Rent-Striking Tenants Should Stay In E Village Homes, AG Says

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Rent-striking tenants protesting lack of heat and rat infestations in their East Village building have enrolled a powerful ally in their fight to keep their rent-regulated homes.

Attorney General Letitia James, together with city and state agencies, is intervening in an ongoing federal bankruptcy court case to prevent the tenants of 444 East 13th St. from being kicked out.

They have been withholding rent for months due to inadequate heat, broken or defective plumbing, garbage in the hallway and rodents — something the tenants can legally do if the landlord refuses to make repairs, according to the AG's office.

Their landlord Raphael Toledano — a controversial figure who bought up a portfolio of East Village buildings in his mid-20s, many of which were later foreclosed — previously filed for bankruptcy on the building.

But now, James, New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer have filed a motion saying Toledano is using bankruptcy court as a way to deny tenants their rent-regulated rents.

The building's owner is attempting to reject the rent-stabilized leases for the tenants, the AG's office says. The building had 16 rent-stabilized units in 2016, per the AG's office.

"Bankruptcy Court should not be used as a tool to unjustly oust rent-stabilized New Yorkers from their homes," James said in a statement. "In filing this motion, my office is working to ensure that the tenants are not displaced. Housing is a right, and we will continue to use every legal tool available to stand up for tenants and to enforce their rights."

The owner's attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment.

Back in 2015, tenants at 444 East 13th St. went to court against the landlord with audio and video revealing conversations with building management intended to intimidate them into moving out, the New York Times reported at the time. Toledano ultimately settled for more than $1 million to settle harassment claims, The Real Deal reported.

In 2016, Toledano once held an ice-cream social for tenants to appease them while the apartments lacked cooking gas. Advocates say tenants have been exposed to lead during gut renovations in his buildings — a pattern seen across various landlords in the East Village and Lower East Side.

"The owner of 444 East 13th St. has spent years illegally harassing the tenants living in these rent-stabilized apartments, and this legal maneuver is just the latest shady tactic to remove these long-time New Yorkers from their homes," Councilmember Carlina Rivera said in a statement. "Bad actors across New York need to be put on notice — our government is in the business of protecting and expanding rent-regulated apartments, and I certainly will not sit idly by while harassment takes place in my District.”

Tenants rights' and housing organization Good Old Lower East Side's executive director Damaris Reyes said in a statement, "We won't stand for this egregious attempt to manipulate the law and push tenants out of the homes that they’ve lived in for decades."

"The affordability crisis is a threat to our communities, and we stand by the tenants at 444 East 13th Street," Reyes said.