South Williamsburg Tenants Battle Notorious Landlord

Some landlords can't catch a break, especially in terms of PR. You might remember that Adam Mermelstein was named the city's "most abusive" (also "worst") landlord by a tenant group earlier this year and that the honor made headlines. Well, some of the trouble stems from Mr. Mermelstein's long-suffering tenants at a building at 188 South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, which he is trying to convert to upscale rentals. The tenants are in Housing Court over a nine-month rent strike and they're demonstrating before court this morning (if you're reading this after 9AM, make that "they demonstrated.") There are two legal actions, actually. The other is a contempt motion because it seems that in February Mr. Mermelstein was ordered to correct code violations by March 13 but that 124 remained at the end of May.

Here's a bit from the release that landed in GL's mailbag:

The tenants will be joined by supporters from “Save Our Southside,” a major tenant support group battling landlord neglect and harassment of long term low income tenants, aimed at displacing them to make room for wealthier newcomers flooding into the “hot” neighborhood. In a recent article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mermelstein disclosed his plans to renovate vacant apartments and rent them out for $2300/month, over three times the average rent now paid by the current tenants.

Tenant leader Jacquelin Hernandez declared: "This landlord has to learn that we will not be pushed around, and we will not give up our long term homes to help make a rich guy richer."

Tenant activist Debbie Medina of Save Our Southside (“SOS”) stated that the situation at 188 South 3rd Street is unfortunately typical of massive displacement pressures on the overwhelmingly low income Latino tenants of the Southside, created by the ongoing gentrification, and made worse by the City’s recent re-zoning of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront to allow for the construction of over 8,000 new luxury apartments. “But,” Ms. Medina declared, "this is not the first war that we have had to fight for survival and against injustice in the Southside, and we’re still here."

To be continued.