'Eco-Yogi Slumlords' Give Up BK Building In $2.3M Settlement: AG

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The "eco-yogi slumlords" who tried to evict Brooklyn tenants in the middle of the pandemic must hand over their Dean Street property in a new $2.25 million settlement, according to officials.

Gennaro Brooks-Church and Loretta Gendville were ordered to give up the 1214 Dean St. rowhouse, which the city will convert to affordable housing, Mayor Eric Adams and Attorney General Letitia James announced in a joint statement.

The Dean Street home — designated a single -family home but leased by the pair by the room — was one of nine Brooklyn buildings Brooks-Church and Gendville illegally rented out over four years, court records show.

Their settlement — which also includes $250,000 in damages to the city and state — is the largest payout for an illegal short-term landlord in the city's history, according to officials.

“These landlords may have been sending a loving and peaceful message out publicly, but they were kicking tenants to the curb privately,” said Adams.

"Cruel and illegal behavior will not be tolerated, and, as long as I am mayor, you will never get away with putting tenants at risk."

Tenants will also be paid damages given a separate settlement reached with the landlords, Adams and James said.

The settlement comes nearly two years after Brooks-Church and Gendville barged into the occupied rowhouse unannounced — pets, kids and locksmiths in tow — tried to kick tenants out and move their own family in, Patch reported at the time.

The eventual eviction left tenants, including a woman who was recovering from brain surgery, searching for a new place to live during the height of the coronavirus crisis.

The eviction led to a call to boycott several Brooklyn businesses owned by Gendville, who ran Area Kids stores, yoga studios and vegan eateries in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Park Slope.

At the time, Brooks-Church — who owns a "living plant wall" business — had denied his tenants' allegations.

The "plant wall" business owner — as he was dubbed by the mayor — said at the time he was being "demonized for being a white male."

Read More: Activists Stave Off Sudden Crown Heights Eviction: Reports

Adams and James' lawsuit was the first filed under a new Unlawful Eviction Law that lets the city seek damages for tenants even when they are unable or too intimidated to bring their own action in court.