ANNUAL MEETING and BOARD ELECTIONS

GATEWAY TENANTS ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING and BOARD ELECTIONS
FEBRUARY 29, 7 PM
Via Zoom

Click here to join meeting: GTA Meeting Link Webinar ID: 815 5608 0276

The Gateway Tenants Association will be hosting our annual meeting via Zoom on Thur., Feb 29th at 7pm.  We will be joined by elected officials and guests who will talk about issues that affect Gateway. Scheduled to attend: Congressman Daniel Goldman, State Senator Brian Kavanaugh, State Assemblyman Charles Fall, Council Member Christopher Marte, Battery Park City Authority President and Chief Executive Officer, Raju Mann.
 
At this meeting, the election of the next GTA Board will take place.

MARKET RATE REPRESENTATION NEEDED ON THE GTA BOARD
WE ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY MINDED RESIDENTS WHO WANT TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES THAT CONCERNS THEM TO RUN FOR THE BOARD.

If you want to put your name on the ballot, please provide a paragraph on why you want to serve and send it to gatewayplazata@gmail.cm by February 26th. A list of the candidates will be sent before the meeting but we will accept nominations at the meeting as well.

Updates from the GTA Board will be presented followed by a Q and A. If you have any questions and would like to submit beforehand, send to gatewayplazata@gmail.com

THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS
PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR GTA MEMBERSHIP
We invite all Gateway resident to join GTA. Our very existence depends upon the participation of the tenant population.
The larger our membership, the greater our power and influence.
Let your voice be heard and join others toward the betterment of our community!
Dues are just $25 per household per calendar year so join NOW. You have to be a member to vote.
Click here to JOIN NOW!

MARKET RENT SURVEY

MARKET RENT SURVEY
(previously reported in January newsletter)
During fall 2023, GTA conducted a survey of tenants’ experiences with renewal lease rent increases, focusing on the body of tenants who are not covered by the Quasi Rent Stabilization (QRS) Agreement. We received 171 responses. To place rent increases in the context of the overall economy, the annual rate of inflation for 2023, as measured by the Urban Consumer Price Index, was 4.1%.
Over three-quarters of the rent increases stated in tenants’ renewal offers were greater than the rate of inflation – specifically, 77% of survey respondents’ renewal offers were greater than 5%. Most renewal offers were substantially greater than the rate of inflation, as summarized in the following table:
Share of Respondents Renewal offer increase amount
77% greater than 5%
65% greater than 10%
47% greater than 15%
32% greater than 20%
On the good news side of things, tenants who tried to negotiate renewal increases were often successful in achieving lower increases, sometimes significantly lower. Roughly two-thirds of respondents reported that they tried to negotiate renewal rents, and of those, roughly half reported being successful in achieving a renewal rent lower than what had been proposed by management.

Lessons that can be drawn from the survey include:

Don’t just accept the renewal rent increase contained in your lease renewal offer – try to negotiate. One successful negotiation approach has been to present management with evidence that similar apartments are being offered at rates lower than what is being requested of the tenant at renewal. You can see what Gateway is currently offering for rent at its website, gatewayny.com.
In the absence of legal or contractual limits on renewal rent increases, tenants are at the mercy of unpredictable market forces that take little account of how long a tenant has made an apartment their home or how timely the tenant has been in rent payment. If the landlord believes a new tenant would pay 20% or more in rent than a current tenant is paying, the landlord is likely to demand a 20% or higher rent increase at lease renewal.
The renewal rent increase experience of Gateway tenants demonstrates the importance of enacting Good Cause Eviction legislation that has been repeatedly introduced in the New York Legislature, but which has not passed. This legislation would limit rent increases to an amount tied to the rate of inflation. For example, NYS Senate bill S3082 introduced in the 2021-2022 Session would limit rent increases to the greater of 3% or 1.5 times the rate of inflation. If you believe these protections are important, please contact our State Senator, Brian Kavanagh (https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/brian-kavanagh), our Assembly Member, Charles Fall (https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Charles-D-Fall) and Governor Kathy Hochul (https://www.governor.ny.gov), and urge them to enact Good Cause Eviction legislation.

UNOFFICIAL NAME CHANGE

Since the complex is now known as “Gateway” rather than “Gateway Plaza,” we are calling the organization” Gateway Tenants Association” or “GTA”.

