It Finally Came to This

It finally came to this, where "my" tenants here at 92 Moore St. are concerned. After several of the semi-privileged idiots called 311 in order to file complaints against the landlord, several City Inspectors have since shown up. And that is NOT a good thing. To learn why, read on. This is the pseudo-anonymous letter I just left under their doors:

The Thing About Calling the City

The thing about calling the city, here where you live, is that: Even though it might appease your feelings of frustration about the circumstances under which all of this building’s tenants live, it ultimately threatens everyone’s ability to live here.

Each time a complaint about the building is called in, and subsequently filed, the city builds a case against having ANY tenants live in the dwelling.

That means, every time you call the city in order to fix whatever your apartment’s current problem is, the Landlord gets hit with a fine AND the city becomes more and more curious as to exactly what is going on here, as far as dwellings go.

You were all informed, at the time of your lease signings, that this building is in transition as far as city codes go – and that the only reasons you were allowed to rent here were because: a) you acknowledged that fact, and b) you had less than the standard personal/professional backgrounds that would have been necessary to rent any of the majority of other New York City apartments. (E.g.: There was no credit check, no background check, no calling of your previous Landlords, and no Guarantor required.)

Yes, this is written evidence that you could possibly use against the Landlord if you really want to choose the legal route to getting your immediate needs met while you live here. But lawsuits take years to process. The odds are you will be far gone from here by the time any lawsuit you file meets its docket date. That means it will be years from now before any Judge will listen to your complaints.

So you options are:

Either keep calling the city every time something goes wrong with your apartment, thereby eventually having everybody in the building evicted; or, cooperate with the Landlord in finding more immediate solutions to your problems.

If you want all the tenants in this building to wind up on the street, keep calling the city.

If you are truly unhappy with your living situation, the Landlord will let you out of your lease at any time without incurring any penalty. Please don’t make your problem every other tenant’s problem.

And that's how I left it. We'll see what results from it...