Tenants in Williamsburg face heating, mold, and sewage issues
News 12’s Katelynn Ulrich toured the building with 353 open city violations.
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Tenants at 156 S. 9th St. say they have been living without consistent heat since August, when the building’s gas service was shut off and replaced by a faulty boiler.
“Last night, I slept without heat,” one tenant said. “The heat comes in once in a while. There’s a problem with the boiler.”
The building has 353 open city violations, including those for heating issues, mold, and a sewage pipe leak.
In the basement, the stench from a broken sewage pipe is overwhelming, tenants say. In one apartment, a woman had to empty an entire room due to mold growth, which has resulted in four open violations.
“He doesn’t seem to care,” said Communities Resist Staff Attorney Daisy Fernandez. “He’s said multiple times he would do things illegally. He even tried to put five propane tanks in the basement, which the FDNY ended up confiscating.”
The legal services organization Communities Resist took the landlord to court on behalf of nine tenants, citing failure to fix the numerous problems. The landlord did not appear in court, resulting in a default judgment against him.
“It essentially means that the judge has found the landlord at fault for failing to make repairs based on the facts we submitted,” Fernandez said.
Los Sures, a tenant advocacy organization, has also been assisting residents. Representatives urge tenants experiencing landlord negligence to organize with neighbors and seek support from local organizations.
News 12 reached out to someone who identified as voluntarily working with the landlord, but he declined to comment after refusing to provide a statement unless allowed to review the story before publication.
