Report: Residents of Kushner-owned 118 E. 4th St. learn building had 10X legal levels of lead

[Image via Streeteasy]

The following report was released last week via the Cooper Square Committee and the Lead Dust Free New York City coalition.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. recently received notice that work crews hired by Jared Kushner’s Westminster City Living contaminated their building with lead-laden construction dust. The contamination was the result of unchecked dust from demolition work being performed in the building.

A report issued by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from November shows elevated levels of lead in four of the five samples collected in the building. The sample with the highest level was nearly 10X (383 µg/ft2) the acceptable standards prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for floors/treads of 39 µg/ft2.

In the fall of 2015, tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. endured bouts of no heat, mounting trash, and a longstanding cooking gas outage. The tenants then filed an HP Action in January 2016 for repairs and services to be restored. A motion was also filed in court to hold Westminster in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. and the Lead Dust Free NYC coalition are now calling the unsafe conditions to be remedied immediately and for safe work practices to be put in place for all work being performed. Tenants, advocates and elected officials are calling on the City to improve enforcement around lead and to increase penalties for landlords who contaminate buildings.

Many provisions with NYC’s lead laws, Local Law 1 of 2004, are not being utilized by the City. A City Council hearing in September of this year called to attention major deficits within the enforcement and regulations surrounding Local Law 1.

"I was in my apartment on a day when they began demolition. A dust cloud invaded my entire apartment from the demolition happening in the apartment below me. I felt a burning in back of my throat along with feeling of grit. I decided to leave for my own safety," said David Dupuis, a tenant of No. 118 for 35 years. "When I returned in the evening, the halls and everything in my apartment was completely covered in dust. The burning sensation at the back of my throat lasted for days."

You can find the full release, including comments from elected local officials, as well as the health department's report from November, at this link.

In an article on the report for The Villager, a spokesperson for the Kushner Companies said: "As soon as we were alerted to the condition, we instructed the contractor responsible to immediately clean the public areas and to implement stricter measures to prevent construction dust or debris from escaping the work area. Kushner always uses a lead-certified contractor who fully complies with the law."

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

Get the lead out: Tenants call for protections from lead dust during renovations

Tenant activists praise lead reform, urge for more protections from city against predatory landlords

Report: 9th Street resident battling with Kushner Cos. to clean up black mold infestation

The Daily News has an update on Uta Winkler's ongoing legal fight with Kushner Cos. to clean up a black mold infestation in her Ninth Street apartment. (DNAinfo previously reported on her legal battle in December 2016.)

Winkler, a rent-stabilized tenant, said in court papers that her kitchen was destroyed several days before Thanksgiving in 2013 by construction workers renovating an unoccupied unit above her apartment.

To the News:

During the past year she has been locked in a legal fight in Manhattan housing court to get [Jared] Kushner’s real estate firm, Kushner Cos., to remediate the mold.

Even though an inspector she hired detected the spores in March, Winkler said she had to go to court several times before Kushner Cos. agreed to conduct its own mold test in the fall.

It took more court dates to get Kushner to agree to pick a remediator who will actually get rid of the mold — which has been shown to cause respiratory problems and to inflame allergies.

It’s still unclear when the remediator will actually make the fix, Winkler said.

“It’s harassment to get me out,” she said. Kushner Cos. did not respond to requests for comment.

Winkler had to endure more mayhem when she came home in late 2013 to find that a construction worker carrying dirty water and debris on the floor above hers had crashed through her bedroom ceiling, landing on her bed, court document said.

The fall destroyed her bed and other furniture, but Kushner's management firm, Westminster, refused to reimburse her for the damage or even return her calls, court papers said.

Without a response, Winkler withheld her monthly rent, which reportedly prompted Kushner to sue her for the unpaid rent in 2015 in Manhattan Housing Court. DNAinfo previously reported that the company also sued tenants in two other units, include new market-rate residents, in the building for also withholding rent because of the disruptions from construction. (Those two other tenants then each filed counter-suits against Kushner.)

Winkler's "suffering with Kushner" reportedly started shortly after Kushner bought the five-building parcel on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue in 2013.

