Mount Eden tenants sue, protest neglectful landlord
Mayor de Blasio Must Properly Fund Meal Programs
“Without my senior center,
I would have no food to
eat.”
That’s a direct quote
from a senior who wrote
the New York City Department
for the Aging about
dependence on meal programs
at senior centers.
This senior is not alone.
Across New York City, hundreds
of thousands turn to
senior centers and home delivered
meals to meet their
daily nutritional needs. In
fact, more than half (56%)
of New York City’s seniors
report that the meals they
eat at senior centers account
for their primary
daily food and nutrient intake.
These meals are key to
preventing seniors from going
hungry. The need cannot
be stressed enough.
And yet for years, City
Hall has not been providing
adequate funding to
keep pace with the growing
demand for - and cost of - senior
meals programs. And
the nonprofit organizations
around New York that prepare
and serve these vital
meals have been forced
to fill a multimillion dollar
funding gap created by
City Hall.
Currently, the Department
for the Aging overall
budget accounts for less
than 1% of the total City
budget. That insufficient
funding is only exacerbated
BRONX TIMES R 22 EPORTER, JUNE 7-13, 2019 BTR
by the fact that aging New
Yorkers make up the fastest
growing demographic
- while the percentage of seniors
living in poverty has
increased, especially in the
Bronx, where 28 percent of
seniors now live below the
poverty level.
The problems of poverty,
health and livability
are even worse for seniors
of color, according to findings
from a report AARP
New York released last
year titled, “Disrupting
Disparities: Solutions for
New Yorkers Age 50+”
With the fast-growing
population and poverty
numbers comes the need
for more meals. In the last
three years alone, there has
been a 20 percent increase
in the number of seniors
accessing meals. And those
meals have become more
expensive, increasing 18
percent in the last decade.
But here’s the kicker: New
York City spends 20 percent
below the national average
on senior meals, despite the
fact the everything is more
expensive in the city.
We recently joined senior
advocacy organizations
LiveOn NY and Project
FIND to call on Mayor
de Blasio to increase funding
by $35 million to cover
the full cost of the approximately
13 million meals
that are served annually at
senior centers and through
home delivered meals.
Every senior deserves
access to a quality, nutritious
meal. Kitchen staff
and senior center professionals
responsible for ensuring
the availability of
these meals must be paid
a competitive, living wage
(they mostly have not received
raises in many
years). And nonprofits
shouldn’t be forced to cover
the gaps left by the city’s
inadequate funding. These
basic investments are integral
to ensuring the dignity
of New York’s older
adults and to promoting a
fair city for all ages.
We are committed to
ensuring New Yorkers can
age safely – and with dignity
– in our city. We want
an age-friendly city that
cares for its seniors. We
won’t stop the pressure on
Mayor de Blasio until he
does the right thing for all
seniors across New York.
For America’s richest
city, it is not too much to
ask of City Hall.
for Senior Citizens
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A group of south Bronx tenants
have had enough with a
landlord that they say is neglectful.
Residents of 1485 Macombs
Road rallied outside Bronx
Housing Court at 1118 Grand
Concourse prior to launching
a lawsuit against landlord Robert
Khomari, the second one
against the 49-unit building’s
landlord in two years.
The Mount Eden tenants
are demanding action in fi xing
what a representative of the
tenants called “hazardous and
demeaning living conditions
threatening the health and
safety of their families.”
Some of those conditions in
the prewar complex are spelled
out in the current 190 open
housing violations issued to the
prewar Macombs Road property
by the NYC Housing Preservation
and Development.
Meanwhile, three of the
building’s eight gas lines are
not functioning and several
tenants have been without
cooking gas for nine months,
according to Community Action
for Safe Apartments,
who’s assisting the tenants in
court.
The tenants’ complaints include
inconsistent access to elevators
in the six-story building,
light outages and overall building
wide maintenance.
“Many tenants are spending
their own money to maintain
their homes in order to
live in safe apartments,” the
spokesperson said.
While these residents were
granted a rent reduction by
the NYS Division Housing and
Community Renewal, Khomari
and his team have not honored
the rent reductions for many
tenants nor have they complied
in offering lease renewals,
CASA says.
Tenants have also been offered
buy-outs by the landlord,
which has struck concern due
to the recent rezoning of Jerome
Avenue and the anticipated
cost of living rise that’s
anticipated.
Greg Baltz, one of the attorney’s
on the case against Khomari
and Macombs Place LLC
explained how these allegations
against the property’s management
are legally defi ned within
the expanded defi nition of tenant
harassment.
“These people have been
dealing with harassment for
years,” Baltz said, detailing
how gas outages have been occurring
since 2018 as well as
how necessary, city mandated
repairs have also not been complied
with.
The tenant’s previous suit
from 2017 was discontinued
when repairs were addressed
and conditions improved in the
building during the court proceedings,
Baltz also explained.
That suit alleged a lack of
heat and hot water, water pipe
leaks, mold, broken appliances,
collapsing ceilings, a broken
intercom, poor hallway lighting,
broken mailboxes ands rodent
and roach infestations.
Although, this time Baltz
and his legal team aren’t positive
whether or not that will
be the result from the new lawsuit.
“The tenants of this building
asked us to push as hard
as we can to keep the case in
court,” Baltz said.
They also united to form
a tenants association in the
building to put pressure on
Khomari to keep up with the
legal standards of maintaining
the property as well.
Baltz said that the lawsuit
was “only one way to have the
landlord live up to his legal obligations,”
mentioning that the
tenants association was another
major step to keeping the
management in check.
Citywide, Khomari runs
and owns 36 residential properties,
33 of which are in the
southwest Bronx.
The next court date for this
case is on Friday, June 7 when
Baltz and his fi rm will attend a
pre-trial hearing.
Calls to Macombs Place LLC
were not returned.
Tennants outside of bronx Housing Court on Wednesday, May 22. Courtesy of CASA