Downtown Manhattan boasts many coveted addresses, but some buildings have earned reputations of a different kind. 

The phrase “buyer beware” is especially relevant for those looking for a place to live in New York City, given the widely unpredictable nature of buildings and landlords, which run the gamut from good to bad, and many times even ugly.

Downtown, there are several addresses with the dubious distinction of being named to the public advocate’s Worst Landlords Watch List. One of this year’s top violators, based on information from residents as well as city agencies, is 197 Madison St.

The troubled history at 197 Madison includes both city Department of Building (DOB) complaints, which have to do with building maintenance problems, as well as Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) complaints, which address mostly poor living conditions such as pests, lack of heat, hot water problems and safety issues.

To date, the building has 13 outstanding DOB violations classified as “hazardous” safety violations which include failures to maintain exterior walls, as well as blocked exits and entrances, and other fire code violations.

The building’s owners, KL Father & Son Inc., owe thousands in fines to the city, but many of the fines have been written off as legally uncollectable.

Further highlighting the building’s problems, back in August, an emotionally disturbed tenant, armed with a knife, held the building’s landlord hostage and forced the landlord to jump out of a second-floor window to the street below. Several calls to the company’s head officer, Josephine Lo, were not returned.

Ryan Fitzgibbon, a spokesperson for the city’s DOB, said that the agency does what it can to make sure that landlords are doing the right thing. “A property owner is responsible to maintain his or her property in a safe and lawful manner at all times and that includes work being done on the property,” she said.

She added that the agency investigates all complaints it receives. Last year, DOB inspectors conducted more than 290,000 inspections and issued close to 60,000 violations, including thousands of stop-work orders.

But increasingly, complaints of illegal, after-hours construction have been prevalent downtown.
Kelly Magee, a spokesperson for Council Member Margaret Chin, has reported numerous complaints of after-hours construction at 21 Ann/113 Nassau St. as well as many other locations in the district.

Brandon Kielbasa, a housing specialist with Cooper Square Committee, an organization that works to preserve and develop affordable housing on the Lower East Side, said that some shady landlords use ongoing construction as a means to harass tenants into leaving their buildings.

“We counsel tons of tenants dealing with construction in their building. Aggressive landlords have learned that DOB will rarely catch them working after permitted hours or when using illegal and often dangerous construction methods,” Kielbasa said. “They frequently let construction run amuck in their buildings in an effort to harass rent-stabilized tenants.”

Kielbasa reported speaking with dozens of tenants who said their landlords routinely exploited DOB’s lack of enforcement to harass them and edge them toward buy-outs. He said that tenants were told about “lots of construction in the building in the next six months,” and that the building would be a “pretty difficult place to live.”

The tenants, he said, were then asked if they’d be interested in money to relocate and move on.
“Tenants call in complaints to 311 when they see violations; but DOB comes out two or three days later, after the landlord’s crew has already finished their work, and there’s nothing for the inspector to witness,” Kielbasa explained. “The complaints get dismissed.”

He added that DOB needs a means to act quickly when dealing with some landlords. “They need a mechanism like ‘Real Time Enforcement’ to keep these chronic bad actors in check. New York City tenants’ health, safety and general welfare are really at risk here.”

Councilman Dan Garodnick also expressed concern about landlords harassing tenants. “We saw landlords using a variety of means to get tenants out of their rent-stabilized apartments and there was no way for a tenant to file a lawsuit against a landlord doing this kind of thing,” he said.
He added that landlords, in their efforts, would cut off heat and hot water, break locks and otherwise make apartments uninhabitable or just very unpleasant.

In an effort to remedy the problem, Garodnick introduced the Tenant Protection Act in 2007 to defend tenants against various types of harassment from landlords. The legislation, signed into law in 2008, covers illegal construction as well as other conditions that might force a lawful tenant to consider leaving their dwelling.

Another problematic property, according to Magee, is 135 Eldridge St. by SDR Park. She said that the councilwoman has received complaints from nearby residents that “shady stuff goes on over there.”

While DOB records show there are illegally subdivided apartments at the location, including a partial vacate order for an illegal cellar apartment, the real complaints are from neighbors on the block who report a variety of unpleasant conditions.

