The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is putting the pressure on owners of 250 of New York City’s “worst” apartment buildings — accounting for roughly 39,000 open violations and $3.4 million in unpaid emergency repairs — to fix a laundry list of neglected housing code violations.
Among the 250 buildings selected by HPD, the Bronx the highest amount of total households listed at 2,006, and second-most buildings at 75.
Through its Alternate Enforcement Program (AEP), HPD identifies and selects buildings in the city accruing major housing code violations, including unaddressed mold and heat outages, and puts the onus on building managers and owners to address said violations within a few months notice.
According to HPD, if a building owner does not address violations within the first four months of the program, the owners could be levied with significant fees and an order to correct — which requires owners to address violations, fix faulty building infrastructure and clear at least 80% of open mold and pest violations.
The Alternate Enforcement Program has been around since 2007, and in the program’s 16th round. The Bronx is the most heavily represented on the list, including large clusters of poorly maintained buildings in South Bronx council districts 16 and 17 and Council District 15, one of the city’s highest eviction zones.
The Bronx is also the city’s coldest borough, having received 42,050 unique heat complaints throughout 2022, according to an annual study by RentHop, an apartment-search web platform. Eighty percent of the 20 coldest NYC neighborhoods reside in the Bronx, and heat and hot water complaints in all boroughs rose by 24% from Oct. 1, 2022 to Jan. 10.
“Landlords across the city need to know that if they don’t do right by their tenants, we will take action,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr., a former Bronx borough president. “All New Yorkers deserve safe, well-maintained homes…
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