Sunset tenants, organizations fight against poor treatment by landlords

For the second consecutive year, Sunset Park tenants, organizations, Councilmember Carlos Menchaca and others gathered outside the apartment building at 430 61st Street to protest against discrimination against tenants, harassment by the landlord and rooms in disrepair in that building and others in Sunset Park.

The protest, held on Monday, August 28, also highlighted new legislation designed to help protect tenants from abuse by corrupt landlords.

“The tenants from this building are tired of all the alleged harassment and abuse they are going through,” said Rolando Guzman who spoke on behalf of Stand for Tenant Safety Coalition. “There’s a lot of discrimination going on because (tenants) are Latinos. There are issues with locks being changed on doors at the last minute and tenants having issues getting into the apartment.”

Twelve-year-old Samantha Bravo, who lives in the building, once again spoke about the hardships she and her family have experienced under the landlord, Soo Fung Dong.

“The treatment we’ve received from the landlord is something you don’t want to go through,” she contended. “Not only has she verbally abused us, but she has lied and claims she has made repairs to our apartment. Unmade repairs include our uneven kitchen floor, mold, doors for entering the building and apartment, and a broken intercom. She doesn’t give us hot water and heat during the winter, and that has triggered my asthma.”

One of the bills, Introduction 1549-A, is designed to protect tenants who receive harassment and intimidation from their landlords. “This new law will also protect us from the threat of abuse,” said Bravo. “It will make landlords make repairs.”

The legislation, signed into law on Wednesday, August 30, “will directly impact the lives of tenants in this district by protecting them from the displacement and harassment,” Menchaca said. “For the first time ever, New Yorkers will be guaranteed legal representation in housing court. Landlords have lawyers. New York tenants have almost no chance of a fair outcome in housing court without legal help and that help is signed into law.”

Altogether, said Menchaca, the package of bills, “Will extend the rights of our people no matter who you are or where you come from.”

In addition, among the issues being targeted by the bills is construction as harassment. “What they do is reform the Department of Buildings so it is accountable to tenants and not landlords,” explained Yane Li, an attorney from the Urban Justice Center Community Development Project. “It punishes landlords who repeatedly violate the law by increasing penalties so that breaking the law is not the normal pattern of doing business. A $2,000 fine means nothing to them.”

The legislation package represents a watershed moment in the struggle against abusive landlords, according to Marcela Mitaynes from Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

“Landlords of Sunset Park and Brooklyn, you are being put on notice,” she said. “The abuse of your power, you constantly pleading ignorance about not knowing what you’re doing and the disrespect to tenants and district agencies is going to stop. Today we take a stand against harassment.”

At press time, Dong was unavailable for comment.