Email Author J.A. Lobbia

1999 Stories by J.A. Lobbia

• A Boom With Two Views

  published December 21, 1999

  A real estate study crossed my desk recently, a nicely designed and almost regal-looking document issued on heavy stock paper with golden-hued... More >>

• Garden-Variety Politics

  published December 14, 1999

  Community gardeners citywide breathed a sigh of relief last May when environmental groups and City Hall struck a deal to rescue 114 plots from the... More >>

• Voices of Protest Reach the 'Voice'

  published December 14, 1999

  About 50 people gathered in front of the Village Voice's office on Monday, December 13, to protest a recent feature story about a woman who... More >>

• Wake-up Call for Rudy

  published December 7, 1999

  It's official: Under the reign of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, all sleeping is to be done in bedrooms. The mayor laid down that edict on November 19... More >>

• Tricks of the Trade

  published November 30, 1999

  There was a time when, if the landlord of 446-450 West 19th Street wanted tenants out, he'd use several means: He might flood them out,... More >>

• The Coqui vs. the Bulldozer

  published November 23, 1999

  The battle to save community gardens has inspired some odd metamorphoses. Activists who opposed Mayor Rudy Giuliani's plan to auction off hundreds... More >>

• Sign Language

  published November 16, 1999

  'Landlords, Supers, People of Brooklyn!!' screams a flyer on a streetlight just a few blocks west of Prospect Park. It sounds like the author... More >>

• Failing to Get the Lead Out

  published October 26, 1999

  For a new member of the City Council, Mike Nelson of Brooklyn seems to already have the knack. Campaigning last winter in a special election,... More >>

• Unwelcome Mat

  published October 12, 1999

  Of the 17 benches in Collect Pond Park across from Manhattan's criminal court, Roger Tyson says the best are the six that flank the Lafayette... More >>

• Queens Logic?

  published October 5, 1999

  When the state office that handles complaints of landlord harassment announced a plan last month to move from downtown Manhattan to eastern... More >>

• A Tenant's Home Is His Landlord's Castle

  published September 21, 1999

  'It is not a business to attract men of good feelings. . . .' So wrote journalist David Blaustein in 1904, when he set out to describe New York... More >>

• The User Who Got Used

  published August 31, 1999

  When the Kenmore Hotel on 23rd Street reopened on May 4, politicians flocked to the ceremony, anxious to be associated with a project that had... More >>

• The Heat Is On

  published August 24, 1999

  It has been a year and a month since Lena Hurt died in her sweltering Crown Heights apartment, but her landlord is still blaming the deceased... More >>

• City Council's Whitewash

  published August 17, 1999

  When City Council Speaker Peter Vallone sent a flier to 800,000 voters across the five boroughs last week, he was obviously trying to pique their... More >>

• Joe Rose in Spanish Harlem

  published August 10, 1999

  In this city of contrasts, among the most remarkable is the one between Eighth Avenue from 42nd to 57th streets and the six blocks of Pleasant... More >>

• The Not-So-Good Book

  published August 3, 1999

  A tenants' handbook designed in the spirit of radical tracts hit stores last month, and while it looks promising—the cover is illustrated... More >>

• Your Landlord's Dick

  published July 27, 1999

  Just before midnight on March 20, 1998, Richard Hughes answered a knock at the door of his Manhattan apartment. Outside were two men who claimed... More >>

• The Fix Is Out

  published July 13, 1999

  In the shank of last week's killer heat wave, Bob stood in the lobby-turned-oven of his Williamsburg apartment building and rethought his next... More >>

• Hostel Takeover

  published July 6, 1999

  Police may have shed light late last month when they arrested two Long Island City men in connection with the mysterious death of Armando Perez,... More >>

• Loft Law Limbo

  published June 29, 1999

  Imagine a downtown artist's loft with brick walls, sunlight streaming through tall, arched windows, space that measures in the four-digit range,... More >>

• Poisoned Politics

  published June 22, 1999

  For years, Peter Vallone has made a practice of attending morning Mass, where he presumably seeks guidance for his job as Speaker of the City... More >>

• Rudy's Landlord Giveaway

  published June 15, 1999

  How would you like to hand over several million dollars more to the city's landlords starting this fall? Like it or not, that's what's on order... More >>

• Peter's Poisoned Pen

  published June 8, 1999

  Peter Vallone may boast that his City Council passed its budget on time, but what the Speaker accomplished in efficiency could be totally trashed... More >>

• Old and in the Way

  published May 25, 1999

  On June 1, Tony and Liz Colacino will celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. While etiquette calls for gifts of gold or emeralds, the... More >>

• Wrecking-Ball Budget

  published May 18, 1999

  It was already after 11, but the morning rush at Brooklyn Housing Court was still in full swing, with the crowd surrounding Patricia Lemon's desk... More >>