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I heard back from my case worker yesterday after asking if she had any more information or when I might expect to hear if I will be offered a lease or not and she said "I have no information or timeline as to when the building will officially open, the last date we received was July 1, today is 6/30 so that is highly unlikely, no further information has been given to us except to keep all files updated." She also asked me to come in to sign an updated affidavit (I sent in updated paperwork in May).
I wish all of the case workers were on the same page regarding what they can or can't say. Clearly, some are saying more than others.
I really hope letters will be going out soon...I have to decide what to do about my current apartment.
Actually, HangingbyaThread, when I was contacted by Related last spring (2013), I was told specifically in a letter and on the phone that because I had been on the Manhattan Plaza waiting list for 13 years and because of my number on that waiting list, I was given priority to apply to the Chelsea building. People on the MP list, depending on their number and how long they were on that list, were given priority. Related specified this MP priority list was being offered a chance to apply, and THEN they were opening it up to a lottery. The lottery was second after the priority applicants. Winning the Lottery did not give anyone special circumstances over people who'd been on the MP list for a dozen years, nor should it; people who've spent a dozen years on a list with the same management company managing the same kind of affordable housing (70% artists-15% community-15% elderly/disabled) in the same community board (Board #4) should have priority over something as random as a lottery. Why should someone entering a lottery be given an opportunity over people who've been waiting half a quarter of a century? Oh, and also--people on the MP list can stay on that list even if they take an apartment in the Chelsea building, with the option of moving over to MP when their number comes up for an apartment there.
Well the order might not be the normal but I've gone through the process just the same as everyone else. We had a scheduled trip out of town and I'm thinking that they had scheduled tours of the building and although the home visit hadn't happened yet, they put me in because that's when they were happening. They might have been backed up with home visits or not able to do one until after I was back.
NYKr14: Wow, well then this is not a true "lottery" persay, if the MP LIST Has Preference. And, there really then was no need for a Lottery for 529 building, because if MP has names of people on a 12 yr. Waiting List, can you imagine how many hundreds, if not thousands of names are on it? There's only 139 apts in 529 building. So a Lottery was not really needed. But, either way, my name is also on the MP Wait List, and, I was told my name was picked by the Lottery, so, I am grateful for both "lists" Related is working off of!
What NYkr14 is saying is absolutely true about Related promising Manhattan Plaza applicants on the waiting list they would get preference if they apply to W 29th street. My applicant friend has been on the MP waiting list for over a decade (don't know the exact number) and was told exactly the same thing. He was told his seniority on the list would be automatically transferred to 29th street, that he wouldn't lose his place, and that he was near the top of the list for getting a unit.
They also told him (and they've said it in the press last year) that the main purpose of constructing the W 29th street building was to take the pressure off of Manhattan Plaza as it was indundated with applicants.
If that's the case then why is is Related now bypassing highly qualified applicants from Manhattan Plaza who have patiently waited over a decade and instead giving preference to applicants who just came onboard last year?
Incidentally, not only was my friend asked to apply to 29th street, but after he did apply and had to be out of town and couldn't follow up with some paperwork, he would get calls from Related throttling him and telling him he's up next for an apartment, that he'd better submit the next round of paperwork by such and such a date or he's blowing this great opportunity for a brand new apartment which he's a shoo-in for.
He said he felt he was being pushed around but went along with it because the sales pitch by Related was so convincing. Apparently others were given the same pitch, so I don't quite go along with IBelieveInMiracles' contention that applicants who started packing boxes or making decisions about their current apartments were somehow foolish or clouded by wishful thinking. They acted in good faith based on what they were told.
The reality is many of these highly qualified applicants who patiently waited for over ten years were being used as padding or filler and part of the bulk of paper work to be presented to some entity, but were being told something different.
Being told that one is "next for an apartment" (at least as far as we're talking about 529) sounds like very odd language since none of us (obviously) is being offered anything at this point. So I'm not sure what "being next" means. One thing I will say about Related, and it seems to be backed up by most people writing here: they haven't offered or made any promises. If someone there has made promises or alluded to anything, no one else among us seems to have been told anything of the kind. "Shoo-in"? "Sales pitch"? What exactly is Related supposedly selling? I'm sure, TJayn, that your friend was not "asked" to apply to 529 but, like me, invited. It was ultimately up to us.
I agree with IBelieveInMiracles: you never pack up and leave your apartment without a lease in hand somewhere else. I (and I assume a lot of others?) got no indication at any point in this process that anything was a given, or that there was any guaranteed timetable. In fact, months ago I asked my point person (I use that term as opposed to "case worker," which suggests something else) if I should make any hard decision about my present apartment situation based on being an applicant for 529, and he said clearly: absolutely not. Whatever you want to say about the endless frustrations we've all experienced, I think to say that there is any duplicity or conspiracy is ludicrous.
