Roach-Infested Homes Spur Senator's Promise For Rent Law Fix

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS, BROOKLYN – State Senator Zellnor Myrie examined a row of roach-covered glue traps stuffed underneath front doors in a stiflingly hot hallway of a Lefferts Avenue apartment building.

Residents told him their landlord has done little to address the building's multiple problems, which include a jumping elevator and blasting heat, as a last-ditch effort to force out rent-stabilized tenants and raise the rent by up to $200,000 a year across the whole building.

"This is why we have to change the laws in Albany," Myrie said, looking down at the traps. "They have roaches at their doorsteps and you're trying to price them out."

Myrie joined residents of 560 and 570 Lefferts Ave. Thursday afternoon to protest building conditions and state real estate laws they believe allow landlords to harass rent-stabilized tenants.

"Landlords are using Major Capital Improvement to force out long-term residents," Tenant Association president Vaughn Amour said.

"560 is the roach capital right now," he added. "That's another way of harassment."

Treetop Development bought the two rent-stabilized buildings for $34 million in March 2017, city records show, and immediately took advantage of MCI, a state law that allows owners to increase rents after making renovations, according to Amour.

Renovated one-bedrooms that once cost for $700-a-month were suddenly going for up to $2,200 and a two-bedroom that once cost about $1,200-a-month was listed at $2,700, Amour said.

While MCI was meant to incentivize owners to improve living conditions, Myrie argued landlords manipulate the program by reporting repairs that have not been made and then forcing out lower-income tenants.

"We encourage them to make renovations in the building so they can charge higher rent," Myrie said. "They literally have it in their marketing materials that this is a place where you can make more money."

The two-building 103 rent-stabilized apartment complex is currently for sale, according to a recent listing that claims the units are operating at half their market worth.

"This offering provides investors with a rare opportunity to acquire two multi-family elevator buildings of significant scale and upside in the dynamic neighborhood," the listing reads, "granting investors the ability to capitalize on the strengthening rental market in the neighborhood."

A woman who answered Treetop Management's phone told Patch, "we have no comment."

The Brooklyn state Senator promised to prioritize MCI and will consider several bills have been introduced to either strike or modify the program before the Emergency Tenant Protection Act expires this summer.

"We have to do it this session and we can't wait anymore," Myrie told Patch. "When you see this on the doorstep, there is no time for this."

Meanwhile, roaches continue to crawl under tenants' front doors and the super, who declined to comment for this story, has stopped answering pleas for help, Amour said.

"People who have lived here for years, their apartments are falling apart," Amour said. "Look at this, they're paying rent for this."

Photos by Kathleen Culliton