There were three types of landlords in Greenpoint-Williamsburg in the late 20th century. They were the homeowner, the absentee landlord, and the New York City Housing Authority. Each type of landlord held varying interest in the neighborhood and shared different relations with their tenants. The income level and the ethnicity of the tenants also affected the relations between them and the landlords.
The New York City Housing Authority was the landlord for residents living in housing projects such as Woodlawn. Black people in Greenpoint-Williamsburg lived mainly in such housing projects. There was a percentage oh Hispanics who lived in these apartment complexes. Rents were set according to income and funded by the city. Buildings were also well maintained. However, these apartments were not easily obtained and waiting list was long.
Most homeowner landlords were regular residents who decided to invest their savings into real estate. At the time, wage earners would often save their money to buy a house because property represented security. Homeowners not only saved money on rent, but they also rented out space in their building and thereby created a source of income. However, because banks considered lending money for residential home purchases to be high-risk investments, homeowners often had to borrow money from a variety of private sources at extremely high rates. Consequently, most residential homeowners did not live far above the financial level of their tenants. Most low-income homeowners would do repairs and renovations themselves in order to save money.
Additionally, being a resident landlord was often an insecure occupation because leases were often broken and rent payments often times missed. Because of these insecurities, homeowners generally refused to rent to people who received public welfare and also discriminated against groups associated with poverty, such as Blacks and Hispanics. Discrimination against these groups occurred in many forms. For example, Mrs. Stavisky (a homeowner) raised the stated rent by $35 for a Puerto Rican couple whereas she lowered the rent by $10 for Professor Susser. In order to control the type of applicants, homeowners did not advertise vacancies in the newspapers. Instead, they posted notices at local churches and other sites, such as the Polish American Center. First preference would also be given to relatives. Aside from the economic reasons, residential landlords excluded certain groups for social reasons as well. They feared the reactions of their tenants and neighbors to the presence of “undesired” ethnic groups. Blacks were periodically attacked on Greenpoint streets at nights as a result of the prejudice that existed.
Because of the discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics, areas in Greepoint Williamsburg were separated into good blacks and bad blocks. Homeowners and white wage earners lived in the good blocks, where the buildings were well maintained. Blacks, Hispanics, and those on welfare were forced to live in the bad blocks, such as Norman Street, where the buildings were poorly maintained. Absentee landlords owned most buildings in the bad blocks. Because of this division, the attitudes and behaviors of residents of the different blocks also varied. An example of this would occurred in 1976. At the time, residents in Greenpoint requested play street supervision from PAL. PAL agreed and sent a black director to organize the play streets. The residents from good blocks immediately withdrew their requests because they did not want a black man organizing their blocks. The residents on Norman street, however, kept the program and participated in it.
Absentee landlords and residential landlords were different in many aspects. Firstly, absentee landlords accepted welfare recipients and Hispanics, whereas homeowners did not. However, absentee landlords raised the rent for tenants on welfare. Unlike the homeowners who preferred security to extra money, absentee landlords were more interested in short term gains. Secondly, absentee landlords often resorted to legal harassment to settle problems with the tenants. Homeowners, however, did not have the financial resources to hire legal assistance and thus often resorted to personal harassment (which included: shouting and turning off heat and hot water). Thirdly, buildings owned by absentee landlords were often poorly maintained; there were leaking roofs, erratic heating, unlocked doors, etc. Absentee landlords often treated their property as a long-term investment (could be sold or developed at a profit) or as a tax write-off. However, the tenants rarely complained of these poor conditions because they owed rent and were afraid of being evicted. Absentee landlords often used this fear against tenants demanding their legal rights.
