Tenants in buildings owned by someone considered to be among the Top 10 worst landlords in New York City say that they feel neglected and ignored. On Friday, they rallied for change outside their management’s office to voice their concerns.
David Tennenbaum sits at No. 6 on the Top Worst Landlords in New York City. There are 1,078 open Housing Preservation & Development violations across his buildings.
Judith Balaguer lives in one of the buildings Tennebaum owns on East 138th Street. She says a lack of safety is just one of the problems she deals with.
“Drug selling in the building, to all the people hanging out in the building, getting high at night in the hallways, fighting," said Balaguer, who has lived in the building 45 years.
Before the rally, she showed News 12 crews up to her apartment to see broken mailboxes, a stairwell with garbage and drug paraphernalia, all before getting to Balaguer's front door.
Inside her apartment was fresh vermin droppings under her kitchen cabinet.
And in her kitchen, appliances that she had to buy herself because the ones management provided were faulty.
“This is my refrigerator. I was three years asking for it and I said, ‘No, I can’t go another Thanksgiving without making food for my family, no,’" said Balaguer.
At the rally, tenants chanted loudly, prompting a management worker to come out of the building.
"Fix the hole under my sink and put a new countertop," Balaguer said to the worker.
“Make a list of the repairs, I’m asking for it," he responded.
The worker did not want to release his name to News 12 and did not speak directly to the cameras. But he spoke individually with tenants about their concerns.
Balaguer said she has spoken with this worker before and nothing changed.
“They promised to have a little website up, the same place where we pay our rent. We could give our complaints or whatever. I haven’t seen it," Balaguer said.
Tenants are planning a meeting for June 17 to make sure management follows through on their promises.