develop evaluation
criteria and implement the use of on-li ne case
management. This is an excell ent growth
opportunity for a motivated candidate. There is
substantial room to expand the organization's
mission and programs. We require a licensed
MSW with at least 5 years of experience in pro-
gram management. Applicant must have
strong supervisory skills and direct experience
in dealing with the homeless population.
Knowledge of program evaluation and up-to-
date use of technology a must. Ideal candidate
will be bi-lingual in Spanish and English.
Applicant must have interest in being part of a
dynamic and growing organization. Please
visit the Nazareth Housing website at
www.nazarethhousing.com. Email resume
and cover letter expressing interest and salary
requirements to info@nazarethhousing.com.
Nazareth Housing is an equal opportunity
employer.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR - Southwest Key Pro-
gram currently hiring Program Director for
Voices of Youth Program in NYC. Responsibili-
ty includes supervising contract compliance,
daily schedules, program management, fiscal
and personnel matters. Requires excellent
written and oral communication with strong
business mgmt, public relations and organiza-
tional skills. Master's level clinician with min 3
yrs exp in mgmt and clinical exp working with
youth and families in crisis in their homes.
Please email resume to JNelson@swkey.org or
fax to (512) 912-7690. EOE
PROGRAM MANAGER - Change for Kids (CFK)
is dedicated to improving children's education
in four of NYC's most under resourced public
elementary schools. CFK believes that every
student deserves exposure to the world around
them and the opportunity to pursue their indi-
vidual potential. The ideal candidate wi ll man-
age CFK Programs including: Violin & Dance
Programs, Storytellers, Field Trips, and In-
School Performances at four NYC public
CITY LIMITS
11--------
JOB ADS
schools. Qualifications: MAIMS or BAIBS with
3-5 years experience with not-for-profit pro-
grams focused on education, the arts, children
and families in underserved urban communi-
ties. Please e-mail cover letter and resume to
Dana Wolf, CSW, MS, Executive Director, at
dana@changeforkids.com. Subject line should
read: Program Manager.
PROGRAM MANAGER - FEGS is one of the
largest not-for-profit health and human ser-
vice organizations in the country with an oper-
ating budget in excess of $170 million, 3,000
plus employees and operations in over 250
locations throughout the metropolitan New
York area. We seek a Program Managerto work
in our Far Rockaway IPRT (Intensive Psychiatric
Rehabilitation Treatment ) Program. The
clients are young adults (15-19 years old) who
have emotional problems that cause barriers
to learning and attaining employment. All
clients attend local mental health clinics. The
program has a rehabilitation focus, using
mostly group work, with some individual. The
hours are Monday - Thursday 11:30 am - 7:30
pm and Friday 9 am - 5 pm. Applicants must
have a CSW, CRC, ATR, OTR or an MSW will be
considered. We offer a competitive salary. If
you are interested, please send resume and
cover letter with salary requirements to our HR
Consultants: HR Dynamics, Inc. (Dept. BH-
FRlSS) 315 Hudson Street, 6th Floor, New York,
New York 10013 or fax 212-366-8555 Attn:
BH/SS or email sgsmalls@hr-dynamics.com.
EOE, MfF /DN.
PROGRAM MANAGER - The New York City
Financial Network Action Consortium is seek-
ing a Program Manager to coordinate the Vol-
unteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
to provide free tax preparation to low-income
taxpayers and assist with outreach to finan-
cially-underserved households. Qualifications:
knowledge of tax preparation and/or experi-
ence with VITA program; 3-5 years experience,
and fluency in Spanish. Salary: high $30s to
low $40s plus benefits. Email cover letter and
resume to pbray@nycfnac.org or fax to 718-
260-0085. Website: www.nycfnac.org.
PROGRAM OFFICERIMANAGEMENT CONSUL-
TANT (Asset Management) - Seeking experi-
enced real estate asset and property manager
to join L1SC's Organizational Development Ini-
tiative. Program Officer will provide high level
consulting services and technical assistance
on asset and property management for afford-
able housing projects to local L1SC program
staff and to community development organiza-
tions across the country, and will develop train-
ings and publications for this audience
designed to increase competency. Complete job
description available at: www.liscnet.org. Com-
petitive salary and benefits. Send resume and
cover letter to: Hilary Greer, hgreer@liscnet.org.
