TY - JOUR
T1 - The Fight for Affordable Rental Housing in 1980s New York
T2 - A Tenants’ Association’s Anticonversion Stance
AU - Merdjanoff, Alexis A.
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank Zaire Dinzey-Flores, Lauren Krivo, Lee Clarke, and reviewers for their detailed feedback on earlier drafts of this article. I would also like to thank the Park West Village Tenants? Association, Winifred Armstrong, and New York University?s Tamiment Library. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - This article examines an historical case study of a moderate-income rental complex’s condominium conversion in New York City during the 1980s. Despite research suggesting that tenants desire homeownership, residents of Park West Village (PWV) waged a five-year battle against management and remained tenants in overwhelming numbers when two buildings were converted to condominiums in 1987. Using historical documents, I examine why tenants fought against local growth and rejected the opportunity to accumulate personal capital through homeownership. I posit that the Park West Village Tenants’ Association (PWVTA) garnered considerable resident support by engaging in three economically driven frames against conversion at the individual, community, and state level. Despite the clear link between urban growth and conversions, the process and local opposition to conversion has yet to be examined. This historical case contributes to research on tenants’ associations, affordable rental housing, and considers how widespread condominium conversion contributed to inequality.
AB - This article examines an historical case study of a moderate-income rental complex’s condominium conversion in New York City during the 1980s. Despite research suggesting that tenants desire homeownership, residents of Park West Village (PWV) waged a five-year battle against management and remained tenants in overwhelming numbers when two buildings were converted to condominiums in 1987. Using historical documents, I examine why tenants fought against local growth and rejected the opportunity to accumulate personal capital through homeownership. I posit that the Park West Village Tenants’ Association (PWVTA) garnered considerable resident support by engaging in three economically driven frames against conversion at the individual, community, and state level. Despite the clear link between urban growth and conversions, the process and local opposition to conversion has yet to be examined. This historical case contributes to research on tenants’ associations, affordable rental housing, and considers how widespread condominium conversion contributed to inequality.
KW - New York City affordable housing
KW - conversion
KW - rental housing
KW - tenants association
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U2 - 10.1177/0096144218806486
DO - 10.1177/0096144218806486
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059287573
VL - 47
SP - 606
EP - 622
JO - Journal of Urban History
JF - Journal of Urban History
SN - 0096-1442
IS - 3
ER -