Deepening crisis at 114 East 1st Street

Today random extermination of several apartments have been performed in the building without addressing the infestation building-wide. No entry point for the insects have been sealed in the apartments before. The exterminator refused to give us any information on what pesticide will be used and for which insect they are treating the selective apartments. I've been threatened with denial of services for asking questions. Separately, we've been told by independently consulted professionals that entry points need to be sealed before spraying pesticides and that randomly spraying individual apartments is going to push the bugs to other units and make the problem significantly worse.

Here is some information about rat mites: http://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/biting-stinging/others/ent-3009/

The infestation is building-wide!

We have both: bed bug and rat mite infestations in the building. The landlord still claims that it is an isolated problem related to a single apartment. So far we have identified 9 apartments where tenants developed severe rashes. In one case a rat mite was caught in another a bed bug. We are still waiting for more inspections. Unless the entire building is treated the problem will persist. Unless we take an unified action insuring that we have a licensed, certified and insured exterminator, our apartments will become unlivable and our all our belongings will be contaminated. As far as we understand the issue the infestation may have spread throughout the building as a result of a perpetual concealment of the problem and an irresponsible extermination in a single apartment. Do not be bullied by the super asking you not to call 311 or talk to other tenants. This is our only guarantee that we will receive adequate help. Send an email to 114eastfirst@gmail.com to receive additional information about the tenant action.

More trash in hallways, the building is filthy and it reeks of decay

The rotten bed frame and the filthy mattress are still here as well. The rat colony is thriving. No sign of the management.

Ignored by the landlord the infestation continues. Memorial Day Weekend at 114 East 1st Street.

The decaying bed and filthy mattress are still in the hallway. Rats are feasting on garbage. Memorial Weekend at 114 East 1st Street in New York.

continuing biohazard contamination at 114 East 1st Street

This filthy, decaying bed and the mattress have been put out on the ground floor hallway of our building yesterday. Today it is still here. Rats still rummage through the trash. Tenants are afraid of entering the hallway not to mention the rat ridden trash platform. A tenant from the second floor has shown us a live rat mite he has caught onto a sticky tape in his apartment.

The debris from the hallway have been moved to apartment #2 spreading and further continuing the possible contamination

Ongoing contamination. The debris from #4 are still on the ground floor.

The trash from the bins have been removed today but the debris from apt. 4 are still on the ground floor. What could be the reason for this?

Important information!

According to the  http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/bedbugs/html/info/owners_tenants.shtml :

"Notice of Bed Bug Infestation History: New York City Administrative Code § 27-2018.1, which the Governor signed into law on August 31, 2010, mandates that new residential tenants in New York City be given a one-year bed bug infestation history. All State supervised rental and mutual housing companies in New York City are required to provide new residential tenants with a completed copy of this notice, which is also available on the agency's website. Learn more by visiting the Metropolitan Council on Housing page on Bed Bugs.

If a landlord fails to disclose bed bug history: Tenants can use the form
DBB-N Tenant’s Complaint of Owner’s Failure to Disclose Bed Bug Infestation History/Notice and Order:
Tenants have to call 1-866-275-3427 or call/visit one of the borough offices to request a copy of the form; the form will be mailed to the tenant’s address.

- See more at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/bedbugs/html/info/owners_tenants.shtml#sthash.lwZ4q88e.dpuf "

What we have been told is that the infestation in #4 went on for a very long time and another apartment on the main floor had this problem since they moved in 8 months ago. Birchwood Properties LLC not only does not provide new tenents with bed bug history but is actively concealing it.

Rats rule at 114 East 1st Street

This is the fire egress/trash storage zone tonight:

Where is Robert Spitalnick?

Broken windows, broken doors, cracked walls, pealing paint, hallways covered by layers of decomposing linoleum covered with coagulated filth, rats, stench of decay, overworked maintenance crew, and now the bed bug infestation that the management company is trying to hide from the tenants not yet affected.

In order to rent both store fronts the landlord moved the garbage area from the front of the building to the fire egress platform leading to the basement. This produces a garbage accumulation on the fire egress often blocking the way to the basement and inviting all sort of vermin. It also produces a major strain on the maintenance people who have to haul the trash to the front of the building for collection. Often the trash gets spilled in the process and the hallway reeks with decaying refuse. Not to mention the garbage from emptied apartments dangerously stored, in contempt of fire regulations, underneath the ground level staircase.

The management is trying to divide us claiming it's an isolated issue. It is not. So far, seven apartments, on three floors have reported being bitten. They try intimidating those who want to have this public by calling them troublemakers or rumor spreaders. Unless we come together there will be isolated attempts at extermination and cover up.

The Birchwood Properties LLC owner Robert Spitalnick is not available to address any of this.

Ever wondered why do we have bed bugs in the building?

