A Brooklyn apartment building filled with rat feces has become New York’s most expensive slum, residents claim.
Many residents of the blighted Bushwick site on Star Street say they are paying about $4,000 a month to live with rat feces on countertops, moldy ceilings and leaky roofs in the trendy area – which has led them to call it a so-called slum. A tenants union had to be formed to fight the owner of the hut. Owns the place.
Hunter Boone, 34, left the Star St. Union a month ago after repeatedly calling 311 about the dilapidation and sometimes “unlivable” condition of his two-bedroom apartment, priced at $3,500 a month. Was started.
Boone said both he and his dog developed parasitic infections due to the poor conditions they were exposed to. Medical records provided by Boone show that in May, both were suffering from chronic digestive problems and were unable to keep food down due to exposure to rat feces.
“After that, that’s when I thought, OK, I really need to get the city involved in this rat problem. …If someone is charging so much then why does the building look like this? Wouldn’t that mean they are a slum lord?” he said.
During a tour of the eight-unit building with The Post, Boone showed shocking conditions — including rats scurrying across his countertops, a water-damaged ceiling in the backyard and open holes in his bathroom floor.
“This is a fire hazard right here, these doors may not close properly on their own at the entrance. “I actually printed my own ‘fire danger’ signs for it,” Boone said, pointing to one of the building’s emergency violations.
Star St. Union is taking organized tenant and legal action against Cayuga Capital Management Ventures owner Jacob Sachs, who owns at least 21 buildings in the area.
Their properties have an average of two open city violations per residential unit, which is worse than the citywide average of 0.8 per unit. According to JustFix data,
alone in the star street building 49 open building violations,
When contacted by The Post, Sachs defended his management of the property, alleging that there are only “four current tenants . . . who like to complain and deny access,” sparking a litany of complaints. Went.
“The reality is that this is an activist tenant that you’ve seen is deliberately trying to escalate the issue and meanwhile prevent actual repair work from happening,” Sachs said.
Boone says her nightmare began as soon as she subleased the two-bedroom apartment in April 2023.
The building is located across from a park and a few blocks from the L-train line in a trendy North Brooklyn neighborhood.
And although online listings for rental show freshly painted rooms with stainless steel kitchen appliances, Boone said she soon realized the reality was far from idyllic when she heard rats scurrying in the ceiling that first night. .
“When I told the former tenant about this rat problem, she said, ‘Oh, isn’t that just New York City?’ But you shouldn’t have rats on your roof, that’s crazy,” Boone said.
When Boone called 311 about the problem, Sachs tried to get him out of the building, even though records provided by Boone showed he lived there legally, the resident claimed.
In December, Sachs told Boone that he would offer him a six-month lease at the attractive price of just over $600, bringing the total for the place to $3,500.
Boone claimed, “At this point, all signs are pointing to fraud.”
Unable to afford the move, Boone paid increased rent until claiming The heat stopped working and they were forced to live in 45 degree temperatures. They also claim they had other issues, such as a backyard where the fence was in such bad shape it was about to fall over.
“I was thinking this is absolutely crazy, I haven’t had heat in a month. …The city came and confirmed the apartment was 45 degrees, and the landlord was immediately saying, ‘Stop calling 311,'” Boone said.
“But I told him that was crazy. I stopped paying rent because I thought, ‘I don’t have heat. I am allowed to do this. ,
Sachs is now suing Boone for $12,300 over nonpayment of rent and is seeking permission to evict her if she is unable to pay, court records show.
But Boone says he is using the case to expose Sachs for the city’s alleged neglect of its properties and to achieve rent stabilization for units in the building.
After a month of campaigning, the union has received full participation from all the eight units of the building.
With no live-in superintendent, residents have resorted to approaching the city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department for their complaints.
A union member in the building, who paid $3,250 for a two-bedroom unit, said when a pipe burst in her home, her family was displaced for six days and they lost all their groceries. Was forced to throw it out.
Although the leak was eventually repaired, and the man ultimately received reimbursement from Sachs, the resident claimed to now have visible mold spores on his ceiling.
He also said that the unit was infested with insects.
“I left a bag of groceries on the ground, and when I came back later, there was a hole in them that had been chewed up,” said the tenant, who declined to be identified.
The footage shows a man tearing down Star Street Union posters from security cameras installed in the building by Boone.
Sachs denied that he tore down the posters, but Boone believed that someone from the building management was responsible., However there is no specific evidence that anyone was involved.
An HPD representative praised Starr Street tenants for forming a union.
“Tenants at 147 Star St. have taken important steps to hold their landlord accountable by uniting to address the building’s conditions and filing a complaint through 311,” the representative told The Post in a statement.
“HPD records indicate the landlord has begun making improvements, and tenants may object if they feel issues remain unresolved, which would require HPD to conduct a repeat inspection to confirm.”
Despite the conditions of the building, Boone said he had no plans to leave the apartment until he resolved his matter with Sachs.
“A lot of people in New York don’t think they can fight this kind of thing because it takes up so much of your time,” Boone said.
“I’m going to enforce my rights as a tenant now, and I’m going to fight for it.”
Boone is set to go to housing court on Oct. 30.
(TagstoTranslate)Metro(T)US News(T)Brooklyn(T)Department of Housing Preservation and Development(T)Housing(T)Landlord-tenant disputes
