The owner of the sprawling Flatbush Gardens apartment complex has filed to evict more than a third of the nearly 2,500 households there since the start of 2022, fueling a rise in removals in the neighborhood that outpaces any other section of Brooklyn.
City marshals have so far carried out 50 evictions at Flatbush Gardens after a pandemic-inspired moratorium on removals ended 19 months ago, a Gothamist analysis of city eviction data found.
Flatbush Gardens resident Paulette James, 75, is among those in jeopardy. She’s familiar with the hazards common around the complex, and the landlord’s well-practiced strategy of taking tenants to court to reclaim back rent, often for relatively small amounts.
She has lived in her apartment since 2008 but is facing eviction while dealing with a litany of issues, ranging from a door that won’t lock properly to pests roaming the crowded unit. Roaches scurried across the kitchen during a visit by Gothamist on Monday.
James owes the landlord around $5,100 for five months of unpaid rent and said she is struggling to keep up with payments since getting laid off from her job at a daycare.
“I have no income right now and I’m just trying to think of something,” she said. “I never had problems until COVID, otherwise I’m on time with my rent. I want to see my bills with zeroes.”
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers face similar circumstances, often facing eviction for unpaid rent dating back to earlier in the pandemic. More than 10,000 families and individuals have been removed from their homes across the five boroughs since January 2022, according to city data.
While each eviction represents a specific household’s unique circumstances, taken as a whole, the mounting caseload exposes systemic problems taking a heavy toll on New York City — from unemployment and strained social services to scarce options for New Yorkers at risk of losing their homes amid record-high rents and homelessness.
James received her first eviction…
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