Our contact information and social media will remain the same.
The website will continue as gpta.org,

The email address as gatewayplazata@gmail.com.

The Twitter handle will remain @GPTA_BPC and Facebook as Gateway Plaza Tenants Association.

Building Community

Our mission
To work together to build and maintain a high quality of life in our community in every possible way for the tenants of Gateway Plaza.

Our history
The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association was created in 1982 to respond to tenant-related issues at Gateway Plaza, the largest residential complex in Battery Park City. Over the last three decades, GPTA has accomplished a variety of goals, including negotiating long-term rent-stabilization agreements with the landlord, thereby preserving Gateway as a family-friendly residential community for people with diverse incomes.

Join Us

There is Power in Numbers! Please Join or Renew Your GTA Membership Today!

We invite all Gateway resident to join GTA. Our very existence depends upon the participation of the tenant population.

The larger our membership, the greater our power and influence.

Let your voice be heard and join others toward the betterment of our community!

Dues for membership are a true bargain — just $25 per household per calendar year.  We appreciate your support!

STAY CONNECTED

Website:    gpta.org

Email:    GatewayPlazaTA@gmail.com

Address:    GPTA, PO Box 3266, Church St. Station, New York, NY 10008

Twitter:   @GPTA_BPC

Facebook:   Gateway Plaza Tenants Association

GPTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President- Rosalie Joseph

1st Vice President- Robin Forst

2nd Vice President- Vittoria Fariello

Secretary- Jeff Galloway

Treasurer- Karlene Weiss

Board of Directors:

Sarah Cassell

Audrey Comisky

Larry Emert

Pat Gray

Howard Grossman

Steve Kessler

Shannon McCue

Notice

The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association

and the

Battery Park City Authority

Invite all Gateway Residents to a Virtual Informational Forum

LEARN HOW GATEWAY WILL BE AFFECTED

BY THE BPC NORTH/WEST RESILIENCY PROJECT

CLOSEST TO GATEWAY.  

THE AREA INCLUDES

 ESPLANADE PLAZA, KOWSKY PLAZA & NORTH COVE MARINA

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24TH, 6:30 PM Via Zoom

BPCA and the North/West Project’s designers will describe the Project and what it means for the areas nearest to Gateway.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82467857626?pwd=Wis3RW9Pd0JoWE93N3FBOGVBYUNodz09

Meeting ID: 824 6785 7626
Passcode: 384960

One tap mobile
+16469313860,,82467857626#,,,,*384960# US +19292056099,,82467857626#,,,,*384960# US (New York)

This is an opportunity for Gateway residents to learn how

this Project will affect us.

It will also provide an opportunity for residents to share concerns and comments on the Project with the BPCA and the Project’s designers.

Construction on the North/West Project could begin as early as 2024 and is expected to be completed by 2027.

GPTA Annual Meeting

Join us at the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association Annual Meeting

Thursday, November 17th, 2022 7:00 PM

The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom – see meeting link below

The meeting is open to all Gateway Residents

Agenda:

  • Updates by the GPTA Board
  • Introduction of our Elected Representatives
  • Community Discussion Q and A.
    Send question submissions to gatewayplazata@gmail.com
  • Nominations and Elections of Board Members.

If you are interested in running for the GPTA Board, please submit your name and bio to gatewayplazata@gmail.com. Nominations will also be accepted at the meeting. 

VOTING

Only tenants who are paid GPTA members may vote. Dues are payable on a calendar basis. If you have not paid 2022 dues, please pay now.

TO JOIN or RENEW

Membership in GPTA is $25 per household. Go to http://www.gpta.org/join

ZOOM LINK

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85893020140?pwd=cjhFYzBEOEZBRXhHWUppdmYzT29Kdz09

Meeting ID: 858 9302 0140
Passcode: 253547
One tap mobile
+16469313860,,85893020140#,,,,*253547# US
+19294362866,,85893020140#,,,,*253547# US (New York)

We hope to see you there!

Rosalie Joseph, Robin Forst, Bruce Katz, Jeff Galloway, Karlene Wiese, Audrey Comisky, Denise Harris-Ector, Honey Berk, Howard Grossman, Larry Emert, Pat Gray, Sarah Cassell, Steve Kessler

GPTA Statement Regarding Planned Essential Workers Monument

Dear Mr. Tsunis,

We write on behalf of the over 3,000 residents of Gateway Plaza regarding the siting of the proposed Essential Workers Monument.

