Bronx Landlord Issued Warrant Over Building Violations

Residents living inside 1585 East 172nd Street in Bronx River say serious problems with their apartments need to be fixed. Among them -- broken walls, dead and live rodents, and plenty of mildew and mold.

"Management that is supposed to take care of this and they don't take care of it. They say they are going to send somebody and that is all that you get," said Tenants Association President Martha Castro.

Tenants say for the last year they have been battling with Hunter Property Management -- the company which runs the building -- to fix sinking floors, broken windows and leaky pipes.
Bronx Landlord Issued Warrant Over Building Violations

One resident who spoke with NY1 says she often climbs a ladder to try to patch her falling ceiling.

Both the tenants and the city have taken Hunter's owner, Sam Suzuki, to court to make the repairs.

"I'm going for the lawyers now, because the supers and the landlords they are not doing anything," said tenant Ray Barada.

A housing judge recently issued an arrest warrant for Suzuki because he hasn't come to court to address issues at the property.

Meantime, the Legal Aide Society and a housing advocacy group are trying to help tenants.

"At one point we reached a settlement where the landlord was supposed to make repairs in two apartments to start with and then move on to other apartments. But they failed to make repairs in just two of the apartments," said Dan Desloover of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board.

The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development says 1585 has hundreds of open violations. Many of them were issued before the management company took over the property a little more than a year ago. But the company is still responsible for those problems.

NY1 spoke to one of the building's workers who did not want to appear on camera. He says they are making repairs and keeping track of what they do. He also says it's hard to fix things up when some tenants aren't paying rent.

Some residents admit they are holding back rent payments because of all of the issues. Hunter Property Management tells NY1 it plans to fix all of the problems but also says tenants will have to pay the back rent or be evicted.

In terms of the arrest warrant issued for the property manager, the company would not comment.

By Dean Meminger

Document: 

052010_NY1_Bronx_Landlord_Issued_Warrant.pdf