Lights out for 46th Street tenants

Tenants of three Sunset Park buildings held an emergency rent strike rally in front of Assemblymember Felix Ortiz’s office on July 9, after living for years with spotty electricity, heat and hot water.

“In the summer, the lights go off every 20 minutes or so. In the winter, there is no heat or hot water,” said Sara Lopez, head of the tenant’s association of the three attached buildings at 454, 553 and 557 46^th Street. “There are lots of children living here and people who are sick. In the winter, we have to use space heaters, so at nighttime, it can be dangerous.”

When fire marshals were called to the building a few weeks ago after a power outage – which residents say happens multiple times a day – they found a small plastic fan cooling off the fuse box.

“We get estimated ConEd bills because [the landlord] doesn’t let them in the basement,” Lopez said. “It’s game playing and it’s getting me really angry. We are humans and we can’t let people treat us like this.”

Despite numerous pleas, the landlord, Orazio Petito of Peto Management, does not respond to tenant’s requests, according to tenants. In addition, Lopez said that she and her neighbors have called 3-1-1 multiple times and have not gotten any assistance.

Most of the residents, including Lopez, have been withholding rent – which is as high as $1,800 a month — as a retaliation tactic. Some have not paid for up to 12 months. Lopez has not paid hers for six.

Carlos Villon has lived in the building for 35 years. It has been two months since he paid his rent. “Every 20 minutes, the lights go out. I have no heat and no hot water,” he said through a translator. “I am willing to fight. There is no limit to what I will do. I have been here for so long, this is my home and this [fight] will be planned strategically. This is no-holds-barred. I am not pulling any punches.”

He was one of a dozen tenants who – accompanied by organizers from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Sunset Park — marched from the buildings to Ortiz’s office on 55^th Street, chanting “Tenants united will never be defeated,” “No justice, no peace” and “Housing is a human right” in both English and Spanish.

Ortiz came out of the building after a while and told the angry crowd, “When you asked me to help, I feel like I have been present. I haven’t been sleeping and have been on the case,” while showing all of the letters that he has received from the tenants. “We want to take over the building if we can.”

Ortiz was with members of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), who told tenants to continue calling 3-1-1.

“We are aware of the problems and have lots of enforcement techniques. We have litigation against the landlord, who was ordered by the court to fix the violations,” said Joe Rosenberg, deputy commissioner for intergovernmental affairs for HPD, adding that violations in the buildings have been in the agency’s docket since November. “There is no indication that you are in danger. We are focusing on getting the building back in a decent state. We want to work with you to get what you are entitled to.

But tenants were not having it.

“This sounds like a lot of talk and no action,” yelled one resident.

“This is so bureaucratic!” said another.

Ortiz met with the tenants in his office. Together with representatives from HPD, they came up with a plan.

“They [HPD] didn’t realize how expansive the problem was,” said Bisnja Bujica, a member of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, who was at the meeting.

She explained that HPD will send out more inspectors as soon as possible to get the most recent violations on the record. Then, the agency will send an electrical inspector, who can classify violations as an emergency so repairs can finally be made.

The landlord, Petito, did not return calls for comment as of press time.