PROJECT ASSISTANT - Bridge Street Develop-
ment Corporation, Inc. (BSDC) is a growing
faith-based not-for-profit community develop-
ment corporation, engaged in housing, eco-
NOVEMBER 2004
nomic development, and community organiz-
ing and education. We are seeking a Project
Assistant to provide administrative and pro-
grammatic support to our Housing Group.
Responsibilities: Answer phones; collect and
distribute mail; provide information and refer-
ral to prospective clients seeking apartment
repairs, homeownership counseling, afford-
able housing, etc.; maintain housing group
databases; draft and distribute memoranda,
letters, etc.; maintain accurate
electronic/paper files and records; prepare
check requests, track payments and distribute
checks; and process homebuyer and construc-
tion job applications. Qualifications: High
School Diploma/GED, computer literacy with
proficiency in MS Office products, good written
and oral communication skills, excellent orga-
nization skills, ability to work independently, at
least one year of work experience in an office
environment, and the ability to multi-task.
Salary: Commensurate with experience. Send
resume and cover letter to:
swhite@bsdcorp.org or fax to (718) 573.6874.
PROJECT COORDINATOR - Arts/Social Ser-
vice Org seeks project coordinator for Youth
EmpowermentlViolence Prevention Program.
Skills: program admin. and development, peer
training, program evaluation, grant writing.
Theater background helpful. Salary: 30s, fringe
benefits. Email resume to
jkleinsinger@hospaud.org.
PROJECT DIRECTOR - The Correctional Asso-
ciation (CA) seeks an experienced, committed
professional to lead its Prison Visiting Project.
Duties include: conducting monitoring visits to
individual correctional facilities and follow-up
to improve conditions there; doing in-depth
research on system-wide corrections issues
and preparing reports of findings and recom-
mendations; working with legislators and cor-
rections officials to develop more humane and
constructive prison policies; and educating the
public about prison conditions, the high cost of
incarceration and the need for alternatives.
The successful candidate must have experi-
ence in prison-related issues and be able to
write clearly and concisely. Compensation
including salary commensurate with experi-
ence plus excellent benefits. Interested per-
sons should send a resume and writing sam-
ples to Robert Gangi, Correctional Association,
Att: PVP Search, 135 East 15th Street, New
York, NY 10003. Please do not email or call.
PROJECT MANAGER - Dunn Development
Corp. is looking for a Project Manager to assist
with all aspects of real estate development.
Dunn Development Corp. is a socially con-
scious, award-winning real estate developer
with expertise in affordable and supportive
housing. Our mission is to build the highest
quality housing for low and middle-income
New Yorkers, including those with disabilities
and other special needs. Dunn Development
often works in partnership with non-profit
organizations. Responsibilities include prepar-
ing financing scenarios, coordinating prede-
velopment work and closing documents,
reviewing plans and specifications, assisting
with construction oversight, and preparing
funding applications for new projects. The
position will have primary responsibility for one
or more projects from predevelopment through
construction closeout, as well as assisting
with other development priorities. Candidate
should be familiar with affordable housing
development in New York City and have direct
experience working with city and state housing
agencies and with low income housing tax
credits. He/She should have a basic knowledge
of construction and a good understanding of
real estate finance. Salary in the $50's/$60's
plus benefits. Office located in Park Slope,
Brooklyn. Interested candidates should fax
resume and cover letter to (718) 388-0638 or
e-mail to ddcjobs@igc.org.
PROJECT MANAGER - Non-profit is seeking
a Project Manager responsible for rent-up of
low income housing tax credit apartments.
Duties include: preparing marketing plans;
preparing and placing advertisements; con-
ducting lotteries; assisting in off-site office
set-up; managing interview, database and
reception staff; file review; monitoring the
computerized log/database; reporting; prob-
lem solving; implementation of procedures
and systems; staff training; and interacting
with applicants, developers, supervising
agencies, etc. Required skills: managerial ,
organizational , analytical, problem solving,
computer literacy (WORD and Excel particu-
larly), mathematical, writing, oral presenta-
tion, attention to detail, good follow-
through, ability to multi- task, and ability to
relate to persons of diverse backgrounds.
