Mayor Bill de Blasio struck a $173 million deal with two
landlords that have more than 400 housing code violations.
City records show that 17 of the 21 buildings the
administration bought to provide affordable housing have problems that are
“immediately hazardous,” the New York Post reported. That includes mice and
roach infestations, peeling lead paint, water leaks and broken locks.
One four-story walk-up in Crown Heights has 56 open
violations. A resident there noted that her unit doesn’t have a smoke or carbon
monoxide detector and the unit has water damage.
At another building, 710 E. 243rd St. in the Bronx, Dawn
Bazemore said she and her two kids live in a two-bedroom apartment that’s
“falling apart.” Bazemore said water drips from the ceiling and the light
fixtures, most of which don’t work — and the drain pipe in the bathroom sink is
rusted.
The de Blasio administration opted to buy the buildings in
Brooklyn and the Bronx two years ago from the Podolsky brothers, two landlords
with a long record of violations who are currently under federal investigation
for tax fraud. And the lawyer who represented them in the portfolio sale to the
city is Frank Carone, is a longtime de Blasio ally and fundraiser.
Initially, the total value of the buildings was estimated at
about $50 million. A private appraiser later estimated it at $143 million. City
officials said the price rose during the course of negotiations with the
Podolsky brothers, who run Amsterdam Hospitality Group.
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