West 46th Street Block Association, Inc.

I have lived in the LES for about 7 years. I have been subletting an hdfc low-income co-op for $800. I recently found out that there are major restrictions on subletting and that profits are not to be made on these buildings. Where I live, more thab 50% of the units are being illegally sublet. Most recently, my neighbors who have a monthly maintenance of $250 plan on renting their apartment for $2,000 a month! This is so wrong and unjust! Does anyone know of any ways to go about rectifying this? Also, I am looking for other people who might be interested in getting a community group together. I would like to approach HPD with this. These units should be placed back into the affordable market stock. Please e-mail me at redelmesq@hotmail.com if you are interested. All correspondence confidential.

If you don't like it then you shouldn't live there. $800 a month for an apartment on the Lower East Side sounds like a pretty good deal to me. The people who own these apartments have been there for years, and despite what the HPD bylaws may promote, they have deserve some flexibility in dealing with their own homes.

Cry babies.

I think you are taking the wrong approach. If you are actually renting a space on the LES for $800, you should consider yourself lucky. Subletting is allowed in HDFCs and in some regulatory agreements the City as well as the cooperative has a right to 30 to 40 percent of the "profits" derived from subletting. The only stipulation with regard to subletting is the period of time. In some leases its 4 months and others it's 2 years, so depending on how long you have lived in the unit, you maybe doing yourself more harm than good. G. Christopher Baggett, NYC HDFC.