Attorney General James cracks down on
Flushing condo immigrant intimidation
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | JAN. 29-FEB. 4, 2021
Photo via Google Mpas
BY BILL PARRY
Northeast Queens lawmakers
are lauding Attorney General
Letitia James and her efforts
on behalf of a number of
their constituents who faced
forfeiture of rent-stabilized
apartments in Flushing.
James announced agreements
with a condo owner, its
principals and a security firm
over repeated violations of rent
stabilization laws and guidance.
The agreements with 132-
40 Sanford LLC, the sponsor
of the Summit at Infinity 8
Condominium located at 132-
40 Sanford Ave., its real estate
management company, Pinnacle
Managing Co., LLC, and
security firm SW Security
Services, LLC, resolves violations
relating to the modification
of a front door lock of the
rent-stabilized building which
ultimately led to several of the
building’s tenants, mostly Chinese,
forfeiting their rent-stabilized
apartments.
Under the terms of the
agreements, the companies will
implement a series of measures
that are inclusive to all tenants,
undergo anti-discrimination
trainings, and donate $50,000
to nonprofit organizations that
focus on tenant organizing in
Asian communities.
“Tenants have a right to stay
in their homes, and we must do
all we can to protect affordable
housing,” James said. “The
companies failed to deliver the
pinnacle of service to tenants,
and their actions forced individuals,
particularly Chinese
tenants, out of their rent-stabilized
homes. Let this serve as a
warning that we will not tolerate
anyone or any entity that
violates our housing laws and
threatens New Yorkers’ right
to a safe and decent home.”
In 2017, after acquiring the
occupied rent-stabilized rental
building at Stanford Avenue
and submitting initial offering
documents to the Office of
the Attorney General (OAG) to
convert the building to a condominium,
the sponsor hired SW
Security Services to change
the building’s front door lock
system to an electronic access
system. However, the sponsor
and Pinnacle Managing failed
to apply to the state’s Division
of Housing and Community Renewal
(DHCR) for permission
to change the door lock, a violation
of the state’s rent stabilization
guidance.
The subsequent key fob distribution
system process was
overly burdensome on tenants
and excluded certain individuals.
Tenants were incorrectly
told to present a valid New
York state ID or other government
issued ID to receive their
new key fob. At the same time,
only U.S. citizens and legal permanent
residents qualified for
government-issued IDs, leaving
a significant number of non-citizen
and non-legal permanent
resident Chinese tenants of the
building with the impression
that they were not entitled to
access their own homes.
“It seems clear that the owners
and operators of the Infinity
8 Condominium and the security
firm deliberately attempted
to target members of our Asian
American community in an effort
to force them out of their
own homes,” state Senator
Toby Ann Stavisky said. “This
practice is abhorrent, shameful,
and cannot be tolerated. I
applaud Attorney General Letitia
James for investigating
this discriminatory practice
and protecting rent-stabilized
tenants.”
Additionally, the OAG’s
investigation found that in
March 2018, when SW Security
Services distributed the key
fobs to tenants, the company’
impermissibly recorded information
from tenant IDs.
The company then used the
information as a basis for initiating
investigations into 13
of the tenants, 10 with Chinese
surnames.
“This is certainly a big
step in the right direction and
it shows the impact of a protenant
attorney general,” Assemblyman
Ron Kim said. “I
want to thank Attorney General
Letitia James for continuing
to put the needs of our most
vulnerable members first, and
I look forward to working more
closely with her and her office
to hold predatory landlords and
developers accountable.”
Both the sponsor and
management company authorized
those investigations,
which resulted in seven of
the tenants, six of whom had
Chinese surnames, to forfeit
their apartments.
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