December 11, 2019

Ralph da Costa Nunez, PhD

President and CEO
Homes for the Homeless
36 Cooper Square, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10003

Dear Mr. Ralph da Costa Nunez:

We are writing on behalf of our constituents who reside at the Riverview Senior
Independent Living (“Riverview”), located at 519 West 49th Street.

In a memo circulated to residents on December 3, 2019, Jessica Schmidt the Director of the
Riverview informed its residents that the building owner, Homes for the Homeless
Institute, Inc., decided to sell the building and that Riverview would be closing “sometime
in the first few months of 2020.” Presenting senior citizens, one of whom is a 99-year old
holocaust survivor, with a vague and frightening update about the future of their homes,
especially during the holiday season, is indefensible.

It is imperative that Homes for the Homeless provide its tenants with more information
about the sale of the building, convene a tenant meeting with them to discuss alternatives
and provide those who wish to find alternative accommodations with adequate time to do
so.

The lack of communication surrounding this issue is wrong, especially for a non-profit that
prides itself in helping families escape homelessness. In addition to the requests above, we
request an urgent a meeting with Homes for the Homeless to discuss this issue. Please
contact Erik Bottcher in Speaker Corey Johnson’s district office at 212-564-7757 or
ebottcher@council.nyc.gov to schedule this meeting as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Corey Johnson Congressman Jerrold Nalder Brad Hoylman

NYC Council Member, Speaker 10th Congressional District (NY) NYS Senator

Linda Rosenthal Gale A. Brewer

NYS Assemblymember Manhattan Borough President