Housing experience a plus. Salary commen-
surate with experience. Fax or email cover
letter, with salary history, and resume to
Marketing Department at (212) 757-0571 or
marketing@shfinc.org.
PROJECT MANAGER FOR RCI - 30-year-old
CBO seeks Project Manager to manage and
coordinate urban design and community
development projects from Rebuild China-
town Initiative, a community planning
process to restore/revitalize Chinatown after
9/11. Serve as liaison between public agen-
cies and community stakeholders to assist in
implementation and provide support to local
groups. Experience: 2+ years in community
development or similar projects. Competitive
salary, EOE. Resumes and CL to AAFE, 277
Grand Street, New York, NY 10002; fax: (212)
680-1815; human_resources@aafe.org;
www.aafe.org.
PSYCHOLOGIST - Iri s House, the first U.S.
nonprofit organization specifically designed to
provide services primarily for women living with
HIVIAIDS and their families, seeks a full-time
Psychologist. Responsibilities: conducting
assessments and individual/group/ family
counseling sessions. You will also facilitate
weekly support groups and oversee the clinical
case management team. Requirements:
Ucensed PhD with 3 years experience. HIVIAIDS
experience desired.. Bilingual (English/Span-
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
ish) preferred. Fax resume to 646-548-0287 or
email toihhumanresource@hotmail.com.
PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECTS COORDINATOR
- Coordinate publications, communications,
and projects for unique grassroots nonprofit
(www.naminycmetro.org). Publications: edit
and produce newsletter, maintain web site,
other publications. Communications: keep
members informed; coordinate public and
media relations. Projects: Fundraising, events,
advocacy, outreach, education, research, writ-
ing, etc. Contact asstdir@naminyc.org for job
description.
PUBLICISTISR. ACCOUNT MANAGER - Small ,
progressive and fun social issues PR firm
seeks forward thinking, motivated
PublicistlSenior Account Manager with 3-5
years social issues experience. Must be a go-
getter with hardcore pitching and strong
multi-tasking skills. Salary commensurate
with experience. Only resumes accompanied
WITH a cover letter AND salary requirements
will be considered. No phone calls. Send to
Andrea Trent by fax at 212-265-0593 or bye-
mail to atrent@promediacomm.com.
READING SPECIALIST (CERTIFIED TEACHER)
- PAY: $40-45/hour. Develop/deliver reading
class instruction for students in one of three
grade clusters: 2/3,4/5, or 6fl . Assess read-
ing levels pre and post-term. Assume prima-
ry role in assessing students with remedial
reading needs, and develop appropriate read-
ing recovery strategies. Dates: Sept.27,2004-
May 27,2005, Mon.-Fri. 3:00pm-6pm, 2-4
days/week, East New York, Brooklyn.Email
your cover letter and resume to
Hiring@groundworkinc.org.
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR -
Not-for-profit sees seasoned professional to
manage all aspects of real estate develop-
ment. Candidate must be knowledgeable of
NYC rehabilitation, new construction and land
use processes and issues. E-mail resume &
salary requirement to LDCENY@hotmail.com.
REAL ESTATE PROJECT MANAGER - QUEENS
- 30-year-old CBO seeks Real Estate Pro-
ject Manager to implement neighborhood
improvement projects, including housing
and commercial development for NYC immi-
grant communities, primarily Queens. Direct
oversight of initiatives, from initial planning
through construction completion. Experience:
3+ years in RE development and community
planning. Familiarity with affordable hous-
ing programs and policies. Competitive
salary, EOE. Resumes and CL to AAFE, 277
Grand Street, NY, NY 10002; fax: (212)680-
1815; human_resources@aafe.org;
www.aafe.org.
RENTAL ASSISTANT PROGRAM COORDINATOR
- Westchester Social Service Agency has an
opening for an experienced person in its hous-
ing division. Ideal candidate will have knowl-
edge of rent subsidies (Sec 8, DSS, HUO, etc.) ,
43
JOB ADS
tenant accounts and programmatic require-
ments. A college degree +5yrs of related
experience reqd. HUD/UHTC or R.A.M. certifi-
cation 3+. Must have excellent computer/ver-
bal/written skills. We offer an excellent
salary/benefits pkg in an environment in
which caring/talented individuals contribute
and flourish. Send letter of interest to Direc-
tor HR, Westhab, 85 Executive Blvd, Elmsford,
NY 10523. Fax 914-345-3139, email:
h.r@westhab.org. EOE.
