Tenants in a group of rent-stabilized Brooklyn Heights buildings say long-running disrepair has rendered their homes unsafe, with complaints ranging from leaks and mold to rodent infestations and ceilings that have given way.
What's happening?
The tenants, already facing New York City's steep housing costs, suspect that their landlords are intentionally neglecting the buildings to pressure them to leave their units, BK Reader reported.
The five landmarked Riverside Buildings — home to 156 rent-stabilized apartments and eight commercial units on Columbia Place and Joralemon Street — were the focus of a July 15 rally where residents pressed the Pinnacle Group to address persistent problems.
According to residents, they have faced leaks, mold, rodent mites, heat failures, water shutoffs, and structural hazards such as collapsing ceilings and staircases. Some tenants reported developing body rashes due to the disrepair.
Farhia Hagi, a Riverside tenant, described the toll the conditions have taken on daily life.
"We are not asking for anything luxurious but to have a home that's adequate to be able to sleep, eat, bathe, and to not worry about mice getting into our food," Hagi said.
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The protest followed an initial condominium conversion filing by Pinnacle and its chief executive officer, Joel Wiener.
Though the proposal is classified as a non-eviction conversion, BK Reader cited tenants and housing advocates who warned that such plans can be used to pressure rent-stabilized residents out through declining renewals, buyouts, and persistent neglect.
Why does it matter?
The stakes are especially high in rent-stabilized housing, which often represents one of the last affordable options in expensive neighborhoods.
"Pinnacle Group is attempting to displace longtime tenants in one of the last remaining bastions of affordable and rent-stabilized housing in Brooklyn Heights amid an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis," City Council Member Lincoln Restler said.
Some landlords and building managers have faced criticism not only for poor maintenance but also for prohibiting money-saving practices, such as gardening or using clotheslines to dry laundry.
What's being done about it?
Tenants are organizing through the Riverside Tenants Association, which has a long history of fighting for protections in the complex.
In the 1990s, the association won a lawsuit after a landlord illegally paved the central courtyard for parking, securing a rent freeze for residents.
According to the outlet, 20 families are now fighting eviction in housing court after the state's housing agency reversed the rent freeze, a move that allowed the landlord to seek significant rental arrears.
An attorney for the tenants' association is also filing an Article 78 petition challenging the decision in state court.
State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said that Pinnacle allowed these properties to deteriorate for decades.
"I will fight with the tenants of the Riverside Buildings for repairs, accountability, and the right to stay safely in their homes," Simon vowed.
"We're humans, not just units," Hagi remarked. "We are humans, tenants, mothers, daughters, grandmothers who deserve water that's not brown and stairs that are safe to climb."
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