City Lawmakers Promise Tougher Laws To Help Protect Rent-Regulated Tenants
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some New York City Council members are taking aim at landlords who harass tenants so they'll move out.
Rallying outside City Hall on Wednesday, tenants say landlords are using aggressive construction to drive them out of their rent-regulated apartments, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
"After displacing 10 of the 17 rent-regulated tenants who were my neighbors, he began two years of gut renovations," Robert Pinter said of the landlord of the Lower East Side building where he's lived for 33 years. "This led to a ceiling collapse and the release of clouds of toxic dust into my apartment."
He said the work also has caused exposed electrical wiring, water leaks and vermin.
"The landlord offered a buyout to at least one tenant during this phase," Pinter said.
Today we are calling for an end to construction as harassment! #StandForTenantSafety pic.twitter.com/EJJPYq9H8D
— Antonio Reynoso (@ReynosoBrooklyn) September 30, 2015
Once a tenant moves out of a rent-regulated apartment, landlords can charge more for the space.
Councilman Antonio Reynoso, D-Brooklyn, and colleagues promised laws with teeth to stop aggressive construction.
"We need the DOB (Department of Buildings), and we need to make laws that regulate landlords that are currently looking to beat the system," he said.