Dyker Heights

Asian group backs Gentile illegal home conversion bill

Leader Warren Chan says problem poses ‘a grave danger’

August 29, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Councilmember Vincent Gentile, pictured at a press conference in Dyker Heights, says he welcomes the support of the Asian Community United Society in the fight against illegal home conversions. Eagle file photos by Paula Katinas
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Councilmember Vincent Gentile has picked up the support of a key group in Brooklyn in his fight to stop illegal home conversions in New York City.

Warren Chan, leader of the Asian Community United Society, recently announced his endorsement of legislation Gentile introduced to punish landlords who illegally convert one and two-family homes into multiple-dwelling units.

The landlords often rent the tiny units to tenants, resulting in a large number of people, sometimes more than 30, living in one small building.

Chan noted that the people renting these units are often immigrants.

“While these chopped up and sub-divided houses often violate every fire and safety code imaginable, they offer many new immigrants their only chance at affordable housing, especially in neighborhoods like ours. It is time for our community to stand up and send a message to these bad landlords that are profiting from the housing crisis,” Chan said in a statement.

The bill, which Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) introduced in June, would establish a system in which a fine of $15,000 for each illegal unit would be imposed on the owner of a building with three or more illegally converted units. The proposed legislation would also expand the authority of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Environmental Control Board (ECB) to inspect properties and impose fines.

The bill provides that fines imposed by the ECB automatically create liens on properties that, if unpaid, could be included in a lien sale.

Under the proposed legislation, the category of aggravated illegal conversions would be added to the list of offenses for which a vacate order could be issued due to immediately hazardous conditions.

If inspectors from the DOB can’t gain entry to the premises after several attempts, the agency could request a warrant for entry from the New York City Corporation Counsel.

“These measures serve as strong deterrents,” Gentile said at a press conference announcing the legislation in June.

Gentile introduced the bill with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Councilmembers Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush) and Daniel Grodenchik (D-Bayside) are also sponsoring the bill.

Gentile said he was pleased that Chan and his organization have come forward to endorse the bill.

“Our targets are the bad actor landlords who weave this tangled and hazardous web repeatedly citywide. I look forward to working with ACUS on ending this epidemic. We both agree that substandard housing is not affordable housing and that we must work towards a solution to bring affordable housing to southwest Brooklyn, so that immigrant tenants have alternative living situations other than illegal conversions.”

Illegal home conversions aren’t just an esthetic issue, according to Gentile, who said they are also a public safety issue.

By illegally subdividing units, landlords are cramming more people into a house than the building was designed to hold, he said. Gentile also charged that landlords often engage in shoddy construction practices that result in dangers such as a lack of access to fire escapes for tenants and faulty electrical wiring.

“Illegal conversions pose a grave danger not only to the tenants, but [also to] their neighbors and first responders if there were to be an emergency,” Chan stated.

The bill is working its way through the City Council at a time when there is heightened concern over illegal home conversions.

On Aug. 4, the DOB ordered tenants of a two-family house at 6705 Seventh Ave. in Dyker Heights to vacate the premises after an inspection found that 31 people were living there. A few days later, the city issued a vacate order on a second house located nearby.

 

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