Ceilings Collapse As Crown Heights Landlord Ignores Leaks, Tenants Say

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Tenants in Crown Heights waiting months for help from housing court say they spend each day worrying rats, mold, water leaks, collapsing ceilings and other hazards in the St. Johns Place complex will reach their breaking point.

"One of these days we’re just going to fall down on the neighbor downstairs," said Yasmine Thimothe, who says a hole in her bedroom floor at the 567 St. Johns Pl. building has gone ignored for years.

Thimothe is one of six tenants from the eight-unit St. Johns Place complex who took to the streets on Sunday demanding that Brooklyn Housing Court replace the building's landlord, Gerard Tema, who they say have failed to fix years of dangerous conditions at the rent-stabilized apartments.

The rally, set up with the help of the Crown Heights Tenants Union, comes almost a year after tenants first filed a 7a complaint about the conditions in court, records show. Testimony for the complaint wrapped up in December, but the judge has yet to issue a ruling, according to activists.

"We don't know what's going on — no call, no email, no nothing," Thimothe said. "We need an answer."

Conditions at the St. Johns Pl. building have only gotten worse since tenants took their case to housing court, according to records and tenants.

In June 2021, when the complaint was filed, the complex had 216 violations with the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, records show.

The violations had grown to 412 on Monday, including broken floors, mold, heat problems, bed bugs, water leaks and a mice infestation that has been around for at least four years, HPD records and court documents show.

Tema, reached by phone Monday, told Patch that "most of" the problems at the building had been fixed, and said the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development is set to visit soon to clear the repairs.

"They've been fixed," he said. "[The tenants] are lying to you."

HPD told Patch they are supporting the tenants' request for new management in court and are working on emergency repairs to the building.

“HPD remains committed to ensuring a safe and secure standard of living in New York City," a spokesperson said.

Tenants told Patch Monday that the only repairs that have been made so far are to broken tiles in the hallway and a mailbox.

"The problems we are fighting for, he didn’t fix nothing," said Sophia Stephenson, who has lived in the building for 28 years.

Among the most worrisome conditions, tenants say, are years-old water leaks, which have caused ceilings to start collapsing and has left Thimothe unable to use the shower without sending water pouring into the apartment downstairs, according to Thimothe and court records.

Stephenson said she worries most about a lightbulb in her living room that caught on fire after landlords came to replace it. Landlords have not repaired the lights since, leaving Stephenson and her family's living room in the dark for four years, she said.

"I don't let my kids go near [the lightbulb]," Stephenson told Patch.

Both Stephenso and Thimothe said rats, roaches and mice are also a constant problem.

"One morning I hear screaming and my son was in the bathroom with a big rat as big as my foot," Stephenson said. "In the night, I’m laying here and they're jumping all over."

Added Thimothe, "I have so many rats and so many roaches — they used to come only in the nighttime, it's like they live with us now."

Tenants have dealt with the broken floors for so long that they have recently had to "get creative" and start filling them in on their own with colorful ceramic pieces, according to the union and photos.

The tenants' complaint was filed under a New York Law that allows HPD or at least one-third of a building's tenants to demand an administrator take over management of the building when "conditions dangerous to life, health or safety" are not taken care of for at least five days, documents show.

Tema told Patch Monday he also plans to take legal action given that some tenants have been withholding rent for two years. In New York, withholding rent is legal if landlords fail to keep a residence livable, though landlords can sue for non-payment.

Attorneys for the tenants said Monday that 7a complaints like those at 567 St. Johns Pl. are meant to move quickly given the danger of living with hazardous conditions.

“State law exists to provide a group of tenants with an expeditious pathway to obtain meaningful change when a landlord flouts its legal obligations and fails to correct conditions that threaten health and safety," said Evan Henley, the tenants' Legal Aid attorney. "This is a horrific example which underscores why a swift resolution is so important ... The Legal Aid Society is proud to stand with the tenants in their fight for safe housing, and we hope that the Housing Court issues a decision soon.”