Three More Subsidized Complexes to Go Private?

Starrett City may not be going the way of Stuy Town quite yet, but it looks like three other complexes are. Laurence Gluck, a Real Estate Board of New York muckety-muck who owns at least six subsidized-housing complexes throughout the city, is angling to control three more. Sources in and out of government say the developer has his eye on the General Sedgwick Homes in the Bronx, Castleton Park in Staten Island, and Meadow Manor in Queens. Amy Chan, of tenants-rights activist group Tenants and Neighbors, says residents of all three complexes have received notice that their owner intends to remove them from the Mitchell-Lama subsidy program, and sources see Gluck’s fingerprints on all three: He’s actively pursuing projects around the Bronx, his company manages Castleton Park, and Meadow Manor is the subject of litigation involving him.

Grabbing the three would net Gluck 678 apartments — including the former Bronx home of hip-hop pioneer Kool DJ Herc. Would the purchase automatically make these complexes unaffordable? “Absolutely,” says Chan. “Almost all the properties he’s bought came out of Mitchell-Lama, or he has used a loophole to try to double or triple what rent should be.” Gluck’s spokesperson, Manhattan lawyer Kathy Cudahy, says Gluck’s company, Stellar Management, “won’t comment on anything they’re negotiating for or that they own.” —Alec Appelbaum