by Yori Yanover

Samuel Gladstone Welsh

n a city ravaged by suicide passenger planes and a relentless recession, the Seward Park Housing Corporation has managed to stand out with a few additional bits of misery of its own.

There was the multi-million dollar collapse of the garage roof in 1999. There was the privatization, followed by the chaos and confusion of people selling and moving out, and of new people entering in droves, the latter being alien to the plebian traditions of the housing cooperative movement and its reluctant style when it came to maintenance and improvements. There was the blood feud which led to the split with its sister co-ops down the street.

Contracting with Cooper Square to manage this 1740-unit, 4-building property, was a signal of the board’s new direction. After decades of keeping much of the work in-house, protecting against what was perceived to be the evils of capitalist contractors and vendors, they now seemed to be giving the wolf the keys to grandma’s house. Indeed, the early segment of the Seward Park-Cooper Square relationship was marred by mistakes, misunderstandings, and, most notably, personality clashes. The new manager, Mr. Samuel Gladstone Welsh, consented to a lengthy interview with us a mere three months after taking over at Seward, to deliver a clear message: There’s a new, able man running things in Seward in a new way.

We’ve heard good things about “Stoney” Welsh from tenants, who were taken by his ability to deliver services, as well as his communication skills. We also heard from the CEO of a large financial institution who had been so frustrated by his dealings with the former manager at Seward, he was ready to uproot, even at the cost of having to reinstall his entire computer and communications system. Now, the same CEO is all smiles. Welsh saved the day, he says, effectively making it possible for his people to stay put, expand and thrive, right in Seward.

Signs on Seward's street level. "A number of things could change this appearance relatively dramatically."

First Impressions Start at Street Level

His drawl is unmistakably from the other side of the Mason-Dixon line. His impeccable suit and tie on a humdrum Monday afternoon is also a tad out of place in this laid back, come-as-youare neighborhood. His receding graying mane is meticulously groomed. He is divorced, with one married daughter and one six-month old grandson. At age 60 he is fit and robust, ready to chew up 12-hour work days like everyone else in this city.

GSN: Is the Seward Park board of directors on board with you?

Welsh: At the moment I certainly feel there’s an open communication between the board and me, otherwise there’s no point in continuing our relationship. I’m not sure that it’s as much the board being on board with me as I being in touch with them and their desire, since my role is to implement, not codify or establish policy.

The consensus is that the board wants to improve many of the components of life at Seward Park. When I first got off the subway here, I saw the signs hanging on the sides of buildings. Some signs for doctors and CPA offices were black, some were white, some were hanging crookedly, some had letters missing. It seemed to me that there were a number of things which could change this appearance relatively dramatically, with a small investment. It was just a matter of coordinating the effort and doing it. Pick a consistent design that’s not offensive to anyone, and go with it. This is high on my agenda for immediate changes.

GSN: You come from a for-profit management company to a place that used the be a bastion of socialist cooperatives on the Lower East Side. There has to have been a clash between those two management styles.

Welsh: I’m employed by a for-profit corporation with many aspects to its portfolio. My previous experience was with its sister company in Florida, The Continental Group. One of the properties I managed, in Miami Beach, was Tower 41, a large building with 450 units, near the Fontainebleau Hotel. It was almost identical to any one of the four Seward Park towers, except it was a condominium rather than a cooperative. Many of the residents in Tower 41 also had residences in one of the cooperatives in this community. The population there was predominantly Jewish and Orthodox. The building featured Shabbos elevators, and a shul in the lobby. There were factions there as there are here. GSN: Speaking about Shabbos elevators and factions, we’ve been told that the new elevators are smarter, and will include a Shabbos feature limiting service to requested floors only.

Welsh: That is my understanding as well. I’m hesitant only because I have not personally had a demonstration of how it works. I know it can be done.

Seward's new garage. The roof collapse kept the cooperative behind its LES sisters.

Straightening Out Past Messes

GSN: What’s keeping you back? Welsh: I received a stack a couple of inches high, of outstanding issues which had to be resolved. There are many areas which do not have permits, or whose permits have been pulled in the past and never signed off on or finalized, and have now come to the fore and have had to be dealt with. Now, because of the new bylaws and the reconstitution, all these issues must be dealt with. Some of them date back to 1972 and 73.

