Landlord and Rising Rent Fears in El Barrio

Yesterday, East Harlem residents protested "greedy landlords" to raise concerns about gentrification. One resident, Otoniel Santiago, told amNew York that his $1,100 rent for his family's two-bedroom has zoomed up to $3,000 because of extra charges his landlord has added, "They said I had to pay or they would take legal action. I think they want us to get tired and move out, then they will bring in people who will pay $1,700 a month."

The group Movement for Justice in El Barrio says that tactics like that were not unusual. The other week, the Daily News' Albor Ruiz had a column about the worries stemming from British corporation Dawnay, Day's purchase of 47 rent-stabilized and rent-controlled buildings in East Harlem. Dawnay, Day's director Phil Blakely had given an interview with the Times of London about his company's plans:

“This is the area close to Mount Sinai hospital — you go down the streets and there are a lot of shopping centres being opened up. There are lots of young professionals moving in. It is a bit like buying in Brixton 15 years ago, where house prices have since gone up fivefold.”

Dawnay, Day has already started preliminary negotiations on other large property portfolios in Harlem, Lower Manhattan and Queens. The bank is also considering sites in Chicago.

Mr Blakeley added: “Our intention is to build up. We are not just looking at New York — that is just a start. Our aim is to have in excess of $5 billion within a short period — within a few years.”

Mr Blakeley said that he had been attracted partly by the legal system for the leasings market, which, like the now-largely defunct old British system, allows for regular fixed-rate rises in rents for long-term sitting tenants. Once a tenant moves out, the chance to renovate and re-let at open market rates can offer the chance to raise the rent tenfold, which at the same time massively increases the capital value of the building.

In other words, get the tenants to move out so rents can be jacked up. Which is why Movement for Justice in El Barrio's Juan Haro calls Dawnay, Day "worse" that the buildings' previous owner, Steve "One of the Worst Landlords in New York" Kessner.

A reason why the threat of gentrification is so chilling to longtime residents: According to amNY, "Prices per square foot in East Harlem skyrocketed 39.5 percent between 2005 and 2006," which is the biggest increase anywhere in Manhattan. Haro also says that the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development needs to enforce housing laws more actively. El Diario had an editorial mentioning that the NY State Division of Housing and Community Renewal needs to keep a closer eye on landlords as well.

Photograph of an East Harlem building by rob hoey on Flickr

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 27, 2007 9:45 AM

Comments [rss]

MarygraceNYC

#28 you have taken the words right out of my mouth!! Cheers!!

guest

A lot of illegal stuff is happening. My landlord is charging people $300 as a LEASE RENEWAL FEE! She wants people to move out so she can charge yuppies double the amount. super shady.

guest

is it time that Gothamist took the next step and started *requiring* accounts to comment? it would be nice to have a conversation/debate without this sort of garbage in the threads.

guest

your mother is a lesbian, wow, she likes to f@ck anyone or anything.

hey #29, that's what your mother said. only it wasn't the truth that hurt.

guest

hey #29, guess the truth hurts, huh?

guest

you mother already did those things, nothing left for me to do

guest

White people left their neighborhoods? really?

wow, news to me. time for you to go f*uk your mother. and, dig up your dead grandmother, too.

guest

I guess nobody feels sorry for the white people who had to leave THEIR neighborhoods as the government started handing out welfare checks like crazy and riots broke out in the inner cities during the 1960s. These white folks are the same people who spent the rest of their working careers with long commutes because they wanted to raise their families in a safe environment, away from the riff-raff who took over the city despite the fact that they contributed nothing to it. Guess what, they ultimately won the war of economics. Their kids grew up and prospered and don't want to live two hours from work. To all the whiny renters and their supporters, you lose - now is the time for you to get the f*ck out!

guest

Hey, I'd like my rent to be lower as well, and hate when wealthier people take over the neighborhood. I also know that it's completely unreasonable to expect landlords to devote their lives to providing charity. I happen to have a good landlord who keeps the building maintained. He doesn't pressure the old residents out, but balances the rise in taxes and maintenance by renovating and renting to those who can afford a bit more (I'm directly in the middle). I think that's a reasonable compromise.

Can you honestly say that if you owned a building, that you wouldn't rent to people willing to pay higher prices? Given the choice, would you rather rent a railroad to a family of 4 for $800, or a single person for $1400-$1700?

Given the fact that some of the people who purchased buildings during the bad years are also residents of the community, isn't it fair to say that some are making out just fine?

That said, pressuring residents to move is always wrong.

guest

Corporations like Philip Morris wants their HQ at 102nd and second ave?

Guess they are the biggest junk dealers around so they would fit right in.

guest

waaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

stfu

ed_Extinct

funny how no one bitched when these neighborhoods went to hell in the first place.

Reality Czech

and another thing, if you really want to protest, then protest against the television channels who feel a need to feature NYC in tons of shows like Friends, King of Queens, Sienfeld, Law & Order, etc. so that every college graduate wants to move here.

And protest the movie studios who set too many films in NYC.

And protest against the corporations, for not creating offices in Jersey City or Baltimore.

And protest against America, which loves a free-market system.

Reality Czech

oh, i guess it's just about people complaining that their neighborhood is getting better. That's right, better, because as far as I can remember, East Harlem was a shithole. Yeah, landlords are greedy, so what?

This is America, everyone has a right to do what they want with their property. This shit has been going on in just about every neighborhood in the outerborough where white people have started to move in.

Basically, landlords want tenants who will pay their rent and not squeeze 4,5,6,7,8 people into a two bedroom.

Really, I don't like the rent increases as much as the next guy, but if you can't hack it, move out.

That's the way it has been, that's the way it will always been.

White people have enough racism against them in these neighborhoods.

guest

#16- It's not true that if you rent, you have little or no say in what happens to your apartment.

Although they are eroding more and more each year, New York City still has better laws protecting tenants than most places in the rest of the country. Even if you are not living under a lease, a landlord still can't kick you out right away. Many people do not know their rights as tenants, or they get harassed or misinformed by their landlords. FYI, The Metropolitan Council on Housing is the best place to learn about these laws, and they also provide legal services for people who want to challenge their landlords in court.

guest

mike D

free market will handle that

these jobs will have to pay higher wages or else no one take them

its over-regulation that has caused this mess in the first place..

guest

Since when are landlords in the business of providing charity services...?

guest

Reality Czech, why do people like you always cry racism?

Mike D

More and more people with low or even middle class incomes can no longer afford to live in New York except in the most distant neighborhoods. What happens when the waiters, retail workers, bartenders, cooks, janitors, and everyone else who does the work that keeps the city going has to move away?

Will people commute 3 hours to make minimum wage?

I'm not passing judgment here, just wondering aloud how long these rent increases can last.

guest

people don't get it... if you rent -- you have little or no say. someone else owns the property. if you wanted ties to your neighborhood you should have purchased your home back in the day when they were almost giving them away. i bet if you did, you would be all the willing to sell out for big $$$ to go elsewhere, so don't fault someone who actually did buy the property for wanting make some income on it. i currently share a rental and hope to buy one day once I find a neighborhood i want to put roots down in and have a down payment saved up-- i have no pity for these people whatsoever.