Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Voices That Must Be Heard" Articles Description An account of the resource The Independent Press Association (IPA) translates articles from the ethnic press (when necessary) and distributes them via web and fax newsletter to mainstream and ethnic press, government offices, nonprofits, and interested individuals. Voices That Must be Heard was designed by the Independent Press Association staff in New York City in response to the horrifying events of September 11. After Sept. 11th, Voices focused on the South Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern communities in New York. Since February 2002, the project has expanded, selecting articles from the broad range of ethnic and community newspapers throughout the city. Here, the Archive has preserved the Voices collection from its inception until November 2002. VTMBH Article VTMBH Article: Edition 31 VTMBH Article: Article Order 1 VTMBH Article: Title Landlord of building where boy died stole rent money meant for poor VTMBH Article: Author William Wichert and Jordan Moss VTMBH Article: Publication Norwood News VTMBH Article: Original Language English VTMBH Article: Translator VTMBH Article: Section news VTMBH Article: Blurb Jashawn Parker submerged himself in a bathtub to stave off the fire in his apartment, but that quick thinking wasnt enough to protect him from years of landlord neglect. The landlord, Eric Gladstein, is currently on probation for stealing funds from a government program that provides rent money to poor tenants; an accomplice awaits sentencing on related charges. VTMBH Article: Keywords VTMBH Article: Body A fire claimed the life of eight-year-old Jashawn Parker just before midnight on Aug. 6. The PS 94 student, whose summer school classwork work was on display at the memorial outside the building, submerged himself in a bathtub full of water to stave off the flames which followed a loud explosion in the apartment. But that quick thinking wasnt enough to protect the boy from years of landlord neglect that had tenants, city officials and advocates in court for at least two years in hopes of taking the building away from its owner. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. In addition to the plumbing, electrical and wiring problems that plague the building, the landlord of the building where Parker died3569 DeKalb Avenueis now serving a three-year sentence of probation for stealing money from a government program that provides rent money to poor tenants. According to court documents obtained by the Norwood News, landlord Eric Gladstein of Quest Property Management IV Corp. was indicted in April 2001 for working with Deborah Pollock and Marla Lopez of Community Law Advocates, Inc. (CLA) to steal over $300,000 in welfare housing funds from the citys Human Resources Administration (HRA). Pollock, then an executive deputy commissioner-designate of HRA (she was never fully appointed but served in the position until June 2000), used her position at CLA, a non-profit group she formed in 1998 on behalf of struggling tenants, to squeeze funds from a state program that assisted welfare recipients who could not pay their rent. With her influence at HRA, Pollock and her associates at Palazzolo Investment Group, a collection of Bronx landlords including Gladstein, took advantage of the aid available through the Jiggetts relief program. While tenants facing eviction charges by their landlords may qualify for Jiggetts relief, Pollock and CLA presented relief applications containing false eviction suits to the Rental Assistance Unit of HRA. The tenants were not being evicted, but their landlords were cashing in on their names. Between October of 1998 and December of 2000, CLA submitted at least 66 false applications, each of which was worth thousands of dollars. Pollock and Lopez would file applications with HRA on behalf of tenants in buildings owned by either Pollock herself or the other landlords in the Palazzolo Investment Group. In September 1999, Gladstein directed that fictional index numbers be placed on documents purporting to be Bronx Housing Court pleadings as proof that eviction suits had been initiated against tenants in his buildings, according to court documents. Then he arranged for Pollock to be paid 10 percent of the Jiggetts relief payments that he directly received. Gladstein ultimately pled guilty in January 2002 to charges of petty larceny. He paid $40,851 in restitution and began a three-year probation sentence on March 22, said Brad Maione, a spokesman for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, one of the officials who sought the indictment. Pollock is awaiting sentencing on numerous charges of grand larceny, conspiracy in the fourth degree, and defrauding the government, among others. She is also facing a separate indictment on charges of tax evasion for 1998 and 1999, during which time she did not report income earned from CLA, her real estate corporations, and payments received from the landlords. This was as cynical a crime as you could possibly imagine, Spitzer said in a press release issued on April 3, 2001. At the very time Pollock was supposed to be helping the poor with their housing problems, she was using her positions with the city and her non-profit group to abuse the system, steal from taxpayers and line her pockets and those of her partners. Tenants were being used, without their knowledge, as pawns in the fraudulent scheme. VTMBH Article: Line Breaks 1 VTMBH Article: Date 2002-08-28 VTMBH Article: Thumb boy_portrait.gif VTMBH Article: Article File VTMBH Article: Hit Count 124 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Landlord of building where boy died stole rent money meant for poor 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. unknown Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. article Original Name The original name of this item. Jashawn Parker submerged himself in a bathtub to stave off the fire in his apartment, but that quick Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-08-28