Court gives housing advocate control of dilapidated Bronx building

A Bronx Housing Court transferred control of a dilapidated building to a housing advocate after the absentee landlord allowed the building to fall into disrepair.

According to the New York Daily News, roaches and mice run rampant in the building, located at 4619 Park Avenue in Fordham, defective windows and doors are left in disrepair and tenants go weeks at a time without heat and hot water. Landlord Luigi Capriglione did not make efforts to fix the 245 housing code violations, and the building porter allegedly stabbed a tenant and has been arrested for harassment of other building residents. Capriglione failed even to collect rents at the four-story, eight-unit building.

The housing court judge demanded that Capriglione post $50,000 in cash to maintain authority of the property and provide evidence that he would begin to repair the building. But he was absent at the final hearing, leaving his lawyer to say the landlord is “now managing the premises properly and … making sure repairs are done. But the housing court judge said it was “too little, too late.”

John Reilly of the non-profit Fordham Bedford Housing Corp. will take control of the apartment building. [NYDN]