As for the notion of how a lottery works, all or at least most buildings--80/20, artists/community/elderly--have a lottery after the fact of a pre-existing situation: rich people first (the 80%), then the tax write-offs (the 20%), or in this case, a building being built partly to shoulder the burden of Manhattan Plaza's waiting list, and partly for a Hudson Yards tax write-off. They don't build new buildings and say, hey, now let's have a lottery for the whole place. Never. And it's not thousands from MP vying for 529; that would have defeated the purpose of 529 if they transferred thousands of waiting-list people as applicants onto a much smaller building. It was clearly whittled down to those who were financially eligible, who applied, etc.--but not twelve years' worth of people on the MP waiting list. It's MP waiting list from way, way back, and then a lottery. HangingByAThread, if you got on this list from a combo lottery/waiting list: lucky you. But unless you've been on the list for a dozen years, I bet it was the lottery. So yes, you should be grateful.
The good news about your friend, TJayn, is that they can stay on the MP waiting list and will probably come up soon for an apartment. So whatever as far as 529 is concerned. It's a win-win.
New to this forum. I have read all pages, all posts. I am NOT on this Manhattan Plaza wait list, but did win the Lottery. I have a log number in the 400's. I have also gone through the entire process, as most that have posted on here have. I will say this: NYkr14: you are being a bit harsh on TJayn. And you have not really read all the posts thoroughly-- Had you, you would not have written "(Related) if someone there has made promises or alluded to anything, no one else among us seems to have been told anything of the kind." This is not true! I have read about one person posting that he's being told he will get a one bedroom when it was announced all that was left were studios ( I also heard this announcement on my tour); I have read others being "alluded" that they were "IN", only to then get wait-list letter, etc. SO many examples of different caseworkers saying/alluding different things to different applicants. I did Forward this Forum to MY caseworker. She is going to Look into this hodge-podge of misinformation going around, including this idea if you were on the MP wait list for years, you are "automatically" given an apartment at 529. That is not true. It boils down to what your LOG NUMBER is, What Preference you fit into, and then the actual documentation. They are NOT trying to fill 529 with "mostly MP wait list people." They could, there are only 139 units, but, its not the way they are handling it. SOME of MP wait-listed people are being considered. MP wait-listed people that fit all the criteria/financials do NOT HAVE AN ACE CARD in this game of Poker.
Hi, Austrailia: I have, in fact, read all the posts. Everyone has his/her own interpretation of their experience. The most alarm-raising issue is that anyone has, whether by allusion or word-for-word as documented by Related, been told they were "in." I'm saying the vast majority have written they were not promised anything, that they are in the dark, they're scared, clueless, etc. I personally question the few who have said they have been promised, offered, invited, or any other verb that suggests they were misled, when so many others have not been. But more important, I want to address the issue you raise about the MP waiting list (as I said from over a dozen years ago) being offered priority. This was how I was approached by letter and on the phone, and it's been clearly documented that MP waiting list from way back was given priority. I never used the word "automatically" given an apartment: your quotes, your words. I said: priority to apply. It does boil down to your log number, so if you were given a log number in 2001 on the MP list, you were given a priority to apply for 529, taking into account, among other things, your economic situation in 2013-2014. To be clear: I said that the MP list from twelve years ago was offered priority, and then a lottery opened up. I never said they were trying to fill the building with MP waiting list people. I never said ace card. And could people avoid all caps? It's obnoxious. By the way, I like your creative spelling of Australia.
Whoa, NYkr14, you need to chill out!
And to imply the MP Wait List for 12 yrs ago has priority, why? Because Your on it? That's ludicrous. The people from 13-15+ yrs would have more priority than you. (Obviously if they applied to 529) Your behaving like an Elitist. And AUSTRAILIA: I think it's cute & funny you added an extra "I". Look forward to meeting ya all in 529, hopefully by July 15!
I would say chilling out is not using all caps. And I think I explained why the MP list should have priority: because people who have been waiting half a quarter of a century should have priority over a random lottery of people who simply responded to an invite a year ago. And Related went from the top of the MP list, which was from 13 years ago. It's not just how I see it; it's how Related and the city saw it when they started this process. That's not ludicrous; it's fair. If you're calling me and the process elitist, I could say it's whimsical that lottery folks should have a chance to get apartments while waiting list folks continue to wait, 14 years on. And if Austrailia wants to enlighten their case worker about this, I would say their case worker should already known this is the policy of the company they work for.
Last edited by NYkr14; 07-04-2014 at 08:33 AM..
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