5C Café and Cultural Center Threatened By Landlord

By Bruce Morris

[Spring 2006] On the corner of Fifth Street and Avenue C sits the 5C Café and Cultural Center, (5C) - an unpretentious, friendly, home-like place. For more than ten years, my wife Trudy Silver and I have been in a legal struggle with a landlord who has tried everything to steal our space.

In 1981, 5C was an abandoned city-owned building. A group of us banded together as the 702 East Fifth Street Homesteaders Association in order to rehabilitate the building under a program sponsored by the city's Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD). For many years, my homesteading work involved nearly 5,000 hours of labor known as sweat equity, overnight security against drug dealers and vandals, dealing with HPD's bureaucracy, paying monthly dues to the association for building materials and for the purchase of the building from the city of New York. I also helped obtain grants to hire contractors for work that required licensed trades people. For doing all of this, we were "guaranteed" a 99 year lease on a finished store front in order to create our dream: an affordable arts and education center.

Just before the building was purchased from the city, the association incorporated as 702 East Fifth Street Housing Development Fund Corporation and formed a co-op, becoming the landlord. Four members of the co-op did no physical work -- they bought their apartments after the renovations were done.

When renovation of the residential units was nearly complete in late 1986, the landlord challenged my right to the store front. Rather than lose everything I had worked for, in 1988, I acquiesced to accepting an unfinished store front with a 30 year lease, rather than the original lease deal I had been promised. The other association members got 99 year proprietary leases and finished spaces.

Soon after this, the landlord commenced a series of ´constructive eviction tactics. This is when a landlord tries to push out a tenant by denying basic rights under the lease and alleging that a tenant has violated his lease. In our case, these tactics have included the landlord's refusal to repair leaks for twelve years (many occurred during performances and tutoring classes); their refusal to sign building permits to enable us to install a heating system; illegal rent increases; numerous calls to the police complaining about performances and piano lessons. (concerts were at 4:00 in the afternoon) and calls to the fire department claiming that our space was another Happy Land [the illegal after hours social club in the Bronx where 87 people were killed in a 1990 fire–Ed].

It appears to us that the landlord's intent has been to exploit our labor and money and then force us out in order to capitalize on the commercial profits to be gained from our ground floor space.
In 1995, we went to the New York Supreme Court in an effort to stop the eviction attempt against us and get compensation. Unfortunately, we´ve been stuck with a terrible judge, Edward Lehner, who has denied us a trial and who, in open court, has said "I hate jazz."

The landlord claimed that we were operating an illegal social club and disturbing the residents. (Performances have been held from 4-7pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!) At the urging of the landlord, Judge Lehner put in place an illegal injunction that limits music beyond 7:00pm during the week and 9:00pm on weekends, and that allows only stringed instruments. Thanks to the great work of our legendary first amendment attorney Jerry Greenberg, the Appellate Division overturned the stringed instrument restriction as unconstitutional. A trial that will address the hours we can hold performances, as well as monetary damages, is still pending.

Despite all of the restrictions and eviction attempts, we have accomplished incredible things. Since 5C opened, we have presented over one thousand musical, dramatic, staged readings and poetry events. We tutor neighborhood kids in English, mathematics and Spanish. Trudy teaches affordable piano and voice lessons. We have made the space available and affordable (and sometimes free) as a meeting place for housing, anti- war, garden activists and performing artists.

We have yet to receive a grant from any organization. We have yet to operate in the black. Thousands of dollars have been spent on legal fees, and renovation costs, such as sound proofing, repairs from water damage, insurance, and we pay rent every month.

We need your help. We are preparing for trial within the year. There are many things that you can do that will help sustain this space. Come see our film documentary series on Wednesday nights, drink our fair trade coffee and enjoy healthy vegetarian food. Hold your parties and events here. We welcome creative ideas.

By supporting 5C Community and Cultural Center, you can help prevent this land-lord from forcing us out. We don´t need another Starbucks on Avenue C!

[Send tax deductible contributions payable to: 5C Cultural Center, P O Box 20666, New York, NY 10009. For more info, check out our site at: <http://5ccc.com/> or contact us at: <5cccafe@5ccc.com>]