Clinic Students Take on NYC Housing Court

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Clinic Students Take on NYC Housing Court

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Mandated in July 2009 that Correction Be Made “within 24 Hours”

 

Media Contact: Nancy Goldfarb, 212-854-1582 [email protected] 

Public Affairs: 212-854-2650
 
 
New York, April 8, 2010—Columbia Law School students, Jessica Soto '11 and Uchenna Ibekwe '11, will help present a tenants-rights case tomorrow at New York City Civil Court, Housing Part (Housing Court) against Hope Community Inc. and Park View Fifth Avenue Associates, LLC (the Museum for African Art), on behalf of residents of an East Harlem apartment building plagued with structural defects. The tenants are asking the court to compel repairs of numerous documented violations, including a widening crack that runs from the basement to the top of the building.
 
The structural damage to the building at 8-18 East 110th Street, occupied by 40 low-income families, was apparently caused two years ago by construction next door of an $80 million new home for the Museum for African Art and a 115-unit condominium tower overlooking Central Park. As cracks generated by the construction caused the building to shift and sink, the tenants repeatedly brought their concerns to the building’s landlord, Hope Community Inc., which describes itself as “a community organization dedicated to improving economic development and providing affordable housing for East Harlem residents.” Even though violations have been placed against the building by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and the Department of Buildings, the crack remains.
 
Benay Chisholm, president of the Tenant Association, said of the building’s condition, “No tenant should have to pay rent and continue to live with this…The damage is getting worse, and nothing has been done.”
 
Tenants’ fears of a building collapse led them to seek legal representation by the Legal Aid Society. Attorney Sateesh Nori of the Harlem Community Law Office asked Jessica Soto and Uchenna Ibekwe, students in the Law School’s Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic, to join him in conducting the litigation. In preparing the case the students used the violation databases of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Department of Buildings.
 
Armed with this data, the tenant group initiated a proceeding in the Housing Part of the New York City Civil Court, seeking a court order to correct the violations and repair the structural crack. The Housing Part was created in 1974 with a mandate to “preserve the housing stock of the City of New York,” and it has the authority to assess penalties for each day of delay in correcting the conditions.
 
The students prepared exhibits for the hearing, including graphs charting the long delays and photographs of the crack. “Our goal is to secure the safety of the tenants with this action,” said Jessica Soto. “We also hope the experience will empower the tenants to fight for what is right by navigating the judicial process set up to benefit them,” added Uchenna Ibekwe.  
           
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