{"id":587,"date":"2024-04-08T09:17:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T09:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/herpowernetwork\/?p=587"},"modified":"2024-04-21T20:12:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T20:12:41","slug":"three-fires-in-one-month-in-bushwick-building-leave-mom-and-child-homeless-despite-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/herpowernetwork\/three-fires-in-one-month-in-bushwick-building-leave-mom-and-child-homeless-despite-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Fires in One Month in Bushwick Building Leave Mom and Child Homeless, Despite Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Shenal Tissera<\/a><\/p>\n

When Angel Kaba fled domestic violence with her seven-year-old daughter in April 2021 and found residence in Bushwick with help from the City, she thought she was starting anew; cultivating a safe and happier life away from abuse.<\/p>\n

Just three years later, Kaba and her daughter now live in a shelter in the Bronx, after she was forced to vacate her residence\u00a0at 441 Wilson Ave., following\u00a0three electrical fires<\/a>\u00a0in the building in the span of a month.<\/p>\n

As a result, Kaba now spends six hours commuting between the Bronx shelter, her daughter\u2019s school in Brownsville,\u00a0and her work\u00a0in Manhattan, where she is\u00a0a dance instructor.<\/p>\n

From rodents and pests, to leaky ceilings\u00a0and inadequate heating and hot water for weeks at a time,\u00a0Kaba\u00a0said she is exhausted and feels abandoned by the City that had helped her to find her Brooklyn home. What she thought would be a safe environment turned into greater instability for her family, and any outreach to the City fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

The fires began after the landlord\u00a0BK Immobilier, LLC,<\/a>\u00a0which is owned by real estate firm the\u00a0Raisner Group<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0Taube Management<\/a>\u00a0started renovations in the building earlier this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got word from the Con Edison workers who came saying the building wiring was so old and was not touched since the 1940s and that management and the landlord needed to do serious repairs,\u201d said Kaba.<\/p>\n

Tenants soon noticed flickering lights and buzzing noises coming from the walls. One resident, Isabella Bastiani, complained the electricity in her apartment would go out after she would plug\u00a0something in.<\/p>\n

After the first fire\u00a0in units C3 and D3\u00a0on February 24, Kaba and others implored building management to conduct proper inspections and fix the core issues of the building\u2019s electrical wiring.<\/p>\n

Still, no major repairs were conducted, and the building’s power was back on\u00a0after the first fire. The building’s management\u00a0assured them\u00a0a fire wouldn’t happen again, Kaba said.<\/p>\n

But there was a second electrical fire two weeks later, on March 10,\u00a0<\/strong>originating in the same units.\u00a0When the third fire struck in Bastiani’s apartment, B3, on March 19, what little\u00a0good faith trust was left completely eroded between the residents and the landlord.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe night before, I could\u00a0<\/strong>hear something happening,\u00a0<\/strong>and I called ConEd twice telling them they needed to send somebody to turn the power off,\u201d said Bastiani. \u201cThey said they were going to, and then I woke up to a fire in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past two years alone, 154 complaints were filed against the property\u00a0and over 140 violations were committed, with more than 80% classified as hazardous or immediately hazardous violations,\u00a0<\/strong>according to data available from the NYC\u00a0Housing and Preservation Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kaba wondered how the landlord and management could keep ignoring tenants’ warnings: “After fire number two, you have an understanding of what the situation is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kaba said\u00a0she and other residents began to wonder whether or not the fires were intentional as a means\u00a0to\u00a0clear\u00a0the remaining\u00a0rent stabilized apartments\u00a0and\u00a0turn them into market-rate units.<\/p>\n

Landlords can deregulate their building after replacing 75% of the building\u2019s housing accommodation systems, if the building is deemed seriously deteriorated and is vacated,\u00a0according to the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taube Management\u00a0and the landlord, Remy Raisner\u00a0Rufenach, did not return calls or emails to BK Reader for comment.<\/p>\n

Kaba said she also\u00a0has\u00a0turned to the City for help, but has\u00a0not had much luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you file a complaint with 311, nothing is going to happen to the landlord;\u00a0nothing can force the landlord, take his hand and say you\u2019re going to do this,\u201d\u00a0Kaba said.<\/p>\n

Later, Kaba also found that her apartment had been illegally transformed from a one bedroom to a two bedroom apartment before she moved in, according to HPD\u00a0data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese HPD people, they come in and out, check out everything, take notes and then they don\u2019t do anything!\u201d Kaba said.<\/p>\n

In addition, tenants spent several weeks without heat or hot water this winter. Numerous complaints were filed with the city and attempts were made to try and get management to handle it but when nothing was done, the residents said they paid out of pocket for a plumber to fix the issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to hot water was not a thing, it was inconsistent,” said Kaba, who, at times,\u00a0used water from a pot to wash herself and her daughter during the winter.<\/p>\n

So far, tenants were\u00a0offered to break their lease without penalty, Kaba said.<\/p>\n

“The decision was made to vacate the building, and recognizing the impact this has on families, HPD’s Emergency Housing Services Team is actively providing support to those impacted by the fire,” said Natasha Kersey, a spokesperson of the HPD.<\/p>\n

Kaba said it was very hard to navigate a City system\u00a0that\u2019s very rigid and was “made for you to stay where you\u2019re at, as low as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, she said, she remains grateful: \u201cI don\u2019t sleep on the trains; I don\u2019t sleep on the streets.<\/p>\n

“Thank God<\/em>\u00a0I\u2019m in a shelter. But this is my reality now.”<\/p>\n

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