Residents of a Queens apartment building owned by a landlord previously labeled New York City's worst said they spent days without the basics as another court date over the property's unresolved conditions approached.
Here's what to know
On Oct. 1, the Queens Daily Eagle reported that before the building's appearance in Queens Civil Court, organizers at 41-25 Case St. in Elmhurst said residents had been without heat and hot water for more than a week and were still waiting on multiple court-ordered repairs.
The city's Housing Preservation and Development's online portal lists 265 open violations at the A&E Realty-owned building, the paper said. According to Amber Gill, a tenant organizer at the building, the boiler failed Sept. 25, and residents kept hearing that the work would be finished soon.
"Repairs are still not being done," Gill told the Eagle. "We didn't know what was going on, and they just put up a sign that said, 'The boiler is not working, it will be back on ASAP,' and then it still hasn't happened. And we honestly don't know when it will happen because last year, we were without heat and water for almost a month."
Gill said the June repair order has not led to lasting fixes for issues including mold, broken locks, and malfunctioning elevators. She said workers painted over mold and that lock repairs lasted only a few days before concerns about trespassing and package theft returned, per the publication.
More background
The Eagle said 41-25 Case St. is tied to Margaret Brunn, an A&E executive identified by New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams as the city's "worst landlord" in 2025.
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The paper also noted that Brunn is listed as the landlord of 43-09 47th Ave. in Sunnyside, where a Dec. 20, 2023, fire injured 14 people and displaced 250 residents. At 41-25 Case St., the immediate concern centers on basic habitability.
In less severe cases across the country, renters have described landlords blocking money-saving lifestyle changes, such as gardening and hanging clotheslines to dry laundry, that would otherwise reduce grocery and energy costs even when a building is otherwise functional.
What's being done?
The lawsuit names more than 20 residents against A&E, and Queens Legal Services staff attorney Alex Jacobs told the Eagle the legal team was still checking with each tenant to determine what work had or had not been completed inside individual apartments.
Jacobs said some kitchen tiles had been replaced, though tenants reported that parts of the work were temporary or poorly done.
He added that the legal team may ask the judge to hold the landlord in contempt of court, depending on what tenants want.
For its part, A&E told the paper it restored hot water Sept. 29, planned another shutoff in October to continue repairs, spent nearly $5 million on repairs and maintenance, and cut open violations by 80%.
Gill summed up residents' frustration.
"We want repairs," she explained to the Eagle. "We're being as patient as we can, but we were promised by [A&E], they were court ordered and nothing's changing."
Where can I learn more?
Similar disputes over unsafe living conditions, landlord neglect, and tenants trying to force repairs abound nationwide.
• In Washington, officials sued Brightwood landlords over no heat, vermin, and tenant retaliation.
• Across the U.S., renters endured heatwaves because cooling is really not built into habitability standards.
• Tenants furious over bathroom leaks said landlords painted over black mold instead of fixing damage.
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