RESOURCE SPECIALIST - NCB Development
Corporation - Financing, Developing and
Empowering America's Communities are our
goals. We are currently seeking a Resource
Specialist in our New York office. This position
exists to bring technical assistance to mis-
sion-driven housing developers in the Greater
New York area who seek to add affordable
cooperative housing to their skill set. The ulti-
mate objective of this position is to increase
the number of low income people who have the
option to live in a cooperative setting rather
than a rental setting and to be sure that newly
created co-ops are as sustainable as possible.
Responsibilities will include technical assis-
tance, training, outreach activities and grant
management. Qualified applicants have a BA
degree, prefer advanced or professional degree
in Public Administration, Law, Public Policy,
Community Development, Architecture, Urban
Planning, Business or Finance. Four or more
years experience in real estate finance or
development, familiarity with public policy on
affordable housing, project management
experience and the ability to multitask. Inter-
ested parties should apply online at
www.ncbdc.org or fax a resume to 202-336-
770l.
SCHOOUCOMMUNITY ORGANIZER - Make
the Road by Walking seeks full-time
School/Community Organizer to work with
youth members and students of the Bushwick
School for Social Justice. Responsibilities
include youth organizing and social-justice-
related classroom work with students. Salary
based on experience. Bachelors degree and
youth experience a must. Organizing experi-
ence preferred. Email resume and letter to
oona@maketheroad.org. No phone calls
please.
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT - Non-profit alterna-
tive educational program in East Harlem is
seeking a degreed Sr. Accountant with min. 5-
7 yrs non-profit experience. Responsibilities
include complete financial statement report-
ing, bank recs, AIR, AlP, payroll , Y/E audit
schedules, and special projects. Qualified
applicants should possess knowledge of
FUND EZ, Excel, sound written and oral com-
munications skills, and the ability to work
independently. Knowledge of PAYCHEX online
and some supervisory experience is desirable.
Interested candidates should submit resume
w/salary requirements via email to:
robjay55@comcast.net.
44
SENIOR LEGISLATIVE INTERN - Assembly-
man Steven Sanders, Chairman of the Educa-
tion Committee, seeks part-time intern for
varied policy analysis, research and writing
assignments working closely with the chief of
staff at his Manhattan offices in Gramercy
Park and near City Hall. No pay. Excellent
experience for energetic, confident, public
policy enthusiast with excellent writing and
analytical skills. Email cover letter and
resume or questions to
SANDERSsCHIEF@aol.com or fax "Att: SBK"
to 212. 979-0594. Open-ended, schedule
negotiable. NO CALLS.
SENIOR POLICY ANALYST - The NYC Depart-
ment of Homeless Services seeks a Senior Pol-
icy Analyst for its Management Analysis and
Evaluation Unit. The Analyst will conduct
research and program evaluation advancing
the City's Five Year Plan to End Chronic Home-
lessness. For further information, visit
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/downloads/pdf/
jvn637.pdf
SENIOR POLICY DIRECTOR - Pre-eminent
national nonprofit organization seeks individ-
ual with strong writing/communications skills
and research/pol icy experience. Master's
degree, 2-5 years relevant experience and
management abilities required. Email a cover
letter and resume (or questions) to
Executive Director Adam Pertman at
apertman@adoptioninstitute.org.
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER - Neighborhood
Housing Services of NYC, Inc. to manage all
aspects of development- both rehab and new
construction- on 1-4 family homes in NYC. Pro-
ject managers are responsible for entire pro-
ject being completed on time and on budget.
Responsibilities include: sourcing sites, bud-
geting and scheduling, arranging financing,
oversight of design and scope, bidding to con-
tractors, oversight of construction, and sale to
owner occupants. Qualifications: Bachelor's
degree (graduate degree a plus), previous
experience in real estate development, ability
to work independently, meet deadlines and
juggle numerous tasks, advanced Excel skills,
comfortable in manipulating spreadsheets
and working with numbers, excellent commu-
nication and negotiation skills. Salary: com-
mensurate with experience, full benefits. E-
mail cover letter and resume to HsingDe-
vPM@NHSNYC.org or fax to Director of Housing
Development 212.675.7058 or mail to Director
of Housing Development, NHS of NYC, Inc., 307
West 36th Street 12th floor, New York, NY
10018.
