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February 6, 2008
DOB, FDNY Deliver Bad News to 475 Kent Tenants
After two frustrating weeks, tenants of 475 Kent Avenue finally got to sit down with representatives from the Department of Buildings and the Fire Department on Monday night. And the news wasn't good. To recap: The FDNY ordered the 200-some-odd tenants out last month after a routine inspection of a street-level pipe led to the discovery of an illegal matzo factory being run in the basement by the landlord and assorted other safety violations. On Monday, with the immediate hazard of the basement remedied, the FDNY presented tenants with an extensive punch list of items that have to be brought up to code before anyone is allowed to move back in. According to Councilmember David Yassky, the list would likely take several months to complete, and that's assuming cooperation from the landlord, a big assumption given the value of the building (which is zoned residential but lacks the proper certificate of occupancy) as a potential condo conversion if he were permanently rid of his tenants. "The agencies are setting an alarming and dangerous precedent by keeping residents of 475 Kent out on these relatively small remaining infractions which I imagine many buildings in New York City also have," Yassky said. One idea floated by Yassky is for HPD to exercise its right to make building repairs when derelict landlords refuse to do so. It's unclear whether the necessary political will exists at the city level, so for the time being it appears that 475 Kent's tenants aren’t going allowed back into their old homes anytime soon.
475 Kent Avenue: How It All Began [Brownstoner]
Big Showing From Pols at 475 Kent Vigil [Brownstoner]
Closing Bell: Moving Out at 475 Kent Avenue [Brownstoner]
‘Commune of Creative Types’ in the Burg is Emptied Out [Brownstoner] GMAP
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Comments
Hopefully one of the items on the punch list is to get rid of those horrible white windows.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:37 AM
Actually, 10:37, if I recall correctly, those are the replacement windows installed around the time the building "went residential," possibly paid for by the tenants themselves.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:41 AM
Don't they know that white is not an option in Brooklyn. DON'T THEY KNOW!!
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:45 AM
Good grief. Hundreds of people may lose their homes and someone gripes about the "horrible" windows. Ugh.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:47 AM
this story is like obama to me -- it should fire me up, but it doesn't, and i want to feel guilty about that, but i don't.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:52 AM
It's a "joke," 10:47, a running riff on certain preservation ideas posted on the 'stoner.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 10:52 AM
It was pretty funny too. Spit coffee all over desk...
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:07 AM
I'm sure this is a true nightmare for the tenants, but I really have to laugh. An illegal matzo factory in the basement? The genius of that is just beyond description! How do people think these things up, and then, not just chuckle about what a funny idea that is, but to actually go and do it, get busted, and force 200 people out on the street? Someone should write an opera about it...
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:08 AM
The folks who lived here should just forget about this building and move on with their lives, poorer but wiser.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:23 AM
its called "rent"
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:23 AM
But, seriously I feel bad for all these renters. I think the city should take the building away from the owner and give it to the renters. If the owner isn't responsible enough to own a building then they should take it away from him. The renters will take care of the punch list and move back in. Simple, done. No one looses but the looser owner who deserves to loose. Give him a piece of matzo and send him on his way.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:37 AM
is 11:37 a great-grandchild of Karl Marx?
Great idea there. Treat private property like a party favor.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 11:50 AM
so this was like winning lotto for the building owners who can now sell a cleared building to a condo developer?
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 12:03 PM
i'm with 11:37 to a degree (the idea is delightful but also sets its own bad precedents)... there was nothing to prevent the landlord to get away with what he did for so long! or, rather, there was no enforcement of any guidelines to prevent this sort of thing from happening. there really should be penalties, and if that means revoking one's ownership privileges, so be it! there must be some way to establish a middle ground. i'm tired of reading about all these josh guttman style landlords. and quite frankly, i'd like to see some heads roll on the DOB's end as well.
look, you buy a building that's landmarked, for example, it's yours and you can do pretty much what you want to it, but LPC does have a say. it's theoretically the same with any property in the city... DOB does have a say. DOB needs to be held more accountable for being proactive and not reactive in these situations.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 12:08 PM
"The agencies are setting an alarming and dangerous precedent by keeping residents of 475 Kent out on these relatively small remaining infractions which I imagine many buildings in New York City also have," Yassky said.
This is gross pandering. Who made Yassky an architect, DOB inspector or FDNY inspector? That FDNY is about safety. People sometimes forget that when elementary building safeguards are ignored this can have devastating consequences in a disaster.
Yassky does everyone a great disservice by suggesting that because other buildings might have problems (he "imagines") the problems in this one should be allowed to slide. He is the one proposing the dangerous precedent, not the DOB or the FDNY. He is crazy wrong on this one, and this baldfaced pandering makes everyone who has a job dealing with building safety, fire prevention and code compliance that much harder.
What a quack.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 12:18 PM
There is nothing new to this story. Every building in DUMBO went through its artist abatement phase. It's part of the legal conversion process. The twist here was the matzo factory sideline, which is pretty cute. Unfortunately for the occupants, NYFD did not "passover" their house.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 12:27 PM
Seriously, what a boon to the landlord--that just seems unfair. Allow an illegal matzoh factory in your basement. Endanger the lives of all your tenants and possibly even some neighbors. Then, get your pesky long-term tenants kicked out because of your matzoh factory, and your building is primed and ready for a developer to swoop in and do a condo conversion. Maybe god really is listening to all that praying!
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 1:12 PM
the tenants are total assholes. self entitled schmucks. they break the law, give money to a crooked landlord, and then instead of hiding shamefully in a corner, they have their hands out.
horrible people. yassky is an ass too.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 2:27 PM
You do understand, 2:27, that it was the landlord who actually broke the law by renting commercial/manufacturing units to residential tenants.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 4:07 PM
"You do understand, 2:27, that it was the landlord who actually broke the law by renting commercial/manufacturing units to residential tenants."
The landlord broke the law, with an assist form the tenants. Don't tell me they didn't know what kind of building (illegal warehouse conversion)they were moving into. BOTH the landlord and tenants are wrong.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 4:47 PM
The landlord is totally at fault here. Unfortunately, I still don't think that should me the tenants get to go back. I hope the landlord gets fined so much that a condo conversion loses its appeal, because he doesn't deserve to be rewarded for his behavior.
Posted by: rjlovie at February 6, 2008 4:50 PM
I agree with 11:37. Let the people back in their homes, get rid of the landlord and let the tenants live in peace.
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 5:23 PM
landlords are bad people. Artists are good people (and some of them are damn sexy). Damn the landlord! Give the artists the deed of property. Make matzoh, make love, live cheap. Yeah baby!!!
This is the dawning of the age of aquarius.....y'know, etc....
Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 6:37 PM
this landlord is a Brach. Remember his brother Mendel?? as in the famous Finger building, Bed stuy condos with no C of O's?????? Who says there isn't a conspiracy. Nothing surprises me. These are not good landlords.
Posted by: guest at February 7, 2008 8:15 PM
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