Meatpacking District Tenants Rally Against Landlord For Better Repairs

MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NY — Meatpacking District tenants, neighborhood groups, local elected officials, and housing coalitions rallied Wednesday in front of a 17th Street building calling for safe repairs and better living conditions after being "subjected to a barrage of construction problems."

Leading the charge was the 336 W. 17th St. Tenant Association, which has been battling in court since 2016 with its landlord, the Besen Group, who bought the building in 2016.

Upon buying the building, the tenant group says that the landlord did not renew leases for the building's existing market-rate tenants and began to renovate the empty apartments and common areas of the building.

"Tenants' quality of life and quiet enjoyment of their apartment deteriorated dramatically when construction began," a news release for the rally reads.

Furthermore, tenants say the landlord has failed to uphold a 2020 agreement in which the Besen Group agreed to make upgrades to the building and improve its level of maintenance.

“We were promised renovations to our apartments in 2020," said Calder Singer, a tenant at 336 W. 17th St. "Almost three years have passed, and these renovations have not taken place. We have demanded a superintendent, as required by law, to clean the building and be available during emergencies. For six years, this has not been the case."

The Besen Group did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Recently, tenants say that all residents of the 17th Street building were relocated for two weeks while they renovated the public hallway and staircases, but when they came back, apartments were covered with white construction dust and there were gaps between the ceiling and heating pipes.

The 336 W. 17th St. building has a laundry list of violations from the Department of Buildings and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The DOB's database shows that the building has had 16 violations, with seven of them currently active.

Those active violations all center around "failure to certify correction on immediately hazardous" materials.

The HPD's website shows that the address has 26 immediately hazardous violations, which includes cockroach and mice infestations, broken concrete on the stoop, and unsafe electrical wiring.

Local elected officials are also on the side of the tenants, including Council Member Erik Bottcher and State Senator Brad Hoylman.

“The tenants at 336 West 17th Street have been fighting for their right to safe and healthy homes
for more than half a decade and I am proud to stand with them to demand action,”said City
Council Member Erik Bottcher, in a news release. “Every New Yorker deserves a landlord who is responsive and follows through on promised renovations, adequate heat and hot water, and to be able to live without the fear of retaliation.”

Other groups that attended the rally included the Cooper Square Committee, Take Root Justice, and the Stand for Tenant Safety/End Apartment Warehousing Coalition.