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER - The Senior
Project Manager will work directly with the
Director of Real Estate to held build Civic
Builders' portfolio of public charter school
facilities in New York City. This position will be
responsible for helping to execute the firm's
objective of bringing ten facilities on line in
the next five years. The specific responsibili-
ties include: Researching, vetting and devel-
oping potential real estate deals. Supervising
architectural , environmental , market and
physical plant due diligence prior to build-
ing/site purchase. Assisting with purchase
and lease negotiations. Project managing
construction projects ranging from limited
physical plant upgrades to large scale gut
renovations. This includes managing the pro-
ject team of architects, engineers, expediters,
contractors, attorneys, and tenant representa-
tive so meet tight job schedules and construc-
tion budgets. Researching innovative school
design practices and design professionals. 5
years past real estate development or con-
struction experience is required. How to Apply:
Please email your resume to
hr@civicbuilders.org.
SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE - The Center
for Court Innovation seeks a Senior Research
Associate to work with NYC Family Court staff
on research and evaluation tools in an effort to
further enhance the Court's response to child
protective cases. Master's Degree; Ph.D. expe-
rience with child welfare/court issues preferred
but not required; excellent communication
skills. Competitive salary commensurate with
experience. Excellent benefits. Resume to
Blueprint, email: hr@courtinnovation.org.An
equal opportunity employer.
SENIOR TEAM LEADER - Tutor/mentor chil-
dren between ages of 7-14, supervise home-
work clinics, engage students in an arts, ath-
letics, community service, or other self-
designed course. Preferred candidates will be
undergraduate or graduate students in NYC
with experience working with children. Dates:
Sept.27,2004-May 27,2005, Mon.-Fri. 2:30pm-
6pm, 2-5 days/week. Salary-$200 stipend per
2wks + $1,250-$1,800 educational award for
AmeriCorps members. $8.50/hour, non-
AmeriCorps. Email your interest to
Hiring@groundworkinc.org.
SITE MANAGER - NEBHDCo, a Brooklyn-
based not-for-profit seeks a Site Manager to
be responsible for the prudent management
of assigned financial resources and success-
ful management of the property owned
and/or managed by NEBHDCo., related
equipment, activities, overseeing site securi-
ty, and site safety. The position supervises
the maintenance, individual volunteers and
crews necessary to accomplish tasks and
assist coordinated crews' on-site projects.
The Site Manager monitors all activities on
the properties and helps plan for the future
needs of the properties. Send resume and
salary requires to NEBHDCo c/o Site Manag-
er Search, 132 Ralph Avenue, Bklyn, NY
11233.
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
- St. Nicholas Entrepreneurship Assistance
Program, dedicated to assisting small busi-
nesses and entrepreneurs in the borough of
Brooklyn, seek a Small Business Development
Manager to coordinate entrepreneurial train-
ing and provide one-on-one microenterprise
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYLIMITS.ORG
and small business technical assistance.
Interested candidates should have: a college
degree, understanding of financial state-
ments and how they playa role in helping
businesses grow, a lending or small business
background, a team player attitude yet be
able to work individually, ability to speak in
front of a class and if necessary conduct a
classroom session, great customer service
skills, strong attention to detail and follow-
through. Understanding of local and state
business assistance programs a plus. Salary:
low 40s with fringe benefits. To apply, please
email cover letter and resume to Jose Leon at
joseleon@ewvidco.com or fax to
718.963.1905. To view the job description visit
www.stnicksnpc.org.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CO-TEACHER - Teach stu-
dents to make a positive change in their com-
munities through organizing and activism.
ACORN is seeking experienced community
activists who also have a passion for teaching
high school students (www.acorn.org for more
info.) Send resume to nyacorned2@acorn.org.
SOCIAL SERVICES - Comprehensive program
for older adults seeks Temporary [On-Calll
Case Manager for a busy social services case
management unit. Duties include: intakes,
home visits and provision of concrete services
and referrals for older adults. Must be comput-
er literate; enjoy working with seniors and bi-
lingual Spanish is a must. Salary $14/hour.
