8 APRIL 18, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Tenants rise up against ‘bad actor’ landlord
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Dozens of tenants and their
elected officials marched
through the streets of
Ridgewood on Saturday to call out a
landlord who many charge is a “bad
actor” in multiple boroughs.
Protesters accused Silvershore
Properties, which made the 100 Worst
Landlord list in 2017, of purposely
neglecting properties to drive tenants
out and deregulate units while calling
for universal rent control.
During the rally organized by
Ridgewood Tenants Union (RTU),
residents of 61-20 Madison St. and 1708
Summerfi eld St. claimed that they are
oft en left to fend for themselves when
it comes to repairs and must make
due without heat or hot water.
“These people have forgotten
where they came from, these people
have forgotten that they were in our
shoes many years ago,” Hilda Coll
said. “Ridgewood is a community, not
a commodity.”
Gloria Nieves, who lives at the
Summerfield Street location, said
the landlord keeps jacking up the
rent and basic services like bring
the garbage to the street and snow
shoveling is not done by the company.
She also said that when Silvershore
wishes to enter an apartment, they
oft en do so without warning.
“My back breaks in so many places,”
Nieves said of the strain the work
puts on her body.
One tenant in the Madison Street
building claims Silvershore kept
one apartment on the ground fl oor
vacant for months in order to claim
a lost before bumping the rent up
to $2,800.
Assemblywoman Nydia Velazquez and Assemblyman Brian Barnwell were among a host of legislators who joined
scores of tenants in a march against an alleged bad actor. Photo: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
“Silvershore fl ips housing to make
a profit off tenants,” said Raquel
Namuche, a leader in RTU.
Another man in the Madison
Street building said he oft en takes
matters into his own hands when it
comes to repairs and maintenance
to the property as there is no
superintendent present on the site.
The building was purchased, along
with many others in Silvershore’s
portfolio, in June of 2016 and
was added to the city’s 100 Worst
Landlords list by Public Advocate
Letitia James.
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell,
who spoke at the rally, has a bill
that will require landlords building
housing to meet an area median
income calculated by the ZIP code
rather than the region and grant
community boards more authority
over projects.
“We all can agree that housing is a
human right and we have the power
to legislate that,” Barnwell said.
Barnwell’s legislation also bans
Major Capital Improvements, which
allow landlords to raise rent based on
repair or renovations to buildings. It
is one of nine bills the rally advocated
for that amount to what they referred
to as universal rent control.
“Ridgewood is rising up –
communities across New York are
rising up – because we know we
must fi ght unscrupulous landlords
and investors who are coming here
to make a dime out of the misery
and suff ering of our resident using
tactics to displace our communities,”
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez
said. “What message do we send to
the nation when in New York City …
we have 25,000 homeless children.”
There are over 60,000 homeless
people total across the city by
conservative estimates.
Velazquez is the sponsor of the
Landlord Accountability Act to
protect Section 8 tenants.
“We do not want to support people
who want to come into Ridgewood
to speculate on the backs of our
families,” Assemblywoman Catherine
Nolan said.
Ken Fisher, an attorney
representing Silvershore, told QNS
last week that the reason behind their
being added to the list was strictly by
virtue of the number of complaints to
HPD alone. Fisher said the company
buys buildings in poor states of repair
and upgrades them.
According to the HPD website, the
Madison Street property already
has 16 complaints from 2019 alone
and well over 30 from 2018. The most
common complaints referred to a
lack of heat and hot water, usually
eff ecting the entire building.
The Summerfi eld Street building
has over 65 complaints from 2019
alone, mostly pertaining to heat and
hot water.
Regardless, argued that over 100
violations were cleared the week of
the Public Adovocate’s report and
that the company has not made the
list since 2017.
“It’s no surprise that old buildings
neglected for years would have
problems, but there’s simply no
basis that this is part of a deliberate
eff ort to drive tenants out,” Fisher
said. “Ridgewood is obviously a
neighborhood in transition and I
think people are trying to connect
some dots with Silvershore that are
not cause and aff ect.”
Ariel Property Advisors, retained
by Silvershore to sell the Madison
Street building, states the $2.4
million investment “offers stable
cashfl ow with a great opportunity to
add value to the rental income. As the
Ridgewood neighborhood continues
to transform, the location offers
tremendous growth potential.”
Also speaking at the rally were
Assmeblyman Mike Miller and state
Senator Michael Gianaris.
Tenants marched throughout Ridgewood nearly to the Brooklyn border
against Silvershore Properties. Photo: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
