85 Bowery Tenants Allege Landlord Backtracks Move In Date

CHINATOWN, NY — Tenants of 85 Bowery Street renewed demands urging the Manhattan district attorney and the state attorney general to investigate the landlord after the building's owner walked back the timeline when residents could finally move into their homes, tenants claimed on the steps of the building Monday. But the owner says they never agreed to the date.

Earlier this month, tenants claimed that landlord Joseph Betesh agreed to an Aug. 31 deadline for the nearly 100 tenants to move back into their homes after they were evacuated in January because a court-ordered inspection deemed the building uninhabitable, according to the Department of Buildings. Now tenants who have been staying in hotels and with family say the landlord is backtracking on the date.

"There are families that live here and want to go home and again they're telling us they don't know when that will be. It's a complete injustice," tenant Jin Shuo, 38, said in cantonese through a translator, who has lived in the building with her husband, father and two young children for the last 10 years and is currently staying at a hotel. "This can't keep happening."

A spokesman for the Bowery 8385 LLC, through which the building is owned, said an agreement has not been reached with the tenants and that the August 31 date was never agreed up.

"Weeks ago, we stated publicly that our goal is to complete the necessary repair work at 85 Bowery by end of summer, barring unforeseen circumstances. That has not changed," said a spokesman for Bowery 8385, LLC. "At that time, we also noted that no agreement had been signed by either party in this case. That has not changed."

Back in February several elected officials — including Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Councilwoman Margaret Chin, State Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou — wrote a letter asking Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and then Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to look into the matter.

The building's tenants also are embroiled in a lawsuit with Betesh and Bowery 8385 LLC over whether the apartments are rent stabilized and in the past have gone on hunger strikes.

After a city inspection, Department of Buildings engineers found that the building's main stairway was structurally unsound and a vacate order was issued. As repairs were made, additional problems were discovered including unstable floor joists and asbestos, according to the Department of Buildings.

"[The city is] pushing the owner to complete major repairs at 85 Bowery as quickly as possible – and substantial work has been completed," said Department of Building spokesman Andrew Rudansky. "We remain committed to holding the landlord responsible for providing tenants with a safe place to live.

The building's asbestos was remediated on May 11 and joist work on the second floor is complete. Beam replacement on the remaining floors is expected to be complete by June 21 and the completion of work in the apartments' kitchen and bathrooms is anticipated by August 16, said the Department of Buildings.

Photo courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch