Tenants in five buildings on East 103rd Street in East Harlem gathered last week to sue their landlord and threaten to withhold rent over their living conditions. The landlord, Isaac Kassirer and his firm Emerald Equities, is reportedly Number 72 on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’s 100 Worst Landlord Watchlist.
About 40 tenants in the buildings (112, 118, 122, 124, and 126) on East 103rd Street not only said repairs are routinely not done, but are also suing Kassirer, alleging that his firm has stolen thousands in security deposits. The suit, filed by the Legal Aid Society and Legal Services, also alleges there’s a hole in the roof of one building, blocked fire exits, and a faulty security system, among other things, that legally allow tenants to withhold rent.
“I grew up in this community my whole life. My childhood started right here in this same building,” said tenant Elizabeth Toyos. “My family and I work hard each day to pay our rent, which takes up almost half of our checks. Finding out that the landlord has probably stolen our hard-earned money to profit even more off our issues is not right. I’m here with my neighbors to go on a rent strike.”
Anna-lisa Young, who lives in building 112 with her four children, said it’s hard to even charge her baby’s bottle sanitizer because of allegedly bug-infested outlets.
Emerald Equities has had money troubles for the last few years and defaulted on a nine-figure loan, which affected the maintenance of some buildings they owned in the Bronx, reported the Real Deal. The company also faced foreclosure and bankruptcy in 2020 during the pandemic.
“I’m sad that we have to be here,” said Williams at the protest. “What I have found particularly with the worst landlords is that it’s not about providing the service of housing, it’s about extracting as much money as humanly possible irrespective of what a tenant is experiencing, and that is just not right.”
Williams’s office releases the Worst Landlord Watchlist every year. On last year’s list, there were a total of 626 buildings that house a total of 13,541 units. From November 2022 to October 2023, these buildings averaged 69,018 open Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) violations, according to the watchlist.
“We won’t see behavior change until these buildings are either taken from these landlords or they’re arrested,” said Williams, referring to the warrant put out for notorious Washington Heights landlord and watchlist regular Daniel Ohebshalom in January 2023. The warrant, for New York and California, ordered Ohebshalom to be detained up to 60 days unless he addressed the almost 700 violations at 705 and 709 170th Street in Manhattan. Conditions included visible peeling lead paint, roach and mice infestations, inadequate electricity supply, and mold.
A representative for Comptroller Brad Lander’s office added that Kassirer’s firm has an average of 500 violations in their buildings. “Clearly, Emerald Equities has not been held accountable,” she said.
Community Board 11 Chair Xavier A. Santiago, who is running for the 68th assembly district, said that the state needs to create “tenable solutions” to fixing these buildings amid a housing crisis, and landlords need to step up.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member who writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.