THE FOURTH DECADE : 1989-1998

Halimah Polk

A little Ramadan experience

On the night of the last day of fasting during a lonely Ramadhan in 1998, I went to latihan hoping to do "minta ma'uf" with my brothers and sisters and celebrate the ending of the fast. No one else in our small group had done the fast that particular year and the strange thing was that no one in our very sincere and diligent group came that night. Even so, I went ahead and did my latihan by myself and as I was sitting quietly at the end of my latihan, (perhaps feeling a bit sorry for myself) I had this experience:

Suddenly I was "transported" to the next world where everyone WAS celebrating Idul Fitri. I saw many older Subud members who had passed on lots of familiar and happy faces. I do remember Bapak and Ibu Sumari, particularly. I slipped into the long line of Subud members waiting to do Sukum to Bapak and remember going through the line and asking Bapak's forgiveness.
When I snapped back to my ordinary consciousness alone, I felt completely satisfied with my Ramadan gift.

Renardo Barden

A Brief History of Subud New York's Chelsea Center

Since so many of our newer members, including some board members, are largely unfamiliar with the history of the Subud New York enterprise, “The Subud Chelsea Center,” I decided to write briefly of how we got where we are.
In 1993/1994 Paula Mason discovered that this building was for sale and initiated contact with the owners. At that time we were doing latihan in walkup rooms on West 14th Street. An average of twelve men and twelve women were showing up for regular Monday and Friday night latihans and membership contributions had dwindled, so much so that the group was regularly tapping into its housing fund to pay our monthly rent. A handful of members were worried that our membership was too small and lacked the will for building ownership. Most group members, however, were adamant.

New York's Chelsea Center

     We bought the former Fur Center Synagogue for $650,000 in June, 1994 using an $800,000 housing fund, which was the sum of two bequests made to Subud in the 1980s and ‘90s. The bequests were made by Walter Morgan Russell and Kamarijah Strack. The Fur Center Synagogue agreed to carry a $70,000 mortgage for us. Even so, we were short on funds to renovate our building. Fortunately, businessman and longtime Subud member Jerry Chalem agreed to take on the challenge.
     After two years of negotiations between Subud and the Synagogue concerning who would do the asbestos abatement (asbestos was finally removed at the owner's expense), Subud took possession in the summer of 1996 and the board appointed Renardo Barden building manager (at ten dollars per hour!) with the mandate to create a rental enterprise that would support all the expenses of ownership. Initially, staff consisted of Renardo and Luqman Gomez (lately in Texas), as bookkeeper and custodian. Our first regular tenant, SYDA Yoga, signed on in 1997.
     Even with Jerry Chalem's project management and voluntary labor from other Subud members, we lacked the funds to complete necessary renovations. We applied for and, thankfully, received two loans from Subud USA, totaling $60,000. In short order, we received another financial boost when Subud's attorney Seth Kaplan, working together with Renardo, was able to recover an additional $75,000 unreasonably withheld from us by the attorney handling Walter Morgan Russell’s estate. By the grace of God and with the loans, the recovery of the additional Russell funds, and the early success of our enterprise, we were able to liquidate our obligations to Subud USA and the Fur Center Synagogue mortgage even before those sums were due. We also received another bit of grace when a member of SYDA Yoga, the late Philip Baloun, donated about $25,000 worth of lighting and electrical work to the upper hall.

     From the beginning Robert Riedner, Renardo and the Subud board discussed the value of our “air” or development rights and considered ways we might finance the building of additional floors to our building. Simply put, zoning laws were such that we could add additional stories, replace our existing structure with a higher building, or sell all or a portion of our air rights to one of our immediate neighbors (who would then be allowed to add floors to their building). In 2003 when Renardo learned that the two buildings immediately to our west were to be demolished to make way for a hotel, he informed Robert and the air rights matter was brought before the Subud board. With then chair Kristiana Kalab, they met with an attorney and approached hotel builder Sam Chang. After many meetings and much group discussion orchestrated by the next chair, John Tjia, Subud sold 10,000 square feet of its allotted 35,000 square feet of air rights to hotel developer Sam Chang in 2005 for $750,000.
     Since inception, our enterprise has generated more than 1.5 million dollars in rental revenue, paid virtually all Subud New York's expenses since 1997, provided full and part time employment to as many as ten Subud New York members and generated money that has subsequently been donated to the region, to Subud USA, Susila Dharma and greater Subud. In addition, the Subud Chelsea Center enterprise has provided occasional paid contract work to as many as ten other Subud New York members. In other words we have taken positive steps to realize Bapak's mandate for Subud to create enterprises that provide work for Subud members and generate funds for our association. Ten years in, the Subud Chelsea Center is the face of Subud in New York City. Thousands of people who had never heard of Subud are now quite aware of it. Many tenants and visitors have commented on the sense of calm they feel in our spaces. Some of these people have been opened. There are many new faces in Subud these days and, as evinced by our recent holiday party for needy children, there is an expanding willingness among the membership to do things that benefit the world beyond our doors.
     The future? Well, we now have some funds to work with and have retained 25,000 square feet of our air rights. We could explore a dozen or more fantasies of expanding our building, develop and possibly finance our own ongoing Susila Dharma project, or possibly expand our enterprise by purchasing a rural retreat that, like our own house, could be rented out when not in use by Subud regionally or nationally. Additional Subud members could be employed and more funds could be generated for greater Subud. In this way, the bequests, the house, the air rights money, material blessings bestowed and carefully nurtured could continue to expand upon Bapak’s mandate.
     There are plenty of opportunities. More than anything else it’s a matter of energy and will, not forgetting, of course, the grace of the latihan and the blessings that can flow through us when we act carefully and harmoniously.