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 Hurst?
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?
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 Hurst?
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 |