A neighbor who lives on Eldridge Street but declined to give her name fearing backlash, said that one key problem emanating from the building is an excess of garbage that is improperly disposed of and contributes to a severe rat and rodent issue.

“The residents of 135 throw their garbage out in front of the building randomly. The amount of garbage from the building doesn’t add up to the amount of people that supposedly live there,” the woman said.

She added that the problem with the rats is exacerbated by several local food vendors who literally sell raw fish “on the sidewalk” and without any type of license or certifications from the city to sell food.

“Every night, the rats have a feast on this block,” she said.

Calling the street the “wild west,” the woman said she can’t figure out why such conditions on the street have been allowed to continue for several years despite numerous complaints to city officials and other agencies.

“People do whatever they want on the block.”

Tap Dancer Marshall Davis Jr. joins Savion Glover on stage for a special performance at the newly renovated Bernie Wohl Center inside the Goddard Riverside Community Center on April 19.

Changes Proposed to UWS Retail Rezoning

Earlier this week, the Department of City Planning proposed several modifications to the Upper West Side retail rezoning plan that is currently making its way through the Uniform Land Use Review Process. The proposal will limit the frontages of banks and restrict other retail spaces along parts of Amsterdam, Columbus and Broadway on the Upper West Side.

Many small business owners and residents as well as Community Board 7 and City Council Member Gale Brewer have praised the plan as a way to preserve mom-and-pop shops and keep big-box retailers out, while real estate groups and some BIDs have criticized the plan for limiting business and development.

The proposed changes are intended to help maintain retail diversity and give building and business owners more flexibility, streamline expansion and grant concessions to existing businesses according to a City Planning spokesperson. One of the biggest changes is the introduction of a faster certification process that would let existing businesses apply to expand frontages to 60 feet without submitting an environmental review. It would also increase the maximum residential lobby frontage from 15 feet to 25, a recommendation made by Borough President Scott Stringer, and permanently grandfather stores larger than the proposed allowable frontage, where previously they would be forced to revert to smaller spaces if vacant for two years. Also, construction projects scheduled to be completed within six months will be exempt from any new regulations passed.

Mel Wymore, a Community Board 7 member who has been supportive of the rezoning measure, said that the modifications seem fair and provide “real flexibility and accommodation for local businesses and landlords.” He said that City Planning has been “extremely responsive” to the community’s feedback. The City Planning Commission will be voting on the modifications within the next few weeks.

UWS School Goes Green

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Department of Environmental Protection announced the winners of $4.6 million in grants to community-based green infrastructure projects that aim to improve the water quality of New York Harbor by reducing combined sewer overflows. The Ascension School, at 220 W. 108th St., was awarded $245,213 to create an educational green roof and vegetable garden. The garden will not only provide a learning environment for the students but will help reduce the amount of runoff that flows into the East River watershed by absorbing rainwater.

“The Ascension School will now be able to house a state-of-the-art new green roof, reusing rainwater for growing fruits, vegetables and native plants, all while teaching our schoolchildren about local, sustainable agriculture,” said project manager Will Travers.

Each of the 11 projects that were awarded grants will help keep sewage runoff out of the harbor. When heavy storms hit the city and the sewer system exceeds its capacity, wastewater is released into the rivers in order to prevent it from backing up into buildings. The more water that is absorbed into the ground and permeable surfaces, the less overloaded the sewer systems will be, reducing the quantity and frequency of sewer overflows.

Take a Saunter Around Manhattan

Next Saturday, May 5, the Shorewalkers will hold their 27th annual Great Saunter, a 32-mile walk around the perimeter of Manhattan. Pre-registration is closed, but participants can register in person on May 5. The cost is $20 for non-members; the walk is free for members.

Registration will begin at Heartland Brewery, 93 South St. (at Fulton Street) at 7 a.m. The walk starts at 7:30 a.m. The route will take the group up the West Side, clockwise around the island, arriving back at the brewery at approximately 7 p.m. to rest weary leg muscles and toast the day’s achievement. The tour will meander through 20 parks and provide views of the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, the Palisades, each of the outer boroughs and all kinds of river sights.

