By Gus Saltonstall
For the last six months, the majority of tenants at an Upper West Side residential building have been conducting a rent strike.
“We decided to start withholding rent because that felt like the only negotiation power we had,” Nora Massie, a resident of 320 West 96th Street, between West End and Riverside, told West Side Rag in a phone interview.
The tenants’ frustration centers around conditions in the building, along with the landlord’s refusal to fix problems in a timely manner; in many cases, there is no response at all to requests for repairs, according to multiple residents of the address who spoke to the Rag.
The issues within the West 96th Street building include a lone elevator that has not operated for more than a year and a half, a broken trash chute that means residents have to carry their garbage onto the street, a broken door buzzer, rat infestations on the lower floors, periods with no heat or hot water, and water damage in multiple apartments, according to residents of the building and city records citing the building for violations.
“We have a 96-year-old gentleman in the building, and countless times, because we don’t have a working elevator or buzzer, he has to come down six flights of stairs to get his prescription,” Tina Gonzales, a longtime resident of the building, told the Rag. “He’s a fall risk. We’re seeing our seniors deteriorate rapidly. They are homebound for the most part with no elevator.”
The Upper West Side building is owned by Lloyd Schaffer and was managed for a period by Kodo Properties, but multiple residents told the Rag that Kodo Properties was no longer connected with the address.
There is not much available information on Schaffer, but city records on both the Department of Building’s page and the Housing Preservation and Development portal list Schaffer as the owner of 320 West 96th Street.
The Rag attempted to reach out to Schaffer by writing to an email address included in messages from ownership and management to the tenants of 320 West 96th Street. We also placed multiple phone calls to numbers associated with Schaffer and Kodo Properties but received no response.
“My apartment has flooded three times. It’s stressful,” Gonzales added. “I have water pumps. I have extra towels. I have that built-up anxiety about what could go wrong. My apartment is situated right over the boiler, so it’s just this continued stress and it’s filthy down in the boiler room, and whenever they do any work down there, the pests come up.”
A Litany of Issues and Violations
There are currently 228 open violations connected to 320 West 96th Street, according to the New York City Housing Preservation & Development website.
Those open violations include doors with missing hinges, visible mold in multiple apartments, the refusal to remove rubbish from a broken trash compactor, evidence of rats, and failure to maintain the elevator.
“Failure to maintain the building’s walls,” reads a city inspector’s summary of one violation that came with an initial projected penalty fee of $12,500 which has not been paid, according to the DOB.
The Upper West Side address currently has an open violation for “failure to certify correction of a class 1 violation,” which is the most severe type of hazardous condition at a building that “affects the public health, safety, and property,” according to the Department of Building’s website.
The DOB’s portal shows that the building’s ownership currently owes $49,000 in civil penalties due to violations at the property.
In August of this year, the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order for multiple units within the building because of the condition of the fire escape, but tenants said there was never any communication from the landlord about it.
“We asked the fire department what we should do and they suggested going to a homeless shelter, which was not an option,” Massie told the Rag. The majority of the tenants ended up staying in the building but said they never received any communication from the owner of the building about the subject. The only reminder was an “ominous” vacate sign from the city on the front door.
The tenants ended up working with local elected officials and city officials to get the fire escape fixed, and the vacate order was lifted in the fall, Massie said.
Tenants first started withholding rent in June. Massie said around 70 percent of the building’s residents joined the strike, which prompted a June 18 note from the property manager at the time, who wrote: “Your concerns are valid as we remain committed to enhancing the building’s condition,” but then added: “Continued non-payment will eventually compel us to pursue legal action.”
Tenants say the repair issues continue, as does their rent strike, but so far no legal action has been taken against them.
“There’s no message I could give the landlord that would help,” another resident who spoke to the Rag on the condition of anonymity. “They’re not unaware of what the building is like. The citations. The violations. The vacate order. We get no communication from the building.”
Three of the residents of 320 West 96th Street that WSR spoke to mentioned the silver lining of how the hardship within the address has brought neighbors closer together.
“I’ve lived in New York my whole life and I’ve never seen this level of community caretaking and solidarity,” Massie said. “ It’s nice to know everyone in the building. But people are starting to give up.”
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
Have the tenants retained a lawyer?
It’s important, because there’s a legal way of withholding rent, and there’s a wrong way.
This person is correct. You can put money in escrow.
Yes, absolutely. They can’t simply withhold rent without being in danger of eviction. (Which may be what the landlord wants in this case.)
I was involved in a rent strike in the 1990’s where conditions in a newly but poorly renovated building were bad, though perhaps not as vile as those depicted here. (The Fire Department detected carbon monoxide from a malfunctioning boiler, for one thing.) Our lawyer instructed us to deposit our rent in an escrow account. The landlord was taken to court; the necessary repairs were made, and the judge awarded each tenant a few months’ rent for their trouble.
