Madison Street Tenants Living in Hazardous Conditions Demand Justice

March 22, 2016, NEW YORK—Elderly tenants at 211 Madison Street will appear in Housing Court on Thursday to demand justice from their landlord, who performed illegal construction, made unsolicited buyout offers, and failed to restore the building’s cooking gas in an effort to force the tenants to give up their tenancy rights. The tenants are represented by Legal Services NYC’s Manhattan program and Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE).

(Photo: 211 Madison Street—via Google Maps)

Press Coverage: DNAinfo.com (Chinese language) Apple Daily

The majority of tenants at 211 Madison are elderly (four of the 11 plaintiffs are 80 or older) and on a fixed income, and many have lived in the building for 20 years or more. Most are limited English proficient, and live alone. Their cooking gas has been shut off since early December due to their landlord’s numerous Department of Buildings violations, including electrical work without a permit and “unapproved/unsafe/unsuitable electrical equipment or wiring.” Rather than rectify the problem, landlord Silverstone Property Group provided hot plates, which are costly to use and create unnecessary hazards. In addition, the landlord has failed to do anything to deal with the building’s roach, mouse, rat and vermin infestations, and has blocked access to the building’s rear ground floor fire escape. Construction dust, dirt, and debris entered the tenants’ apartments throughout the entire time the landlord was doing construction at the building, further threatening their health.

“For the past three months, our cooking gas has been shut off,” said Ms. Yuk Lin Chan, who is 80 years old and has resided at 211 Madison Street since 1981. “We have not been able to cook. Last month, I could not properly celebrate Lunar New Year, which is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. I could not prepare a proper meal because we could not use our stove. The hot plate the landlord provided us with is a fire hazard and does not heat food hot enough. I cannot afford to eat out every day on my fixed income. Also, takeout food is not good for my health. It is my right to have my cooking gas restored.”

Asian Americans for Equality organized the tenants of 211 Madison Street and has been working with them closely for the past year. AAFE’s Executive Director, Christopher Kui said, “AAFE is committed to preserving affordable housing by working with tenants to ensure they are not forced to live without essential services, such as cooking gas. We are worried about the recent epidemic of buildings across New York City that are without essential services, such as heat, hot water or cooking gas. The delay in restoring these essential services conveniently becomes a tactic to force long-term, rent-protected New Yorkers to leave their homes. Gas outages disproportionately penalize working families with children and the elderly because they simply cannot afford to eat out every day. We are proud to stand with the members of the 211 Madison Street Tenants Association—the majority of which are long-term, elderly tenants—to fight to have their cooking gas restored after three long months without it.”

“Silverstone Property Group’s actions, which ultimately led to the shutting off of essential services, are clear harassment tactics prohibited by the New York City Administrative Code,” said Larry Leung, Staff Attorney at Manhattan Legal Services. “The elderly tenants at 211 Madison Street gave ample opportunity for the landlord to rectify the lack of essential services. We now file this group HP action in Housing Court to stand up against Silverstone Property Group’s harassment and to force the Silverstone Property Group to restore essential services.”

“I stand with the elderly tenants of 211 Madison as they fight in court for their rights,” said Councilmember Margaret Chin. “And while I hope that the judge will give these tenants the justice they deserve, this case should never have come this far. The fact that this landlord continues to deny tenants essential services like cooking gas, while providing hot plates that pose a serious safety risk, is another example of the greed that is fueling the epidemic of harassment plaguing low-income residents of buildings throughout our City. Cooking gas, heat, and hot water are not luxuries. Housing, with essential services, is a human right that must be recognized.”

The case seeking to get the housing standard violations rectified—including restoration of the cooking gas—is scheduled for Thursday, March 24 at 9:30 AM in Room 1166 at Manhattan Housing Court.

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Contact: Kate Whalen, 646-442-3654, kwhalen (at) legalservicesnyc.org