FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 21, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
LIC co-op owners rally to save their homes
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com / @jenna_bagcal
Residents of Queens’ largest aff ordable
housing co-op complex rallied in Long
Island City on Tuesday morning aft er a
series of government missteps caused the
building’s middle- and low-income apartment
owners to potentially lose their homes.
Dozens of people who live the Citylights
co-op complex, located at 4-74 48th Ave.,
gathered on June 19 in front of Museum
of the the Moving Image, where the LIC
Summit was being held. Th ey demanded
that the state of New York take action to
save their 522-unit, 42-story residential
complex from mistakes made by Empire
State Development (ESD) and their
subsidiary Queens West Development
Corporation (QWDC).
Lindsey Boylan, the State’s Deputy
Secretary for Economic Development,
was speaking at the fi ft h annual summit.
Boylan is responsible for overseeing the
Empire State Development authority. Th e
organization was responsible for establishing
Citylights under Governor George
Pataki in 1996 and signifi cantly contributed
to its fi nancial predicament, according
to residents.
Residents charged that the state made
deals and decisions that forced them to pay
more money in rent and building repairs,
including footing the bill for $10.7 million
in building repairs; making “payments in
lieu of taxes” (PILOT) which raised the
value of the property 87 percent; and paying
for the $85.6 million mortgage taken
on by the developer of Citylights.
Th ey added that they want the state to
extend a tax break on the property to the
same terms as other buildings in the area,
so that residents can pay the debt they
owe and keep costs aff ordable.
According to Sherry Amantenstein, a
shareholder who has lived in Citylights
for the past nine years, the state promised
residents that the co-op would be a
place for them to “live out the rest of their
lives.” But she said that the 87 percent tax
increase, among the list of other costs,
have left the Citylights community uncertain
of how they will pay the fees.
“Many of the people who live in
the building are retirees or have fi xed
incomes,” Amantenstein said. She added
that the resident feel “stuck” by their current
situation.
At the protest, residents held up various
signs bearing the words “Save Citylights”
and “You Promised Us Aff ordable
Housing.” One of the protester’s posters
had a photo from the groundbreaking
ceremony in October 1996.
Amantenstein said that the people who
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/THE COURIER
were at the rally were “pioneers,” many
of them having moved in long before the
Long Island City development boom.
Less than a year aft er the groundbreaking,
Brett Crandall moved into Citylights
during the summer of 1997. Th e mother
of two said that residents have been writing
letters to Governor Andrew Cuomo,
hiring consultants and writing grievances
in an attempt to be heard by the state.
She said that the residents and shareholders
ultimately want to be treated
“equitably,” adding that they are not looking
for “special” treatment from developers.
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