Rising Number of Evictions in Harlem Spurs Tenant Advocacy

With Harlem land values rising to the level of Manhattan's real estate hotspots, ire and frustration are mounting among tenants in the expansive uptown neighborhood.

Starting tomorrow, a coalition of advocacy groups will hold a twoday series of workshops, "Convention of Tenants in Harlem," that comes as community groups are becoming increasingly active on housing issues, prompting forums and policy proposals from public officials.

The Manhattan district attorney held a forum on tenant-landlord issues last week to address the rising number of evictions in Harlem, and the president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer, is pushing a zoning plan to channel growth in West Harlem. Further adding pressure, particularly in West Harlem, is Columbia University's proposed 17-acre expansion, which is expected to move forward in the coming weeks.

While housing affordability has become a major concern in communities throughout the city, Harlem residents say the pace of displacement in their neighborhood is rapid, with a noticeable effort by landlords to free their apartments from rent stabilization protections, often by evicting existing tenants.

As Manhattan land prices have soared in recent years, developers and renters have been increasingly looking northward, bringing a new tide of investment to the traditionally black and Hispanic neighborhood, accompanied by prices almost unfathomable for the area 15 years ago. The development comes to an area for which the average family income is low for the city, estimated to be about $30,000 a year in 2005, compared with about $70,000 for the Upper East and West sides.

"People are really frightened that they're not going to be able stay in their apartments," the chairman of Community Board 10 in central Harlem, Neal Clark, said.

Three- and four-story townhouses in the area have been routinely selling for more than $1 million in recent months, according to the real estate tracking service PropertyShark, often double what owners paid for the property just a few years earlier.

The rising prices have spurred interest and action from the community, as new advocacy organizations and tenant councils have formed in an attempt to control or slow down the pace of change.

"I think that people are attempting to organize a little bit more," Council Member Robert Jackson said, adding that housing is the most common issue raised by constituents who call his office.

The West Harlem-based tenant advocacy group Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center was formed two years ago with a handful of members, founder Luis Tejada said, with its ranks swelling to more than 200 today.

Mr. Tejada, who is helping to host the two-day convention on housing this weekend, said many of his group's efforts are aimed at opposing the rising number of evictions in the neighborhood, as large landlords have been stepping up efforts to force out tenants of rent stabilized apartments. Once an apartment's value passes $2,000 a month, a level that can often be attained through a renovation, the landlord can charge market-rate rents.

Responding to an increase in inquiries from the community, the Manhattan district attorney's office held a forum last week on tenant-landlord issues including evictions, bringing in officials from numerous city and other agencies to talk about the issue.

"We try to keep track of what's going on in the community, and there are more and more concerns expressed to us about the gentrification and what it means," the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, said.

While many of the evictions are legal, with landlords pushing out people who fail to pay rent or are not registered on leases, Mr. Morgenthau said a portion of owners are forcing out residents on false grounds. "We're trying very hard to make sure that the new landlords are trying to comply with the law," he said. "Some of them are just interested in making a quick buck out of this."

An attorney at the Harlem Legal Center who works with tenants facing eviction, Mary McCune, said much of the rise can be attributed to high purchase prices, as new landlords needing to see a return on their investment make broad efforts to evict tenants and remove the apartments from rent stabilization.

"Suddenly they have target on their back," Ms. McCune said of tenants. "Everyone's looking for a reason to evict them."