This is the ground floor area. All the trash thrown out of the infested apartment has been sitting here for weeks. No surprise that the bugs spread.

WE HAVE A SEVERE BED BUG INFESTATION IN THE BUILDING.

SEVERAL APARTMENTS HAVE BEEN RECENTLY AFFECTED. WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE SANITARY CONDITIONS AT THE BUILDING.

UNLESS WE COME TOGETHER AND PERFORM THOROUGH EXTERMINATIONS OF THE ENTIRE BUILDING THE BUGS WILL TRAVEL FROM ONE APARTMENT TO ANOTHER.

*PLEASE NOTIFY THE CITY at 311 ASAP SO WE CAN GET A CANNINE INSPECTION.

*ALSO, IF YOU NOTICED THAT YOU ARE BEING BITTEN PLEASE LIST IT HERE:

http://114eastfirst.blogspot.com

THANK YOU!

Report to 311! Or join our googledoc of complaints

Hello -  I've recently begun reporting each and every incident of no hot water to 311, and I encourage others to do the same.

In addition, we've been keeping track of our apartment's heating/hot water issues on this googledoc (publicly viewable - see below link) and sending it frequently to the landlord.  If anyone else would like to join the googledoc so we can log issues together, please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AktE6sWZb5A6dE1wd3BCOU0wbzVhMmltQmsyS3lVR2c


koenig.shannon@gmail.com

further decline of the building at 114 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10009

Our hopes that the building transfer may improve our conditions have been dashed. Since Birchwood Properties LLC, owned by Robert Spitalnick took over the building in the summer of 2011 we've observed further decline in building maintenance and basic services. The walls are crumbling. The building is filthy. The water pressure (both hot and cold) is rarely sufficient to take a shower or wash the dishes. This is a chronic problem that the management has failed to address. The heat level is erratic. Recently the landlord installed several high-tech security cameras on the ground floor even though the front door of the building is broken (it does not lock). Some tenants driven to despair by freezing in their apartments resorted to writing directly on the walls. While this strategy is problematic the landlord's neglect of this property is the greatest crime committed against the building and its tenants at this time.

Individual repairs are not being performed without legal pressure and even then performed to a lowest standard possible. Welcome to a slum!

Angry Tenants Take Landlord To Court

A must read about our building from the New York Times Local Blog. Click on the text below to go to the article:

Galron Realty is owned by the Moses family, headed by Henry Moses Jr. Galron bought 114 East First Street for $5.2 million in the summer of 2005, according to the city’s Department of Finance. The Moses family owns several real-estate management companies around the city through Vanderleigh Properties, based in Tuckahoe, not far from Yonkers. (The company’s sparse website says that any similarity with the fictional Vandelay from “Seinfeld” is pure coincidence. Their subsidiaries all bear “Star Trek”-inspired names: Galron, 7 of 8, Borg, Praxis, Vulcan, and others.)

The Galron debacle

As of today, it has been 123 days, that 12 apartments have been without cooking gas: http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=1&houseno=114&street=E+1st+Street&go2=+GO+&requestid=0

Apartments 30. 24, 23, and 13 are empty right now. Consider this before signing your lease agreement!

The video is of the rain coming through the wall of one of three apartments 19, 14 and 9 which occurred on 10/11/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTbIgbrZwhs&feature=player_embedded

114 E 1st Street New York City

CREATE YOUR OWN POSTS

Instead of commenting on the existing posts everyone is welcome to create their own new posts.  This way we can see better what is happening in the building. If you want to contribute to this blog, write to us at 114eastfirst@gmail.com

names

The company is called both Vanderleigh and Chondro Realty in our bldg, 208 E 7th

413 E 70th Street

Vanderleigh properties also owns 413 E 70th street, and goes by both Vanderleigh properties and Borg Realty.

When we moved in on the first of November, after they said all repairs and cleaning would be completed by the time we moved in, the apartment was filthy and many elements of the apartment needed repair. Now, almost the middle of December, 10 phone calls to the "help" line/landlord number, multiple calls to the city/311 and our local precinct, and nothing has been done. Our heat is not on in most of the apartment because the radiators are broken. The apartment was filled with pubic hair and dead insects (and live ones) and a window is still severely cracked, among other issues.

We need to stand up for our rights as tenants. This is the most ridiculous abuse I have ever seen, heard of or experienced and I will not stand for it. None of us deserve to be treated this way, let alone PAY for this treatment.

I have a background in journalism and pr and am offering up my services to start a public campaign against them. I am looking into it tonight. As far as defamation goes, in the legal sense, truth IS a defense. So, when posting publicly, rather than simply spewing insults (even though they deserve it), try to state the awful truth. For instance, rather than "Bob is a filthy lying #$@^&$" say "I saw Bob steal a car, that is clearly against the law."

let's fight back. i'm in, I'll attend your meetings if possible. I'm so sick of this bullshit.