The Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit against the owners of the 1915 Billingsley Terrace building in the Bronx, which partially collapsed on December 11, 2023.
Tenants are seeking immediate repairs to more than 133 housing violations at the property, more than half of which are classified as “immediately dangerous.”
The litigation also plans to lift a partial eviction order to allow displaced tenants, many of whom have been living in homeless shelters, to return to their homes. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to force the owners to rebuild the collapsed section of the building and restore the units to their original layouts and square footage.
The lawsuit was filed against owners David Kleiner, Yonah Roth, 1915 Realty LLC and Mo Doe, along with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
Hazardous conditions include a cooking gas facility throughout the building, harmful construction dust in common areas, a general lack of building cleaning services, and infestations of cockroaches, rats and mice in common areas and within individual apartments.
Additionally, landlords have engaged in blatantly illegal behavior that has harassed and endangered tenants by forcing them to sign agreements that stipulated that problems with their apartments would be completely repaired, despite deplorable conditions, in exchange for receiving the keys. of their apartments. Some displaced tenants did not even know the conditions of the apartments before signing the agreement.
The owners have also not provided adequate security to the building. Even though the unoccupied units had supposedly been secured by the landlord, when the tenants returned to their apartments, they discovered that looters had entered the units and stolen their personal belongings. The tenants reported the looting directly to the landlord and filed numerous police reports.
Before the partial collapse in December 2023, the owners had been warned since at least 2014 that the building’s façade was “unsafe” and violated the law. A DOB filing described “cracked bricks, cracks of all kinds, loose and damaged mortar, a slightly tilted section of the terrace security wall and cracks on the interior of the wall.”
“Our clients and all tenants of 1915 Billingsley have suffered tremendously at the hands of their landlord; However, their difficulties did not begin when the building partially collapsed, but years earlier when the building’s unsafe conditions worsened,” said Zoe Kheyman, a staff attorney in Legal Aid’s Civil Practice. “Landlords must make immediate repairs so the city can lift the partial eviction order and tenants can return to their homes. While the work is being done, the owner and the city must ensure that families who have been allowed to return are not exposed to lead, dust, mold and other toxins,” Kheyman added.
Regarding the incident last year, Councilwoman Pierina Sánchez said: “Even before the building collapse in December, the residents of 1915 Billingsley Terrace had long been denied safe, healthy and stable housing. For years, residents logged what became hundreds of complaints, many of them dangerous to health and safety, such as leaks, mold, and constant heat outages. There were even active violations issued by the Department of Buildings for structural issues. Since the partial collapse and as residents have begun to reoccupy their homes, my team has received daily complaints of continued mistreatment by landlords: from being coerced to sign possibly illegal documents, to experiencing constant deficiencies in the apartments,” he mentioned. the councilor
They have suffered enough
Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia said, “The residents of 1915 Billingsley Terrace have suffered quite a bit, including robberies due to lack of security in the building and being forced to live in homeless shelters. Tragedies like this are evidence that our neighborhoods need strong tenant protections that ensure access to safe, stable housing. The Bronx has the highest number of housing violations per building in New York City, so it is critical that we continue to hold building owners and landlords accountable. “I support the Legal Aid Society’s action against the owners of 1915 Billingsley Terrace to force remediation of more than 130 housing violations.”
“Cost-cutting and landlord negligence have serious consequences, as seen in December’s disastrous collapse, the owner of which is affiliated with people on our worst landlord watch list. I thank Legal Aid for taking on this important case to support suffering tenants, and I hope not only for justice for these residents, but for a message sent to landlords across the city. Penalties must be greater than the cost of doing business; “We must hold property owners accountable for putting profits before people and allowing dangerous conditions to go unchecked,” said Ombudsman Jumaane D. Williams.
2024-02-06 20:07:34
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