There is a stop for lunch in Inwood Park around 1 p.m, with a mid-morning break at River Bank State Park at West 138th Street and a mid-afternoon break at Carl Schurz Park at East 84th Street. Participants are advised to wear comfortable shoes and clothes and bring extra socks, water, snacks and blister treatment. The walk will take place as scheduled rain or shine. Visit shorewalkers.org for information and registration forms.

‘Today’ Host Raises Funds for Breast Cancer

Last week, Today show co-host and breast cancer survivor Hoda Kotb delivered the keynote address at Beth Israel Medical Center & St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital’s Breast Service Luncheon at the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side. Her speech was followed by an exclusive fashion show by designer Zang Toi. The event, now in its 21st year, raised $600,000 to benefit breast cancer programs.

Music to Stop Violence Against Women

Classical pianist and composer Emir Gamsizoglu will give a benefit concert this Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fourth Universalist Society’s Gothic Church, 160 Central Park West. Proceeds from the performance will go to the anti-violence groups Men Can Stop Rape, the Center Against Domestic Violence and VDay’s campaign to stop violence against women in Haiti.

Gamsizoglu, who was born in Turkey, was a basketball player until an injury forced him to change his focus to music. His mother, a ballet teacher, taught him to play Chopin’s Waltz in C Sharp Minor on the piano at age 20, and he continued to study piano in Istanbul and Paris. He will be performing selections from Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofiev, as well as his own compositions. Tickets are $20 or $15 for students and seniors, available at the door.

A recently passed law by the New York State Legislature requires landlords to notify prospective tenants if there was a bed bug infestation in their building within the past year. The law is part of an effort to help eradicate the blood-sucking insects and an acknowledgement of their growing presence in the city.

But would landlords be unfairly stigmatized for having bed bugs that came from an old tenant?

Linda Rosenthal, an assembly member from the Upper West Side that wrote the law, feels that the bill is a simple disclosure law that will help those about to sign a new lease make an informed decision.

“They deserve to know the history of infestation in that apartment and in that building so they can make a choice whether they want to move in or undertake an extermination process before the move-in,” Rosenthal said of her bill.

The law requires landlords to give these tenants the bed bug notice. As of now, there’s no fine for violating the law, but Rosenthal wants to see the compliance rate before seeking penalties.

Rosenthal believes landlords will be more vigilant in fighting bed bugs if they know prospective tenants will find out.

“I also want it to be an incentive for them to ensure that apartments and buildings are properly treated for bed bugs,” she said.

This is the latest bed-bug regulation to become law. The City Council created a task force and allocated $500,000 to create a web portal with information on preventing and getting rid of bed bugs.

The Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing property owners, believes the new law unfairly targets landlords for a problem often caused by tenants.

“Why was there no requirement enacted into law that a tenant has a legal obligation to inform an owner about the presence of bed bugs?” said Mitchell Posilkin, general counsel to the Rent Stabilization Association. “All of a sudden, a landlord gets associated with having a bed bug problem that’s already been cured.”

When the Department of Homeless Services wanted to open a shelter in a West 107th Street building last February, the city was unaware of the landlord’s identity. The building’s owner was G M Canmar Residence Corporation. But the West Side Spirit used Department of Finance records to identify the owner as Mark Hersh, a notorious landlord who intimidated his tenants into moving.

Now, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents the area with the aforementioned homeless shelter, recently authored a bill that requires corporate owners of residential buildings to provide names and addresses of its principle partners. The legislation, which passed unanimously in the Council, also bans the use of P.O. boxes or mail-handling facilities as mailing addresses.

Listing corporations as a building’s owner is common among landlords. Often, a building’s owner is listed as an address with LLC tacked on. This poses a problem to tenants in multiple-dwelling buildings who may have a problem that needs to be addressed.

“Today, the New York City Council is sending a message that landlords should not be allowed to hide behind shell companies as tenants scramble to resolve housing issues,” Mark-Viverito said. “Thanks to this legislation, tenants will have access to the names and contact information of the principal partners of these corporate entities that are increasingly the owners of our city’s residential buildings.”

The bill is on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s desk, awaiting his signature or veto.