Residents from across seven Flushing buildings gathered at St. George’s Episcopal Church to voice concerns over recent actions by New Jersey-based development company Treetop Development, which owns the buildings in question. The corporation has been exploiting loopholes to raise rents and drive low-income residents out of their apartments in order to begin gentrifying the area, the residents argued.
The meeting was organized by the Flushing Rezoning Community Alliance. Faith in New York, an interfaith organization, was also in attendance. Andrew Hausermann, the director of Organizing for Faith in New York, explained that the organization had heard many complaints from residents in the seven buildings, which Treetop purchased six months ago.
“This company, Treetop, has a bad history,” Hausermann said to the hundred or so residents in attendance. “They have a history of buying rent-stabilized units in neighborhoods that they say are soon upcoming neighborhoods, might be gentrifying neighborhoods, and they’ll buy these rent-stabilized buildings, run out the low-income tenants and then sell the buildings for a big profit.”
Hausermann also said that the company was accused of similar practices in Williamsburg and Harlem.
Among the chief complaints raised by residents is what they say is a loophole in New York State law that allows for permanent rent increases in rent-stabilized units. Landlords can implement these raises to fund construction projects called major capital improvements. These MCI increases are problematic, Hausermann explained, because even after the project is funded, the rent increase can remain in place, which could drive low-income tenants out. When the rent reaches a certain threshold, it eliminates the rent-stabilization designation, Hausermann said. These concerns have been raised in the wake of a high level of construction going on around the buildings.
One building in question, 132-40 Sanford Ave., received a stop-work order after Councilmember Peter Koo (D-Flushing) voiced concerns raised by constituents. A June stop-work order complaint on the Department of Buildings website said that workers were “removing asbestos without protection” and cited debris in the hallway. Another complaint from July said that work resumed at the site despite the stop-work order.
5 comments:
More customers for the homeless shelters...
These predatory developers and soulless landlords act akin with the methodical patterns of serial killers. If it's not harassing people with buyouts, it's doing gut renovations, all under the rubric of safety and improvements (after the fact). Also using their p.r. minions to describe and declare already existing towns with existing people as new neighborhoods, more like new colonies. This treatment should be illegal, on basic constitutional grounds for invading and violating citizens right to privacy and to be secure in ones home. But that only applies to law enforcement or invading british military and not these property pirates and pimps.
These subhumans have no sense of decency.
More tricks than Bugs Bunny.
Now you got people riled up go for the jugular.
Katz and Joe Crowley.
They are responsible.
Last Anon,
You cannot, and will not get your hands on Honorable Representative Joseph Crowley.
(The title of "Representative" or "Honorable" is rather ironic)
He resides in Virginia, and NEVER travels north.
I have heard from reliable sources that he "Skyped" into the recent Crowley family gatherings.
But his photo hangs predominantly over the mantle in their homes...
Post a Comment