First, we want to thank you for listening to the BPC residents’ concerns regarding the original Rockefeller Park site, and shifting the proposed site out of Rockefeller Park. We also thank you for your general pledge to engage with BPC residents regarding BPC land use issues going forward.

We won’t add to comments that we know you’ve received regarding the appropriateness of completing a Monument on a short timeframe and on the appropriateness more generally of adding yet another memorial to BPC. We are in general agreement with comments made by CB1 and the northern BPC residents association on those subjects.

We wish to focus our comments on one of the two alternative sites that you announced last week: the Esplanade Plaza. In many ways, Esplanade Plaza is the southern BPC analog to the Rockefeller Park site that you quite correctly eliminated two weeks ago. We urge you to reject Esplanade Plaza as a potential Monument site.

Esplanade Plaza is the public square of BPC. It is at once recreational, social and community-building. There is no other site like it in BPC. In the words of BPCA’s own website, “Esplanade Plaza features plantings, seating, volleyball court, with sweeping views of the Statue of Liberty and lower New York Harbor. Often a place of local gathering, the plaza also plays host to numerous community dances performed as part of BPCA’s free outdoor programming.”

Although often referred to in short-hand as “the volleyball court,” Esplanade Plaza is much more than that, and finding another location for a volleyball court somewhere in BPC would not replace what would be lost if Esplanade Plaza were chosen as a Monument site. 

Esplanade Plaza is a gathering spot for residents, office workers and visitors alike. Examples of popular BPC Parks-sponsored events held there include folk and swing dancing, tai chi, and concerts. Community groups and NYC non-profit groups use the space from May into October for events such as charity run-walk events, boating-related events, and the BPC Dogs Halloween costume parade and costume judging, It has been the home for many years of the BPC Block Party, which will resume again in 2022, after the pandemic. In winter, the Plaza is one of the largest snow-play-areas in Lower Manhattan when most of the lawns in BPC are closed.

Even the volleyball use is not just volleyball. It is an occasion for residents, office workers and visitors to come together in their enjoyment of the welcoming spirit of BPC and to savor the magnificent waterfront views while having fun with a sport that can be enjoyed simultaneously by people having a wide range of skill levels and mix of ages.

Volleyball is not the only play that takes place in Esplanade Plaza. The Plaza is overlooked by the Kowsky Plaza children’s playground, and children’s play often spills out to Esplanade Plaza. Children use Esplanade Plaza for games of catch, tag and just to run around; many BPC children learned to ride their bikes there.

An Esplanade Plaza site for the Monument would also entail significant construction disruption issues. As you know, the Plaza itself has a history of subsidence and sink holes that would likely be worsened by a project that would entail tearing up the existing Plaza and installation of 19 planter containers sufficient to hold large maple trees. Running a gas line to support an eternal flame would present health, safety and environmental issues that would need resolution. Completing such a project by Labor Day would likely require disruptive day-and-night construction for the remaining days of summer, right next to the largest residential complex in Lower Manhattan.

Finally, Esplanade Plaza is not a space that is conducive to solemn contemplation typical of memorial usage. The adjacent play area will mean the Monument would be in nearly constant earshot of loud children’s play and the nearby K-9 Sirius Dog Park. To the north, the active North Cove Marina casts a festive atmosphere for six months a year over Esplanade Plaza. The area is heavily trafficked by pedestrians and bike riders year round. To the extent that having one memorial next to another detracts from each, Esplanade Plaza would suffer from this problem, as it is nearly adjacent to the Police Memorial.

In closing, we thank you again for your decision to eliminate Rockefeller Park as a potential Essential Work Monument site. We urge you to do the same for Esplanade Plaza. The Plaza is a place of joy; please don’t convert it to a place of sadness and mourning.

Respectfully,

Rosalie Joseph, Honey Berk, Pat Gray
Robin Forst, Sarah Cassell, Howard Grossman
Jeff Galloway, Audrey Comisky, Steve Kessler
Karelene Wiese, Denise Ector           
Bruce Katz, Larry Emert

Board of Directors of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association

cc:     Governor Andrew Cuomo
        Congressman Jerrold Nadler
        Senator Brian Kavanagh
        Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou
        Assemblymember Deborah Glick
        Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer
        Councilmember Margaret Chin
        Manhattan Community Board 1 Chair Tammy Melzer