The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Living In the Slums & The Lease That Lays the Golden Eggs

What do you think of when you hear the term "slumlord?" Maybe you have it in your head that it's some scumbag that lives out on Long Island and hates poor people enough to keep their lives miserable while enriching himself? When I picture him, he's a guy like Barry Hers who owns 60 Clarkson, incapable of registering or caring about the pain and suffering he causes. The "slums" were something I'd read about, or hear about in songs or see in movies, and the scenario was always clear. Ill-meaning whites owning and not-maintaining decrepit buildings lived in mostly by people of color. Actually in other parts of the country white folks live in slums too...though they're often called "trailer parks." But as usual I'll try to focus closer to home.

But what if the Slumlords were really big real estate management companies and trusts, paying way too much money for properties that don't have the rent roll to support that cost? Is it morally any better if the owners denying heat in the dead of winter and harassing tenants into moving and scrutinizing incoming tenants for the proper complexion and making bullshit renovations to jack up the rent, is it any better that they're faceless companies rather than individual scumbags? There are usually individual scumbags at the top though, some of them even paying another company they themselves own for materials for said renovation then using those receipts as proof that they did tens of thousands of dollars worth of improvements, a fact that was only brought to light when fought scumbag was taken to court by one of their law abiding tenants? (true story.)

And what if these companies were basically falling over themselves to buy up big buildings at a time when rent stabilization laws are teetering on meaninglessness, as the State tips Republican and threatens to turn its backs on hundreds of thousands of people who thought they'd signed a lease on semi-stability in an apartment that would modestly increase year after year? And what if some of these companies were headed by confessed murders like Robert Durst?

Wouldn't that be like living in the VERY worst of neighborhood scenarios like you pictured when you envisioned living in "the slums?"

Well neighbors, you're living in and among "the Slums." It's just that in this crazy era, it's not because the neighborhood's too poor. It's that it's not yet rich enough.

A POST FROM EARLY JANUARY THAT BEARS REPEATING MANY TIMES:

The Q gathered together some addresses from the various activist groups fighting landlords for targeting tenants for displacement through many means, from miserable service to harassment to not cashing rent checks to renting only to whites to offering miserly buyouts and intimidating the vulnerable. Evil? Nah. Just all in a day's work on the way towards a Lease That Lays the Golden Eggs - a building free of rent stabilization. Twas a time when the spread between market rate and rent stabilization was not so great. In fact, thousands of people in the neighborhood were given "preferred" rents for years, a discount from the maximum the landlord could charge under stabilization. Those days are gone.

If you or folks you know live in one of these buildings, I encourage you to reach out to the Crown Heights Tenants Union, the Flatbush Tenant Coalition. And remember, you have the right to get a rent history of your apartment, which will show you how much you SHOULD be paying now. The Q just learned that one of these landlords who owns hardware and constructions concerns actually PAYS THEMSELVES for capital improvements that are shoddy. But the receipts are there for the judge! And the landlord can jack up the rent as a result. It's so disgusting and demoralizing as to make your head spin. This is how neighborhoods are torn apart, typically by race and class, and reconfigured to meet the outsized profit goals of the below companies, who have essentially cornered the market in Crown Heights and Flatbush and Lefferts and... Plus remember, this is just a subset of the bigger story in NYC. At this point, these companies are controlling so many lives they're like mini-states. Any of you live in any of these buildings want to share?

