Letters to city reflect passion for, against Alms House proposal
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Using impassioned words both in support and opposition, a number of letter writers have provided the city with their opinions about a proposed affordable housing complex on the former Alms House property.
Supporters of the project, known as Landmark Place, urged city officials to approve requested
zoning changes and give a green-light to the site plan, arguing the project is sorely needed to help the most vulnerable.
Opponents, in some cases, pleaded for the city to block the proposal, saying the city already has enough low-income housing.
The city’s Planning Office had received 23 letters on the project by Friday morning, about evenly divided between support and opposition.
Adam Mandell, a lawyer at a Saugerties firm, offered compelling personal accounts of the kind of people who would benefit from the project proposed by RUPCO, a Kingston-based affordable housing provider. Mandell is a member of RUPCO’s Board of Directors.
“I find it incredibly offensive that some of the opponents of this project would characterize the potential residents of Landmark Place as aggressive criminals, waiting to attack our children and seniors,” Mandell wrote. “Those characterizations are without any valid basis, and reflect those speakers’ ignorance of the people of our community who need stable, supportive and dignified homes.”
An example, Mandell said, would be his own parents, though he noted they would not be seeking tenancy at Landmark Place.
Mandell said his father was a successful banker who fell on hard times in 2008.
“Ultimately, [my parents] ended up losing their home to foreclosure and filing for bankruptcy,” Mandell said. “Their financial troubles took a toll on their relationship, and, after 44 years of marriage, my parents then got divorced.”
His father, Mandell said, lives in an apartment he can’t afford and has been diagnosed as clinically depressed, requiring medication.
“At times, he is forced to decide between paying rent or paying co-pays for treatment and medications,” Mandell said.
His mother, he said, has been diagnosed with colon cancer that had metastasized to a lung.
“She would like to work, but can’t, because the chemo has made her too weak, and because her compromised immune system makes it too dangerous for her to be around the children,” Mandell said.
He said he parents “are both appropriate examples of good people, who despite their best efforts, still need assistance by way of affordable, stable housing. Most of us are just a financial crisis, or a divorce or a serious illness, away from needing this help.”
RUPCO wants to buy the 15-acre property at 300 Flatbush Ave. for $950,000 from the Ulster County Economic Development Agency and create 66 units of “supportive” and senior housing, both in the existing vacant Alms House building and in a new building that would be constructed at the site.
There would be 14 studio and 20 one-bedroom apartments in the 28,000-squarefoot existing building, which dates to the 1870s, and 32 one-bedroom units for people ages 55 and older in the planned 42,000-square-foot new building. The apartments in the 1870s building would offer support services to a mix of homeless populations with special needs, including veterans and frail or disabled seniors. RUPCO has said.
The purchase of the property and the creation of the apartments are contingent on RUPCO being granted site plan approval and a zoning change by the city.
Opposition to Landmark Place is pronounced. One of the letters sent to City Hall was signed by 26 neighbors of the property at 300 Flatbush Ave., which most recently housed Ulster County offices.
“Kingston is becoming a mecca for low-income residents,” the neighbors’ letter stated. “The middle class of Kingston do not have any housing available to them.”
The letter also said middle-class children don’t stay in the city once they grow up.
“Many of our recently graduated children that reside our city are being forced to move out of the area to pursue jobs and affordable housing,” the letter stated, adding that the city’s infrastructure is a problem.
“Our sewers are already failing throughout the city, and this type of increase would only lead to another ‘Washington Avenue’ disaster,” the letter said, referring to the former Washington Avenue sinkhole. The neighbors said their opposition is not rooted in “not in my backyard” thinking.
“Let us say that we are not against this facility being “in our backyard,” but what we are saying is that we do NOT want ANY more low income housing being built in our city,” it said.
Tracy Stellingwerf, who lives on Cornell Street and supports the project, also related personal stories. She is a grant writer for a disabilities advocacy agency.
“I see a large number of people who receive disability payments as their sole income,” Stellingwerf wrote. “We see people in need of affordable housing every day, but when they also require accessible housing, the availability becomes more limited and the search more daunting.”
Stellingwerf said she is the parent of an adult with developmental disabilities.
“It’s important for our family’s peace of mind that he live in a safe, affordable environment,” she said. “People can begin to enjoy their lives and pursue their dreams. Communities are strengthened and more secure. Landmark Place is an important step in taking care of our most at-risk citizens.”
Others praised RUPCO for its operation of other affordable housing facilities. Among them is Patt Blue, who lives at RUPCO’s Lace Mill apartment complex at Cornell Street and South Manor Avenue in Midtown Kingston.
“RUPCO is an outstanding property developer and manager of affordable housing.” Blue wrote. “They are personally involved and caring, responsive to [the] well-being of the property as well as the residents who live here.
“RUPCO is top notch in all respects, highly aware and responsive to the specific communities they serve and the specific needs each presents,” Blue added.
But others, like Theresa Darling, who lives on Kingston Terrace near the Alms House property, said they worry about safety, especially for children and the elderly. She also shared personal experiences.
“I love that [my children] can go outside and play in the backyard safely,” Darling wrote. “If this project goes through, that will no longer be the case. I cannot live in an area where I have to worry on a daily basis of me and my family’s safety.
“I work in the health care field and have for over 30 years, and I know no matter how hard we try and help those with substance abuse or those with serious mental illness, we can’t always make it better for them, and, unfortunately, a large majority of this population resorts to sometimes very serious crimes,” she wrote.
Paul Casciaro, who lives on nearby Clifton Avenue, said the area already is saturated with affordable-housing complexes, including Birchwood Village, Stuyvesant Charter and Colonial Gardens, all on or near Flatbush Avenue.
Casciaro said there are reports describing “pockets of poverty and their negative impact to the current residents.”
“The long and short of this is our neighborhood is currently at capacity with affordable housing,” Casciaro wrote. “Doesn’t this city have enough welfare and low-cost housing that continues to make it a low revenue producer and one of the poorest cities in the Hudson Valley? Can’t we, as a growing center for tourism, think bigger and more majestic thoughts than this?”
Susan Hoger, chief executive officer of the Resource Center for Accessible Living Inc., said Landmark Place would be beneficial.
“I believe this project will benefit Kingston and its senior, homeless and specialneeds residents in a multitude of ways,” Hoger wrote. “As our baby boomer population continues to grow [older], we correspondingly need more senior housing.”
Jennifer Altomare who lives in the neighborhood on Tammany Street, does not agree. She said something else ought to be built at the site.
“This Alms House location is a perfect spot to build something that will boost the economy and add jobs to our area and/or bring middle-income families or individuals to our area,” Altomare said. “I don’t see this project boosting the economy on any way.”