Waterless in Bed Stuy
Yesterday The Brooklyn Ink published a sad story about the plight of the tenants at the small three-story apartment building at 274 Malcom X Boulevard in Bed Stuy. Last winter the 16 residents went without electricity, and last summer they had to do without water for two months. The problem was not a negligent landlord,…

Yesterday The Brooklyn Ink published a sad story about the plight of the tenants at the small three-story apartment building at 274 Malcom X Boulevard in Bed Stuy. Last winter the 16 residents went without electricity, and last summer they had to do without water for two months. The problem was not a negligent landlord, but a dead one. And a deadbeat family member who wanted to collect rent but not perform any repairs. The building residents didn’t realize for months that the landlord had died last year; when they finally figured it out and one of them tried to navigate the bureaucracy involved with getting services restored when you are not the owner, they hit a wall. It took a protest by a local with political aspirations to draw enough attention to the problem for HPD to step in a make basic repairs. Positively Kafkaesque.
Bed-Stuy’s Waterless House [The Brooklyn Ink]
“you have to wonder the thought process of these folks that they didn’t get this worked out within 24 hours”
Oh, c’mon. You call your landlord, you leave a message, you don’t hear back, you call again, you don’t hear back, you call again, that’s already three days right there. What, do you call the police fifteen minutes after your heat goes out?
It’s also difficult to get stuff done when you’re working all day- when am I going to call people and spend time on the phone trying to navigate the system? During a 1/2 hour lunchbreak? On whose phone?
Gee, wine lover, condescend and generalize much?
Consider for a moment that there are people who did not grow up with the notion that gov’t or anyone else actually serves them, or with the inherent sense of entitlement that leads them to believe they have any rights at all. Add perhaps, a language barrier, an age barrier, or a lack of higher education. Toss in a general inexperience in dealing with beaurocracy, which can happen to all of us, or there wouldn’t be a million questions on dealing with the city over on the forum, and you might get to where these people were. Ever dawn on you that if you are of a certain age, income level, and what your employment opportunities are, you may not have a computer, or know how to get information from other sources?
We are not all plonked down on this earth with equal opportunities and backgrounds. That is why special outreach opportunities are needed in our communities, so this doesn’t have to happen.
noklissa, excellent info. you have to wonder the thought process of these folks that they didn’t get this worked out within 24 hours. people this far off the grid in terms of their ability to access information through technology and problem solve and navigate life issues, are not going to ever do well.
MM and Noki, well said.
I was thinking similarly. It is shocking how completely unable some tenants are in getting even their most basic rights and needs met by anyone who gives a damn. I’m quite certain the buck was passed again and again and again in this case and that MANY people, who should damn will know better, and were in a position to get this resolved almost immediately, did nothing.
One of the resources I wish more people knew they had at their fingertips is their local state senator, council member and Assemblyperson’s constituent liaisons. These offices have a great deal of local and State power and can GET THINGS DONE quickly and efficiently for the most part. Especially when it is something like this, where habitability and safety is a huge concern. Everyone needs to know their district and who these people are for them. Should probably plug them into their phones and head to the local office to chat and be friendly every now and again. And to volunteer for a few hours a month can get you brownie points with the staff forEVER.
Disgusting story. First of all, how can the city cut off water without checking to see if people are living there? Had someone done some investigating, by simply going there, perhaps the tenants would have learned the landlord was dead months earlier, and could have petitioned the city agencies, or even politicians earlier for help.
Secondly, there has to be a better system for low income people to find out who or how to get what they need. Upscale neighborhoods have politicians, movers and shakers and the city agencies on speed dial. If Mark Winston Griffith, who I support, by the way, is successful in his bid for City Council, I hope one of his priorities is working with local non-profits, churches, even corner bodegas, in distributing flyers and pamphlets with the proper ways of everyday people going about getting the help they need, and getting the word out that there are resources out there to prevent this kind of thing from escalating. There are agencies who can help the tenants organize, and explore the possibilities of getting the building, or at least assuring that the building is properly run. This does not need to happen.
Vote for mark griffith