Sunday, November 30, 2014

Senator Jeff Klein Turns Up the Heat on the Coldest Bronx Buildings


   State Senator Jeff Klein today released a report, “Turning Up the Heat: An Investigative Report into The Bronx’s Coldest Buildings,” which includes a list of the top 15 heat code offenders in the borough.

As chilly temperatures set in, tenants, who reside in buildings on the list, have already called in complaints of “no heat” or “no heat/hot water” to the city’s Housing and Preservation Department.

The top offender, University Avenue L.P.’s 30 Buchanan Place, racked up 96 complaints from tenants as of October 1 and accumulated over 320 complaints since October 2013, according to HPD records.

“It’s deplorable that some residents are being left in the cold. My investigation reveals that landlords who landed on my office’s worst heat code offender list persistently left tenants without heat and this could lead to something chilling: death,” said Senator Klein.

“Buildings must remain in compliance with wintry temperatures upon us. HPD should create a task force to keep an eye on buildings in each borough with a high number of complaints, should help tenants understand their rights and require top offenders to post performance bonds to ensure that repairs are made on the landlords dime instead of the taxpayers,” Klein continued.

Top 15 Heat Offenders

Building Owner/ Location
2013
(From 10/2013)
2014(From 1/2014)
Starting 10/1/14
Total
Zip Code
UNIVERSITY AVENUE, L.P.
(30 BUCHANAN PLACE)
37
289
96
326
10453
FORDHAM FULTON LLC (530 EAST 169 STREET)
74
185
25
259
10456
FORDHAM FULTON LLC (480 EAST 188 STREET)
5
195
35
200
10458
RIVERVIEW REDEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (1600 SEDGWICK AVENUE)
75
43
13
118
10453
B&L CONCOURSE HSNG AS
(1290 GRAND CONCOURSE/1326 GRAND CONCOURSE)
45
63
11
108
10456
MARION ECHO TWIN ETC (2474 MARION AVENUE; 264 ECHO PLACE)
0
89
15
89
10458
1691 FULTON AVENUE ASSOCIATES, L.P. (1691 FULTON AVENUE)
50
30
0
80
10457
BRONX 360 REALTY LLC (930 FOX STREET; 940 FOX STREET; 940 SIMPSON STREET; 941 SIMPSON STREET)
34
44
2
78
10459
BOYNTON ACQUISITION C (875 BOYNTON AVENUE)
41
16
10
57
10473
1068 GERARD PARTNERSHIP, L.P.(1068 GERARD AVENUE)
24
32
0
56
10452
UNIMAC DEVELOPER, L.P.
(1605 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1611 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1615 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1645 MACOMBS ROAD; 1669 UNIVERSITY AVENUE)
21
34
10
56
10453
UNDERCLIFF HOLDING LLC
(1590 UNDERCLIFF AVENUE)
20
35
6
55
10453
NDI BOSTON RD DEVELET (1212 BOSTON ROAD; 1214 BOSTON ROAD; 1216 BOSTON ROAD)
19
31
2
50
10456
KINGSBRIDGE REALTY ASSOCIATES LLC (3424 KINGSBRIDGE AVENUE)
16
31
5
47
10463
STELLAR MORRISON LLC
(1222 MORRISON AVENUE)
14
25
0
39
10472



In The Bronx, a correlation existed between heat violations and the percentage of residents living below the poverty level. Over half of the buildings that made the top 15 list were in zip codes 10453, 10456 and 10458, where approximately 40 % of residents live below the poverty line.

To combat persistent offenders, Senator Klein recommended that HPD monitor each buildings by borough by and create similar watch lists containing buildings with 20 or more complaints. He recommended that a HPD create a Heat Violator Task Force to conduct surprise compliance inspections of buildings on those lists.

Buildings owners are required to provide heat between October 1 and May 31.

Senator Klein also suggested that HPD require repeat violators to post a performance bond, which could be used if the city is forced to make heating repairs. Currently the city pays for repairs with non-compliant landlords and bills the owner, leaving no recourse for the taxpayer.

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