Roaches, Bed Bugs And Rats Plague Rent-Stabilzed BK Buildings

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Tenants of roach-infested, rat-ridden Brooklyn homes have united to demand the city appoint a trustee to take over buildings run by a nonprofit, according to the Legal Services NYC's Tenant Rights Coalition.

Residents of 12 rent-stabilized Brooklyn buildings went to Bankruptcy Court Wednesday morning to testify against the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation, the nonprofit they blame for decades of foul conditions in their homes.

“There are rats as big as cats,” said tenant Debra King, 58. “Cats can’t kill them.”

The nonprofit's three management companies — Park Monroe HDFC, Northeast Brooklyn Partnership LP, and 984-988 Green Avenue HDFC — were supposed to maintain their buildings in Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Brownsville and Crown Heights, residents said.

But tenants report the companies did little as their ceilings collapsed, mold traveled up the walls, rats scurried along the floors, roaches scuttled through the pipes and bed bugs nestled in their belongings.

Latoya Wiggins, 40, lives at 257 Mother Gaston Boulevard, her home of 25 years, with her adult son and an 11-year-old daughter who thinks her chronic breathing problems are normal, and not the cause of dank mold that surrounds her.

“We can’t touch the walls ... she’s constantly sick,” said Wiggins. “And if I didn’t have a cat, the rats would take over.”

Wiggins said she’s repeatedly reported issues and taken days off work to let in repair workers who never came, only to find notices days later that the worker “wasn’t granted access.”

“There’s no empathy,” she said.

Residents also report broken doors that meant anyone could wander into their buildings, blocked fire exits and lead paint.

Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation CEO Jeffery Dunston was named Second Worst Landlord in New York City by the Public Advocate's office in 2018, and its three management companies have racked up more than 850 housing violations, according to the Legal Services NYC's Tenant Rights Coalition.

The tenants' plea for oversight comes months after the city foreclosed on the 12 buildings — 671 Halsey St. and 984 Greene Ave. in Bed-Stuy; 1350 Park Place in Crown Heights; 180 Grafton St., 477 Saratoga Ave., 249-251 and 257 Mother Gaston Boulevard in Brownsville; and 399 and 403 Kosciuszko St. in Bushwick — for the companies’ failure to pay its Housing Preservation and Development-backed mortgages, according to the Legal Services NYC's Tenant Rights Coalition.

The nonprofit’s management companies filed for bankruptcy in February, halting the foreclosure case and other claims, such as tenants requests for repairs, according to the Legal Services NYC's Tenant Rights Coalition.

Tenants’ attorneys are asking the bankruptcy judge overseeing the case to appoint a trustee to manage the buildings and lift the stay preventing tenants from pursuing the conditions cases they filed in housing court earlier this year.

“It’s stalled [the tenants’] ability to move forward on requesting their rights,” said Samar Katnani of Legal Services NYC's Tenant Rights Coalition.

Wiggins added that, despite the poor conditions, she loves her home where she’s raised her kids and thinks of her family as neighbors. She’d like to see the building owners treat her home they way she thinks they treat their own.

“They don’t live like this,” she said. “Why should we?”

Patch reached out to NEBHDCO for comment and will update this story upon response.

Corrections: This story was updated to reflect the apartments were not rent-controlled but rent stabilized and that Legal Services, not Legal Aid, is representing the tenants.