Bronx Tenants Who Waited 9 Months to Get Their Gas Back Now Take Their Landlord to Court to Demand Repairs

April 18, 2018, Bronx, NY: Tenants of 1414 and 1416 Walton gathered outside of Bronx Housing Court to demand repairs and improved building services on the first court date in a repairs case against their landlord. With support from Bronx Legal Services and Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), tenants filed a repairs case against their landlord in Bronx Housing Court after years of building-wide neglect left them living with serious conditions, including damaged floors and walls, chronic leaks, rats, mice and cockroaches, and inconsistent heat and hot water. The extent of the building-wide neglect became clear in July 2017, when a reported gas leak led to a gas shut off in the entire building, leaving tenants without gas for almost 9 months.

“In the past things were much nicer, we could call them or visit the office and they would attend to us, but now with this new management they ignore us and conditions have gotten much worse, and because of this neglect we had to live almost a year without gas.”
– Eugenia Verás, tenant of 1414 Walton Avenue

“It was very hard to not have gas that whole time. We can’t prepare our own food, or invite our family over for Thanksgiving, or Christmas, not even Easter. Because of this we feel we are up  against the wall.”
– Ramón Dominguez, tenant of 1416 Walton Avenue

Gas was not restored to all tenants in the building until April 2018, less than a week before tenants were due in court. Tenants are frustrated at the lack of communication and accommodations they received during the shutoff, as well as their landlord’s failure to address all of the other dangerous conditions. Tenants’ efforts to communicate with their landlord, Nelvon Holding LTD, yielded few results and in fact conditions in the building worsened – the building’s housing code violations almost doubled since mid-2017 when the gas was shut off. There are now 182 open housing code violations in the building including 39 immediately hazardous class C violations. Even tenants who did receive some repairs during the past year were only given superficial repairs that did not address the underlying conditions, forcing them to repeatedly request the same repairs month after month.

“Even though we now have gas, we know the original problem, that the landlord doesn’t respond to our complaints, is still happening. So this time it was the gas, but what will it be next time? That’s why we need repairs now!”
– Glenny Estrella, tenant of 1414 Walton Avenue

Representing the tenants in their repairs case is Bronx Legal Services, whose work in the building is funded by the City’s Anti-Harassment and Tenant Protection program:

“We hope tenants across the Bronx and New York City see the example of 1414 and 1416 Walton Avenue tenants and step forward to hold their own landlords accountable because, unfortunately, this is not a unique story. Across low-income communities, in particular communities of color, landlords neglect their responsibilities to tenants. But a tenant’s right to a safe and habitable apartment does not depend on how much rent they pay,” commented Johana Ocana, Staff Attorney at Bronx Legal Services.

Many tenants involved in the case have lived in the neighborhood for decades and recognize that the problems they face in their building are the same as those experienced by rent stabilized tenants across the Bronx and city-wide. At the rally tenants spoke passionately about their connection to the building and its surrounding community, and their determination to continue fighting to stay in their homes and live in dignity and respect.

“I’m here to get justice, but not just for me, for everyone in the building. I’ve been here for ten years but there are some who have been here much longer and they’ve been fighting the whole time; fighting for their rights. And it’s not just us, we’re not alone, many of our neighbors have the same fight with their landlord”
– Margaret Carreras, tenant of 1414 Walton Avenue

“We just want repairs, to the bathroom, the floors, all of it, and that they give us the benefits we deserve as tenants. It feels like the landlord doesn’t care about us, he only wants money”
– Leonida Zapata, tenant of 1414 Walton Avenue

ABOUT BRONX LEGAL SERVICES
Bronx Legal Services, a program of Legal Services NYC, fights poverty and seeks racial, social, and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For nearly 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustice and helped clients meet basic needs for housing, access to high-quality education, health care, family stability, and income and economic security. Legal Services NYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country, with neighborhood-based offices across all five boroughs helping more than 100,000 New Yorkers annually. Bronx Legal Services work with the tenants of 1414 and 1416 Walton Avenue, is funded by NYC Human Resources Administration’s Anti-Harassment and Tenant Protection program

ABOUT NEW SETTLEMENT APARTMENTS’ COMMUNITY ACTION FOR SAFE APARTMENTS (CASA)
Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) is New Settlement Apartments’ housing organizing initiative. CASA is made up of community residents in our densely populated and underserved area of the Southwest Bronx who work together to build our knowledge and leadership to improve the living conditions in our neighborhood and maintain affordable housing through collective action. CASA’s multifaceted work combines building-specific tenant organizing, neighborhood-based campaigns, tenants’ rights workshops, legal clinics, monthly community meetings and a leadership development program. CASA also heavily participates in the work of other coalitions that advocate for legislation to preserve affordable housing and better protect tenants.