Bronx tenants use Stuy Town as precedent in eviction case

Tenants at a Bronx apartment building at 1600 Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights will head to court today to make their case against landlord Riverview Redevelopment, which they say illegally hiked up rents in their building. The residents face eviction for refusing to pay rent, following the landlord’s move to take 80 apartments in the building out of the affordable housing program in February and raising rents to market rate. As a result, some units’ rent increased by as much as $500. The tenants have cited the recent landmark Tishman Speyer case at the Stuyvesant Town development as evidence for their case. Last month John Barone, a Bronx state Supreme Court justice, granted the tenants a temporary restraining order to stave off evictions.