Pissed Off in Prospect Lefferts Gardens

what kind of rent is this dude paying?

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:26 AM

Proof that Brownstoner is trying to increase visitors to his site by picking on PLG and provoking nasty fights. And please, no more of those tired claims PLG residents are unnecessarily defensive. Brownstoner never featured the building in Park Slope that the entire country knows about because it was one of the first blogs ever if not THE first, about a bad landlord. And a lot of news agencies covered that. How was that one not news, and this one news? It's totally common to blog about bad landlords now. Old old news. Late to the party, here.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:41 AM

Why not just move? He has a whole blog devoted to b*tching about garbage and taking photos of piss on the sidewalk? Use that time to get a second job so you can afford to move into a better building if that's what you want! You get what you pay for.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:45 AM

Seeing it's a studio in that area, chances are he's paying less than 1K a month.

Yes, some buildings aren't looked after the way they should be. I live in that area and sometimes there is a few bits of trash in the hallways, but for the most part the building is looked after.

Maybe these people should have checked the place out a bit more before signing the lease, I went back 3 times before signing, for one thing to get an idea of the place at different times.

And complaining about the trash after the parade this week is silly. All areas look like crap after a major parade has happened. The problem there is the Sanitation Dept. gets right out there to clean up the 'nice' areas, but will leave PLG and Crown Heights to rot for awhile before getting to work.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:49 AM

I can't imagine that the landord cleaned up the building just to show a studio apartment to potentail renters. Were you blind?
How much do you pay in rent? Very low, right? So where would the money for maintenance come from?
Why are you wasting your time taking all these photos?
I live in the neighborhood and can only say you must be very unlucky. We moved here for cleaner street, less noise and more trees and it has worked out for us.
Maybe you are just a little uptight or obsessed with taking photos????

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:52 AM

This is absolutely precious. These people chose to move into a dungheap of a neighborhood like PLG and then gripe about the conditions there. Good grief. These losers deserve to be bitch slapped into next week.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:59 AM

I looked at a place in this building and ran away screaming.

There are better choices, for the same price, in this neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:10 PM

The problem with this guy is that he is placing the blame on the WRONG party (possibly out of fear??).

Every single complaint/picture proves that the issue isnt so much the landlord but the TENANTS.

It isnt the LL fault that the tenants piss, shit, throw garbage and generally act like animals - and while (unfortunately) it is up to the LL (through the porter/super) to clean up this mess - this blog doesnt make the case that this filth isnt being cleaned regularly - it simply makes the case that virtually every day his disgusting neighbors continue to foul the building.

Not once in this blog does the tenant question WHO is acting like such an animal; maybe because if he found out - he'd be to afraid to try to shame the culprit - so like most people in NYC he blames the LL, who is probably doing all he can to keep the building up despite having rented to (at least some) people who belong in cage more then an apartment.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:26 PM

"aren’t gonna take it anymore…so they’re blogging about (it)"

Ohhh, real productive. Either do something that would actually improve the situation or STFU and move.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:34 PM

instead of blaming the landlord/super...why not call out the animals disguised as human beings who create this mess?

no matter what your income level, ther eis no excuse to behave like that. and until these "people" change their mentality, they will remain poor for generations.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:42 PM

Wait a minute, I thought PLG was such a "nice" neighborhood.

The best thing that could happen is gentrification. Only when poor people are priced out will this area begin to improve.

I agree that the above logic is twisted. If someone pisses on the floor, then that is the fault of the pisser, not the landlord. Place blame where blame is due.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:52 PM

Brownstoner did feature that Park Slope landlady from hell blog. I don't think he is picking on PLG, this building just happens to be there.

As to said building, I think the bloggers have a right to be repulsed by animal and other waste. No excuse for that. If the super is on site, I'm sure he/she knows who has pets, and probably who else is known for other activities in the common spaces. It is their responsibility to report that to the landlord, and unfortunately for them, also their responsibility to clean it up. I would imagine cleaning it up a few times would give anyone incentive to complain to management, and see if those people could have their leases not renewed, or some kind of punative action taken. I agree that some of the tenants, as well as the landlord have a great deal of improvement to make.

The trash from the parade was covered by guest 11:49's answer. The blogger's quote from Wickipedia regarding the parade is rather one sided, not to mention dated. The parade is not a violence filled event.

