TENANTS AT MOUNT EDEN BUILDING SUE FOR LACK OF COOKING GAS, REPAIRS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Tenants at a Bronx apartment building that had no cooking gas for Thanksgiving and will have none for Christmas are suing the landlord they call “The Grinch.”
More than 30 angry tenants gathered outside 1520 Sheridan Ave. in Mount Eden on Tuesday to protest their treatment by Jonathan Wiener, principal of Chestnut Holdings. The Riverdale-based landlord didn’t respond to requests for comment.
POLICE ARREST FIVE PEOPLE TO BREAK UP OCCUPY THE BRONX RALLY
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The national wave of Occupy crackdowns swept through the South Bronx Saturday, as police arrested five people and broke up an Occupy the Bronx rally at the site of a community garden razed by the city.
Four activists and a freelance journalist were handcuffed on the sidewalk outside a vacant lot at Southern Blvd. and Union Ave. in Mott Haven, formerly the Morning Glory Community Garden.
They were the first Occupy the Bronx activists arrested since the movement formed in October.
BIRTHPLACE OF HIP-HOP IN BRONX GETS NEW LANDLORD
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The birthplace of hip-hop has a new lease on life.
The Bronx apartment building where DJ Kool Herc emceed the world’s first hip-hop party was sold at foreclosure auction last Monday to a reputable investment group backed by the city.
Workforce Housing Advisors has vowed to fix up 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in Morris Heights, keep it affordable and build an arts and culture center in the recreation room where Herc famously pioneered the “break beat.”
The graying deejay returned to 1520 Sedgwick Ave. last Thursday with John Crotty and John Fitzgerald of Workforce to reopen the rec room and celebrate.
The room was locked and used for storage under the old landlord Mark Karasick, who bought the 102-unit building in 2008 and then went bust.
Now tenant power, government pressure and music history have saved the Bronx landmark.
GRAND CONCOURSE HISTORIC DISTRICT TO GET LANDMARK STATUS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The Bronx’s grandest thoroughfare is finally getting the recognition that many borough residents believe it richly deserves.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission expects to approve today the designation of a Grand Concourse Historic District.
FEDS EYE PROJECTS IN BROOKLYN, BRONX FOR LABOR ABUSES
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Illegal labor is the foundation of the city’s affordable housing industry, construction workers and union leaders claim.
Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2015. But Hizzoner’s push is coming under scrutiny, with a top contractor headed to trial for wage infractions at an East Harlem project and a housing agency bigwig arrested Oct. 6 for corruption.
Now the U.S. Labor Department and the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development are probing underpayment and kickbacks at affordable housing projects in the Bronx and Brooklyn, the Daily News has learned. At the Bronx site - 780 Prospect Ave. - workers are due $575,000.
FEDS SUE OVER ALLEGED RACISM AT RIVERDALE COMPLEX
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The feds filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday against the landlord, management company and superintendent of a Riverdale building for allegedly turning away African-American apartment seekers.
The operators of 3800 Independence Ave. have discriminated against black people since at least 2009, using tactics that recall the racist America of yesteryear, according to the lawsuit filed by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bhahara.
The suit charges Loventhal Silver Riverdale LLC, Goodman Management Co. and superintendent Jesus Velasco with violating the Fair Housing Act by offering apartments to whites but not African-Americans.
BX TENANTS FIGHT BACK, SEEK COURT MONITOR FOR SLUM
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Bronx tenants plagued by leaks, cockroaches and rats are taking their landlords to court over the revolting state of 2097 Webster Ave. in East Tremont, they announced Thursday.
The fed-up tenants, along with the Urban Justice Center and Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, are suing landlords Lucel Maxwell and St.Clair Richards for allowing their building to fester and rot.
They want a Bronx Housing Court judge to seize control of the slum and are calling for a court-appointed administrator to manage the building.
NYCHA BOOTS VET TO CURB OVER TECHNICALITY
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
David Maurinac served his country as a Marine, worked as a missionary, cared for his sick father and paid his rent on time.
But last Friday, the New York City Housing Authority kicked him to the curb, says a local City Councilman.
BUILDINGS DEPT. LACKS INSPECTORS DESPITE RECORD REVENUES
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Despite record revenues, the city Buildings Department lacks the manpower and funds it needs to keep the Bronx safe and up to code, local officials charge.
The department raked in $164.9 million in fines and fees in fiscal year 2011, but spent only $99.6 million.
IRATE TENANT ACCUSE BLUESTONE GROUP OF FLIP JOB
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
When the Bluestone Group bought the debt of six Bronx slums 15 months ago, it promised to fix up the rotten buildings and make life bearable there.
But tenant advocates warned that the Manhattan-based company had overpaid and was looking to make a quick buck.
Last week, Bluestone sold the debt for a handsome profit and walked away.
