Dozens of new property violations found at buildings connected to owners, managers of Bronx building that partially collapsed
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NEW YORK -- Our CBS New York Investigative Team has learned the city found dozens of new property violations at buildings connected to the same owners and managers of the Bronx building that partially collapsed earlier this month.
Investigative Reporter Tim McNicholas has been digging into city records.
The city says these buildings they inspected after the collapse are structurally stable right now. But at some of the properties, they did warn if the problems aren't fixed, that could change.
"Severe state of disrepair" and "decaying mortar with evidence of water infiltration at various locations throughout the premises that can lead to a structural instability and potential collapse" are just some of the concerns a city inspector marked this month at a building near East 153rd and Gerard Avenue in the Bronx.
An inspector noted similar concerns and that same warning a day earlier at a property near East 146th and College Avenue.
"We've seen cracks outside of the building as well as inside," tenant Olga Perez said.
Both of these properties are owned by separate LLCs that list the same head officer as the building that partially collapsed: Yonah Roth. The LLCs all list the same mailing address in Brooklyn, as does the owner of a building at East 168th Street and Sheridan Avenue.
CBS New York investigated that property two days after the partial collapse and found a hole in a bedroom ceiling and cracks in the buildings hallways. One day after our investigation, inspectors issued a violation for those cracks. The Buildings Department confirms the property is connected to the same group of landlords and managers.
"Following the partial building collapse in the Bronx earlier this month, DOB investigators immediately initiated a comprehensive audit of all of the properties that have a connection to the various parties associated with 1915 Billingsley Terrace. The ongoing inspection sweeps being conducted of these related properties are being conducted out of an abundance of caution, and all in the interest of public safety. To date, none of these inspections have turned up evidence of structural stability concerns that would necessitate vacating the building and displacing the residents," the DOB said in a statement.
All of it is concerning connection for the tenants on East 146th, like Olga Perez.
"If anything happens to us, that's negligence on their part," Perez said. "There's so many issues that I've noticed over the past few years, like the floor. The ceiling is peeling."
At Croes Avenue and Westchester, crews are repairing the façade after inspectors found part of it was a hazard to the public. Again, ownership records showed an LLC with the same mailing address as the other properties. The city said residents should stay off their balconies until the repairs are done.
We've tried to reach anyone connected to these properties to ask them about these violations. One landlord said he was busy and would call us back, but we're still waiting.
A new law, the LLC Transparency Act, was signed late last week and it would make it easier to find out who exactly owns and benefits from these buildings.