Much of the other trash and graffitti are unfortunately par for the course. It shouldn't be that way, but cheap rent is cheap for a reason. They aren't going to shame the landlord, or the tenants, into change. They will more than likely piss them all off, and it will get worse. I think moving is the best alternative. You gets what you pay for, sad, but true.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 12:55 PM

If you actually had READ what this guy says in his blog, you'd know that the FRONT DOOR is usually UNLOCKED. This means that anybody can come into the building and use it as a latrine, not necessarily the other tenants.

It *is* the landlord's responsibility to fix and maintain the locks on the front door.

Although why these people chose to rent here in the first place is beyond me. That building is scary.

- guest 12:10

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 1:09 PM

12:55 so after the LL finds out who is doing this - what do you think he/she can do about it?

No you can't "not-renew" the lease - it is a RS building and by law you have to give them a new lease....

Take the offender to court?...That will cost thousands and thousands of $ and in the end - even if you have a photo of the tenant shitting on the floor, all the judge will say is "don't do it again".

"Other punitive action"? Like what????

The problem is the LL is powerless (except to continue to clean up the mess) against tenants like this - as long as the tenant makes some attempt to pay rent (and alot of times it is some Govt program paying anyway) it is near impossible to (legally) do anything about such tenants (or there family members)

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 1:15 PM

This guy is a piece of work! He takes pictures of neatly wrapped trash bags waiting for garbage pick up and calls this evidence of some horror! His picture of an empty plastic bag out in front of the building is priceless, and proof that he is an uptight obsessive compulsive mess.

If one of his neighbors has a dog with urine and poop retention problems I'm sure his little blog goes a long way to help out with that problem. Blaming the entire neighborhood is interesting.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 1:41 PM

I've never a more pro landlord group. No Psensitivty for the renter. people live in the building (and similar buildings) because that's probably all they can afford. With the explosion of blogging the tenant has a bit more power to shame a landlord into action.

I think it's a great idea and it should keep slum lords from leaving buildings in such shape just because the people whom live in them can't afford high rents.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 1:45 PM

I used to live in a 160 ft studio in PLG for a rent-stabilized sum of $500/month. It was overrun with roaches and mice (one time I caught 3 mice in one day) and the front door to the building never closed or locked properly. The best part was a handwritten sign the super put on the front door one day: "LAST NIGHT THERE WAS A NAKED MAN IN THE BUILDING DOING THE NASTY. PLEASE CLOSE THE FRONT DOOR BEHIND YOU." Well, maybe if the door actually locked when we closed it, this could be prevented.

I lived there to make it on my meager salary, and whenever I got fed up with the place I'd tell myself, "I'm paying $500." So while I appreciate how all you commenters pointed out the couple's probable low rent, this rationale just doesn't cut it. Since when does not having enough money to live in a luxury condo in Manhattan make it okay for a person to live among feces? And I disagree with the lot of you--the couple in 10 Midwood does not have any control over their pooping and pissing neighbors. What kind of leverage do they have? Only the landlord has any kind of power to work with here, and it is their responsibility to keep up the building.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 1:59 PM

12:55 here. I may have not been clear, but I meant to say that the management, ie the super, as well as the landlord, is responsible for cleaning up. I'm in no way excusing tenants who are pigs or worse, but at the end of the day, the landlord is responsible. I'm a landlord, albeit only 2 tanants, but the responsibilities for cleaning up trash or worse, fall to me, like it or not.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 2:24 PM

Yeah, but this guy goes beyond complaining about the building. He has attacked a parade simply because there was gargage left behind it. I mean get a grip!

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 2:26 PM

This guy is totally off base here. If you move into a nabe like PLG, you should expect to live amidst grime and human waste. It's incredible how naive some people are.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 2:40 PM

Of course the LL has the responsibility of cleaning up the mess.

BUT

you can only clean up so often (based on the blog it seems like it is being done daily - and then new stuff is deposited).

At some point if the LL/management is cleaning up daily and constantly fixing the locks (tenants often break or prop them open to allow people w/out keys easy access) then it sint fair to call the LL a slumlord?

If your LL gives no heat or hot water and/or doesnt fix repairs timely or clean the halls regularly then sure you can call the LL a slumlord but if the management is doing what he/she is supposed to and instead the problem is abusive, disgusting tenants - then it is ridiculous to call the LL names.

This blog (pictures show 'new' filth surrounded by relatively clean halls/common areas), clearly doesnt justify calling LL names - and certainly based on the regularity of the filth - points to horrendous neighbors.

