Nov 23, 2005 10:01 pm US/Eastern
City Lashing Out At Harlem 'Slumlords'
Officials Trying To Provide Basics
by John Slattery
HARLEM (CBS) ―
As most New Yorkers prepare to invite friends and family into their homes Thursday for a Thanksgiving dinner, there are tenants in Central and West Harlem who won't be able to because of the barely livable conditions of their buildings.
Earl Brown, 59, has been fighting for two years for improvements in his apartment house.
"It's like living hell," Brown said.
Brown, who has lived for 15 years at 522 W. 142nd, has woodwork with peeling lead paint, a stove that doesn't work, and unsafe electricity.
"The electricity is not that correct," Brown said. "The plumbing has gone bad, and not only that, we have a gas leak."
Natural gas could be smelled in the kitchen from a non-functioning stove that was covered in grease.
In order to make emergency repairs, housing court has taken over the building from landlord Roy Dixon, citing the structure as one of the worst 74 in the city.
In February 2004, a housing court judge appointed an administrator for the building, determining that its conditions were dangerous to the tenants' lives, health and safety. The administrator collects rent, and uses the money to provide essential services to the tenants and make necessary repairs.
Several blocks east, a building at 117 W. 142nd is also badly neglected, with falling plaster, and only sporadic heat and hot water.
Noel Rodriguez, a housing advocate, said, "This landlord is a slumlord."
NYC's Department of Housing Preservation and Development says the landlord, John A. Kosman, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for failing to repair scores of violations of the Housing Maintenance Code, including immediately hazardous conditions. Kosman served jail time in September, and is in the process of paying $60,000 in fines.
HPD says it will inspect the building again after Nov. 27.
Carol Abrams, a spokesperson for the department, said HPD has spent $34,467 in taxpayer money to make emergency repairs at this address.
Several tenants in the building, who declined to give their names, said they have had sporadic heat and hot water since the city stepped in. Some windows have been replaced in the building. HPD indicated it was talking legal action against the landlord, putting a lien against the property to cover the cost of emergency repairs.
Most of the residents, who didn't want to give their names, said they had hot water and some radiators worked today, as they prepare for Thanksgiving.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Gotti Jury Signals Deadlock Yet Again 25 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments