Officials Blast 'Unsafe' Conditions At Equity Residential's Buildings In Jersey City

JERSEY CITY, NJ — After years of tenants complaining about problems at buildings in Jersey City owned by corporate landlord Equity Residential — from broken elevators to frequent floods — two council members held a press conference Tuesday to demand that Equity fix the problems.

Besides the "unsafe" conditions cited by Councilman James Solomon on Tuesday, residents have said the owners of buildings such as Portside Towers East and West are not following rent control laws and have raised rents more than 25 percent. Tenant groups have filed a lawsuit against Equity for $400 million.

People have also complained about one specific Equity building, 70 Greene St., going back to 2022, when the New York Post detailed continual problems with flooding and elevators.

As rents rise, both tenants and local officials have said that many apartment buildings in Hudson County are now owned by national corporations that don't have as much of a connection to their communities as the original builders.

Equity Residential owns several complexes in Hoboken and Jersey City, and continues to buy up apartment complexes in places like Atlanta and Denver.

Among other actions against corporate landlords, officials in both Hoboken and Jersey City have asked the state of New Jersey to ban software used nationally by some of these companies to increase rents based on an algorithm rather than the local market. Last week, presidential candidate Kamala Harris joined the fray by publicly endorsing the "Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act of 2024" to crack down on this software.

At the same time, three corporate landlords are suing Hoboken and Jersey City over the cities' attempts to enforce rent control.

Safety Concerns At The Forefront

In the meantime, local officials are afraid for residents' safety, saying maintenance problems at Equity buildings in Jersey City continue to be ignored.

Councilmen Solomon and Frank Gilmore held their press conference at 70 Greene St. Tuesday morning, and residents spoke as well.

"If you sign a lease with Equity Residential, you're taking your life into your own hands," said one former resident, who asked Equity to inspect the piping at 70 Green St.

Councilman Solomon listed problems going back to March of 2021 when a pipe burst, he said, and residents had to walk down more than 50 flights of stairs. Most recently, he said, there was a "major flood" just last week.

Another resident said he had to pay to stay at a hotel for a month because of the flooding.

"This is a clear decision being made by Equity Residential to put the money into their pockets," Solomon said. "They just view this as a number on a spreadsheet to make as much money as possible."

He said he wanted to "pressure them to change their way of operating and explore that basic living standards are being met."

Watch the press conference here.