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Suit: Landlord exiting Section 8 wants “affluent white tenants”
Plaintiffs trying to prevent owner of 781 Washington Avenue from leaving program
Three Crown Heights residents are suing their landlord, Douglas Rosenberg, for allegedly trying to swap the Section 8 tenants for “more affluent white tenants,” according to the New York Post.
Three African American women who live at 781 Washington Avenue filed the suit on Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court to try to prevent Rosenberg from exiting the Section 8 program with the intent to rent out the building’s 63 units for market-rate rents.
“The inevitable result of the landlord Defendants’ opt out from Section 8 will be the displacement of African-American families from the subject building and the Prospect Heights neighborhood, and their replacement by more affluent white tenants,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also claims that Rosenberg, the head of BPC Management, allegedly didn’t notify tenants about his plans to remove the building from the Section 8 program by the end of the month, according to the Post.
“This is one of the last affordable housing buildings in that neighborhood,” attorney Ed Josephson told the newspaper. [NYP] — Claire Moses