Real Estate
Still In Limbo
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@QNS.COM
Astoria tenants who were abruptly
told to move out of their apartments last
November are in limbo more than a year
after receiving their first eviction notices.
The building at 31-10 47th St. is man-aged
by the nonprofit New York School
of Urban Ministry (NYSUM). The 39-unit
apartment features single-room dorms oc-cupied
by residents with referrals by clergy.
In November 2016, the tenants dis-covered
that they were being forced to
move out after NYSUM allegedly signed a
contract with a service provider to turn the
building into a homeless shelter. The De-partment
of Homeless Services vehemently
denied any such agreement was signed.
At least 12 of the tenants are being
represented by the Legal Aid Society, which
took on the case soon after eviction notices
were granted. The move by NYSUM, which
is a nonprofit organization that “hosts, trains
and deploys” youth and adults for urban
ministry, was decried as “heartless” and
“cruel” by local elected officials in a press
conference last year.
In October 2017, Sateesh Nori, the
lawyer for the tenants told QNS that they
were being threatened by building staff
and had their wi-fi shut off in an effort to
force them out of the building.
“They have done almost nothing to take
the lawsuit on,” Nori told QNS in October.
“They haven’t put any legal arguments
together. They haven’t made any mean-ingful
settlement offers to us and it was
a mystery until we realized that their plan
was to go directly to the tenants, to go
around us because we’re their lawyers
and to directly push them out and make
their lives uncomfortable.”
In a Nov. 16th court date, a Queens
Supreme Court judge granted an injunction,
which means the landlord cannot take any
18 JANUARY 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
action to remove the tenants until a final
verdict is announced.
Nori said that at a Dec. 20th court date,
the case was adjourned until Jan. 9. But
on Dec. 27, the lawyer for NYSUM asked
to reschedule the date in order to have
more time to respond.
“We’re somewhat surprised that they
aren’t pushing this case more,” he said.
“NYSUM is extremely lax about fighting
the case and that’s beneficial to our clients
because they’re the ones remaining in their
apartments.”
Nori said the nonprofit’s attitude is espe-cially
surprising considering that last year,
they were actively seeking to push tenants
out to turn the building into a homeless
shelter. Tenants received notices on Nov.
28 and were told they had to move out on
or before Dec. 31.
NYSUM extended the deadline to Janu-ary
and according to Nori, several people
moved out though he is not sure how
Photos by Angela Matua/QNS
many of the 39 tenants have left since
last November.
“A year ago they were in such a rush
and now it’s, ‘oh, whatever comes,’” Nori
said. “And we’re fine with that. Our clients
have a place to live.”
Tenants won’t get “any final word on
what happens” until at least March or later,
he said. A final verdict on the case probably
won’t be made until six to nine months
from now, he added. Ira Clair, the lawyer
for NYSUM, has not proposed a settlement.
Clair did not respond to a request for
comment.
