NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A group of tenants from a neglected Bronx building and elected officials rallied on Friday morning in front of the residence in order to offer their support for legislation that would create a pathway for residents to take ownership over their building. In this case, from an “absentee landlord” they refer to as Dracu-lord.
Corine Obongo Golden, president of the tenant’s association at 124 East 176th St., leaned into the nickname by wearing a garlic necklace to the rally and comparing David Kleiner, the building landlord, to the famed vampire.
“If you arrest your tenants, you are Dracula. If you don’t repair the apartments that we are paying rent for, you are Dracula,” Golden said.
The rally was held to encourage the New York State legislature to pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which would create the first right of refusal for them, and other suffering renters, to buy buildings from a negligent landlord.
Kleiner, who is also the owner of a Bronx building that partially collapsed in December, is accused of enacting aggressive rent increases, filing frivolous court cases, neglecting needed repairs and constantly harassing tenants.
Among the elected officials that attended the rally in support of TOPA was Brooklyn State Assemblywoman Marcella Mitaynes. She said that TOPA would help stabilize the New York housing market at prices affordable to the working class, and preserve affordable housing stock.
“When you have an absentee landlord, what better thing than to give the tenants an opportunity to be homeowners, to create a path of mobility from the working class,” Mitaynes said.
Tenants of the building in the Tremont section claim to have faced numerous health concerns, including rodent, cockroach and bedbug infestations, as well as leaks and mold. Some have even experienced ceiling collapses and other structural issues.
“We demand to live without mold, without roaches, without rats and without leaks,” one tenant said.
If passed, TOPA would provide pathways for tenants, who supporters claim have vested interest in the upkeep of their buildings, to assume ownership and management while creating generational wealth.
About $250 million would be needed in this year’s budget to assist tenants in gathering support.
“I am here to tell David David, known as Dracula to me, that we are not animals, we are human beings,” Golden said.