Tenants In Brooklyn Building Without Heat Defending Landlord, As City Threatens To Fine Him Thousands Of Dollars
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn landlord who says he has been working with tenants struggling to pay rent during the pandemic is now struggling to provide them heat.
His boiler is broken and supply chain issues have made it difficult to find a new one.
Despite efforts to fix it, the city is threatening to fine him thousands of dollars, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported.
Unpacking and delivering space heaters is not what Lincoln Eccles wanted to be doing this winter. It's a last resort after the boiler in his 100-plus-year-old Crown Heights building broke.
"We had repeat plumbers come through," Eccles said.
For months, he has been looking for a replacement boiler for his 14-unit building.
"I've called as far as Boston, Connecticut, Chicago. Nothing," Eccles said.
He said he is making do with the space heaters, just like his tenants.
"I have to put plastic over the windows to keep the extra draft out," a tenant named Mark said. "When it gets really cold, it's bad. Using the electrical heater ... you have to pay extra on your light bill. I know he's trying."
"Lincoln updates me, like, every time he sees me," tenant Mark Pfohl said. "He's been the best of probably any landlord I've ever had."
Long term, despite approaching $300,000 in debt, Eccles said he has decided to invest in a green solution -- heat pumps -- that is now being drawn up and built by a company, but it could take weeks.
"My solution is to not participate in poisoning the Earth," Eccles said.
He said, still, the city is warning it will soon hook up a mobile boiler and charge him $12,000 for the first week and $2,000 every week thereafter.
Eccles said he's still suffering from around half of his tenants unable to pay rent during the pandemic, and a spike in property taxes due to developers coming into the neighborhood.
Most units are rent stabilized, as his property taxes have doubled due to the changing neighborhood.
"I've been bleeding, bleeding, bleeding and you're just adding on more cost unnecessarily," Eccles said. "They're still trying to push a system that will push me further towards bankruptcy."
When asked if he understands Eccles' plight, the tenant Mark said, "Absolutely. The city can do more to help the landlords."
At this point, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development told CBS2 an emergency repair team is engaged with the owner and working to restore heat.
A spokesperson added owners are legally required to provide heat and that no civil penalties are pending, but Eccles said the agency's top officials have warned him the city could sue him soon.
A group of small property owners have organized a fundraiser to support Eccles and his efforts to get a new heating system.
The group told Rozner it is an issue that could have happened to any of them.
