Tenants get heat and hot water back

Tenants at 47-60 39th Place in Sunnyside now have heat and hot water after a freezing winter of on-again off-again service. Repairs to the boiler followed the intervention by Councilmember Eric Gioia and tenants advocacy group Woodside on the Move.
Gioia filed suit last week in Civil Court against the landlord, Sherwin Cohen of Cohen Realty Co. Inc., alleging that he has failed to fix a number of unsafe and unsanitary living conditions in his building. “Every tenant has the right to live in safe, clean apartments with heat and hot water. It’s that simple,” Gioia said.
According to Maria Ocasio of Woodside on the Move, the Housing Preservation and Development Department (HPD) fixed the boiler after orders to effect repairs were ignored by Cohen. Ocasio said that prior to her involvement the landlord had refused to return calls or pick up certified mail.
According to Gioia, the building tenants also suffer disrepair and neglected conditions inside their homes. Of the 38 apartments in the building, only eight are still occupied, mostly by elderly tenants.
“The conditions at 47-60 39th Place are a stunning representation of landlord ineptitude. It is unacceptable that in the most advanced country and city in the world people are living in such dilapidated conditions and landlords are not being punished for propagating such conditions,” said Councilmember Gioia.
“The front door doesn’t work. You have to kick it open. Imagine what would happen in a fire,” Ocasio said.
The case, which was jointly filed by Gioia, who is an attorney, and Rob McCreanor, of Paul Weiss and pro bono advisor to the Catholic Migration Office. McCreanor, who has represented hundreds of families living in rental apartments throughout the neighborhood, said that he has never seen anything like this.
Gioia who also filed Article 7A proceeding to expedite transfer of the administration of the building to a court-appointed administrator on March 9 said, “This landlord is in violation of their lease agreements as well as the Housing Code of the City of New York. The living conditions of my constituents are my priority and the landlords in my district can take this as a warning that I will not stand for their neglect and illegal behavior,” Gioia emphasized.
Attempts by The Queens Courier to reach landlord Sherwin Cohen were unsuccessful as of press time.