GSN: You seem calm enough, under this pressure.

Welsh: You have to remain calm otherwise you become part of the problem.

GSN: Any other first impressions you’d like to fix? Welsh: When I first came here I couldn’t find Seward Park. None of the buildings are on the streets which correspond to their addresses. Since they’re shaped a certain way, various sections of each building face different streets. Many of the local people I’ve talked to have difficulty in figuring which building is which and where they are. And going by building numbers is totally impossible, as the different numbers do not relate to the common lettering of the sections. They are, in fact, in reverse order. It’s all very complicated…

Managers and Traders

GSN: How does Cooper Square juggle being both a real estate and management company? Is there a conflict of interest?

Welsh: I personally feel that there’s no conflict of interest at all. We treat everyone equally and consistently, or at least try to. The real estate aspect of Cooper Square is a separate entity, on its own. It’s not related to us, other than the fact that we’re working under the same umbrella.

GSN: One area where the brokerage department may differ in its views from the manager is when it comes to renting versus selling vacant apartments. Is Seward holding on to apartments which are being rented rather than sold outright?

Welsh: Yes. We do own a number of apartments as a corporation. We do have some of them rented and some not.

GSN: There’s a debate regarding their future?

Welsh: There is an issue afoot to consider offers for purchase of one or more of those units. There’s a lot of money involved. While the yield from rentals of the current units is not humongous, it is helpful to have upwards of $20 thousand coming in every month. It is an additional source of income not available to many other co-ops.

Then there’s the equity established by the very ownership of these units. Having two or three million dollars in equity in your back pocket, I would think, lends some sense of comfort to a board, when faced with potential emergencies. They might want to hold on to this equity, rather than let it dissipate in a one-shot deal that you’re going to spend overnight.

The Creeping Costs of Privatized Housing

GSN: Do you have a sufficient maintenance and repair crew? Welsh: I think there is a sufficiency in the core staff. It’s not so much a numbers’ game as education: a redirection of priorities.

GSN: Are you satisfied with the regularly scheduled maintenance? Welsh: My perception, based on snippets of conversation about ongoing activities and recollections of past activities, is that basic ongoing regular duties are not always carried out thoroughly enough. This is primarily because of the overwhelming number of unscheduled activities.

There’s an expectation of providing more personal service to individual shareholder units. While the documents and the law do not obligate the corporation to do them, they have traditionally been done. It’s very difficult to change that. So the expectation of the cooperators is that the maintenance staff would be at their beck and call.

We charge relatively modestly for these repairs, in essence it’s a pass-through cost for various components. But it’s only for parts provided and not for any labor involved. This is one of the issues which I intend to raise with the board over the next several months, as we become more confident in each other.

GSN: Aren’t you, in effect, saying that carrying charges are starting to creep up following the privatization, just as some members were warning? Welsh: I don’t know that this is the result of privatization. Generally, the carrying costs associated with the maintenance of a 40-year old building creep up regardless of reconstitution. The fact of the matter is that carrying charges associated with units here are exceedingly reasonable for the city, let alone anywhere else.

One of the benefits of the cooperatives down here is in having additional income sources in the form of commercial tenants and parking areas, where as many co-ops and condominiums don’t have these sources of revenue.

Is this dog illegal? Well, for the time being maybe so...

Dogs and Diplomacy

GSN: Has the board recently changed its dog policy? Welsh: They’ve not. The board is considering distributing a survey to the residents of this community, to ascertain their “druthers” with regard to pets and the various and sundry rules, prohibitions or glances askew that need matter. However, to date such a survey has not yet been prepared. A subcommittee was appointed by the board to discuss the creation of a survey, the first draft of which arrived on my desk last night.

GSN: Are you familiar with the bizarre new gallery that opened recently on Grand, in place of the Dress Shop?

Welsh: Well, I admit that it’s not what I would have expected of an art gallery, on Grand Street or not. However, I don’t think that we would want to dictate to them precisely what they have to do in a business which is creative in nature.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been perusing our lease and our clauses with respect to the art gallery, in hope of finding things specifically related to the gallery about which we’ll be notifying them in writing. I’ve already notified them verbally.

I’m not one who issues ultimatums or threats, or makes demands on people beyond those which can be substantiated. And even then I try to deliver the message with as much finesse and sensitivity as possible.