Amalgamated cooperators screaming for 'help!'

To the Editor:

We are cooperators living in the Amalgamated Houses, a limited equity, affordable housing co-op, at the edge of Van Cortlandt Park. This diverse, vibrant community is on the brink of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

The crisis, created by factors well beyond the control or fault of cooperators, and well beyond the ability of our board to avert on their own, is two-fold.

The most immediate crisis is that the co-op, which is already in “technical default,” has been threatened by its mortgage lender with foreclosure unless it succeeds in getting the organization that governs limited equity co-ops like ours, Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) to immediately approve an increase of monthly carrying charges by $139 a room — a 45 percent increase. 

In recognition of the hardship such an increase will cause the shareholders, the co-op board has requested that HCR immediately approve an increase of about half that amount with a second increase to come at a later time. Even if HCR approves this increase, it is hardly more manageable and it is unlikely to satisfy the banks and to keep the co-op from foreclosure.  

Worse, it will force many current residents to leave the co-op: in fact, some have already “abandoned ship.” 

To avoid the hemorrhaging of residents and thus the destruction of one of the Bronx’s historic — and rare — bastions of quality affordable housing, we believe that some kind of grant or low-interest loan from the state on the order of $7 to $10 million will get us over the first hurdle which includes: insufficient insurance coverage, virtually nonexistent operating reserves, and an enormous deficit of unpaid bills to vendors. 

The crisis we face at Amalgamated is a microcosm of what faces affordable housing complexes throughout the city and beyond. 

Once that first hurdle is cleared, the co-op has a chance of raising the estimated $150 million needed to bring the venerable old housing stock that is the Amalgamated Housing Co-op back to good health.

We are also concerned that the inflated insurance rates and unfavorable loan terms we are contending with are discriminatory in nature and should perhaps be investigated by the attorney general. 

We are writing to the Riverdale community and our elected officials because we believe you can help us keep our co-op alive, along with the legacy and dreams of the immigrant textile workers who founded the co-op over 100 years ago. 

Carol Foresta
Riva Danzig
Judy Gonzalez

For Amalgamated Cooperators United