Tenants allege age discrimination at Upper West Side building

Stonehenge bars rent-regulated tenants from building's gym; majority of those residents are seniors

Stonehenge Village at 135 West 96th Street
Stonehenge Village at 135 West 96th Street

Tenants of an Upper West Side mixed-income building allege the landlord is discriminating against the elderly by barring low-income residents from using the property’s on-site gym.

The battle broke out earlier this year after Stonehenge Partners reserved the gym at Stonehenge Village at 135 West 96th Street strictly for market-rate tenants. In an update to an earlier complaint cited by DNAinfo, 74-year-old tenant association president Jean Dorsey said 66 percent of rent-regulated residents at Stonehenge Village are 65 or older, while just 5 percent of wealthier tenants fall in that demographic.

Public Advocate Letitia James filed a separate complaint in February, in which she said the owners “were fully aware that those tenants who are subject to stabilization are long-term tenants who [are] more likely to be elderly,” according to the website.

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Stonehenge denied discrimination in a response to the earlier complaint, but has not yet responded to the latest charges.

State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal and City Council member Mark Levine have drafted legislation that would bar developers from restricting access to amenities to below-market tenants in mixed-income housing. [DNAinfo]Tom DiChristopher