FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 3, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Tenants sue this Queens landlord for lying about
improvements to squeeze more rent from them
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
A Forest Hills-based property manager
is facing a major class action lawsuit aft er
tenants argued that the company is falsely
infl ating the cost of apartment improvements
Three centenarians celebrate birthdays in Bayside
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Th e extraordinary lives of one 105 and
two 103-year-old New York City residents
were celebrated in Bayside with
dancing, food and fun.
On July 28, centenarians Jean
Mastrangelo, Pauline Kossar and Irving
Black were thrown a grand birthday aff air
at the Catholic Charities Bayside Senior
Center, located along the Horace Harding
Expressway.
Jean Mastrangelo, who celebrated 103
years on July 20, was born at her family
home in Brooklyn and is the sixth of
eight children. She attended Manhattan
Industrial School where she studied millinery
and has two children, three grandchildren
and three great-grandchildren.
On Fridays, she takes the bus to the center
to dance.
Mastrangelo said the secret to longevity
is to always be happy and never argue.
Pauline Kossar, who turned 105 on
July 21, was born in her family home
in New York City. Owner of the famed
Kossar’s Bialy Bakery, Kossar still enjoys
visiting the family business. She has three
children, eight grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren and enjoys playing
Bingo at the center.
For Kossar, the secret to a long life is
hard work and spending quality time
with family.
Irving Black, who will celebrate his
103rd birthday on Aug. 23, was born in
Latvia and came to the United States when
he was seven. He attended Manhattan’s
Cooper Union College and served as a
civil engineer for the U.S. Navy during
World War II. He has been married to
his wife, Dorothy, for 76 years. Th e couple
have three children, fi ve grandchildren
and 10 great-grandchildren.
According to Black, the secret to longevity
is love, compromise and dancing
with Dorothy.
Aft er lunch, birthday cake and dancing,
each centenarian was presented certifi
cates of recognition from local lawmakers,
including Borough President
Melinda Katz, State Senator Tony Avella
and Councilman Barry Grodenchik.
Th e Catholic Charities Bayside Senior
Center is located at 221-15 Horace
Harding Expy. and off ers a range of activities
and services, including art classes,
games, workshops, lunches and organized
outings.
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
to charge tenants more for rent.
Bronstein Properties, the 14th largest
residential landlord in New York
City, owns many rent-stabilized apartment
buildings, including more than 15
in Queens. Following an investigation by
the nonprofi t Housing Rights Initiative,
tenants have decided to sue the property
manager aft er experiencing up to a 141
percent increase in rent due to Individual
Apartment Improvements (IAI).
Th e lawsuit, fi led by Newman Ferrera
LLP in the Supreme Court of the State
of New York, outlines how Bronstein
Properties increased rent without performing
improvements that would justify
the increase. It also state that the property
manager in some cases did not register
the rent-regulated apartments with the
Department of Homes and Community
Renewal (DHCR), allowing it to receive
tax benefi ts without stating the correct
regulated rent on leases.
“In theory, Individual Apartment
Improvements are used to rehabilitate
apartments,” said Aaron Carr, founder
of HRI. “In practice, they are a breeding
ground for rent fraud and a sinkhole for
our city’s aff ordable housing stock.”
A landlord can permanently increase
the rent of a rent-stabilized apartment by
about 2 percent aft er completing an IAI.
But the landlord does not have to provide
receipts to DHCR, the state housing
enforcement agency.
According to a DHCR spokesperson,
new regulations were put in place on
January 2014 that require the landlord
to provide specifi c improvements he or
she made on the lease. Additionally, tenants
can request receipts when the lease is
signed or up to 60 days aft er it is signed.
But a tenant must know to ask since the
improvements are not publicly available.
Landlords can face penalties if they do
not list the IAIs on the lease rider and the
Tenant Protection Unit, established in
2012 by DHCR has returned 60,000 units
to regulation and recovered more than $4
million in rent overcharges.
IAIs include new doors, counters and
cabinets rather than repairs and are usually
done when the apartment is vacant to
attract new tenants, the suit argues. When
signifi cant changes are made, the property
manager must obtain a permit with the
Department of Buildings.
HRI found that only one building has
received permits which identify improvements
that have actually been made. In
the remaining apartments, tenants were
charged exorbitantly more than the 2 percent
of the total cost of improvements.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all,
you encounter a landlord who is claiming
to have performed millions of dollars
in apartment improvements with virtually
no permits to back it up,” Carr said in
a statement. “Th is is outrageous. We are
talking about the 14th biggest residential
landlord in New York City. How did this
happen? How did no alarm bells go off ?
Who is watching over our city’s aff ordable
housing stock?”
Tenants living at a rent stabilized apartment
at 43-32 47th St. in Sunnyside claim
they were charged $1,316.68 more or a
141 percent increase above the legal regulated
rent paid by the previous tenant.
Bronstein would have had to perform
more than $67, 800 in IAIs when the unit
was vacant.
Scott Chapman, a plaintiff in the suit
who lives in an apartment at 43-35 42nd
St. in Sunnyside claims that between 2012
and 2013 his rent increased by 73 percent
or $906.76. More than $26,300 in IAIs
would have had to be completed to justify
the rent hike, according to the suit.
In Woodside, tenants at 39-89 51st
St. were charged an additional $781.25
between 2014 and 2015 even though tenants
have no evidence that IAIs were
made to justify the increase.
Dozens of tenants in apartments at
42-09 47th Ave., 43-09 40th St., 43-17
48th St., 43-39 42nd St., 45-42 41st St.,47-
07 41st St. and 47-21 41st St. claim they
experienced similar increases without
witnessing IAIs to justify them.
More than 70 Bronstein Properties
buildings also benefi ted from J-51 tax
benefi ts. Property owners who renovate
residential buildings are eligible for the
tax abatement and must uphold the rent
stabilization laws.
Tenants Ryan and Deirdre Balas, who
live at 39-89 51st St. are plaintiff s in the
lawsuit. Th e owner receives tax benefi ts
under the J-51 for operating that rent-regulated
building and must register the
apartment with DHCR as rent-stabilized.
But the investigation found that from
2004 through 2012 Bronstein Properties
failed to fi le the registration with DHCR.
Th e suit claims that the tenants are
legally entitled to a reformation of their
lease to include the correct regulated rent.
“Bronstein Properties is eff ectively a
gambler masquerading as a landlord.
Th ey are less in the business of managing
properties than they are in the business of
speculating on them,” Carr said.
Bronstein Properties did not return a
request for comment as of press time.
Photo via Shutterstock
Bronstein Properties charged tenants for apartment improvements they claim were never made.