In Memory of Irving Alter
Comments by Ed Yaker
April 2, 2006
I am president of Amalgamated Houses, and I speak at the suggestion of Dave Smith of Penn South, who cannot be here today. I speak for cooperatives such as ours, which stay true to the mission of providing housing and community for those who have less rather than more. Not simply because we were important clients, but because we Irving shared our values.
Irv Alter was a brilliant lawyer. Whenever we wanted to do something, like all lawyers he saw the legal pitfalls to prevent it. But rather than just say no, Irv would then craft a unique solution to dance around the problems and provide a legal basis for moving forward.
At the time of one housing scandal, in which it was alleged that a manager and attorney worked together to enrich themselves, I asked Irv what he would do if he suspected corruption at a co-op. He told me he would first tell the president. If that didn’t get a result, he would tell the vice president and other officers. If there still was no movement, he would reach out to the entire board. If that did not bring a meaningful response, he would find a way to communicate with all of the shareholders, because in a cooperative they are the ultimate authority. Irving made clear that the cooperative was the client, not the manager or the president.
Another time, one of our shareholders asked the State Comptroller to audit our books. Seeking to expand his authority, the comptroller sought to do that. Amalgamated is state supervised, but is not a state agency. Irving advised us that the comptroller did not have the legal right to audit us. We had nothing to hide, but did not want to see government expand its reach. We refused to comply with the audit request. At a meeting with the Comptroller’s Office, his staff insisted that they had the right to audit us. Irving asked that Counsel to the Comptroller, who was not present, be brought in to show us the legal basis. They refused, Irving insisted. When the Comptroller’s counsel finally came in, he agreed that Irving was right and they had no legal authority.
Irving gave us credit for having the courage to stand up to the Comptroller. Most boards would not have taken on such a high state official. However, we were able to have that courage because we had Irving Alter telling us what the law was, and we had Irving Alter representing us.
In the summer of 1994, I sat down with Irv for a lesson in co-op history, and I taped the discussion. Irving was an excellent teacher. He fleshed out my understanding of key people like Sidney Hillman, Robert Szold and Abraham Kazan. He described the role of government in the earlier days and at the time. He didn’t cast blame. He understood the pressures on government. He also understood the motivation of people who voted to go private, and did not cast blame there either.
But he appreciated the leaders who built and maintained affordable housing for those who had less rather than more. That was his phrase. Not poor people or people of moderate income, but those who had less rather than more. It was clear that he was on the side of the little man, and bemoaned a society in which money is the driving force and the only measure of a person. It was certainly not the way he measured people.
Throughout the talk, Irving’s passion was clear in his voice. It was clear that his beliefs meant far more than the quest for the dollar. He was not cash wealthy, despite what he could have achieved, given his ability and his profession. He spoke of family as true wealth, and said the man who did not speak to his children was poor, no matter how much money he might have. The father who had a good relation with his children had far greater wealth than money. Meeting his children, it is clear that in the ways that matter, Irving Alter was indeed a wealthy man.
We relied on Irving Alter not only for his legal brilliance, but for his wisdom and his ideals as well. We will certainly miss him.