By Ivan Pereira
January 6, 2012
The Greater Allen AME Cathedral’s affordable housing unit leads the borough in the city public advocate’s worst landlord list, and the Jamaica tenants who contend they are suffering in ramshackle conditions say they want action.
Bill de Blasio introduced last week new additions to his online database that tracks the violations against residential building owners, and as a result more than 60 landlords have been added to the list since its inception in 2010, including many from western Queens.
“There is more work to be done, so we’re building on this progress by launching new features today that will increase pressure on landlords who refuse to address violations, supply even more helpful information to apartment hunters and continue to provide residents an outlet to report landlords who fail to follow the law,” the public advocate said in a statement.
The database includes trend indicators that track whether a landlord is making the repairs to fix the violations that put them on the list in the first place, such as peeling paint, cracks in the walls or lack of heat in the building. It also features an additional list that shows which landlords qualify for removal.
In order to be put on the list, a building must have two hazardous housing code violations per unit.
Last year there were five buildings listed on the database, including two owned by the Allen Affordable Housing Development Fund Corp, which is part of Allen AME’s network.
The landlords for Allen Affordable buildings, at 107-04 150th St. and 89-06 138th St., are not only still on the list but are also the top two building managers in the borough with the most violations, with a combined total of 344 infractions, according to the database.
This year there are 14 buildings on the list, with many of the new additions in western Queens.
Fredrick Jones, a tenant at the 150th Street building, said he and his neighbors have been living in horrible conditions for years and, despite calls to Allen AME and elected officials, nothing has been done.
“I still have no hot water, there are still no superintendent service and the hallways don’t have lights,” he said.
Allen AME and the landlords listed for the two apartment buildings, Syndey Moshette and Harold Flake, could not be reached for comment by press time Tuesday. Jones said he and his neighbors are planning legal action against the landlords and said he has been in constant contact with the public advocate’s office about his building’s problems.
Six out of the eight Queens buildings that have been added to the list are in Glendale and Ridgewood. The addresses included 18-21 Cornelia St., 555 Fairview Ave., 195-25 Woodhull Ave., 17-25 Harman St., 18-85 Woodbine St. and 54-33 Metropolitan Ave.
One of the new additions also included a three-unit building, at 211-34 45th Road in Auburndale, and another building at 106-19 177th St. was also on the list.