Send cover letter and resume to:
jobs2004@nyc.rr.com.
SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM MANAGER -
Creative MSW to direct services in permanent
supportive housing and provide leadership in
multi-program setting. Must have: MSW or
Masters in CounselinglPsychology; experience
with special needs populations (homeless,
substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, mentally ill);
housing knowledge; patience; energy; excellent
interpersonal, writing, and case recording
skills; computer literacy; commitment to
diverse work environment. $65K & benefits.
Upper Manhattan location. Fax resume & intro-
ductory letter highlighting related experience
to: 718-602-9107. EOE.
SOCIAL WORKER - The Cathedral Church of
Saint John the Divine is seeking a full-time
SOCIAL WORKER with Masters Degree and
state certification. SIFI certificate preferred
and 3 years experience doing casework
required. Familiarity and experience working
with emergency relief organizations after
9/11 and SpanishlEnglish fluency is a plus.
Salary range: $35,000-40,000 based on cre-
dentials, benefits package included. Interest-
ed persons should fax or e-mail their resume
to: Raquel Granda, Director, Cathedral Com-
munity Cares, 212-316-7582 or
rgra nd a@cathedralcares.org.
SOCIAL WORKERS - WHEDCO, a non-profit
multi-service agency in the South Bronx seeks
2 school-based social workers to provide clini-
CITY LIMITS
cal and case management services. MSW or
related Masters + 2-3 yrs experience, prefer-
ably in a community or job training environ-
ment+. Knowledge of Child Welfare Laws &
Practices and current Welfare System(WEP).
Bilingual (English/Spanish) required. Fax
cover letter & resume to D. Roberts, 718-839-
1172, or email info@whedco.org. Info at
www.whedco.org.
SPECIAL EVENTS ASSISTANT - The Bowery
Mission & Kids With A Promise are affiliated
faith-based non-profit organizations, seeking
a candidate with high energy level, organized
and dedicated. The candidate needs to have
good phone skills, write well and detail orient-
ed. Ideal candidate should derive satisfaction
from working hard to raise money for the
homeless and have an understanding of faith-
based work in the city. He/she should have 2 to
4 years of experience in events, administra-
tion, public relations, fundraising or related
field. Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel a
must, with experience in mail merges and
databases. Knowledge of Adobe In Design
and/or Raiser's Edge a plus. Email resumes to:
malcorn@chaonline.org.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR - Seeking
experienced substance abuse counselor with
3-5 years experience, CASAC or CSW preferred.
Provide counseling in Hempstead office, must
have car, good documentation and computer
skills. Salary $30,000-34,000. Fax resume to
Ms. Richardson 516-505-9176.
SUPERVISOR - Coalition for Hispanic Family
Services. Innovative Community Based Orga-
nization Seeks SpanishlBilingual (preferred)
MSW or related degree with 1+ years supervi-
sory experience. Strong clinical and superviso-
ry skills. Experience with homeless families a
plus. Excellent Salary & Benefits. Send resume
and cover letter that MUST include position
desired and salary requirements to: HR Dept,
Coalition for Hispanic Family Services, 315
Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237 or Fax:
718-497-9495. Or E-mail :
wmaldonado@hispanicfamilyservicesny.org.
EOE.
SUPERVISOR, TASC AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
- F-E-GS is one of the largest not-for-profit
health and human service organizations in
the country with an operating budget in
excess of $170 million, 3,500+ staff, 12 sub-
sidiary corporations and a diverse service
delivery network including operations in over
250 locations throughout the metropolitan
New York area. The FEGS Education and Youth
Services Division seeks a Supervisor to pro-
vide leadership and management for an after
school program, which includes education,
cultural , and recreational programs for partic-
ipants of an elementary school in Far Rock-
away, Queens. The Supervisor will have over-
sight over program design, implementation,
operations, and staff. The Supervisor will col-
laborate with key New York City Department of
Education administrators, community lead-
NOVEMBER 2004
ers, government and private- sector partners,
and Agency executive staff. Successful candi -
dates will demonstrate their ability to perform
the following functions: To execute all aspects
of administrative, programmatic, and fiscal
operations of the program; To develop and
implement creative, high-quality, outcome-
based programming for early-childhood, and
elementary school students; To effectively
supervise all program staff, including the
design and implementation of effective,
research-based professional development
programs; To efficiently manage data relating
to program performance and report on pro-
gram outcomes within the Agency and to pro-
gram funders; To develop linkages and strate-
gic partnerships with community-based orga-
nizations, government agencies, and private-
sector businesses. FEGS offer a competitive
salary and benefits package. Send resume to
our HR Consultants: HR Dynamics, Inc., Dept.