Rent strikes are no joke. Conditions like this usually are an effort to drive tenants out. Landlords need to be put in jail for such things.
This is awful! I would love to know of a way to show support to the tenants, is there anything we as a community can do to help?
I’m no lawyer but I hope they’re putting the rent into an escrow account to prove good faith to some judge. They should get a lawyer.
Fantastic reporting, Gus! This is such good, important work!
Has Borough President Mark Levine assisted the tenants?
He has been vocal in calling for more development – but preserving housing is essential
ML has definitely pushed for more development apparently with the belief of the “trickle down” method to produce “affordable” housing.
But he does not address the issue of residents in deplorable or unsafe housing or issue of housing loss.
Levine has and will continue to be useless on these issues
I lived in this building for 6 months about 4 years ago and it was so horribly managed. The elevator often broke, the laundry in the basement never worked, and our across the hall neighbor drilled a hole right through our wall and the landlord never responded to a single message about our complaints. It was a horrible building to live in and I’m not surprised they’re doing a rent strike.
Why is moving not an option ?
Moving costs are enormous. Years ago I just moved across the street and it was thousands of dollars. Not everyone can afford that cost. It is not understanding of you to think it possible for all. Many seniors live on fixed incomes and would have no place to live, especially if they have been in their apartments for years. Please pretend this is happening to one of your family members. Then, in earnest, think about this, and try to re-frame your thinking to be more empathetic.
Probably rent stabilized and super low rent- which probably doesn’t cover the expenses
All the conditions detailed here are illegal, the landlord is risking serious criminal penalties.
The tenants have done nothing wrong
Are you paying for the movers for all of them? The rental fees as well? How generous of you
Landlords have an obligation to provide proper living standards
Exactly. Everyone should leave and no new tenants will come in in a building like that.
And then it sits vacant until this horrible landlord finds new victims… or we change laws around awful situations like this – which we have a good shot at 🙂
Rent stabilization
Right? Curious that with so many words written about this situation, yours is the first to even question whether this is a rent-controlled building, a rent-stabilized building, or a market rate building.
Guessing it’s not market rate. So is this what rent stabilization begets?
If the landlord doesn’t have the money to make the necessary repairs, where will that money come from? Or will the residents just continue to live in dangerous conditions?
Do readers here think that the city should take possession of the property so that tax money can be appropriated to repairs and maintenance?
“So is this what rent stabilization begets?”
And this is what complete ignorance of an issue begets.
Then how come so many other landlords in the city manage to run rent-stabilized buildings without breaking the law left and right?
Less and less
They usually have enough tenants paying market that subsidize the below market apartments.
Yes, how interesting.
No, this is not what rent stabilization begets.
Also, apartments are rent stabilized not buildings.
Let NYCHA take it over.
Let them, if the current landlord can’t do things legally
They would have to pay a lot more somewhere else.
So you suggest that they live in a rat infested building with no elevator? This is dangerous health-wise and extremely hazardous. Should a 96-year-old van have to walk up six flights of stairs? This whole situation is horrible.. The landlords reign victorious in the courts while the lawyers get wealthy. The whole group should go down to the court together and file a report in person, and especially concentrate on the elevator.
They should also go to legal aid!
And to Gail Brewer. I feel for them. They might have to go not to the corporation or the business but the owner himself and file a class action suit against him. Good luck.
Greed(Landlord) vs Greed (Rent stabilization) ?
I don’t like your comments. I don’t think rent stabilization is greed. It’s a hard-working tenants.
I always default to this but what about Public Advocste? What does his office do?
The current public advocate is so useless that Kathy Hochul let Eric Adams stay on as Mayor to the end of his term.
Collect pay checks
And smoke pot all day
Good question!!!
It’s unbelievable that this has gone on for so long! The amount of mold that will have grown following the water damage alone is a very dangerous health hazard. The owner and management company need to be sued bigtime.
Where is city enforcement i this? A year and a half or more of such conditions allowed to continue! The building should be taken over by the city or its owners should be brought to court with an order to fix these problems by a fixed date. Unimaginable for these tenants to be trapped like this without help from the city. Where is Ms. Brewer?
Ms. Brewer is no longer the borough president! And she now represents another district, just south of us. So who are you, Mr. Anon?
Buying churches with other people’s money.
Or not.
Good comments all. Back in the 1970s a landlord tried to evict my wife and I from an illegal loft in Greenwich Village (before the loft residency law was enacted). Only a few attorneys in the city specialized in this issue. What gave us an edge was that NYC housing laws favor the landlords, but the courts tilt toward the tenants. We were in and out of litigation for four years without a lease (none of our rent checks were cashed for 48 months), and we finally prevailed.
