The controversial “poor door” at a luxury Lincoln Square tower is finally open — and creating New York-style financial apartheid.
Tenants who were chosen to live in one of the 55 low-income units in Extell’s ritzy 33-story building recently started trickling in through the poor door — and many are disturbed by the glaring disparities.
“The thing I don’t like most is we don’t have the same amenities,” said Christina Figueras, 27, a single mother of two.
Though Figueras “feels lucky” to have landed her two-bedroom $1,082-per-month pad after moving from an upper Manhattan housing project, she said cash-poor tenants have no dishwashers, doormen or light fixtures in bedrooms and living rooms.
Renters on the “poor” side — units of which start at $833 for a studio without river views — have access only to a bike-storage closet, an unfinished laundry room and a common space that faces a courtyard they’re not allowed to enter.
Their well-heeled neighbors — in 219 river-view condos starting at $1.3 million — have use of two gyms, a pool, a movie theater, a bowling alley, 24/7 doormen and a lavish lobby with a hand-blown glass chandelier.
They can also traipse around the courtyard, which opens only to the “rich” side of the building.
The rich and poor not only have separate entrances, on Riverside Boulevard and West 62nd Street, respectively, they have different addresses. The rich officially live at 50 Riverside Blvd., the poor at 40 Riverside Blvd.
Low-income renter Eric Olm, 44, moved into his sixth-floor one-bedroom unit last week, and all his windows look out over the forbidden courtyard.
“It would be nice to actually get to enjoy it,” he said, gazing at the roomy patio.
Another poor-side tenant griped that the buzzer and intercom aren’t working.
“They keep saying they’re going to fix it. Every day they say, ‘It’ll be done today,’ but it isn’t,” said the 44-year-old resident, who wished to remained anonymous for fear of jeopardizing her one-bedroom rental.
A tenant from the “rich” side took no issue with the separate and unequal residences, claiming, “It’s unfortunate to make it into a class warfare,” and, “It’s not us against them.”
However, the resident, who requested anonymity, admitted he had never mingled with his less-fortunate neighbors.
To qualify for an “affordable” rental, a family of four must earn less than $50,000 per year, and an individual no more than $35,000. About 90,000 people applied for the 55 units.
Building developer Extell came under fire in 2013 after proposing to build low-income housing units within the luxury tower and requiring low-income residents to use a separate entrance. The inclusion of affordable units meant Extell would benefit from millions in tax breaks and additional developmental rights — such as building higher and wider than normally permitted.
The city moved to remedy the “poor door” loophole in the 421-a tax-exemption program. The new provision, announced in June, states that “affordable units shall share the same common entrances and common areas as market rate units.”
But buildings like Extell’s, for which construction began before June 15, 2015, were grandfathered in.
Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal slammed Extell: “No landlord should be allowed to tell a child that they are not able to walk through the same doors, or play in the same areas, as their neighbor,” she said.