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Calls for stability at rent reform rally
Public advocate blasts Queens fi rm for manipulating regulations, pricing tenants out
BY BILL PARRY
Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams was in Queens
on May 6 rallying with
community organizers and
speaking out against Zara
Realty Holding Group’s
fraudulent use on Major
Capital Improvements (MCIs)
to evict tenants.
Attorney General Letitia
James, who Williams replaced,
and Governor Andrew Cuomo
announced a lawsuit had
been filed in March against
Zara Realty for repeatedly
violating rent stabilization
laws and harassing tenants
at the Queens apartment
buildings in March.
“Zara Realty is just one of
the many bad actor landlords
who have abused MCIs to
evict tenants across the city,
so it’s time for Albany to act,”
Williams said. “This type of
egregious action is not only
displacing tenants, but it’s
depleting our city’s affordable
housing stock by allowing
landlords to raise rents
and remove units from the
protections that come with
rent regulated units.”
Zara Realty has been
accused of violating New
York’s rent stabilization law
multiple times by slamming
tenants with illegal broker’s
fees, excess security deposits
and illegal late fees, according
to the Public Advocate. A
lawsuit against the Jamaicabased
company accuses the
their rights under rent
regulation law.
Williams called on Albany
to prioritize legislation
sponsored by state Senator
Michael Gianaris and
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell
which would eliminate the
ability for landlords to pass
the cost of building repairs
onto renters with MCIs.
Williams argued that abuse
of MCIs lead to tenants being
priced out of their homes.
“Many landlords have
benefitted from and abused
loopholes in the current rent
laws to systematically displace
thousands of tenants from
their homes,” Chhaya CDC
Community Organizer Rima
Begum said. “Zara Realty is
just one corporate landlord
that will inflate the costs on
Major Capital Improvements,
increasing rents to exorbitant
levels. We need to drastically
rethink our housing laws, and
THANKS OF A GRATEFUL QUEENS
eliminate MCI.”
Zara Realty defended its
practices saying all MCIs are
approved by the state’s Homes
& Community Renewal office
after a lengthy and thorough
review and adds that tenants
also have a cwhance to review
and comment on MCI plans
prior to construction.
“The company purchases
older buildings, many of which
have a long history of neglect
by prior owners, and invests in
new infrastructure, including
boilers, windows, facades
and roofs, security systems,
renovations to individual
units and other amenities, all
in the service of creating highquality
affordable housing for
tenants,” the company said in
a statement. “The company
has never sold a building
it purchased in Queens.
Zara is proud to invest in
its properties for the benefit
of tenants.”
landlord of changing the terms
and conditions of existing
tenancies by compelling
tenants to sign new leases,
in turn waiving important
rights, and failing to provide
Rhoda, the wife of late Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, accepts on May 7 a flag flown over the World Trade Center the
tenants with required
weekend of his death at 86. See story on Page 4. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
lease riders that explain
Vol. 7 No. 19 56 total pages
/QNS.COM
