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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Todd Baker, Project Manager from Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
0:24:52
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120 sec
Todd Baker, representing the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, expresses support for the Third Party Transfer program and its potential impact on a specific building. He highlights the collaborative process and the tenants' active involvement in managing their community.
- The organization has been working with tenants for over a decade to demand accountability from the landlord.
- They have partnered with various stakeholders, including Council Member Sanchez's office, Legal Aid, HPD, and Neighborhood Restore.
- The goal is to renovate the building with high environmental standards and provide an opportunity for residents to become cooperative owners.
Todd Baker
0:24:52
Good morning.
0:24:52
My name is Todd.
0:24:53
I'm a project manager at the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.
0:24:57
Thank you for allowing us to speak this morning.
0:24:59
As Karen mentioned, we have been in this building organizing for over a decade, trying to demand accountability from this landlord, and we couldn't be more excited now to be a part of bringing the long, much needed renovation that the building needs, and also to offer the opportunity for these residents to become cooperative owners of their building.
0:25:18
We think that, you know, no building really better represents the potential of a third party transfer program than a building like this where the tenants have taken such an active role already in, operating their and managing their community.
0:25:32
This has been a really collaborative process to bring it to this point.
0:25:35
We've worked really closely with council member Sanchez's office, with legal aid, with HPD, with Neighborhood Restore.
0:25:42
And it was, you know, our organization that worked with the tenants to engage ley and Wolf.
0:25:48
We specifically brought in Lemley and Wolf because it's a developer who has a really strong track record in The Bronx, who has, you know, mission alignment, we believe, with our focus on community ownership and resident governance.
0:25:59
They embraced our involvement of the Bronx Community Land Trust, which would support these cooperative owners to be permanently stable and affordable.
0:26:08
And they also have a strong track record and capacity specifically with relocation, which is something you mentioned.
0:26:13
Although we're not sure exactly how or if that would be necessary.
0:26:16
In the building, as Karen mentioned, there's already a leadership group that is collecting a maintenance fee that's hired a super.
0:26:22
This is the foundation of what could serve as a cooperative board.
0:26:25
They have been engaged in educating their neighbors about home ownership.
0:26:29
They would be providing feedback on the major renovation of the building, and they would be trained to really become operators and to work with all the third party vendors and managers that would be necessary to sustain the property.
0:26:41
Our goal is for the renovation to have, you know, really higher environmental standards and for this to be an opportunity to stabilize families and seniors in our community.
0:26:50
Thank you very much.
0:26:50
We look forward to working with you all.
Kamillah Hanks
0:26:52
Thank you so much.