City Tries to Force Repairs at Decaying Buildings
Housing officials are trying to force some of the worst landlords in the city to repair their buildings. As part of a new program rolled out this year, HPD identified 200 buildings that have the most serious housing violations—132 of them in Brooklyn—and has given owners four months to bring their properties up to code….
Housing officials are trying to force some of the worst landlords in the city to repair their buildings. As part of a new program rolled out this year, HPD identified 200 buildings that have the most serious housing violations—132 of them in Brooklyn—and has given owners four months to bring their properties up to code. If the landlords don’t make the fixes, the city says it’s going to bring in its own contractors to make repairs and then charge landlords for the work. The Times visited some of the buildings that made the worst-of list and found problems ranging from faulty electrical connections to rodent infestation. A tenant at a Bushwick building who has been living without a refrigerator, and that she her unit hadn’t been getting gas. It’s been hell, said the renter. Not even an animal got to live like this. Think the city’s program is going to successfully force change at buildings like this? Check out this map to see the hotspots.
200 Neglected Buildings Get 4 Months to Improve [NY Times]
Photo by Boofer Bear
Damn. Another year and I didn’t make the list with any of my buildings. What do I have to do to get some welcome recognition?
Landlord Dude
I totally agree 11:37. I worked in Bushwick for a number of years with teenagers and some of their living situations were unbelievably wretched. These buildings are run by slumlords and they need to be taken to task for the state of their buildings, fined and prosecuted if they do not keep them up to code.
Unlike the rare crumbling heaps in Park Slope and elsewhere, these buildings are full of tenants living in conditions you wouldn’t let your dog live in. It really doesn’t matter if the landlord has crappy tenants, or can’t make a profit due to rent control, or all of the other excuses. People should not live like that in the richest city in the richest country in the world. Period.
The article states that most of these landlords are no strangers to housing court or to getting citations, so this really isn’t a case of some small time schlub being caught between a rock and a hard place. It’s just greed. Especially for the ones hiding behind LLC’s and straw corporations. I hope the city puts some teeth behind the public outcry.
That trick with the coffee mug works great on a leaking radiator! Nice placement of bucket spout in a tight drip-space, too. You can also bend a foil roasting pan to form a spout.
what does the successful lawsuit entail?
i walked by that place on 7th on saturday and was just horrified with how bad it’s gotten.
it almost looks unsalvagable at this point…
Speaking of deteriorated hazard buildings –
and one discussed on Brownstoner earlier this year –
Did you miss the ‘successful’ lawsuit judgement (I think about a week ago) against the (eccentric)owner of the building on 7th Avenue and 2nd(?) street in PS – for falling debris from that mess?
A tenant at a Bushwick building who has been living without a refrigerator, {and that she her unit hadn’t been}(sic) getting gas.
proofreader
Reading this, I think this is bullshit. I’m in Boerum Hill, and I know of one building that collapsed a few years back on Wyckoff St. And there is another building on the corner of Wyckoff and Hoyt that is in horrible shape and has been for years. I guarantee there are more. The building that fell on Wyckoff between Bond & Nevins had multiple compaints against it, but the inspectors never deemed it dangerous until it fell. I know there are more siutuations like that areound the borough.
If the city wanted to do something, they’d issue steep fines, with a short timeline to resolve the situation, or take the properties.