ECS-TASC ISS. 315 Hudson Street, 6th Floor,
New York, New York 10013 or fax 212-366-
8555 Attn: ECS/SS or e-mail
sgsmalls@hr-dynamics.com. EOE, MlfIDIV.
TEACHER - Under the supervision of the
Senior Director of Education, this person will
teach and coordinate a class for new stu-
dents entering the Fortune Society's Adult
Education Program. This class, which will
meet in one month cycles, will help students
make the transition back into a classroom
setting, provide a time and place to orient
them to the education program, and create
an environment for goal-setting and self-
assessment. Experience with students
involved in the criminal justice system a plus.
All resumes must be submitted along with a
cover letter specifying the position for which
you are applying, in addition to salary
requirement to The Fortune Society, Inc., 53
West 23rd Street, 8th
Floor, New York, NY 10010, Attn: HR General-
ist, Fax: (212) 633-8456 or email :
jobs@fortunesociety.org. The Fortune Society
is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
TEMPORARY VOTER REGISTRATION ORGANIZ-
ERS - Economic Justice organization is seek-
ing 2-3 people to work on non-partisan voter
registration and electoral organizing project.
Position lasts through mid-October, with pos-
sibility of extension and/or permanent organiz-
ing position. Salary is $ 375 a week plus
metro-card. Nights required/minimum 40
hours a week. Community outreach experience,
willingness to work hard and long hours
required. Job responsibilities include register-
ing unregistered voters, door knocking and
community surveying. Please send resume,
cover letter ASAP to CVH 170 E. 116th St. Suite
IE, NY, NY 10029. Website: www.cvhaction.org
for more information.
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS ORGANIZER - NYCPP
promotes immigrant worker rights. Applicants
should have at least 3 years of organizing
experience and must be bilingual in English
and Spanish. Experience working with unions,
community groups and the Washington
Heights community a plus. Dedication to
immigrant worker rights a must. Email resume
with references to gsadhwani@nycpp.org.
WATERFRONT PARK PROJECT COORDINATOR
- West Harlem Environmental Action (WE
ACn, a 16-year old, non-profit environmental
justice organization is seeking applications
for a Project Coordinator to: coordinate the
start up of the Harlem Waterfront Alliance - a
non-profit entity composed of community
groups, community-based institutions and
stakeholders to oversee the management,
maintenance and programming of the soon-
to-be-constructed Harlem Piers waterfront
park, and to coordinate a community-
designed transportation plan for the site.
Some Responsibilities of the Project Coordina-
tor Will Include: Coordinate meetings with res-
idents and stakeholders interested in the
management, membership and programming
of the park; Educate the general public,
media, public officials and residents on the
importance of the Harlem Piers and other
waterfront areas in Northern Manhattan;
Develop stewardship plan for youth and
adults; Coordinate community oversight dur-
ing the construction of the Harlem Piers;
Develop cultivation events at the waterfront
and assist in fund raiSing/proposal writing;
Coordinate a community-designed trans-
portation plan for the waterfront area.
Research permitting issues. Criteria: Three
years experience in parks operations, advoca-
cy, programming, or environmental education;
Solid writing and public speaking skills; Expe-
rience in effective project management;
Fundraising experience; Ability to communi-
cate effectively in community and formal set-
tings; Knowledge of the parks / waterfront
advocacy communities a plus; Spanish profi-
ciency is a plus. Benefits: Fully paid medical,
dental and life insurance. Salary commensu-
rate with experience. Applications: Send to
berlinda@Weact.org or to Berlinda Durant,
Attn. Waterfront Park Coordinator, 271 W.
125th Street, #308, NY, NY 10027. Telephone
calls will not be accepted. Include cover letter,
resume, three references, and day time con-
tact information. People of color and Northern
Manhattan residents are encouraged to apply.