Now no one should have to live with that - and the blogger can move (and no court will force you to pay LL lost rent) - but w/o more information/evidence (what is LL response, how often are the halls cleaned, are the locks broken or simply being proped open by tenants, how often are repairs made, etc, etc) I think condemning the LL in this public way is shameful. This is not a matter of pro-LL or pro-tenant; its a matter of decency. For all we know this LL is working constantly to clean up/fix up the building and is being thwarted by a deranged/filthy/abusive tenant (there are many and the law does NOT give LL much power against them)

The 'power' to blog is wonderful, but just like with regualr 'journalism' it is easy to paint a distorted picture of reality - remember this same blogger seems to be pretty hostile overall (see comments regarding West Indian Day parade)

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 3:41 PM

PLG is a ghetto and many of the buildings there are gross. I teach nearby and looked at many many apts and returned at all times of day and it came down to the fact that there was no way I was walking my dog at 10pm alone... I appreciate what a lot of the neighbors in those parts are going through but it will only change when the section 8 gets kicked out (which sucks for the section 8'rs) or local residents start to care (and we're not talking about the PLUS people).

Also from the mouths of babes -
Me to students - I'm trying to move to be closer to school. I'm looking at a place on Ocean Ave and Parkside. What do you think?
Student - Ms that is bad! We moved to bed stuy from there.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 5:56 PM

PLG's buildings do seem to have there fair share of problems.
http://163ocean.blogspot.com/

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 5:58 PM

If rent control/stabilization in NYC were abolished, and the eviction laws were changed to be more more like those in other states, bad tenants could be evicted, rents could be raised to market levels, and buildings would be maintained much better for the simple reason that landlords would profit by doing so.

I'm a landlord with several buildings. While I keep the buildings clean, and have picked up shit from the hallways a few times myself, I purposely do not make the public areas especially attractive. Half of my tenants are rent stabilized or rent controled and pay absurdly low rents. There's no incentive for me to make the buildings nicer for them. When they're all dead and gone, I'm sure my heirs will renovated the hallways and that's fine with me.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 9:36 PM

this guy has GOT TO BE KIDDING. this is NYC, is it not? if he can't afford a decent place, well, then, this is what he'll get.

UNLESS, of course, he moves. sunnyside, ridgewood, oh, forget it, there are hundreds of neighborhoods in queens and brooklyn.

finally, if he thinks that place is dirty, i suggest that he take himself on a three hour tour and check out the rest of the hood.

oh, brudder.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 10:26 PM

I don't care if the apartment was free and I couldnt afford to live elsewhere,I couldnt just stand by and live under these conditions.Totally unacceptable.I would have to bring attention to the matter somehow,by calling the media,newspapers,..Help me Howard, Shame on you..311...housing complaints..I would get somebodys attention. There has to be some legal recourse. This is a definite quality of life issue.Who has to live like this because the rent is low or they cant afford anything better for now?What kind of pig allows their pet to piss and crap in the place they call their home?How pathetic and sad. I wish them well in their efforts.

Posted by: guest at September 6, 2007 11:10 PM

Why should the landlord have to clean up dog shit from the hallways?

Pet laws in NYC need to be changed to landlords can forbid pets from residential apartment buildings.

As they stand, landlords who don't start evicition cases against tenants within three months of knowing of pets can't do anything more about it.

I personally have tenants with dogs that, believe it or not, on occasion shit in the public hallways and there's nothing I can do except have the shit cleaned up.

NYC tenant/landlord laws must be changed. These laws are absurd!

Posted by: guest at September 7, 2007 7:32 AM

the most dangerous and noisy thing about plg is the swarms of eight and nine-year-olds on bicycles ---> many of them are cannibals and carry automatic weapons and pee where they are not supposed to

Posted by: guest at September 12, 2007 4:08 PM

This is Besen Associates/NYC Management -- the same owner as 50 Lincoln Rd., 64 Lincoln Rd., and 2121 Beekman Court. They are based in Manhattan at 381 Park Ave South. My former company used to list their apartments until too many of the tenants we'd put in there moved out because of crime, filth, management bookkeeping errors, or a combination of the three.

The buildings are getting somewhat better, but, in the case of 50 Lincoln Rd at least, the super was in league with the various drug dealers who lived there and kept abbetting the breaking of the front door to make it easier for clients to access their dealers.

I understand management being a bit overwhelmed by all the problems of these buildings, but then to want to attract new tenants and then treat them like crap by not providing appliances, etc., as promised is counter-productive. My ex-company had to find new apartments (at no charge) to two former tenants and several others just moved out on their own. One woman was taken to court by NYC Management, who claimed she was in arrears on her rent -- she of course was able to produce all her cancelled checks, and it turned out that "someone" had been crediting her payments to another apartment, the tenants of which had not been paying rent.

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 1:19 PM