Building Address Landlord
990 President Street 11225 burke Leighton
951 Carroll Street 11225 burke Leighton
805 St. Marks Avenue 11213 BK burke Leighton
1834 Caton Ave 11226 BK burke Leighton
1016 President Street 11225 BK burke Leighton
2505 Bedford Avenue 11226 BK burke Leighton
215 Sterling Street 11225 BK burke Leighton
389 East 48 Street 11203 BK burke Leighton
78 Hawthorne Street 11225 BK burke Leighton
31 East 21st Street 11226 BK burke Leighton
21 East 21st Street 11226 BK burke Leighton
726 Ocean Avenue 11226 BK burke Leighton
2201 Cortelyou Road 11226 BK burke Leighton
219 E 17th Street 11226 BK burke Leighton
610/612 Flatbush Avenue 11226 BK burke Leighton
476 Ocean Avenue 11226 BK burke Leighton
458 15th Street 11215 BK burke Leighton
2564 Bedford Avenue 11226 BK burke Leighton
2325 Foster Avenue 11210 BK burke Leighton
608 Flatbush Avenue 11226 burke Leighton
115 Ocean Avenue 11225 BK Jonas
181 HAWTHORNE STREET Jonas
1600 CATON AVENUE Jonas
315 OCEAN PARKWAY Jonas
217 EAST 7 STREET Jonas
465 EAST 7 STREET Jonas
1620 CATON AVENUE Jonas
214 EAST 8 STREET Jonas
714 EAST 27 STREET Jonas
415 WASHINGTON AVENUE Jonas
245 OCEAN PARKWAY Jonas
241 OCEAN PARKWAY Jonas
147 Ocean Avenue Jonas
931 PUTNAM AVE ZT Realty
637 NOSTRAND AVE ZT Realty
5 MACDONOUGH ST ZT Realty
403 MACON ST APT 16 ZT Realty
1045 UNION ST ZT Realty
874 BERGEN ST ZT Realty
95 KINGSTON AVE ZT Realty
244 NEW YORK AVE APT 8 ZT Realty
942 BERGEN ST ZT Realty
1398 DEAN ST ZT Realty
267 CLIFTON PL ZT Realty
303 PUTNAM AVE ZT Realty
299 PUTNAM AVE ZT Realty
306 PROSPECT PL ZT Realty
293 STUYVESANT AVE ZT Realty
585 PARK PL ZT Realty
276 THROOP AVE ZT Realty
3 MACDONOUGH ST ZT Realty
820 FRANKLIN AVENUE ZT Realty
927 PUTNAM AVENUE ZT Realty
1082-1092 President St Shamco
1026 President St. Shamco
1 St. Pauls Ct Shamco
200 E 18th St Shamco
2015 Foster Ave Shamco
215 Martense St. Shamco
350 E 19th St Shamco
538-546 E 21st St Shamco
543-549 E. 21st St. Shamco
75-89 Hawthorne St Shamco
860 Ocean Ave Shamco
1702 Caton Avenue Shamco
1710 Caton Avenue Shamco
1716 Caton Avenue Shamco
1722 Caton Avenue Shamco
50 E. 19th St. Shamco
1901-1907 Dorchester Rd. Shamco
65 E. 19th St. Shamco
2110 Newkirk Avenue Shamco
690 Rogers Ave Shamco
566 Parkside Ave Shamco
558 Parkside Ave Shamco
2101 Bedford Ave Shamco
1204 Ocean Ave Shamco
1553 Ocean Ave Shamco
79-93 Bristol St Shamco
1155 DEAN STREET Renassiance Realty Group
1151 DEAN STREET Renassiance Realty Group
764 ST JOHN'S PLACE Renassiance Realty Group
1561 PITKIN AVENUE Renassiance Realty Group
39 ARGYLE ROAD Renassiance Realty Group
45 ARGYLE ROAD Renassiance Realty Group
285 SCHENECTADY Renassiance Realty Group
1646 UNION STREET Renassiance Realty Group
153 CHAUNCEY ST Renassiance Realty Group
511 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
493 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
495 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
519 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
505 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
487 Lincoln Place Renassiance Realty Group
2-12 Sutter Avenue Renassiance Realty Group
235 Utica Avenue Renassiance Realty Group
1701 Utica Avenue Renassiance Realty Group
564 West 126 St. BCB Property Management
556 West 126th Street BCB Property Management
560 West 126th Street BCB Property Management
308 West 88th street BCB Property Management
1159 President St. BCB Property Management
1153 President St., Brooklyn BCB Property Management
543 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
529 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
527 Nostrand, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
525 Nostrand, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
179 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
384 Court St, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
1215 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
317 4th Ave, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
250 Pacific St, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
234 Union Ave, Brooklyn BCB Property Management
285 Court St BCB Property Management
384 Court St BCB Property Management
1059 Union St BCB Property Management
1115 Union St BCB Property Management
442 Lorimer St BCB Property Management
15 Crown Street BCB Property Management
991-993 President Street BCB Property Management
329 Lincoln Place BCB Property Management
315 Lincoln place BCB Property Management
319 Lincoln Place BCB Property Management
323 Lincoln Place BCB Property Management
1171 President Street Pinnacle
382 Eastern Parkway Pinnacle
225 Parkside Avenue Pinnacle
991 Carroll Street Pinnacle
706 Lefferts Avenue Pinnacle
681 Ocean Avenue Pinnacle
1554 Ocean Avenue Pinnacle
459 Schenectady Avenue Pinnacle
176 Clarkson Avenue Pinnacle
3301 Farragut Road Pinnacle
489 Eastern Parkway Pinnacle
481 Eastern Parkway Pinnacle
497 Eastern Parkway Pinnacle
990 Montgomery Street Pinnacle
40 Argyle Road Pinnacle
28 Argyle Road Pinnacle
307 12th Street Pinnacle
961 Washington Avenue Pinnacle
1535 Ocean Avenue Pinnacle
1362 Ocean Avenue Pinnacle
619 Rugby Road Pinnacle
615 Rugby Road Pinnacle
607 Rugby Road Pinnacle
1042 Union Street Pinnacle
292 St Johns Place Pinnacle
926 Carroll Street Pinnacle
1038 Union Street Pinnacle
1597 Bedford Avenue Pinnacle
916 Caroll Street Pinnacle
1048 Union Street Pinnacle
85 Clarkson Avenue Pinnacle
529 East 22nd Street Pinnacle
1060 Union Street Pinnacle
601 Crown Street Pinnacle
426 East 22nd Street Pinnacle
222 Lenox Road Pinnacle
2102 Beverly Road Pinnacle
176 Clarkson Ave Pinnacle

5 comments:

diak said...

One potentially positive sign:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/nyregion/new-york-city-and-state-officials-joining-forces-to-combat-tenant-harassment.html?_r=0

Good to see CHTU's Donna Mossman gets a mention in the story. Remains to be seen if this get-tough attitude is more than a strongly worded press release. As the story suggests, even when cases are brought, slumlords and their slimy legal sidekicks are expert at dragging out resolutions for years.

MikeF said...

What if the biggest slumlord, with the buildings with the most complaints was none of the above?

...but was instead the city itself in the form of NYCHA?

What if NYCHA was exempted from the various lists designed to shame?

True story.

Anonymous said...

The harrassment I got from a landlord the day after my Mom died can't be repeated.

babs said...

Sorry, most slumlords I know live in Brooklyn, not on Long Island (except that Brooklyn is part of LI).

babs said...

Although a large number of the execs at the largest companies may have moved out to Great Neck and environs now, but many of our less-lovely buildings are (mis)managed from closer to home - 50 Lincoln Rd., 2121 Beekman Pl., 10 Midwood St., and 12 Maple St. are all owned by companies established at 2071 Flatbush Ave., a one-story building whose owner is at 1915 E. 18 St.; while 57 and 64 Lincoln are at 5318 New Utrecht Ave. 11 Maple is at 5314 16th Ave. 40 Lincoln Rd. is 1060 Ocean Ave., along with 99 and 75 Ocean Ave. Perhaps we'll grow nostalgic for the days of locally-based slumlords...