Illegal conversions force families into the street

Families in Queens were forced onto the streets last week as their homes were found to be illegally converted to hold more people than intended to.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) served a notice to the owner of two neighboring buildings in Jamaica for squeezing over three dozen people into a limited amount of space on Thursday, March 13, according to initial televised reports.
The DOB responded to calls made by the Fire Department to make a structural stability inspection on a residence located at 148-49 88th Avenue. The inspection led to the issuance of a vacancy order after it was determined that the home was converted from a two-family apartment building into a five-family building. According to the DOB, “these conditions pose serious safety hazards to tenants and first responders.”
The neighboring residence, 148-47 88th Avenue was also found to be illegally converted into a three-family home, forcing inspectors to vacate families from there as well.
The owner of both Queens buildings, Misvah Ahmed, bought the homes about five years ago and claims that he tried to legalize the conversion of both houses in order to support a higher occupancy. According to Ahmed though, an architect he hired to handle the legalization of both buildings had filed the papers and the Department of Finance began taxing him as if the conversions were approved.
“The architect filed the papers; the finance department charged us as for a six-family unit. I paid the tax because I thought it was a six-family house (148-49 88th Avenue), and the next building (148-47 88th Avenue) was charged as a four-family house even though they [DOB] say it was a two-family house,” said Ahmed.
Ahmed continued to explain that when the DOB inspected on Friday, they said his conversion was illegal and that the filing he made in 2003 was not approved. Ahmed was unaware of the conversion not being approved because he claims he received no notification from the Buildings Department, and the Finance Department charged him as if it was converted.
“It was not approved, I should know, I can’t believe it, for those people (the residents) … they should have given me some time [to fix the rooms], it is unbelievable. I don’t know why the government took the tax from me,” exclaimed Ahmed. “Some tenants did not pay the rent and I had to give them the deposit money back, this is a very hard time for me especially with my family and my children with me. I’ve always respected the law.”
According to DOB reports, Ahmed did file for an occupancy expansion for the home located at 148-49 88th Avenue, but it was not approved. No conversion filings could be found for the neighboring home at 148-47 88th Avenue.
Red Cross volunteers were on site to assist the evacuated residents by offering temporary housing. Red Cross spokesperson, Mike Virgintino, explained that between the two houses, only six adults and two children requested and received temporary housing support.
Virgintino also said that families who contact the DOB could receive help in finding long-term housing since the Red Cross is only capable of providing short-term assistance in these cases. As of now, it is unknown whether any families contacted the DOB for housing assistance.
The DOB has not issued any violations at this time, but they are expected to issue violations to Ahmed for the conditions cited in the complaints filed.