South Bronx tenants living in buildings run by one of the city’s most notorious landlords have begun organizing to demand improved conditions.
David Tennenbaum, the landlord for 514, 518 and 528 East 138th Street who owns 212 apartments citywide, ranks number six on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlords Watchlist. His properties have racked up hundreds of housing code violations and complaints for pests, lack of heat, mold, water leaks and more.
The 518 building is one of the worst on the public advocate’s list, with 247 open violations from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) among 23 units. Ninety-nine of the violations are Class C, meaning “imminently hazardous.”
Tenants at the East 138th Street buildings have begun working with New York Communities for Change (NYCC) and South Bronx Unite (SBU) to take action against the property management company, Denali Management Inc., which did not respond to request for comment.
About 55 residents signed a letter demanding immediate improvements and warning of escalating actions if their concerns are not addressed.
“Our buildings are becoming increasingly unhealthy, unsafe, and unlivable for our families,” the letter said.
One of the biggest concerns is the broken front door locks. The Bronx Times confirmed on Feb. 21 that each of the three doors can be easily opened. Ulises Garcia, who lives in the 514 building, said it has been broken for four or five years.
The tenants’ letter says that “countless non-residents are entering into the buildings and sleeping on the floor and/or stairwells, doing drugs in public spaces in the apartment and leaving needles behind, assaulting residents, threatening residents for no reason, defecating and urinating in public spaces, and overall creating an unsafe, uncomfortable and unsanitary environment for our buildings’ families.”
In addition to repairing the locks and intercom system, tenants demanded that management carry out a survey to assess necessary repairs within every apartment and provide residents with a detailed timeline for addressing the problems.
They also demanded safe and sanitary elimination of pests and entry points throughout the buildings and a deep clean of public areas including stairways, hallways and walls.
At a meeting on Feb. 11, tenants from all three buildings commiserated about the myriad problems and lack of communication from management. They agreed to file a barrage of 311 complaints, take photos and videos of problems in their apartments and keep a paper trail of attempts to reach management.
“All we can do is hound them,” one resident said.
Tenant power
As tenants prepare to potentially escalate beyond sending the letter, some said many neighbors are nervous to speak out. In today’s intense political climate, some are afraid to open the door when any unfamiliar face comes knocking.
Even so, some are now committed to doing whatever it takes to hold Tennenbaum accountable.
Garcia has already sued multiple times over conditions at his rent-controlled, two-bedroom apartment. He said he’s happy to see other tenants speaking out because he has seen conditions in others’ apartments even worse than in his own unit.
Some people just gave up, he said. “They don’t wanna fight no more.”
Nelis Wise said his elderly parents, who still live in the 526 building where they raised him, fall into that category. They are paying about $1,300 for a one-bedroom apartment, he said.
Wise said his parents are fed up with trying to hold management accountable. “People get exhausted, complaining when no change is happening,” Wise said.
At one point, they tried to protest by withholding rent payments, but the landlord sued. While that case was eventually resolved, Wise’s parents felt defeated.
“It’s out of their control,” said Wise. “I feel like the only way they’d move is if, God forbid, there’s a fire or something.”
Conditions at his family apartment, where Wise has periodically lived throughout his adulthood, have become worse and worse over time.
The apartment has had a rodent problem “since I was a baby,” he said. Last year, part of the bathroom ceiling collapsed due to water damage and hit his mother in the head, which resulted in a trip to the hospital, he said. His mother had previously complained multiple times about leaks trickling from above, but nothing was done.
Both parents worry about their safety when they see random people sleeping on the stairs, yelling or using drugs in the hallway, said Wise. “Sometimes they be scared to come in the building.”
Wise said his family didn’t know about the “Worst Landlords” list and widespread problems with Tennenbaum’s properties until receiving a flyer from NY Communities for Change asking them to participate in organizing efforts.
As it happens, Wise works as a paralegal and has experience at firms representing both tenants and landlords. Far too many New Yorkers tolerate poor conditions because they don’t know their rights — and their power, he said.
While some landlords move quickly to avoid problems and keep residents happy, others only take action when pressure and public shaming forces them into it, said Wise.
Now, with his family’s health and safety at stake, Wise is committed to helping fight for better conditions for residents in the three buildings, saying that he owes it to his family and neighbors to try. “I’m 100% on board.”
“We’re doing the right thing,” said Garcia. “It’s gonna work because it’s not right what the landlord is doing.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
