| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
| Locked on 12/19/2006 8:27:17 AM PST by Admin Moderator, reason: |
Posted on 12/19/2006 6:57:34 AM PST by george76
As Secretary-General Annan prepares to leave his post at the United Nations, a mystery is surfacing surrounding his apartment on Roosevelt Island, subsidized by New York taxpayers, which is still in use by the family of his brother, Kobina Annan.
The apartment was where Mr. Annan and his wife lived before 1997, when he became secretary-general.
The Roosevelt Island home is part of an estate of low-rent state-regulated housing.
For years, the Annans saved considerable sums by occupying an apartment meant to help financially strapped low- to moderate-income New York families.
One question Mr. Annan has never addressed is why he and his wife felt comfortable availing themselves of this generous arrangement.
Another is how it is that, since Mr. Annan and his wife left that Roosevelt Island apartment 10 years ago to move into the rent-free residence on Sutton Place supplied to the secretary-general, their former low-rent apartment was handed over to be occupied by the family of Mr. Annan's brother.
This kind of apartment, part of a state-regulated housing development program called Mitchell-Lama, is subject to strict eligibility requirements, involving family size and financial ceilings on combined family income.
There is also a requirement that the leaseholder make continuous use of the apartment as a primary residence.
The effective New York state subsidies for such an apartment appear to be large.
Roosevelt Island sits in the East River, with a view of the United Nations. The residences are part of a quiet enclave with a riverside promenade, just a few minutes from high-rent Midtown.
The apartment in question, a three-bedroom unit on the ninth floor, appears from the outside to have a river view looking out on Manhattan...
Market rates...about $4,500 a month.
A subsidized apartment... under $2,000 a month.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Don't be so sure. I haven't been there since the late 80's, but I found it a very gloomy neighborhood. Tall buildings with narrow streets. Not much sunlight.
Claudia Rosette Deserves a Pulitizer Prize for her reporting on the UN.
Pulitzer ---- aargh!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.