Word: tenants
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Harvard proceeded with its plans through the winter despite tenant opposition, and a series of disputes between HRE and Ware St. residents followed. In February, two Ware St. residents reported that they were considering filing charges against HRE for allegedly entering their apartments against their will to install the thermopane windows. A month later the city's building commissioner ordered Harvard to stop working over stairs in the Ware St. building without adequate safety precautions. And finally, towards the end of March, a Ware St. tenant and an HRE worker charged each other with assault and battery in separate criminal...
...written report would not be issued. Wilkins, a Justice on the Supreme Judicial Court, said that such a report "might be warranted, but to rake over the coals and assess blame isn't as important in the long run" as working quietly behind the scenes to resolve differences. Several tenant leaders and elected officials agreed with City Councilor David Sullivan, who explained that "informal discussions are not public, and so there is no accountability on the part of the University and a lack of being able to be pinned down on specifics...
...minds of tenant activists, however, perhaps HRE's most grievous offense is its staunch refusal to recognize the existence and legitimacy of the Harvard Tenants Union, now about a year-and-a-half old. "They seem to hope we go away," Turk said shortly after the union's first anniversary...
While some observers interpret HRE's general attitude toward HTU its treatment of tenant activists as a sign that the union may have the long-term potential of swaying Harvard administrators to greater regard for tenant relations, others note that as long as the University refuses to recognize the union there will be isolated incidents such as the Erickson affair and protracted disputes such as the Ware St. episode. The beginning of direct negotiations between Harvard and the union could produce immediate positive results for both parties, the tenants contend...
...addition, the tenant activists claim that the plan to fund the low income housing is infeasible. As part of the agreement, Housing Associates, a Cambridge based development firm, will buy the building from the University to carry out the renovations, with the University retaining the land rights. The developers hope to get federal and state subsidies for the low income units. But activists are skeptical that such funds will be available in time of severe budget cutting. Housing Associates developer. Robert Kuchn was unavailable for comment yesterday...