Brooklyn, NY – Landlords Try to Evict Tenants with Dead Cats

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    Tenant Carolyn Jessup along with neighbors and members of the city council. Photo by 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon.Brooklyn, NY – It wasn’t until the city came to investigate the unbearable stench that the tenants at 64 Troutman St. in Brooklyn learned they were living with a bag of dead cats.

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    “It was so bad, we thought it was a dead body,” said Daisy Terry, who says her landlord left the rotting carcasses in the Bushwick building for two months to pressure longtime tenants to leave their rent-stabilized apartments. “I had to hold my nose when I came down the stairs,” she said.

    Terry is one of a group of tenants suing their landlord under a new law that lets tenants take legal action for a pattern of harassment – as opposed to individual acts as required by prior laws.

    She and a neighbor stood with four City Council members, including Speaker Christine Quinn, to spread the word about the law and slam the landlords group trying to overturn it.

    “This case is not the only case of tenant harassment, but if it was the only case, it would be reason enough to have this law on the books,” Quinn said.

    The tenants say that after a company called Heskel 1 bought 64 Troutman St. last year, workers removed the stairs leading to the basement and vacant units were filled with trash, including the bag of dead cats.

    The owners, listed in court papers as Joseph Glauber, Simcha Deuch and Wolfe Landau were unable to be reached. A lawyer representing Heskel 1 did not return calls.

    Mitchell Posilkin of the Rent Stabilization Association landlords group said it condemns any form of harassment, but the group says the legislation is vague and poorly drafted and will not be upheld by the courts.


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    9 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    what’s worse, dead cats or live rats?

    formaly
    formaly
    15 years ago

    I hope it was not the landlord who did it, this would be a major black eye for the Jewish community.

    However, I find it disturbing that there was no comments from the lawyer or owners. The smart think would have been if they did not do it, What!! that is disgusting I am going to send my crew there to clean it up. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

    This would have taken some heat off for a while.

    (I say this from experience)

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    I don’t know why this is making headlines? All I see is an accusation from tenant on a landlord. It hasn’t been verified that it was the landlord’s work. It may very well be the work of some litterer.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Just made a visit there myself & its a flat lie its a typical building that’s halfway vacant & it happens to be that its decent shape… prove it to yourself & go there & see it!!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Wondering why…

    Keep wondering why buildings in certain areas are closing or will be closing – a greedy landlord can’t pay his taxes with Rent Control/Stabilized increases that result in percentage losses – its expensive to be a greedy landlord and provide services in a communist city and still feed your own family.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    # 7 is correct well said

    VosSchtinkt
    VosSchtinkt
    15 years ago

    I have heard complaints from tenants where the complaints were justified or where they were just a methood for the tenant harasses the landlord. Most tenants know that the landlord has very little power and many times is forced to provide services even when rents are way below market rates. There are instances of rents that are one half market rate. In this particular case the landlord did not harass the tenants. When you go to that building and you look at the tenant roster and the doorbells it becomes very evident why there is a problem in the building. On each floor there is at least four Katz’s. On some floors the only name is Katz. Rabosai, what should the building smell like ….a perfume factory? With todays busy schedule a Katz may not bathe for a few weeks , does he deserve to be shunned by his neighbors? I think the landlords of this building are not bad people but rather they are Tzadeekim for not shameing their tenants. If a few Wolf’s , Bears or even Schepsalach moved in to the building the aroma may be better. Remember, you can’t always blame the landlord if Se Schtinkt. Shoin.