The Kushner Cos. now own some 30-plus apartment buildings in the East Village

Per the News:

Tenants in several of these buildings have accused Kushner Cos. in court records of trying to drive them out through harassment, construction and dilapidated conditions.

State records also show that, in the past five years, the agency that oversees rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments has penalized Kushner Cos. in at least 11 instances over diminished services or poor conditions at one of its buildings in the city.

In those cases, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal has ordered the monthly rent reduced for one or multiple rent-regulated units in the building until the problems were fixed.

Now even the lawyers Kushner worked with are taking the company to court. Several weeks ago, the News reported that Cornicello, Tendler & Baumel-Cornicello, a law firm that represented Kushner Cos. in dozens of eviction and housing court cases, is now suing Kushner for unpaid bills totaling more than $100,000.

As for Winkler: "For four years, they’re dragging me around, wasting money. I’m paying my lawyer constantly. It just makes no sense and it is so obnoxious."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

Jared Kushner's East Village tenants wish he'd resolve issues closer to home

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

[Image via Streeteasy]

Via the EVG inbox...

Tenants of 118 East 4th Street in the East Village appear back in Manhattan Housing Court on Thursday March 3rd at 9:30 AM as part of ongoing litigation against their landlord, Jared Kushner. Tenants are calling for the immediate restoration of essential services and for living conditions to be rectified.

The tenants have recently endured bouts of no heat, mounding trash, and have been without cooking gas since October 2015. Con Ed shut down all gas for the building and Jared Kushner has yet to take the necessary procedures with the city to restore it. This comes on top of the landlord’s failure to repair a multitude of potentially dangerous conditions in the building, including:

• No cooking gas
• Collapsed ceilings
• Questionably safe electrical systems
• Mounding trash
• Deprivation of heat
• Apartments entered without notice
• Blocked mail delivery
• Vermin

The tenants filed an HP Action for repairs and services in January to seek a remedy for these unsafe conditions. The landlord received a default judgement at the first court appearance on February 4th as Kushner failed to appear in court to address matters – a sign the tenants interpret as further disregard for the issues they face. At the time of a previous court appearance, the building had a total of 17 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including 4 considered “immediately hazardous.” The current violation count is now 35 in total with 8 class “C” immediately hazardous violations. A motion was recently filed in court to hold Kushner in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

You can read the whole notice at the Cooper Square Committee website. The news advisory includes quotes from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.

It hasn't been easy at 118-120 E. Fourth St. through the years. Ben Shaoul's Magnum Management, in partnership with Meadow Partners, bought the buildings in late 2010. Fortune East LLC reportedly managed the buildings. The blog Occupy East Fourth Street had been documenting renovation horror stories. (Like this one.)

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Occupy East Fourth Street continues documenting the situation inside No. 118. Here's a post from Feb. 14:

Woke up this morning to 7 degrees, its now 14 degrees outside, and no heat at 118 East St. Through some communications with the other tenants, it seems the heat is on in one line of the building. That line contains the market rate tenants. There are 2 other heat lines that are off and those lines contain the majority of rent stabilized tenants, including some senior citizens in fragile health. I think one or two market rate folks are getting the frozen treatment if they are unfortunate enough to reside above or below a rent stabilized tenant. Calls to the Westminster office provide no results as usual. There seems to be a Westminster person living in 118 at the moment. A call put into him goes unanswered and he has no voice mail set up on his phone. The same goes for the "Super". No answer. No voice mail set up on phone.

A view to the new floors on East 9th Street

[EVG photo from February]

We've been watching the north side of Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, where four of the buildings on this block (329-335) are receiving one-floor extensions.

A reader shared a photo from across the street showing how the work is progressing...



Local elected officials and preservationists spoke out against these additions... fearful of how the extra floor will change the character of the buildings.

The buildings were previously owned by Icon Realty, who sold them to Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies in the spring of 2013. The push, and subsequent approval, for the extra floor came about during Icon's ownership.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 9th Street buildings will soon be taller thanks to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals

East 9th Street buildings starting to grow taller

East 9th Street buildings starting to grow taller

Work continues on the north side of Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, where back in 2012 the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) OK'd rooftop additions for four of the buildings on this block.

