Angst at the Armory

Looming eviction reignites community concerns

By Sherry Mazzocchi

The clock is ticking- again.

After a reprieve, a local non-profit is again at risk of imminent eviction.

Growth and Development Services (GDS) has occupied a small office at the Fort Washington Armory for 17 years. Supporters of the educational youth program say it is being evicted from the space because its founder and Executive Director, Dr. Gary Altheim, called attention to the improper use of the facility.

GDS provides counseling, job preparation and job placement for local youth. In January it received an eviction notice from the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), which administers the building.

Mike Hano, a regular attendee of Community Board 12 (CB12) meetings, said issues concerning the Armory have circulated for years. “[The GDS] eviction came after NY1 did a story on the Armory Foundation.”

That television story in December 2018 centered on the inability of community members to use the space for senior and youth programs. In its response, the Armory Foundation said it offers its own programs for neighborhood children.

But Altheim, who was not part of the NY1 story, says the building should be more community-based. Altheim has been raising these issues for several years, he said. “This is a building that was meant to be a community center, not a private venue rental space.”

At a March 8 CB12 meeting, these issues surfaced again.

Matthew Borden, DHS’s Assistant Commissioner of Government Affairs, was present at the meeting when Housing Committee Chair Ayisha Oglivie said most of the Armory space is vacant. She noted that DHS is evicting the person, Altheim, who is the staunchest advocate for proper governance of the building.

Oglivie insisted there have been questionable activities in the building for several years, including one Armory employee who had a private bedroom in the building. “I saw the teddy bear,” she said.

Altheim and other community members requested documents concerning the Armory building through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. The Armory Foundation, along with the Police Athletic League and GDS, license its spaces directly from DHS.

The FOILed documents reveal the Armory Foundation, which occupies most of the space in the building, has no agreement to sub-license or rent out parts of the building to other entities. However, the Foundation rents space to the SUNY Attain Computer Lab, an 1199 Union office and the Victory Café, which recently approached CB12 for a liquor license.

Oglivie pressed Borden for direct answers. “So, in fact, if GDS, the Armory Foundation and PAL are the only licensees of the Department of Homeless Services, then what is happening with everyone else in the building? That is the question that I have,” she asked.

Borden said sub-licensees are part of DHS’s agreement with the Armory. But Oglivie maintained there is no formalization of that agreement.

“Honestly, we had an attorney review it and he doesn’t seem to see that either,” she told him.

Hano, who was also present at the meeting, said Armory Foundation administrators Rita Finkel and Jonathan B. Schindel attended a CB12 meeting in January and stated that they do not sublease space. “They lied to us,” Hano charged.

He produced a copy of the Armory’s license agreement with DHS, which stated the Armory cannot sublease the space in any manner without prior consent of the licensor. He asked Borden if there has been an agreement between DHS and the Foundation to sublease space.

Borden replied, “I personally have not given any consent to anyone. I’m not involved.”

Hano told The Manhattan Times that Borden did not provide any clarity at the meeting—saying at one point that the Armory can sublease space and that later, when the actual terms of license was read aloud, he claimed to not know the details. “That’s just one small thing out of the corrupt things going on there.”

He also noted that Article 4 in the license states, “Licensee agrees at its own cost and expenses to perform the services described in Articles 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 and to make Premises available for use by the Department of Parks and Recreation for the benefit of the community at times that do not conflict or interfere with the activities to be conducted by Licensee in the Premises.”‎

Oglivie said CB12 has been concerned about the Armory’s governance and lack of accountability to the community for more than six years. Another Housing Committee member noted a local senior walking program recently had a fee increase so onerous it was forced to stop using the facility.

Ogilvie told Borden that DHS is not holding the Armory Foundation accountable.

“Instead it kind of fell to the community members, as unfortunately is too often the case, to do the work of elucidating what’s happening here,” she said. “But it’s not really the job of the community members to be paralegals and researchers, and [for] advocates and activists to have to come in and constantly beg for years to speak to a matter, that if you just look at it once, you get it. I got it.”

Ogilvie said many community based-organizations could benefit from using the vast space in the building.

Borden told Ogilvie he would “get to the bottom of it.”

Altheim has fought eviction for several years. His first eviction notice came in 2011 from the Armory Foundation. Altheim said at the time he didn’t realize that the Armory Foundation had no legal authority to evict him.

DHS tried to evict him again in 2013 and yet again in December 2018, just days after the NY1 story. In January, CB12 issued a resolution calling for a stay of eviction. Local elected officials also supported GDS. Immediately after, DHS granted a temporary reprieve until the end of March.

At the March CB 12 meeting, Borden said DHS would re-examine how the Armory space is used and will implement a request for quotations (RFQ). Borden invited Altheim, who was present at the meeting, to participate.

He also apologized to Altheim. “I’m sorry for how it played out. I feel it was far messier and I don’t think it actually did service to the work that you’ve put into the community. I want to apologize for that.” He offered to help GDS relocate, but did not offer to let GDS stay on in the Armory.

Altheim said DHS has not been in touch since the March 8 meeting.‎

He told The Manhattan Times he’d spoken to Borden several times about the discrepancies between the Armory Foundation’s license and its actions over the course of several years. DHS never investigated, he said, but instead sent him an eviction notice. He added that Borden never once indicated a reason for the eviction, especially since he’d been in compliance with his own license.

Altheim said it would be impossible to relocate. “That doesn’t work for our program. We are not being treated equally,” he said.

The Manhattan Times reached out to DHS and the Armory Foundation for comment. DHS did not immediately respond. When asked about the specific claims raised at the CB12 meeting, Cristyne Nicholas, Armory Foundation spokesperson, responded in a written statement: “The Armory Foundation and its use of the Fort Washington Armory is authorized by New York City and the Department of Homeless Services and is in compliance with its license agreement. There were many incorrect statements and misinformation made at the community meetings by people who have not been inside The Armory for more than a decade or by those who have never stepped foot in the Armory. The Armory is one of the many gems that makes Washington Heights shine.”

Dr. Gary Altheim will hold a public press conference on March 29 at 6 p.m. in front of GDS’s second floor office at the Armory, located at 216 Fort Washington Avenue. All are invited. For more information, please call 917.533.6880 or visit www.exceldgs.org.‎