BY JACKSON CHEN | Residents of an Upper West Side housing complex remain wary of the threat of tenant harassment, despite a previous incident of so-called police “impersonators” being debunked.
For several months, residents at 50 West 93rd Street were under the impression that three armed men who inadequately identified themselves entered the Westwood House complex looking to harass tenants out of their rent-stabilized units.
However, during the building’s tenant association meeting on October 22, police from the 24th precinct informed the residents that the “impersonators” were in fact city officials investigating a complaint. The group included two NYPD officers and a Department of Buildings investigator — operating as part of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement — responding to a 311 complaint, according to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.
City records indicate that a complaint was filed on July 8 claiming there were two apartments being rented as illegal hotel rooms. After the apartments were checked on August 19, the three officers found no violations, city records state.
While the three officers were identified, Sharon Canns, president of the 50 West 93d Street Tenant Association, felt the whole situation could have been handled much better.
“There was not a murder, assault, or robbery going on,” Canns said. “This was a situation where they suspected Airbnb. Nobody was in physical jeopardy. This is not a situation where the cops should come flying in here.”
She said if the police officers properly identified themselves to the building’s doorman, the situation wouldn’t have escalated. Despite the case being closed, Borough President Gale Brewer’s office said they are looking into it and have been in contact with the tenants regarding the August incident.
Canns also said there was a similar incident on September 17 with the same officers, but city officials didn’t know about a repeat inspection and city records don’t show another visit to the building.
In addition to the question of the inspections, the tenant association meeting afforded residents an opportunity to learn about what they can do when actually faced with what they say is the common occurrence of landlord harassment. Housing advocates, local officials, and the police all offered advice.
“These are tenants that are routinely getting harassed by landlords in various ways such as telling the tenants they owed rent,” said City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who attended the meeting. “We’re dealing with a building where we get those kinds of complaints on a regular basis.”
Rosenthal, whose district covers the Upper West Side, said her office received 1,600 housing and building harassment calls last year out of a total of 2,800 queries from district residents.
Canns said that within the last two years, seven cases of harassment arose within the building that are being reviewed by the state’s Tenant Protection Unit. Created in 2012 by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the TPU aims to preserve affordable housing by stopping and preventing landlord fraud and harassment.
The tenant association president added that the seven cases were a lot for a building with just over 70 rent-stabilized apartments. Canns claimed that the management company and building owner, Stellar Management, has filed frivolous lawsuits, offered buyouts, and kept parts of the building in disrepair.
However, a representative from the management company of the housing complex said, “The management of 50 West 93rd Street has never, in any way, engaged in harassment towards residents in the building.”
Addressing the prevalence of tenant harassment, Rosenthal said her office runs a monthly housing clinic where they offer free attorney advice to any tenant who feels they are being harassed. The Council member added she’s working on various tenant protection initiatives with her colleagues on the Council, including the recently enacted Intro 757 that classifies repeated buyout offers as tenant harassment.
Still, Canns said it’s tough for tenants to go against landlords and management companies.
“For the average person, you have to take off days from work; management doesn’t, they have lawyers,” she said. “There’s very little you can do about that kind of thing.”
