International Year of the Co-op Spotlight: 42-46 West 138th St HDFC

“It’s Not About Me, It’s About Us”

So says Mable Short, Board of Directors President of 42-46 W. 138th St. HDFC.

On a quaint, tree-lined street in Central Harlem proudly stands the 35-unit, self-managed HDFC. The 5-member board is as diverse as the building’s population, and each member has something unique and important to offer.

In 1986, after suffering for over a decade due to the negligence of a “deadbeat” landlord, they formed a Tenants’ Association (T.A.) and the city took over. Before this, Carolyn Sanders, co-Treasurer and responsible for Accounts Payable, says, “There were some hard times.” Tenants would pull their pennies together so they could have heat and hot water for the holidays. Ms. Short, who was the self-proclaimed “beggar” of the building when they were trying to collect funds for basic necessities, has been in the building since 1976. For her, there was no question about what they needed to do, “We were raising young children in here and we were all so willing, ‘cause this was home.” For a T.A. like this one, the TIL/HDFC program was a no-brainer. Central Harlem was their community, this building their home. They were already doing whatever they could to make it as livable as possible; to have the opportunity for renovations and then cooperative ownership of the building made sense. They started TIL in 1998.

Brenda Walker, Vice President, describes it as a busy time, “We were always running to meetings, pretty much every week. And the classes were on-going, because there was always something to learn - how to do the financial reports, hold meetings, have elections, and how to find lawyers and contractors.” In 2004 they began reconstruction and were relocated all over the city.

They stayed united during their relocation, meeting at each other’s individual homes, and were very involved in the renovation process. “We went together, we went downtown (to HPD) to those meetings as one,” says Ms. Walker about their experience. “This I would tell any building that is going into construction, you have to sit down, first of all together as tenants, and then with the contractors to tell them what you would like to have.” Laughing the original board members recall coming by the building, checking in on the construction, talking with the contractors. “We’ve always been very hands-on and a strong unit,” says Ms. Walker, who’s lived on the block since 1951 and in the building since 1979. Two years later the construction phase was complete and they were able to move back into the building. In June of 2006 they officially converted to an HDFC co-op.

Their past and present efforts are reflected in the success of their building. And they all agree that it’s worth the hard work. “This is the first thing that we can honestly say we own, that we have some shares in,” says Ms. Sanders, who’s been a building resident since 1976 and lived on the block since 1953. “What they’re building up now is not for lower or middle class people to live in.”

Vicente, co-Treasurer responsible for Accounts Receivable, is the newest building resident on the board and feels he offers a different perspective, “as an outsider, someone who didn’t [originally] live here, who has a mortgage. We have several people here now who have mortgages and it’s slightly different perspective.”

Like any cooperative endeavor, communication can be a challenge, especially with 35 families and 35 different attitudes. The board is confident that it is because they communicate among one another and with the shareholders, the building has been able to prosper. “We’re very verbal,” says Ms. Sanders. “Everybody has a say-so. That’s why we have meetings, so everybody has a chance to express what they have to say.”