63 Tiffany brings out politicos on Halloween morning, by Brian Abate

Residents of 63 Tiffany Place, neighbors, community members, and politicians all gathered for a rally outside of the 70-unit apartment building. There were about 100 people in total including all local city and state politicians, including even Shahana Hanif, who came over from Park Slope office.

The building’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is expiring and that means all of the residents of 63 Tiffany are at risk of massive rent hikes that would force them out of their homes. Landlord Irving Langer bought the building in 2010. He has appeared on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist due to cases of deferred maintenance, displacement of tenants, and deregulation of affordable housing.

“Langer paid $5.3 million for the building in 2010,” says community leader John Leyva, who has lived at 63 Tiffany for 30 years. “He has already made about three times that just in rent bills alone. He is going to make a ton of money either way, but he could do that without forcing us out of our homes.

“I have a 93-year-old neighbor, who served in the Korean War and survived brain cancer but he might not be able to survive this. Unfortunately, stories like 63 Tiffany are not uncommon.”

Politicians and local organizations like the Carroll Gardens Association have put pressure on Langer to reach an agreement that keeps the current tenants of the building in their homes and there have been rallies outside of 63 Tiffany Place earlier this year and in 2023.

“We came to an agreement with Irving Langer and his associates through a memorandum of understanding and they were ready to meet the tenants with the parameters that the tenants outlined,” Hanif said. “Now I’m so disappointed that they just removed themselves from the agreement and are unfortunately not coming back to the table. My colleagues and I have sent a letter to him, saying that he must come back to the table and listen to the tenants’ demands. We await his response. We’re not just here to rally, I want folks to know that we’re taking the steps to get in front of Irving Langer.”

Many politicians and Leyva spoke about passing the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) and Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) as possible wider-scale solutions. TOPA “would prevent the displacement of lower-income tenants in New York and preserves affordable housing by providing an opportunity for tenants to own or remain renters in the properties in which they reside.”

COPA “would allow community land trusts and nonprofits a first right to buy property when up for sale. COPA would not only offer relief to nonprofits in an otherwise competitive real estate market but prevent private equity firms and prominent investors from flipping property or charging astronomical rates.”

“We need affordable housing, we need affordable opportunities to purchase housing, and we need housing that is built for people who live here and want to raise families,” Simon said. “What we have here are apartments where you can raise a family, not just one bedroom or a studio. They are affordable now and they need to continue to be affordable forever.”

Joy Foster, a resident of 63 Tiffany Place for 27 years, spoke at the rally.

“This is not just a New York City problem, it’s a nationwide one,” Foster said. “It’s a dire situation. There are no consequences for people who do things that potentially render people without a home. These people think those who aren’t wealthy are expendable and are only viewed as stepping stones to becoming more wealthy.”

Despite the neighborhood and local politicians repeatedly showing that they care and demanding a solution that will keep the residents of 63 Tiffany Place in their homes, it is still unclear if that will happen.

“Every time we attach profit as the main motivator for things that human beings need, people are harmed,” Williams said. “We see that in health care and we see it in housing. People have died because they do not have the housing that they need. We need to find a way to remove profit as the primary thing that people care about.

“Here we have tenants who are saying we want to own our apartments and then not being given the opportunity to do so. The negotiations that have occurred have not only fallen apart, but the owners are no longer communicating what’s going on. We can’t stand by and allow that to happen.”