Cadman Towers
Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201

Nonpartisan Transparency on Article 11


FAQ


About Cadman Transparency Group

     Click or tap to open answer

A.
You may hear a “Board Member” indicating that this Transparency Group is not “authorized,” or that the Committee to Preserve Cadman Towers is not authorized, or the Cadman Towers Association is not authorized—in one manner of speaking or another.

If so, that will be your first clue why the dozens of letters written to the Attorney General by Cadman Shareholders, including THIS ONE with evidence of “ Oppressive Conduct,” are in fact something for shareholders to consider. 

We remain undecided — This Cadman Transparency Group has been created at the behest of neighbor shareholders that “a culture of transparency is much needed,” especially before gambling on a vote (For Article 11 Semi-Privatization) created by some members of the Board who have been stratigically (with evidence), censoring others who disagree with them.  This is a problem many are aware of.  Therefore, dozens of Shareholders have written to the Attorney General, including us in this open forum.  Therefore, we have created this Cadman Transparency Group platform to discuss and keep all documents and information in one place, open to everyone for easy viewing.

Start with the FAQ

We need nonpartisan FAQ questions from both sides.  all sides, to see a big picture and discuss Pros and Cons in one place.

Begin browsing and engaging with the FAQs; read the Letter to the Attorney General and How This All Began, with the various referenced sources—to ensure you are appropriately informed about all the affordability pros and cons of converting now to Article 11.



Therefore, we wrote this letter to the
Attorney General!

Many letters were written to the AG.
We wrote ours in Open Forum to begin this discussion.




Opinion: The Cadman Towers Conundrum

It’s important to understand “Inadvertence” and “Opportunity.”

There is rarely one or even several person(s) scheming and plotting diabolical strategies to “gain” at their “neighbors’ expense.”

People are generally good, well-intentioned, and good-hearted, believing their optics and conclusions are for the general good.  That is the prevalent world we live in with all forms of politics—from community to government politics.

However, we each have to admit when we see any opportunity for “gain,” our focus subconsciously alters, maybe even “fixes.”

“One man’s food is another man’s poison.”
– Titus Lucretius Carus 99 B.C.

Highlights from the “ 2022 Article 11 Proxy Deficiency Letter flyer, by CPCT March 2022 — Reportedly, the above was never distributed to shareholders within the required 90 days (allegedly on a "technicality"), and had to be requested through The Freedom Of Information Act by the Committee to Preserve Cadman Towers (CPCT). 

 

The devil in the details is revealed when a series of innocent, inadvertent policies (equations) add up to some gain (formula) at others’ expense. 

Inadvertent, innocent “equations,” which suddenly promise a one-sided “formula gain” to a few, even at the cost of others, become a driving social force.  We see this in all politics, and we see it in any community, or business.

That is the simple way of the world and how humanity is wired for gain and survival, which is why there are rules and laws.

The problem, therefore, which always occurs is such “one-siding” that inadvertently surfaces by mere human nature.

What becomes evident here is “such” inadvertent opportunity, which pulls the proverbial wool, first over one’s own eyes, subsequently intentionally over others’.  Of course, thinking, “we’ve done nothing wrong.”

That is the devil in the details!

An opinion in a world of Free Speech, by James Ordonez


Yet, then there was this:


“Says the New York Office of Assembly Member Rosenthal and Senator Kavanagh [2021]: “For far too long, many Mitchell-Lama shareholders have been treated as second-class residents in their own homes by over-empowered boards pursuing agendas that serve the interest of the few, not the majority.  This vital legislation will restore the balance of power in Mitchell-Lama housing.  It ensures that shareholders have a real say over what happens in their buildings and will help to preserve moderate- and middle-income housing for years to come,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal.  “The Mitchell-Lama program is one of the state’s most successful affordable housing programs, but like so many other forms of affordable housing, we have lost too many units over the years to ill-advised privatization efforts.  It is vital that we stem the loss of Mitchell-Lama affordable housing to ensure that there is a place in our city for working-class New Yorkers and their families.”


Originally, in the fall of 2022, we decided to open a discussion, on the pros and cons of Article 11, with other neighbors, on the "Official" Cadman Discussion Facebook Group (the ONLY place then available for “open” disucssion—we thought!). To our dismay and very telling, we got banned,  immediately, and everything we had ever posted in our 2 or 3 month engagement with that Facebook Group about carpets, trash rooms, security, etc., all were deleted by the Facebook Admin Board Member (without shame, embarrassment, apologies, or regret, only the continued charm and convincing rhetoric —You do the math). 

That is how all this began!