ne morning four years ago, Bill Mabry left his apartment in Washington Heights for his job as a custodian at a public school in Chinatown. After a physically demanding day at work, Bill, who suffers from severe arthritis in his knees, returned to discover that his building had been boarded up and he was locked out of his home of 33 years.

He knew exactly what to do.

He went to the nearest phone and called the Goddard Riverside West Side SRO Law Project, Goddard Riverside’s advocacy and legal services program for low-income tenants. In 1996, Bill had gone through two rounds of court proceedings with help from the SRO Law Project’s lawyers when a previous owner had tried to force him out by making the building uninhabitable with a disruptive renovation. “The owner wanted everyone to move out,” he said. “He starting renovating, eliminating some rooms. I moved onto another floor and was just holding on.” At that time there was one other apartment occupied in Bill’s 9-unit building. The family living there called the city to report the construction hazards and the inspector who came gave them the number to the SRO Law Project. “He knew we didn’t know our rights and he was trying to help,” Bill said.

The 1996 proceedings ended in Bill’s favor, but the trouble did not end. Over the years, Bill and the family downstairs had been taking care of the building together, patching the leaky roof, purchasing oil for heat and paying the utility bill. They had just resolved the case against the owner, when a new owner appeared and bought the family out of their apartment and offered Bill a position as superintendent. But that owner quickly disappeared too. For four years Bill was the only tenant, and at the point of his lockout, he no longer knew who owned the building.

After resolving the lockout, Bill stayed connected to the SRO Law Project. A tenant-run group organized by the SRO Law Project helped Bill and some new neighbors negotiate with their management company and secure leases, while the SRO Law Project collected rent money in an escrow account until the leaking roof and electrical problems were repaired.

Bill has lived in the same apartment since he moved to New York City in 1971, and he plans on staying there as long as he can. (“I don’t like change,” he explained with a smile.) He has also worked for many years at the same job, where in addition to helping manage the cafeteria, he sidelines as the percussionist for the school’s dance groups.