Court Grants Tenants’ Calls for Takeover From Crown Heights ‘Slumlord’
A Brooklyn Housing Court judge removed the owner of 567 St. John’s Place in Crown Heights from managing the eight-unit building after he failed to address hundreds of safety violations, according to tenants group Crown Heights Tenants Union.
The eight-unit building at 567 St. Johns Place in Crown Heights. Image via Google Maps
A Brooklyn Housing Court judge removed the owner of 567 St. John’s Place in Crown Heights from managing the eight-unit building after he failed to address hundreds of safety violations and complaints and allegedly harassed and intimidated tenants, according to tenants group Crown Heights Tenants Union.
Renters in the building have long called for the removal of Gerald Tema as both the building manager and owner, and tenants in six of the eight units filed a 7A complaint against him in June 2021. A 7A complaint allows the courts to appoint an administrator to manage a building if dangerous conditions are able to exist for more than five days.
Today, the housing court ruled in the tenants’ favor, requiring Tema’s removal by July 14 and the appointment of a new administrator to oversee the management of the property, according to an Instagram post by Crown Heights Tenants Union. Brownstoner reached out to the courts for confirmation and to the owner for comment but has not yet heard back.
In the 7A complaint, tenants say conditions dangerous to life, health and safety had existed in
their apartments and in the common areas for months, including rat, mice and bedbug infestations, mold, collapsing ceilings, a defective staircase, lead-based paint hazards and more.
The tenants union has previously called Tema a “slumlord” for refusing to fix the building and allegedly going door to door unannounced on Sunday nights demeaning tenants, demanding rent and refusing repairs. In April, CHTU staged a rally outside the building with occupants of the building. During the rally, tenants said urgent action was needed to address pests, plumbing issues, mold and other dangerous conditions they said Tema had neglected.
The building has racked up 426 open violations, according to HPD records, the latest dated June 19 with a tenant complaining about a collapsing wall.
In April, an HPD rep told Gothamist the department supports the tenants seeking a 7A administrator for the building, adding it had been issuing appropriate violations for emergency repairs as needed. The rep added HPD had been “working to perform emergency repairs to address any immediate hazards to the tenants’ health and safety, including lead-based paint and window guard conditions.”
Meanwhile, Tema, who bought the building in 2008 and owns another three-unit building in Canarsie, told Gothamist he was struggling to make repairs to the building due to tenants not paying rent, but said he was fixing issues as he could.
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