RE: Politically Incorrect-please don't throw anything!

["J" <jlregister>]

According to what I've read, the Bowery Residents Committee (BRC) doesn't
actually own the building, so they can't sell it.  They have the master
lease on it, and CBGB is a sub-lessee.  Either BRC intends to expand into
the CBGB area (they already run a 24-hour drop-in center and other services
upstairs, and I think also run a residential hotel there), or they will rent
it out to someone who can pay more rent and generate more revenue for the
organization...maybe that will be a Starbuck's, I don't know.

I took a look at their website, and BRC is a pretty well established
nonprofit that provides emergency shelter, permanent housing and service
programs to homeless people, especially those with substance abuse and
mental illness.  In my offline life, I work with these kinds of programs and
organizations, but I'm on the other coast, so I don't know anything about
BRC in particular.  Their board of directors is made up mostly of folks from
corporations, banks, etc.  That's not uncommon...most likely they use those
connections for fundraising and to provide business expertise to the
nonprofit. They certainly have plenty of corporate and foundation donors,
but with government programs going down the tubes, that's how these
organizations stay alive.  Its not the only model -- there are plenty of
similar groups that are far more community-based and have a quite different
composition on their board.  Its hard to tell from just that whether they
are doing a good job or not.  The range of programs and housing that they
run is pretty comprehensive and matches what's known in the homeless
services world as a "continuum of care" model that goes from outreach and
services to sheler, transitional housing and evenually permanent housing.

I have no idea whether they are a good organization; no idea how well paid
their director and staff are (although typically such groups don't pay huge
salaries); no idea how they relate to other organizations doing similar
work.  The fact that they have a $30 million budget doesn't tell you too
much -- they have a lot of different programs and pull in money from
government, foundations, and corporate and individual donors.  That's pretty
much how these things work -- BRC seems to be pretty established and
certainly better off than a lot of similar organizations that operate on
much smaller budgets.  At the same time, having all those corporate board
members and ties certainly has an influence on an organization, even one
that's doing good things for homeless people.

So its complicated on both sides, and it seems that positions hardened on
both sides, nothing good is going to come of this.

 
 
___________________________
Jeffrey Levin <j.levin>


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-babel-list 
> [mailto:owner-babel-list] On Behalf Of Poemsl1
> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 4:38 PM
> To: babel-list
> Subject: Re: Politically Incorrect-please don't throw anything!
> 
> 
> In a message dated 9/11/2005 7:09:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
> jlregister writes:
> 
> providing services to the homeless
> is a pretty essential  service
> 
> 
> I think the agency CBGB's pays rent to already does that, and 
> many  feel that 
> because of the skyrocketing real estate market, they're just 
> going to  sell 
> it to get the money. I don't know if CB's is "less than it 
> used to  be".  There 
> are plenty of young bands out there that we haven't heard of, 
>  perhaps, who 
> are just starting out, who want a place to play, along with  
> the older acts 
> that come back from time to time. It's the young kids who 
> create  the rock 
> history, and I'm sure they have their own groups that they 
> worship  right now, 
> playing at CBGB's, just like some of us did with Patti,  
> Television, Ramones, etc. 
> back then.  xxo-  Seena