You are very very lucky! Most don’t prevail and if they do, they’ve already fed their hungry lawyers whatever’s left of their money. Landlord tenant lawyers consider their clients walking ATM machines! That has been our experience.
If you were living illegally in a loft and you continued to live there for years without a lease or eviction, and eventually obtained a court-ordered rent stabilized lease it sounds like the laws are tilted towards tenants.
Gail Brewer, the Councilwoman for the district, has been notified many many times about this situation and she has twiddled her thumbs (even though when some parking regulation affected rich people in her neighborhood, she sprang into action). Brewer and other officials need to pay attention to their district problems and help residents with their complaints against this seeming slumlord. Where is Brewer?!
The tenants are withholding and putting in escrow. And most cannot move because rents in the city are RIDICULOUS and elderly folks, young artists, young professionals, most normal human beings who try to live in this city and make it a decent place to be do not make the kinds of money needed to move. Why should they move because the landlord is a slumlord?
Can’t someone help that 96 year old guy get his prescription?
Hang in there Mandami is coming to the rescue!
There is some good messenger services in the area and I know a local man who runs errands for people.
He’s very reasonably priced.
I don’t want to put my telephone number on this site but if you’re interested for his info, maybe we can do this through the WSR.
There’s no reason a 96-year-old should have to walk up six flights of stairs. WAKE UP CITY OFFICIALS AND HELP THESE PEOPLE!
What will he do? The building sounds uninhabitable. If he freezes the rent, where will the m money for repairs come from?
He’s got a plan
Please report this to authorities.
can the rent withheld be used for repairs. ? that’s a question for a lawyer.
The tenants have a lawyer and have been guided by their councilperson Gale Brewer’s office. They have also filed petitions in Housing Court, Rosalba, in Gale Brewer’s office, has offered invaluable assistance.
You do not need to put the rent in escrow as long as you can prove that you can pay the rent. You do need to keep calling 311 so there is a record of malfeasance.
Certain violations give tenants the right to withhold rent. This landlord has many such violations.
There are a great many details the excellent reporter did not have space to include.
Thank you. Hoylman – Sigal will be boro pres soon. His office has always been very very responsive. Good luck tenants.
One commentor said that Brewers office did nothing and this one said she was wonderful. So which is it?
Lots of valid comments/questions here about the need for help from elected officials; it’s worth noting that articles like this often spur officials to spring into action, demonstrating the tremendous value and power of a free press (in particular local media — the WSR will only remain as good as it is, and as influential as it is, with continued support from readers).
Borough reps can you please advocate for these tenants and locate a pro bono attorney to act on their behalf? It’s only going to get worse as the weather worsens.
Where is city action & enforcement of 228 open violations, $49K in fines? Without real consequences, the landlord will continue this abuse & tenants will suffer. Does the 96 year old gentleman have to die (heaven forbid) before the building is made properly habitable???
Wish you were in office Helen C.
Some compassion needs to be shown by the officials. What they’re doing to that 96-year-old might as well be called attempted murder because how long can he survive like this?
I’ll make few friends with these questions but I don’t believe they can be escaped but please it thru: How much are the residence paying in rent for studios, one bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, bathrooms, sq footage in general? Is the owner constrained as to how much rent can be raised? What percentage have property taxes and various required city mandated inspections gone up? To be clear there can be no excuse for ghosting tenants. The owner (s) from what I have read appears heartless or cowardly or perhaps both. Another possibility.. although difficult to believe by suffering tenants…is that they/she/he is heartless, cowardly and broke! So if that’s the case, who helps? Who or what entity takes over so that these good people may live without this awful, ceaseless anxiety?
If the apartments or rent stabilized, which I assume is the case, all the tenants should go down together to the rent stabilization board and file is complaints in person and hopefully they’ll be listened to and corrected ASAP!
Valid points, all of them.
Neglecting your property and tenants is bad. But check out ACRIS and other city resources and it’s hard not to see something:
https://propertyinformationportal.nyc.gov/parcels/parcel/1012530086
The building pays $250,000/year in property taxes. The tax assessments have been increasing about 5% PER YEAR since 2014. Like many City buildings, the City has increased tax assessments wildly above inflation rates for over a decade. The money has to come from somewhere. Taxes are (on average) about 40% of a building’s operating expenses.
Whether or not this landlord is a bad actor, the City is defunding housing through an unsustainable real estate tax system.
Landlord also owes $388,406 in property taxes.
Time to contact one of local News Stations… 7 on your side etc? Nine Pineda? They seem to be good at getting answers?
Gale Brewer needs to do something about this!!!!! It is shocking.
Gale Brewer should fight for these tenants! Contacting her office to express support is a good way to get involved and help resolve this awful situation
It’s time for Gale Brewer to step up and do her job. Landlords exploiting tenants under her watch is pathetic and harmful!
