Luxury building removes ‘poor porch’ after Post report
New York Post
By Gary Buiso
03 May 2015

Erik Clancy and his girlfriend Erin McFadzen behind their fenced off "poor porch" in December.   Photo: Brigitte Stelzer

Tear down the poor porch!

A luxury Queens building that blocked portions of palatial balconies belonging to some rent-stabilized tenants — so that high-paying, tiny-terraced residents didn’t develop a case of porch envy — has finally removed the partitions.

“We are happy that it’s over and done with,” said a relieved Erik Clancy, who along with girlfriend Erin McFadzen was featured in a Post exclusive last December that blew the roof off the “poor porch” — a reference to “poor doors,” separate entrances for lower-income tenants in ritzy towers.

“It made you feel bad to be behind a fence on your own space,” said Clancy, 29.

The couple figured they landed the steal of the century in March 2014 when they laid eyes on the rent-stabilized $2,186-a-month two-bedroom unit in the 17-story Q41 building in Long Island City.
And it was made even sweeter because it came with a wrap-around terrace that can comfortably accommodate 50 people.

But when they showed up in the summer to move in, they were stunned to see a six-foot-high, DMZ-style wire partition.

“We’re caged in,” McFadzen said at the time. “Every time someone comes over, I have to explain why the fence is there . . . and tell them we’re rent-stabilized, like it’s a badge I have to wear.”
Meanwhile, a $3,692-a-month, 16th-floor market-rate apartment with a similarly large terrace had no such fence.

The building’s developer, Queensboro Development, claimed the space was fenced off to provide space for window washers.

“I think everyone who heard that kind of scratched their heads,” Clancy said.

Gjon Chota, the building’s former super, apparently revealed the true purpose of the fence, telling the couple in an e-mail it “was there to stay” because “the same size apartment above or below you with smaller balcony pay the same rent.”

Once The Post revealed the poor porch, building manager Wave­crest Management scrambled to avoid any more publicity.

On April 21, the steel partitions were finally removed — but tenants had to agree to a litany of provisions, including: no drinking, not using their patios as storage space, no hanging of signs or flags, no kids without adult supervision, no barbecues and no bird feeders.

A spokesman for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development said management, tenants and a window-washing company hammered out a plan that maintained the “safety of tenants without impeding window washing.”

The building started off as a failed condo project, resuscitated thanks to $7.6 million in subsidies and $28 million in construction loans from the city. In return, 108 of the units are income restricted or rent-stabilized — as low as $1,103 for a studio.

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