CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (PIX11) – His buildings were dubbed some of New York City’s worst by Bill de Blasio, who was public advocate at the time, and now residents believe their landlord is withholding heat despite the bone-chilling cold.
6-year-old Christael suffers from cerebral palsy, severe scoliosis and respiratory issues. Her mother, Kristine Ortega, is her sole caregiver 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Her job is hard enough, but on top of everything else she told PIX11 she has had little to no heat over the past few days and months.
Ortega is not alone in her complaints.
Tenants at both 930 and 940 Prospect Place in Crown Heights told PIX 11 this has been an ongoing issue with the building’s landlord for more than year. It is not, they say, mechanical issue. The heat absolutely works, just not when they need it.
“Last night it wasn’t on and it was really cold. I couldn’t sleep so I woke up this morning really angry,” said one tenant, Shruti Parekh.
Complaints to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development have flooded in and In fact, an inspector was at 940 just yesterday according to this notice.
But Ortega and other tenants believe the landlord is playing one big game.
“When the inspector comes into the apartment the heat is on and when they leave not too long after the heat is off,” said Ortega.
We tried reaching the landlord, Seth Miller, over the phone but only got his voicemail. A quick search for Miller, however, brought us to a website showing Miller landed himself on the list for one of the city’s worst landlords by Bill de Blasio while he was Public Advocate last year.And it gets worse. According to the Department of HPD there are a total of 78 violations between the two buildings and a total of 4 pending cases before the city’s housing court.
