GoldinFinch Tenant Association fights back against Meadow Partners

The GoldinFinch Tenant Association recently sent this letter to investors in Meadow Partners, a private equity firm. 

We are a group of longtime tenants living in East Village, New York who have launched a campaign to fight back against New York and London-based Meadow Partners. After the private equity firm acquired our building last August, we were subject to changes such as 25% rent increases or unfair forced evictions. As investors in Meadow Partners we are compelled to bring this to your attention. We request that you discontinue your financial support as their business practices are uprooting families and individual residents of the East Village who contribute to their community, and remain highly engaged within it. 

The City, March 31, 2023:East Village Tenants Say new Landlord Is Pushing Them Out 

Through organizing with the Cooper Square Committee, we were able to create the GoldinFinch Tenant Association. Tenants have also worked to host a rally with attendees such as New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh, who also released a statement about Meadow Partners. We also maintain a relationship with Comptroller Brad Lander, and the office of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. 

Our deep relationships with our neighbors and our connection to our homes are just some of the reasons that we are fighting to stay. In fact, some tenants have raised multiple generations of their family within the buildings. In  May, New York Magazine wrote an article on beloved community member Charlie Finch, who died by suicide in August 2022 after intense emotional stress brought on by a cancer diagnosis.  According to friends and co-tenants, Finch’s despondency was also the result of the purchase of his building by Meadow Partners. A long time resident, Finch understood private equity’s impact on the housing market and its role in disenfranchising communities. He spent the last months of his life fearing that the community within his apartment building would drastically change. 

Curbed, May 24, 2023: A Sale and a Suicide on East 12th Street: After private equity bought Charlie Finch’s building, he jumped. Neighbors say he was right to be paranoid. 

As you are an investor in Meadow Partners, we are asking that you halt future investments based on their shameful business practices in residential building ownership and management. This includes the uprooting of long-term resident families and beloved neighborhood individuals, as well as the kids who are attending area schools and making their home in our buildings. We are also requesting that you consider and amplify our petitions for fair and just housing as well as the adherence to health and safety protocols as outlined below:  

GoldinFinch Tenant Association Petition to Meadow Partners to provide Fair and Just Housing for tenants:

• Recognition of the laws that protect the building’s rent stabilized and rent controlled tenants, including communication from building ownership and management to those tenants with assurances that these tenants can and will remain in their homes
• Fair and just consideration of renewed leases for long-term building tenants of 10 years or more
• Fair and just consideration of renewed leased for families who have children enrolled in neighborhood schools
• Appropriate communication of building plans and/or expansion so tenants can be duly informed and engaged in building renovations, expansions, or other new developments
• Proper advance communication and clear guidance with tenants on: 
  • How to stay safe and healthy during periods of renovation
  • Health and safety practices when there is a dangerous occurrence or other hazards in the building
  • How to best navigate obstructions in buildings common areas, elevators, entrances, and exits 
• Additional detailed communication and guidance provided to those of advanced age, immunocompromised health, or those who are parents/caregivers of infants and children on all of the above including providing for alternative accommodations whenever necessary 
• Regular communication of all tenant and building related issues or updates to the GoldinFinch Tenant Association 

GoldinFinch Tenant Association Petition to Meadow Partners for reasonable and proper health and safety protocols for tenants during construction periods:  

• Installing air purifiers with HEPA filters in the hallways and lobby where the work is taking place
• Using Shop Vacs DURING or IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING any sanding or plastering, and NOT at the end of the day
• Erecting plastic barriers around apartment doors as outlined in your Tenant Protection Plan
• Daily monitoring of air quality in the building and sharing this information with tenants and with our association 
• Provide the GoldinFinch Tenant Association with a copy of the Asbestos Reports referred to in the Tenant Protection Plan
• Provide the GoldinFinch Tenant Association with the health and safety plan drafted by your contractors for all building construction and asbestos abatement work being performed

Sincerely,

The GoldinFinch Tenant Association