Until a month ago, a young woman* lived in a 36 unit, 6-floor walk up in north Brooklyn. The building was built in 1917. The apartment – a two bedroom with a large eat in kitchen and a large living room – was affordable at under $2,000/month. It was also convenient and with molding, hard wood floors, high ceilings, and natural light from morning till afternoon, had its fair share of charm. Unfortunately, the year’s lease was coming to an end and a sleek Manhattan realty company had recently purchased the building. The realty company wanted all tenants out, some who had been living in the building for over 40 years.
Situations like these are becoming more common as neighborhoods gentrify, and developers and real estate companies find they can make huge profits redeveloping old buildings. Too few tenants know their rights or the resources available. The process and fight, which it often becomes, to learn and then assert rights to an apartment can feel daunting – laws and legal jargon on government websites are hard to translate, lawyers cost money, and threats of legal evictions (even when they aren’t) can cause many sleepless nights. Many find it easier to give in.
However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Learning tenant rights is easier thanks to two Brooklyn based non-profit organizations. The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) works out of Park Slope, but the information they offer reaches far beyond. They use the meaningful design to increase public knowledge and involvement. For instance, they have helped tenants get minor and major repairs fixed in their apartments, helped tenants build legal cases, and informed them of their rights when facing an eviction. CUP designed a brochure that translates information from the New York City Housing Authority, making the information accessible to a range of demographics.
Los Sures, also known as Southside United HDFC, is located in South Williamsburg and has been committed to preserving their neighborhood’s affordable housing and tenant housing rights for over 40 years. In this time they have built and rebuilt 2,950 apartment units in over 300 buildings and have developed 43 co-ops in 1,0002 apartment units. They have worked in many other ways as well to ensure that the residents of South Williamsburg have access to affordable housing and social services.
Unfortunately the young women written about above didn’t know her tenant rights and surrendered her apartments. Her neighbors though, when faced with the illegal eviction, went to Los Sures to learn their rights and how to defend them. They learned their building was rent stabilized and an eviction when they were acting as model tenants was in no way legal. They filed the necessary paperwork and renewed their leases with no rent increase.
*Names omitted for legal reasons.
Jaclyn Hersh; External Relations Officer