The Ten Plagues of Tenant Harassment Visited by the New York Slumlord on Rent Regulated Tenants

"I DON'T MAKE NO REPAIRS UNLESS COURT TELL ME TO" SAID ROBERT CHOU

Rodents: And the little mice did abound and scurry, leaping everywhere, from stove to cupboard, eating wires and leaving tiny black droppings . And the big rats did invade the heaps of trash left on the sidewalks and stalked by night.

Darkness: And the roof did leak so badly through the overhead light that Con Edison shutteth the power off plunging the apartment into darkness for twenty- four days as The Slumlord tarried long in fixing the roof. And there was no internet or TV, naught but the window sill for refrigerator, an aged battery radio for music and news.  As the heat did fail in the polar vortex winter, the tenant was forced to beg shelter,  and to sleep on a pallet on someone’s floor. 

Cold: Little or no heat was visited upon the tenants from Fall to Winter. Sleep could be had in down overcoats under double layers of comforters, multiple blanket. It behooveth the use of  electric heaters  which blew fuses and greatly increased the Con Ed bill, as did the use of the gas oven and stove, which also did emit noxious carcinogenic fumes. 

Vermin: From huge slow-moving water bugs, to average size cockroaches, to tiny bedbugs, the insects did  invade,crawl, multiply and bite.

  

Bums in the Doorway:  Dissolute men did block the doorway or clog the vestibule,  unsavory alcoholics paid by the Slumlord to menace the entrance to our dwellings. And they did threaten the unaccompanied renters with broken glass from liquor bottles and did leave their droppings on the sidewalk for want of toilets like wild animals.

Tampering with the Mail, Stealing Keys: And the Slumlord did install new mailboxes for months on end without locks leaving the mail to be placed here and there. And he did remove a sign directing the mail to be left with a neighbor telling the mail person to leave it with him. Parcels, magazines, and letters never arrived. And the Slumlord did remove a set of the tenants keys left behind in a mailbox by accident, leaving no note,  forcing the tenant to pay a locksmith to get into her home.

The Cutting of Cables: And the Slumlord did send his manservant to cut the wires on the roof, interfering with internet and cable TV reception.

Noise and Pollution: And the Slumlord did make gut renovations in nearby apartments causing filth and dust to come through the cracks in the doors,  constant thunderous noise and the shaking of the walls. And the plaster fell, and the paint did flake, ceramics cracked as darkness and dirt settled on the walls, furniture and all fabric things. And the tenants did cough, sneeze and vomit from the poisoned air, and were forced to flee.

Intimidation: The Slumlord did visit the apartment of the tenant unannounced and unexpected at Eight in the morning , violently pounding on the door, demanding to be let in.  He did loudly berate the tenant for calling the city inspector and increasing the number of violations against him to sixty-one.  When the tenant did not cower to his bullying but threatened to call the police, he replied he would take her to court. Then,  lying that he was coming to make repairs, he entered and began collecting evidence with a digital camera.

Baseless Eviction Threats: And the Slumlord did serve upon the tenant in triplicate by post and by courier papers which asserted that she had garbage piled up from floor to ceiling and wall to wall which was a sanitation hazard for the neighbors. He made cruel demands of heavy furniture moving labor which did cause physical pain and suffering to a  small  aged woman , as well as financial loss and damage of property trying to meet the  demands. 

And the tenants did cry out unto their lawyer, « Let my people stay in their homes.’ 

And the great lawyer David Rozenholc said, « Don’t worry. » 

Large sums of buy-out money were offered, but not large enough to rent an equivalent space in Manhattan.   Real-estate brokers looked with scorn on low-income seniors and did not return their calls.

Thus the tenants now must wander in the desert of fallen plaster broken windows,  broken promises, heatless winters and  endlessly adjourned eviction cases hoping for the promised land of a safe, secure and affordable  home.

(Photos of Landlord Robert Chou and Agent Ming of Chous 3 Ds LLD by Dianora Niccolini,  other photos by Thelma Blitz, except for the roach and the cut cable which were Google image  downloads.  This story is all true, it is the combined experience of tenants of  354 and 356 E. 78th Street in New York City, over the past few years. The struggle continues.)

See also:http://projects.studio20nyu.org/ny-tenants/#MENU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZIFupNx8A