Few rent-control apartments left in New York
By MAUREEN CALLAHAN
Last Updated: 6:18 AM, September 19, 2010
Posted: 2:21 AM, September 19, 2010
Comments: 36sports_story_lower sports_page quigo_lower 1482096 871776 440 225 * -->It is among the cheapest rents in all of New York City: a 750-square-foot one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn for $63 a month.
In other ways, however, it's one of the most costly. Its inhabitants, Magnus Saethre, 97, and his live-in caregiver, Devron King, have been locked in a vicious battle with the building's landlord for years over the conditions of the unit -- which are decrepit -- and what they claim are attempts to force them out.
"The landlord's been calling Adult Protective Services on us," said King, 56. "He's trying to suggest that I'm taking advantage of Magnus."
sports_story_lower sports_page quigo_lower 1482096 871776 440 225 * -->
Allison JoyceBATTLE ZONE: Magnus Saethre in the $63-a-month Sunset Park home where he has lived since World War II.
According to King and his lawyer, John Hlavaty, the landlord, Jack Geula, has also claimed that other tenants complain about noise.
"Magnus is 97 years old and hard of hearing," Hlavaty said. "They yell. That's how they communicate."
There are fewer than 40,000 rent-controlled apartments among New York's more than 2 million units.
And it's increasingly the city's elderly, clinging to the spaces in which they've lived most of their lives, who are left to live in cramped, rotting rooms while their landlords wait them out.
Rents can be repeatedly lowered until the problems are addressed, but there is no recourse other than civil court for neglect and harassment.
"You hit landlords where they live, with fines," said DHCR spokesman Andrew O'Rourke.
"Ninety-five percent of landlords are accommodating," O'Rourke said.
But some are aggressively stubborn, and what they're doing isn't technically criminal.
Saethre and King, for example, live in a 750-square-foot fourth-floor walk-up on Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park. Saethre is so fragile that he almost never leaves the apartment. The paint on the ceiling is peeling so badly that the curling strips resemble stalactites.
"Magnus has laid out $25,000 in legal fees," said Hlavaty. "That's what the landlord is trying to do -- ruin them financially."
Saethre, who has lived in the unit since returning from World War II, does not want to leave. "When you talk to him when he's fully coherent, he says, 'This is my apartment. I've lived here for 62 years. There's no way that S.O.B. is getting me out,' " Hlavaty said.
The landlord Geula responded, "It's lies, all lies," before hanging up.
Saethre and King's lawyer -- who believes the landlord is most afraid of King inheriting the apartment when Saethre dies -- believes his clients will prevail.
"We are going to send a message to them," he said, "to stop going after the elderly and the vulnerable."
Out of control
Number of rent-controlled units in NYC
1987: 155,361
1991: 124,411
1993: 101,339
1996: 70,572
1999: 52,562
2002: 59,324
2005: 43,317
2008: 39,901
Sources: US Census Bureau and New York City Housing and Vacancy Surveys
Comments (34)
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Clara
09/19/2010 7:55 PM
Ed, there are things that are to be done such as carpet cleaning and painting every so often, but no landlord is required to let you install wallpaper and PAY for it. You'd be surprised how many tenants won't let you IN to do routine things.
alredmondiii
09/19/2010 7:54 PM
just curious. when a person takes over ownership of a property with rent control units are they not advised of this before the purchase?
PotusObamaSoros
09/19/2010 7:05 PM
the entire rent control fiasco bankrupted countless people who made real estate investments, in turn becoming slums.
Massive fraud of well to do people living in these apartments, and their children then scammed to take over the same apartment, totaling 39 years !!!
often the loss was made up from other tenants carrying the load.
And what about all the city worker expenses, million$ a year, just to do the records, and the court costs over lawsuits.
BILLION$ wasted in the name of a socialist program.
Algonquin J. Calhoun
09/19/2010 6:37 PM
Sounds like it's King who wants to inherit this place who's causing all the problems.
Algonquin J. Calhoun
09/19/2010 6:32 PM
Greta-rent control was a wartime measure. It should have been abolished right after WWII.
cody
09/19/2010 6:17 PM
I got out of New York on May 16, 1966 for Florida, and NEVER regretted ONE DAY..except the memories.NY you are paying for those who will not pay "their share".
Algonquin J. Calhoun
09/19/2010 6:17 PM
This geezer should go move where it's cheaper out in the country. The guy's an idiot. He doesn't go out anyway so it's not like he's leaving his buddies. And at his age he should apply for sec 8. This way the owner gets $1200 for the apt and the geezer pays maybe $200 himself. The owner will acept it because it's a lot more than he gets now. The apt will also be subject to inspection by HUD so the owner will have to fix it to HUD standards.
There's Nothing LEFT
09/19/2010 5:52 PM
"The landlord gets a fortune from his other units, he's just a typical greedy pig. And just where is anyone to move to? "
Typical Liberal speak. How about taking responsibility for yourself. The government does not owe you a place to live. You move to where you can afford. It's that simple.
Posted via email from Nicole Beauchamp , Your NYC Real Estate Resource
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