On Tuesday, local elected officials joined tenants in a Brooklyn building where all face eviction or a significant rent increase at the end of the year.
These Cobble Hill Brooklyn residents are afraid of how their rental situation might change later this year.
“I had to leave New York for real. I can’t even think about it because I get depressed,” says John Leyva, a tenant in the building.
They live at 63 Tiffany Place. The property was in a 30-year agreement with the State keeping the more than 70 units in the building as affordable housing.
That agreement will expire at the end of this year.
And the landlord, Irving Langer, hasn’t renewed the lease, which means these tenants are facing eviction or significantly higher rents.
Many like John have lived here for close to three decades.
“Many of the people here also moved in ’94 when the building opened and people who were between 30, 40 and 50 years old are now 60, 70, 80, and we even have a 90-year-old couple. And where are they going? We must not throw these people out on the street, now it is a crime”.
This group says that the landlord is known for evicting tenants. The Public Defenders office has named him several times on its annual list of worst landlords.
“We are asking and demanding that the owner Irving Langer extend him and negotiate with the City so that the affordability of this building can be extended for these tenants,” says Carlos Calzadilla-Palacio, district director for Senator Gounardes’ office.
Leyva pays about $1,400 in rent, much lower than the neighborhood median of about $4,000.
He and elected officials say those who have lived here for decades have brought value to the community and will not be ousted without a fight.
“That building did not exist. The other building did not exist. After we moved, that’s all of us, we are part of the community factory and we have -you know- helped here, we have paid the rent on time due to pandemics of everything and everything and it is a crime to tell them now ok, now they have to go,” adds John Leyva.
We have contacted the owner, but have not received a response yet.
2023-07-26 15:41:00
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