Post in The Villager

Push Back Predatory Landlords

On the sidewalk today at noon. The source? Unknown. Happy to know there is some support.

NO HEAT

 

VALENTINES DAY 2016

Woke up this morning to 7 degrees, its now 14 degrees outside, and no heat at 118 East St. Through some communications with the other tenants, it seems the heat is on in one line of the building. That line contains the market rate tenants. There are 2 other heat lines that are off and those lines contain the majority of rent stabilized tenants, including some senior citizens in fragile health. I think one or two market rate folks are getting the frozen treatment if they are unfortunate enough to reside above or below a rent stabilized tenant. Calls to the Westminster office provide no results as usual. There seems to be a Westminster person living in 118 at the moment. A call put into him goes unanswered and he has no voice mail set up on his phone. The same goes for the "Super". No answer. No voice mail set up on phone. So its time to take things to 311.   

October 13th & Counting

No gas to cook with.

Since October 13th. No communication from Westminster. No replies from Westminster to any inquiries. Winter approaches.

Still No Gas

We have been without gas since Oct 13. It is now Nov 2. There has been some work on the problem. Plumbers in the building today. Checking out gas lines in all the Apts. Making repairs. We may be getting close. Very hard to know for certain. Westminster Mgmt has had no contact at all with any of us as far as I can tell as I write this post. No communication. No leadership. There is actually no management of any sort, in this building at all.

Mounting Unrest

Another dissatisfied Westminster tenant has made their anger known. This Procter Silex hot plate box, in French, was affixed to the door facing the street for the public to see, late last night. It has since been removed , suggesting that someone from management or the "Super" were here today. Either scenario, is an extremely rare phenomenon here on East 4th St. One is more likely to encounter a Sasquatch.

The Westminster City Living luxury kitchen.

Hot Water

Hot water was restored to 118 East 4th St last night. Exactly one week without it. We still do not know if we have heat, though its been a bit too warm to need it the past two days. The scuttlebutt in the building is that the gas will not be turned on for months. Not sure if this is true, but it has some credibility. The building above the Carnegie Deli has been without heat, hot water and gas for nine months. I think some of the buildings across the street from the explosion on 7th St are in similar states. Time to embrace the Raw Food Diet that was fashionable last year. One good thing coming out of this situation, it that the Market Rate tenants and the Stabilized tenants are talking to each other. Getting to know each other and organizing. We have a lot in common.

One Week Without...

It has been a full week without Heat, Hot water, and cooking gas. Westminster management has only been in partial contact with the tenants, and that is with the Market rate tenants only. No contact of any kind with the Rent Stabilized tenants. I spoke with some of the Market rate tenants this past week. Most are understandably pissed off. Its been rather cold the past few days. Temps at night dipping into the high 30s. We are fortunate that we will be in a warming trend for a few days. Time to reacquaint ourselves with the New York Times reporters. 

Photo by Iwan Baan.

I was thinking today of Hurricane Sandy and the black out of lower Manhattan below 39th street, three years ago. It took a week for the power to be restored. Quite a miraculous feat. Westminster Management and Jared Kushner have been unable and seemingly unwilling to do anything about the same situation in a single building in lower Manhattan. Incompetence? Yes. Is there a hidden agenda afoot? Perhaps.

I'm sure these three have not had to endure these conditions.

Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump/Kushner, & Donald Trump.

Market Rate Cold Water Flats

Another day without Heat, Hot water, or Gas for cooking. Our Tenant Assoc. made multiple complaints to 311. Today an official notice of violation from HPD was posted in the lobby above the mailboxes. Westminster City Living Mgmt. has been unresponsive. No email updates, no notices of work being done. Nothing. So we decided to cut to the chase and make complaints to the City.

This is the Oct 15, noon update from a tenant sleuth.

I caught the plumber disappearing down the open gates of the 118 basement. It was a short but relatively sweet exchange. In journalism it is known as a 'doorstop interview:' the subject is in motion and not inclined to linger for a leisurely chat. Here, exclusively, is the complete transcript: journalism:
Me: 'How's it going?'
Him: "So far so good."
Me: "Do you think you'll be done today?"
Him: "Yeah. But just hot water. Not for cooking. And Con Ed's still gotta come around." 

I had a casual encounter on the stair with one of the Air B&B occupants. There is an endless stream of Air B&B folks coming and going on a daily basis. The gentleman today sounded like he was from Texas. He seemed concerned about his bill. He didn't think he should have to pay without any services. This made me wonder if any of the tenants, Market Rate, Rent Stabilized, SCREE, Air B&B or otherwise should have to pay rent for the days without these services. Our Tenant Assoc. is looking into the matter.

Continued Cold Showers.

Criminal Gentrifiers

"Tenant Relocator" Put Out of Business

Public Shame