Brooklyn nonprofit tenants file lawsuit demanding new management

Brooklyn-based nonprofit Food First wants to be rid of its rent-stabilized portfolio. Some of its tenants want the same.

A group of tenants from 201 Pulaski Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant filed a lawsuit demanding management of their nine-unit property is transferred to a court-appointed administrator, City & State reported. The tenants allege dangerous and gross living conditions at the property, which has 166 outstanding violations, including “vermin infestations, persistent roof leaks, inadequate heat, and inadequate janitorial services.” 

The Legal Aid Society filed a 7A petition on behalf of a majority of the building’s tenants in housing court. That provision permits a group of tenants or the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development to petition the court for a new day-to-day building manager if a property is being neglected. 

Should the petition succeed, the appointed administrator would receive rental income, which would go towards repairs and maintenance.

Compounding matters, the property has an outstanding tax bill of nearly $92,000 meant for the New York City Department of Finance and owes $17,000 to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Some tenants started a rent strike as far back as November 2022, though it gained wider support this past February.

Food First declined to comment to the outlet.

This month, the nonprofit moved to sell more than 20 apartment buildings across Brooklyn and the Bronx in auctions. A board member said the cost of maintaining the buildings was too high and that Food First was struggling to evict nonpaying tenants, resulting in frequent housing court visits. 

Several tenants at 201 Pulaski told they outlet they were informed of a sale of the building. A property deed didn’t appear been transferred to new ownership at the time of publication and an agreement — should it exist — could be threatened by the petition. Tenants have expressed interest in purchasing and running the building themselves.

Food First’s director, Alfred Thompson, ranked as the city’s fifth “worst” landlord by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams last year with 1,341 violations.

— Holden Walter-Warner

Read more

New York

Nonprofit to auction off 20 rent-stabilized buildings

New York

Industry says report proves the 2019 rent law was “disastrous”