NY1 For You: Landlord Refuses To Repair Fire-Damaged Home
May 13, 2008
Four Brooklyn families are still out of their home more than four years after it caught fire, even though it caused minimal damage. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 for You report.
From the outside, 202 Franklin Street looks perfectly fine, making it all the more frustrating for the four families still displaced from their homes by a fire which happened four years ago.
"They've been litigating with the assistance of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation since 2005 and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has also been involved in that litigation to get the landlord to actually make the repairs that he's required to make under the law," explained Jacqueline Aristry, of the St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation.
Tenants and advocates argue that the fire, which caused limited damage, should have been repaired very quickly. Instead, they say the landlord has dragged his feet in what they believe is an effort to demolish the building and permanently kick out the rent-stabilized tenants.
"If he gets them out, he can condo the building and make sure that he makes plenty of money," said Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. "We have no affordable housing left in this neighborhood. We have to fight for every single apartment of affordable housing. That's what this fight is about."
All four families say they pay over $800 more a month at their temporary apartments, but even more traumatic for the families, some of whom have lived in this building for over 30 years, is the emotional toll of losing their homes.
"It's hard because my parents, they've been living here so long, it's the only neighborhood they know," said displaced resident Efrainn Mercado. "They don't drive, so for them to move out of the neighborhood, it's horrible."
"After my marriage I came here, so I have a lot of memories here," said Rashid Siddique, another displaced resident.
In addition to being out of their homes for four years, all of the tenants' possessions are still inside.
"This is disgraceful because here you have a landlord who's flouting every rule," said Councilman David Yassky. "And, you know, the city has been in court for years now trying to force him to make these repairs. It's enough. The city now has authority to go in and make repairs in a building like this and allow the tenants to go back in, and then bill the landlord. That's what they should do here."
But according to The Department of Housing Preservation and Development, only the 200 worst cases in the city qualify, and this building is not one of them.
NY1 called the landlord of record for a comment and he hung up on us.
A spokesperson for HPD says it will be back in court at the end of June to continue the fight to save 202 Franklin.
- Susan Jhun
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May 13, 2008
NY1 For You: Landlord Refuses To Repair Fire-Damaged Home
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