NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Tenants in Jackson Heights, Queens, are suing their landlord, who they say has been neglecting essential repairs and risking their safety.
At a rally Tuesday, tenants of 35-63 80th St. and surrounding buildings described years of willful neglect by the rental giant, A&E Real Estate, which manages over 15,000 apartments throughout the city.
Many people in the six-story, largely rent-stabilized buildings are seniors who were stranded in apartments by non-working elevators, residents said, adding conditions were particularly bad during recent heat waves.
The tenants’ rights group Communities Resist sued on the tenants' behalf, alleging basic repairs left undone, rodent infestation, electrical hazards and dangerous mold.
Nathan Harding said elevators were out for months and that last summer an older man died. “I would hear him struggling to breath to go up and down the stairs. That was the turning point,” Harding said.
Council Member Shekar Krishnan said the property manager has ignored complaints and violations issued by the city.
“Two hundred violations,” Krishnan said. “Thirty-three Class C violations, which are immediately hazardous, requiring them to be fixed in 24 hours.”
Krishnan said property owners have no incentives to fix such violations.
“[HPD] slaps all these violations on buildings, but they don’t actually collect on the fines, it’s egregious,” Krishnan said, referring to the acronym for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
In a statement to 1010 WINS, a spokesperson for A&E Real Estate said: “We understand residents’ frustration and are working hard to get elevators back in service as fast as possible. Since taking over management of these buildings, A&E has invested nearly one million dollars to repair aging elevators, install new boilers and make major upgrades—clearing more than 1,400 violations. We’ve engaged an elevator repair service to begin work and hope to have these latest issues resolved as early as tomorrow, depending on the scope of repairs that will be needed.”