Gale Brewer, the Council Member for this district, needs to do something about this! These living conditions are unacceptable and it’s clearly time for the city to step in.
Horrific!! Where are our elected officials? Our city needs to step in when landlords leave their tenants to rot. Gale Brewer needs to act and stop ignoring these constituents.
This is unacceptable. Gale Brewer needs to do something about this.
The Brewer team MUST take urgent action about this. Why aren’t our elected officials responding to their constituents’ needs? Hold landlords accountable!!! Good on these tenants.
If they put their collective rent in escrow, it shows that they have intention to pay, they simply won’t do it until repairs are made. They should consult an attorney- which I’m sure an UWS attorney would do it gratis!
You are clearly not a native New Yorker!! A Lawyer work for free? In New york? (Except for Legal Aid ,you’re not going to find an upper west side lawyer who will do this pro bono. You’re also talking about a huge amount of work and Red Tape.
Where are you from?
I moved out of several ‘buildings with issues,’ (none of them were rent stabilized) before I landed on the UWS. Just curious as to whether the building ever had a super or anyone who was a point of contact between the tenants and management. Assuming that there was a super, did he just stop showing up, or was there any warning that services would suddenly stop?
Gale Brewer needs to do something about this.
All our local elected officials could get involved and make a difference BUT because our elected officials keep being voted in no matter what they do or don’t do, they only care about their pet projects and being “seen”. Brewer is at every photo op. This is now Abreau’s district (though only a year and Brewer apparently did nothing previously). They only do what they want as they know they will keep being voted in. GOD FORBID there is an “R” next to a viable candidate. You all won’t even look at them so no one even runs. They know it’s a waste of time no matter what they stand for and how much they care or WOULD DO.
THIS is why no one is doing anything about these people’s situation. No one should be living like this in our local officials’ districts.
Gale Brewer needs to take action now. This is ridiculous!
As a born and raised UWS resident, I am so disappointed in our elected officials for neglecting their responsibilities to my neighbors and their constituents. The conditions described in this article are outrageous, and the tenants should not have to beg their representatives to give a damn about fighting to protect their right to safe and habitable housing in this city. To Gale Brewer: if you continue to refuse to do something about this, you don’t deserve to serve this district and we will vote you out!
I commend the tenants for standing up for themselves and each other, and am grateful to the West Side Rag for shining a light on what they are going through.
I was trying to put together an off market deal there several years ago. The owner fixed the elevator after I brought one of the city’s prominent building owners for a tour and he scolded the landlord. We had to climb the stairs and saw all the filth and violations.
Is DA Bragg still alive? Why is he doing nothing? Just asking!
Would appreciate some comments from outgoing Borough President and Comptroller elect Mark Levine.
There are many buildings like this in Manhattan – not just the upper West Side.
He is constantly preaching for new and more real estate development.
But he has been silent on the plight of tenants in deplorable housing .
I saw on the news last week that there are about 25,000 vacant stabilized apartments out there. They should be taken over, fixed up and made available. There is nothing worse than what they are going through remember ny1 reporting on 246 West 106th Street? I finally got harassed out of there and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was scared to move but I was blessed that it all worked out. Was expensive and painful but I probably should have moved on many years before that. And yes, that was a stabilized apartment and I was lucky enough to find one even better.
I am a still duly Licensed NYS Real Estate Principal Broker of twenty years, with twelve before that, from Spring 1993 as Agent then Associate Broker for the same original company, 99% UWS. I am currently inactive by choice and going back into ROCK & ROLL. I am not or ever have been an attorney. Any information I convey here is my current opinion based on the Recent Laws which are relevant to this situation, and my need to know the NYS/NYC Laws in this regard. 1-YES! The Tenant Entity solo or group would be very wise to pursue LEGAL COUNSEL! Duh? lol… Why? That is the arena where you will end up right? Well, guess who knows ALL about that? Exactly. 2-WITHOLDING RENT IS NOT ALLOWED, period… it WILL expose tenant participation to what was conveyed to you. 3-The laws in 1999 or six years ago COULD BE completely different than now, as well, and with all the radical progressive changes made in just the last five are a perfect example. 4- YES! FIGHT BACK…or…what? 5-HOW??? 6-See…#…ONE!… I M UWS RENT STABE my whole life around the UWS. I am an EXPERT on BOTH SIDES of the fence. I am NOT bragging …. LOL …CONTACT WEST SIDE LAW PROJECT and ask for or look up the latest email of DAN EVANS, Attorney, Say I said hello. Good Luck!
Landlords who subject their tenants to such horrific conditions should be punished. Elected officials who do nothing in the face of such inhumanity should be replaced. We’re watching, Gale Brewer, and we see you asleep on the job.
Gale Brewer needs to take action now! This is ridiculous