[Via Off the Grid]

Work began late last year for the new floor at No. 329... and you can see how's it's looking so far...



The buildings were previously owned by Icon Realty, who sold them to Kushner companies in the spring of 2013. Kushner paid $28.75 million deal for 329-335 E. Ninth Street (and 325 E. 10th St.).

Councilmember Rosie Mendez and the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation, among others, spoke out against the additions on this block. The BSA didn't seem to mind.

While we're on this block, you can see how the new building is (slowly) coming along at next door 327 E. Ninth St., the site of a former residential parking lot. We first reported on this six-story, two-unit residential building back in August 2012.

Eventually, No. 327 will look like ...

[Via Curbed]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 9th Street buildings will soon be taller thanks to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals

East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building

Jared Kushner picks up 2 more East Village apartment buildings

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies has expanded its East Village portfolio.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, Kushner has closed on a 16-building apartment portfolio for $131.5 million. Two of the properties are in the East Village — 104 E. Seventh St. and 438-440 E. 13th St.

Stone Street and Florida-based HIG Realty Partners were the sellers. Stone Street bought the EV properties in November 2012.

We heard from a resident at No. 438 this past April who let us know what life has been like here since Stone Street took over the building. First, the resident says that many longtime tenants were driven out of their units … "and we had to deal with a round of apartment gut renovations last year."

And!

"I have lived in the East Village for [20-plus] years and have never dealt with such disregard for tenants," the resident said. "Even the tenants who moved into the renovated 'luxury' units are being screwed."

Not that Kushner will be a much better landlord. The Kushner Companies have not been very popular around here with all the allegations and subsequent media reports of tenant harassment and quality-of-life issues brought on by gut renovations in their buildings.

The Kushner Companies have bought up 28-29 or so East Village walk-up buildings in the past two years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

The Kushner Companies meet the neighborhood

Last night, reps from the Kushner Companies — owners now of half the East Village — met with residents and Community Board 3 members during a Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee meeting.

We did not attend, but the consensus from people we spoke with later seemed to be: waste of time.

Per Jill: "That meeting was bullshit."

Per Rob: "Well, we did learn that they intend to construct extensions on their buildings."

We heard the reps were very nice — and very media-trained, offering robotic soundbites from the Meet The Community Playbook.

BoweryBoogie was there. Per BB:

It didn’t go over too well. Not with residents. Not with the Land Use subcommittee of Community Board 3. The Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of real estate development represented the company, extending an olive branch, as it were, and pitching their intentions. Namely to create a “responsive, welcoming, and secure community” and to operate the buildings with “the same high standard.”

On Monday, residents of a now-Kushner-owned building shared stories of not having heat or hot water on a regular basis, structural damage and an unlocked front door, which reportedly led to a break-in.

Anyone else attend last night's meeting? Hit us up in the comments with your thoughts. Of the meeting.

[Photo via BoweryBoogie]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Report: Jared Kushner closes on latest batch of East Village walkups

Tonight at CB3: An introduction to the Kushner Companies

Via the CB3 website... and sorry for the late notice — I was unaware of the meeting...

Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee
Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 pm. Seward Park Extension - 56 Essex Street (btwn Grand & Broome Sts)

3. Kushner East Village properties: introduction

We don't exactly know exactly what will transpire tonight... In recent months, The Kushner Companies have bought up 28-29 or so East Village walk-up buildings... One resident put up a meeting notice in her building... which a Kushner employee promptly tore down... (the notice, not the building).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Report: Jared Kushner closes on latest batch of East Village walkups

Reader report: Former Rawvolution space will be real-estate management office

Rawvolution, the raw vegan cafe/retail store on East 12th Street, closed last December "for renovations."

Of course, they are not coming back... workers have been renovating the space these last six or so weeks. A tipster on the block said that the storefront will be "a management office for the building."

This is one of the 28-29 buildings that Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies bought up in the East Village in recent months... Per the tipster: "Maybe it will be the central office for all of Mr. Ivanka Trump's East Village real estate holdings." More specifically, the reader understands that this will be an office for Westminster Management, a division of Kushner Companies.