Brooklyn Council Members Sponsor Bills to Stop Tenant Harassment via Construction

292 Bedford Avenue was erroneously declared vacant, allegedly exposing tenants to health risks caused by construction.

For some, rising Brooklyn property values means a declining quality of life, as landlords attempt to rid buildings of longtime tenants and increase rents.

New York City Council members Wednesday introduced a package of 12 bills intended to stop tenant harassment in the form of building construction.

The bills are sponsored by 11 council members, all Democratic, including Brooklyn representatives Stephen Levin, Carlos Menchaca, Rafael Espinal, and Antonio Reynoso. As well, coalition advocacy group Stand for Tenant Safety helped draft the bills, aiming them specifically at quickly changing residential areas like Crown Heights where construction has increased, according to the New York Times.

District 33’s Levin is prime sponsor on a bill aimed at creating a permit-varifying unit within the Buildings Department. The unit would work to ensure construction and extensive renovations being done legally, and with appropriate approval from the city.

The unit would work on “real time,” responding within two hours to complaints regarding illegal work, the New York Times reported.

One bill would require the Building Department to more thoroughly review occupancy claims instead of trusting landlords to tell the truth about whether a building is occupied.

The remaining bills in the package ensure tenant-protection plans are being complied with, increase of fines for illegal construction work and set up a watch list of contractors who work without permits.

The bills aim to prevent situations such as at 292 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, where tenants of the long-occupied building say they were subject to health risks when the building owner erroneously declared the building vacant and went ahead with construction.

In answer to why he thinks Brooklyn needs this tenant-rights bill package, Council Member Levin told Brownstoner:

Every year, New York City loses regulated units through unscrupulous tactics like deliberately disruptive or unnecessary construction work that pave the way for decontrol by harassing tenants out of their homes.

It is high time that the city steps up its enforcement to protect tenants and preserve our affordable housing stock.

Too often, complaints about unpermitted work or work on buildings that have falsely been reported as vacant come too late to identify harassment and hold shady landlords accountable for trying to push tenants out.

This package will ensure that the Department of Buildings is ready to respond quickly and effectively to complaints indicating harassment, proactively inspect sites where risk factors for harassment exist, and equipped with the tools and resources to stop harassment wherever it is found.

I thank my colleagues for their partnership in crafting this package and look forward to continuing to work with them to advance it.

[Source: NYT | Photo: Cate Corcoran]

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