Tenants of a building located at 1834 Caton Avenue in Flatbush are celebrating, after a judge ruled in their favor in a lawsuit against one of New York City's "worst landlords."
The tenants have been protesting in recent months the landlord in their building, Jonathan Samet, citing decades of disrepair in the building, including caved-in ceilings and frequent water shut-offs.
The building currently has more than 250 open HPD violations and has been subject to more than 900 HPD complaints in the past two years. Twenty-six of the building's tenants filed a lawsuit against Samet, who ranked 39 out of 100 on the 2022 list of NYC’s worst landlords.
On August 30, around a dozen tenants and supporters gathered outside Brooklyn Housing Court to protest the landlord's practices and the building’s conditions before heading inside for their court appointment.
Lawyers for the group secured a court order to ensure repairs get completed. The court order will require the landlord to make all necessary repairs in the building in 15 to 60 days, depending on the repair's severity.
After reaching the agreement, tenants felt vindicated after years of being ignored.
“I feel good. I think this is definitely a victory in the context of the system that we live in. This is the best I could have gotten out of today,” said Natalia Marques, a building resident who is part of the lawsuit. “I think it's fundamentally unfair that tenants are responsible for enforcing building conditions. That should be the city's responsibility and they should be held accountable.”
Samet did not respond to a request for comment by publishing time.
Though the court order was considered a victory by tenants, some were doubtful that it would be possible to complete the necessary repairs within the 60-day time frame.
“It’s too much; he let things go too far,” said Vivian Edwards, who has been a resident of 1834 Caton Ave. for more than 20 years. “The repairs that he has let go by, and that are badly needed, it's gonna take time to do those things.”
Civil penalties will begin to accrue if repairs are not made on time. Samet must pay specific amounts of money a day for each violation, according to the group's lawyer. Several tenants told BK Reader that the group plans to bring Samet back to court and hold him in contempt if the repairs are not done.
