Residents at one Brooklyn apartment building are fired up and fed up, saying they have endured years of neglect and denial of basic necessities from their landlord.
Tenants at 22 Hawthorne St. in Prospect Lefferts Gardens spoke out on Sunday against what they called a pattern of neglect and poor conditions left by the building’s owner, Alex Moussavi. The case has gotten the attention of state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office launched an investigation into the situation.
The renters claim that they have faced harassment from the owner as well as demolition-by-neglect, in which problems around the building have been allowed to fester and go unresolved. The owner, meanwhile, has also allegedly subjected tenants to harassment, threats of eviction and drastic fees. Tenants launched a rent strike, and have refused to pay until the building is repaired.
Dexter and Darlene, a pair of residents who say they have been battling health issues over the last year, allege they have been subjected to verbal harassment.
“The landlord comes in, he threatens us, just the other day he came here banging on doors and saying he’d get rid of us one way or another,” they said.
Another resident, identified as Rachel, noted that the building has been without cooking gas for the past year, largely due to allegedly improper lines within the building.
“I feel unsafe to use my burner,” she added. “This is completely unacceptable but my son and I have no choice for right now.”
The tenants, who are working with the Crown Heights Tenant Union, are demanding that Moussavi and the building manager, Kenneth Banks, immediately restore gas service and cancel all back rent the tenants owe. They are also calling upon the city to take possession of the building from Moussavi over their numerous grievances.
But in speaking with Brooklyn Paper on Sunday, Banks alleged that the tenants and coalition were exaggerating their complaints.
According to Banks, a National Grid inspector discovered the leaks back in 2023, forcing gas service to be cut off. Moussavi allegedly spent $250,000 to make repairs to stop the leaks, and expects gas service to be restored before Thanksgiving.
City records show an inspector found issues with the gas piping in the basement late last year, and ordered that a licensed professional be brought in to bring the pipes back to a “code-compliant” state. Since then, the building has been issued multiple Office of Trials and Administrative Hearing summonses, relating to work done by unlicensed employees. In 2020, the Department of Buildings issued a partial stop work order after it found renovations well underway without the proper permits. The work had caused the ceiling in another unit to fall, allegedly injuring the tenant, records show.
The building also has more than 100 open violations from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, ranging from missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to unpainted walls and infestations of mice and roaches.
Banks accused the Crown Heights Tenants Union and even tenants in the building of harassing management as well as National Grid and Department of Buildings employees while they were working to inspect the building and make necessary repairs.
“The tenants do things that create problems,” Banks said. “They don’t try and resolve issues. Decent people are trying to help them live good.”
