Posted 8:36 PM by Carl Webb
242 Malcolm X Boulevard Tenants Association needs your support. After being without any water on Christmas Day we had a press conference on December 26th with 4 New York television stations to protest the conditions that tenants have had to endure this holiday. Building owners are required to provide hot water 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The slum lord whose company manages our building, Abe Betesh, had refused to provide hot water at a legal tempurature and access to the boiler room until December 28th. We return to New York City Housing Court on January 4th to hold him in contempt of the December 4th court order directing him to correct these violations within 24 hours. But it took him 24 days. At the present time this slum lord has over 230 documented housing code violations. Please watch the news coverage on TV or online. And contact the media to express your support and to ask that they continue the press coverage. Below are the media contacts of the stations that broadcast the story and some links to the stories online: NY1 For You: Residents Without Hot Water For 2 Weeks Susan Jhun is at Susan.Jhun@ny1.com Residents Of Harlem Building Still Without Hot Water Shazia Khan is at Shazia.Khan@ny1.com Some Harlem Resident Still Without Hot Water, Management Blames Tenants And I think Marah Ramirez is at Marah.Ramirez@ny1.com To contact the NY1 newsroom or administrative offices, call 212-379-3311 for the "NY1 For You" team or send an email to ny1foryou@ny1.com ********************************************** For some reason the My9 New York News choose to falsely report that the tenants were not cooperating by refusing access to the contractors. You can email them at newsdirector@wwortv.com TO NYC's #1 LOCAL NEWS TEAM, 1 & ALL: HAPPY NEW YEAR! With peace, prayers, gratitude & LOVE, Steadfast in the Spirit, Michael-Vincent Crea, Pastor & Founder One World Life Systems 242 Malcolm X Blvd. Residents Association Spokesperson ENC PLEASE SEE TODAY'S RELEASE EITHER BELOW OR IN THE ATTACHMENTS, THANK YOU. For Immediate Release 31 December 2006 For More Info: 212-427-9849 Tenants' Triumph Takes Only Two-Hours After 24-Days of Owner Denials On December 4, 2006 Housing Court Judge Gilbert Badillo ordered access to the boiler and hot water in 24-hours from owner Jacob Aini and Abeco manager Abe Betesh, millionaire Harlem speculators. Aini and Betesh did not permit a city inspector access for 24 days, after which, it took plumbers only about 2-hours to comply with the consent, signed by their counsel David J. Burton. Finally, around 3 pm on December 28 plumbers informed tenant Carl Webb, after a test of water in his kitchen sink tap, that the problem had been addressed. In the interim, Aini and Betesh's intransigent contempt against the Court and tenants had almost a month-long period of unsafe, hazardous conditions, at times without any water whatsoever and havoc for the tenants' holidays. "The 242 Malcolm X Blvd. Residents Association, and others in our behalf, most especially the 311 operators and Housing Preservation and Development staff have attempted repeatedly in requests for Messrs. Aini and Betesh to respond. Only after reports by NY 1 News reporters, did the residents receive the simple justice of their Housing Court victory by the recalcitrant owners," remarks Pastor Michael-Vincent Crea, pro se representative and spokesperson for the members. On January 4, both owner and manager must face the Judge on criminal contempt charges. They face up to 30 days imprisonment and "for failure to supply heat and hot water as required by law shall be [fined], for each such violation, $250.00 per day from and including the date of the violation was placed until the violation is corrected, except for violation(s) involving a device on the heating system, in which case the penalty shall be $25.00 per day for each such violation, from and including the date each such violation is placed, but such penalty shall not be less than $1,000 for each violation," agreed to by their attorney David J. Burton before the Judge Badillo. Judge Badillo's order to correct includes all 230+ open violations back to September 10, 2003. During that period a disabled and sick resident suffered during Christmas 2003, when residents had no heat and only cold water for over 10 days. Their neighbor died January 5, 2004, leaving a wife and five children fatherless in Ivory Coast, West Africa and the former owner in prison, now. Pastor Crea, with his own disabilities severely stressed, has kept throughout his steadfast Spirit for the season along with other neighbors, disappointed at Aini and Betesh's recalcitrance. "For me, the reason for the season is 'Liberty and Justice for ALL.' Unfortunately in their denials, Messrs. Aini and Betesh have committed the ultimate treason, that is, doing the right thing for the wrong reason," notes Crea, hoping for 2007 to start on new note of co-operation by and for all. One sign for the Pastor's optimism already is a new bold sign on the building, "FOR SALE BY OWNER," listing Abe Betesh's telephone number. "Maybe, a benefactor can come forward, assisting us to buy the building to maintain this low cost, community housing that city officials have not protected from speculators, yet, still serves many residents like ourselves," Crea says. ________________________________________________________________________________ 365 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., PO BOX 1259, Harlem, NY 10027-1259 PHONE: 212-427-9849 owlsmvc@hotmail.com Tenant-AdviceandAlert.com - While I am an attorney who regularly advises tenants, including tenant associations, in the area of tenant law, I am here as a tenant advocate seeking to impart only general knowledge and information to the tenant community in New York. Listen to Housing Notebook, Mondays at 8 p.m., on WBAI, 99.5 FM with Scott Sommer and Vajra Kilgour Metropolitan Council on Housing (" Met Council") is a city-wide membership tenant organization. Met Council's monthly newspaper Tenant/Inquilino, covers a broad array of topics of interest to tenants. Met Council on Housing339 Lafayette Street, #301New York, NY 10012Tel: (212) 979-0611 The Invasion of Harlem: This Rent Wars Special Report covers the Harlem Town Hall Meeting which was hosted by a coalition of over twenty groups from around the City.

Labels: harlem, lord, new, slum, tenants, york