Tenants in a building in Harlem, New York, where a fatal fire killed three people last November, sued their landlord and property manager for failing to begin repairs to the building.
The Tenants, who also announced a rent strike, are organized by Tenants & Neighbors and is represented by the Manhattan Legal Services’ Tenant Rights Coalition, according to a press release.
Three people died and several families were displaced throughout the building with 49 units in the fire on November 19, 2021 in Harlem. In addition, tenants in 10 units continue to be displaced at their own expense, while also paying rent and others in the building living in the midst of dangerous fire damage, Legal Services NYC claims.
According to the lawsuit, the fire caused extensive structural damage to the building, which is managed by Manhattanville Holdings LLC. The city’s Department of Buildings and the Department of Home Preservation and Development issued repair and eviction orders for the building, considering some of the apartments in the building “unsafe and uninhabitable.”
In the lawsuit, tenants claimed some fire alarms, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in common areas, and the individual apartments did not work and failed to warn residents about smoke in the building.
The landlord, David Israel and Manhattanville Holdings, claims the lawsuit has “repeatedly” failed to rectify dangerous violations of city rules within the required time frame. Some violations were openly or repeatedly issued for several years, many since as early as 2015, the lawsuit claims.
In this screenshot from a video, emergency vehicles are shown in a fire in a building of 1833 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. in New York on November 18, 2020.
ABC News
Manhattanville Holdings and Israel could not be reached for comment.
Other bad conditions in the building include a broken elevator, water and fire damage, a leaky roof, broken windows and light fixtures, soot from the fire in the walls and ceilings, mold and rodent infestation, Legal Services NYC allegedly claims.
“Tenants are tired of waiting for their landlord to do the right thing and make repairs, so today they are announcing a rent strike and suing their landlord with a request for a court order on repair, relocation and storage costs for displaced tenants, as well as harassment damage. , among other claims, “said Rakhil Tilyayeva, a lawyer with the Manhattan Legal Services ‘Tenants’ Rights Coalition, in a statement.
Tilyayeva said tenants are legally entitled to withhold and override rental payments until repairs and essential services are provided.
“There are over a hundred HPD violations in the building, some of which have not been rectified since they were issued immediately after the fire, and others that have been open for years. Many of these violations relate to fire safety requirements that we believe have contributed to it. deadly fire that occurred in November 2021, “Tilyayeva said.
Tenants claim that their landlord’s long history of failing to comply with fire safety and home maintenance regulations contributed to the spread and severity of the November fire, according to the complaint.
Tenants claim there were defective fire doors, unusable or missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in units and hallways, defective or blocked fire ladders, defective fire windows, flammable material stored by the gas meter and lack of fire retardant material throughout the building, according to the trial.
Despite the landlord promising tenants that they will be required to apply for city permits, make repairs and establish better communication with them in late February, management has not yet begun construction, Legal Services NYC said.
The tenants said some have been displaced for almost seven months and were forced to find housing on their own. Some of the tenants claimed they were staying in shelters temporarily, according to NYC’s legal services.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, but tenants said conditions in the building contributed to its spread and have teamed up to pressure their landlord to repair the damage to the building, according to NYC Legal Services.
A tenant said they told the building manager that they had nowhere to go after just moving across the country, but the building manager said they should talk to the American Red Cross.
“I stayed one night in a hotel that the Red Cross could afford, and then two weeks in a shelter with other displaced people until I found a more permanent place to stay. No one from the management ever reached out to me again, except at the first in every month when I find a rent claim stuck in the door frame of my unit that remains uninhabitable, “said Oaklin Davis, a displaced tenant and board secretary of the tenants’ association, in a statement.
“The last note I received from management was a contract to renew my lease with a 1.5% increase in the monthly rate,” Davis said.
The NYC Law Department and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