WEB PROJECT MANAGER - ACLU seeks Web
Project Manager, reporting to IT director. Over-
sees maintenance of websites; serves as pro-
ject manager for web development; trains staff
on Content Management Systems; implements
security policies; advises on websites' devel-
opment and web technologies. BS or MS plus
3-5 years experience in managing CMS and
CRM systems; understanding of programming
technologies; familiarity with server adminis-
tration and web security. Send resume to ACLU
Human Resources-ITIWPM, 125 Broad Street,
18th Floor, New York, NY 10004 or
hrjobs@aclu.org.
WRITER - New York City Comptroller's
Office seeks experienced writer to work on a
FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE JOB POSTINGS, GO TO WWW.CITYlIMITS.ORG
JOBADS
variety of assignments, including speeches,
op-eds and newsletters. Candidates must
have a college degree and five to seven years
directly relevant experience, preferably in a
government setting. Must be reliable, have
strong organizational , written, and verbal
skills, as well as demonstrated computer
proficiency. Must be able to work as part of
team. Familiarity with urban public policy
issues preferred. Please send resume with
cOver letter and three writing samples (one
of which must be a speech) to
kcrowe@comptroller.nyc.gov. No phone calls
please.
YOUTH SHELTER COUNSELOR - The Youth
Shelter Program of Westchester (in Mt. Ver-
non, NY) is an alternative-to-incarceration
non-secured residential setting, for youths,
16-21. The Shelter's goal is to provide resi-
dents with support services in a
homelike/disciplined environment to help
them transition productively back into soci-
ety. Counselor must be dependable, sensitive
and trustworthy. The Counselor closely super-
vises, guides, directs residents during activi-
ties in, and outside of the shelter. These
activities include house chores, criminal
court appearances (staff are required to wear
business attire when taking residents to
court), off-site visits to mental health and/or
substance abuse counseling, recreational
trips and employment work sites. Must have
valid driver's license. Fax Cover
LetterslResumes to 914- 668-4994.
YOUTH SPECIALIST - Part lime (25 Hours
Per Week) Responsibilities: To staff and
design educational and recreational pro-
grams for children ages 6-11 years of age
within a youth development model. Assist
Program Coordinator with developing and
scheduling lesson plans and activities.
Develop and execute daily lesson plans to
stimulate children's social , cognitive, and
motor skills. Supervise children throughout
daily activities, trips and insure safety/com-
fort of children. Assist Program Coordinator
in the planning and implementation of pro-
gram activities. Interface with parents in
assessing the social , emotional , and physi-
cal needs of their child. Qualifications:
Proven experience working with school-age
children in an after school setting for three
years or more. Minimum three years experi-
ence planning and executing activities for
school-age children. Experience creating les-
son plans for structured activities. Bilingual
(SpanishlEnglish) is a plus and two years of
college preferred. Salary commensurate with
experience and credentials. Must be avail-
able Monday through Friday, 1-6 pm. Send or
fax cover letter and resume to: Mrs. Evans
Coordinator of Program Operations Youth
Services Department Mount Hope Housing
Company 2003-05 Walton Avenue Bronx, New
York 10453 Fax: 718-466-4788. No phone
calls.
45
46
I LLUSTRATED MEMOS
om CE OFTIIE QTYVISIONARY:
.'
vision of an "ownership society"
when we have neighborhoods in
which the male unemployment rate
approaches 50%. If mortgages and
stock portfolios are hopelessly O\lt
reach for so many, then far more
realistic ownership opportunities
must be created.
Why not tie voting to income so
aU Americans can grow their stoke
in America'S futUre?
GOT AN IMPRACTICAL SOLUTION
TO AN INTRACTABLE PROI3.LEM?
SEND IN
OFFICE Of THE CITY VISIONA.RY
CITY LlMiTS MAGAZINE
120 WALL ST., 20TH.FLOOR,-NY NY 10005
ootcv@
CITY LIMITS
m m
Bradley R. Bailyn
Legal Clinic
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2 Penn Plaza, Suite 1500
New York, NY 10121
(646) 326-9971
Email: info@legal-clinic.com Web: www.legal-clinic.com
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