Nan McKay and Associates

Fifty years in housing: Part V

NMA founder and president Nan McKay is celebrating a major milestone this year: her 50th year in housing. In an ongoing series of posts, she’ll be sharing her stories of how the industry has changed over the course of decades.

Nan has previously written for the NMA blog on the topic of executive management and high performance achievement in the HCV program, and was recently profiled in the latest installment of our interview series.

Part I: Interesting tidbits from 1937 to 1963

Part II: Urban renewal on Concord Street

Part III: The most exciting New Year’s Eve

Part IV: Integrating Concord Street into the new highrise

Part V: The men of the building

The men of the building

Life in the highrise continued on. There were more women in the building than men. Believing in the adage that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” there were many dishes delivered throughout the building to the few men who were brave enough to live there, some surreptitiously left outside the door by an anonymous donor (anonymous for a while, anyway).

Some were more blatantly delivered. There were casseroles, cookies, and even the most beautiful, sweet baklava you’ve ever tasted. And I tasted quite a few of them in my office. (Impossible to stay on a diet!)

Mike, Frank, and Earl shooting pool in the community room of the Nan McKay Building, c. 1970

One of the ladies’ favorites was Larry, who was a born ladies’ man. He dressed nattily. He had a mustache. And he was a handsome dude. He would stroll into the office and let me know what the delicacy of the day (or night) was. The rumor was that he finally got too tired of the adoration and went back to his second (or was it his third?) wife.

Another ladies’ favorite was Hank, who had been a painter and still took on small jobs here and there. He would come home tired, but never too tired to chat with Jim the minute he knew he was in the building. Hank was a great talker.

Jake was a painter, too, but Jake loved to paint pictures in stories best, particularly about fishing. According to Jake, there was no better thing to do, and there was no better fisherman than Jake. Period. He loved to tell Jim about his catches (and releases).

And then there was Nick, who everyone came to call Nicky. He was a big guy, way over six feet — a gentle giant if there ever was one. He’d been an “enforcer” for the Mafia back when. He, too, was from the old country. He had some stories to tell.

Frank was looked up to by all. He was a steady influence, and people respected his opinion. He loved the highrise, and it was a sad day for us all when his daughter decided to take him into her house, rather than leave him in the highrise. I’m not sure he wanted to go.

Another master at handling conflict was Earl. He never had a harsh word for, or against, anyone. Earl was elected president of the building and helped me solve many problems. I valued his thoughtful advice!

Quiet and sweet Ben never caused any conflict. He always had a big smile for everyone.

The Great Hinckley Fire, 1894

Harry wasn’t a ladies’ favorite because he was married, but he had a story. In his youth he’d been a news reporter, and he had covered the Great Hinckley Fire in 1894.

The Hinckley fire burned an area of at least 200,000 acres, including the town. It was the deadliest fire in the history of Minnesota, and Harry had been there. When he lived in the highrise, he was in his 90s, and as sharp as a tack. He loved to tell us about the fire, but he was a good storyteller on any subject.

We bought a used mimeograph machine and started a newsletter for the highrise. Harry was a reporter until he died — and a good one! We sold advertising to the local business people to pay for the costs. Everyone looked forward to the next edition.

While serving as executive director of a Minnesota housing authority, Nan McKay started one of the nation’s first Section 8 programs. She has devoted the past two years to redesigning NMA’s HCV Executive Management course and rewriting the HCV Executive Management Master Book. Look for her this September at the NMA Housing Conference, where she will be presenting a legislative update with her insight on the latest industry news.

Fifty years in housing: Part IV

NMA founder and president Nan McKay is celebrating a major milestone this year: her 50th year in housing. In an ongoing series of posts, she’ll be sharing her stories of how the industry has changed over the course of decades.

Nan has previously written for the NMA blog on the topic of executive management and high performance achievement in the HCV program, and was recently profiled in the latest installment of our interview series.

Part I: Interesting tidbits from 1937 to 1963

Part II: Urban renewal on Concord Street

Part III: The most exciting New Year’s Eve

Part IV: Integrating Concord Street into the new highrise

Part V: The men of the building

Integrating Concord Street into the new highrise

The next hurdle was to relocate the Concord Street residents. I thought it would be easy — the highrise was so much nicer than where they had been living. I knew they would be excited. Not so.

Babe was the biggest challenge. First of all, we had no parking meters to talk to. And no liquor stores just-about-at-the-top-of-the-hill. That didn’t deter Babe — he went to the bottom of the hill, back to Concord Street where the goodies were. Then he’d stagger back up the hill to the highrise. Oh, my. The smell was almost overwhelming. And he’d hit on the babes-of-the-highrise in the elevator (when he wasn’t peeing in the elevator).

His favorite thing was to go to the space just off the community room where we had card tables set up. The ladies loved to play cards every night. Babe would love to heckle the ladies after a few too many drinks. His advances and witty conversation were not appreciated.

Dealing with the top-of-the-hill women residents was like going into the henhouse where all the chickens were flying into the walls. The solution was to move Babe to the first floor and let him come in the side door. Not a great solution, but at least there was a truce.

The building entrance was on the fourth floor, across a little bridge. The lobby was right there, and there were chairs in the lobby. Remember Mary from Concord Street? She lived in the first apartment, right around the corner from the front door. Mary became the self-appointed greeter of everyone who came into the building.

The minute someone would start over the bridge, Mary shot out of her apartment like a flash. She had a gruff voice, a sinewy body, and a weathered face. Not everyone appreciated Mary’s greeting. Many felt they were being scrutinized every time they came in or out of the building. This became a sensitive issue.

Over time, Mary developed some cronies, and the gossip began. Sometimes it was not whispered. “Where do you think she’s been?” “Where do you think she’s going?” Oh, dear.

Front-page story about the Nan McKay Building, c. 1970

My office was just off the lobby, and I had a window from the lobby into the main room, which was used for collecting rent. There was another room for storage and equipment, which eventually became a news center, and a private office where we could discuss rent changes — and where people came to complain about Mary.

The buildings on Concord Street were being torn down. There was no other place for Mary. And we couldn’t evict her for greeting people. What to do? I talked with her numerous times, but it didn’t really help. Eventually we solved most of the problems by taking the chairs out of the lobby. It lessened the problem, anyway.

Mary was rough, but underneath it all, she was a good person. I got a kick out of her. I’ll bet she had seen a lot of life, although she never disclosed what “had been.”

Mary’s friends were mostly those from Concord Street. Mike lived across the hall from her. He was a short, quiet man who spoke broken English and sometimes pretended he didn’t know what you were saying. He was one of the most astute people in the building.

Mike was one of the earliest residents, and took a liking to Jim (the handsome one I told you about, who became my husband about a year after we met). When Jim came by to pick me up at night, Mike would come running out of his apartment and say, “JEEM! I have a little something for you. Come into my apartment.”

I wasn’t invited. He explained later that this was not for me. Mike didn’t drink, but he had a bottle of Slivovitz, which is the most vile-tasting cherry brandy you will ever drink in your life. As I found out, he poured “Jeem” just a little tiny shot of Slivovitz. I know it wasn’t exactly the professional thing to do, but it was his greatest gift and he would have been highly insulted if Jim had refused. So Jim got his shot of Slivovitz every once in a while.

While serving as executive director of a Minnesota housing authority, Nan McKay started one of the nation’s first Section 8 programs. She has devoted the past two years to redesigning NMA’s HCV Executive Management course and rewriting the HCV Executive Management Master Book. Look for her this September at the NMA Housing Conference, where she will be presenting a legislative update with her insight on the latest industry news.