BROOKLYN – Maimonides workers and tenants plan to rally outside the hospital’s real estate office to protest what they say is the hospital's decision to "kick them out of their homes".
Recently the hospital decided to roll back their employee housing program and sell some of the apartment buildings to relieve financial pressures, shifting the burden to their employees instead, the tenants said in a news release.
They say Maimonides and the new landlord are refusing to let them stay in their homes, and the hospital is in court trying to evict almost 40 of them.
The workers, retirees, and neighbors formed a tenant union to fight back with a kick-off protest before Thanksgiving, as the hospital prepares to clear another two buildings by evicting about 30 more essential workers.
Maimonides/Iris Tenant Union (a group of tenants in the buildings owned and formerly owned by Maimonides, most of whom are Maimonides workers or retirees) say they will hold another protest soon. (The planned January 3 protest has been cancelled.)
Maimonides owned 11 buildings near the hospital, where nurses and hospital staff rented apartments.
Maimonides sold seven of the buildings in 2018 to Iris Holdings Group for $68 million.
The nearly 40 hospital workers and retirees remaining in those buildings say they are now being "thrown under the bus".
The tenants say Maimonides is continuing to roll back its housing program in two other buildings it still owns, where workers were told they must leave by the end of 2023. They say the hospital is preparing eviction cases against approximately 30 tenants who stayed.
The tenants say Maimonides has not maintained the buildings that it owns or the units it rents from Iris Holdings Group for remaining workers and retirees.
Tenants say they have faced bed bug and roach infestations, leaks, broken doors and buzzers, and dirty conditions.
They say repairs from Maimonides were rare and many tenants improved their apartments out of pocket.
To add to the problems for some tenants, there was a major fire at 974 47th St on Oct. 13. A few apartments were vacated, but Maimonides has done little to repair the building in the months since, the tenants say.
"Tenants are outraged that after decades of service to the hospital and praise as essential workers during the pandemic, Maimonides has not maintained their homes and is now trying to evict dozens of them and their families," the tenants said.
Tenants say they are fighting back to stay in their homes, save up to move out, and get repairs done.
The workers, retirees, and their neighbors formed a tenant union and rallied outside the hospital in November.
They say the rally on Jan. 3 will escalate the campaign to put pressure on Maimonides.
