HPD, DO YOUR JOB!

My name is John Mateer, and as a tenant in New York City I have experienced firsthand the negligence and lack of humanity exhibited by landlords who fail to maintain their properties. My landlord, Citi-Urban Management, run by the Halegua family, has allowed elderly tenants to suffer without heat or hot water for weeks during winter. Despite numerous violations issued by the Housing Preservation Department (HPD), they do nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

This is not an isolated incident. Across NYC, countless buildings have a violation per unit rate of at least 1 per unit. Yet these violations often go unresolved even as they reach catastrophic numbers like 16 per unit like my building is at. The city average is .83 violations per unit.

This leaves tenants - who are already burdened with high rents and living costs - to litigate on their own dime. Why is the very government program put in place to enforce the housing code doing nothing? Better question.. why should we accept that?

 

 

HPD is funded by our taxes and it's their job to protect us as residents of NYC. However, they are failing in this duty when they allow such neglectful landlords to continue operating without consequence.

 

 

We need a change in law that obligates HPD to litigate against landlords or management companies when a building's violation rate reaches at least 1 per unit. This will ensure that violations issued by HPD are taken seriously and resolved promptly before reaching dangerous levels.

It's time we held both negligent landlords and HPD accountable for their actions (or lack thereof). We pay our taxes expecting protection from such situations; it’s time we received it.

 

 

If you are a resident of New York City, you believe in safer living conditions for all New Yorkers and demand better accountability from our city’s agencies, please sign this petition and share it with your neighbors.

IF YOU ARE NOT A RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY, PLEASE DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION. YOUR SUPPORT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED BUT IN ORDER FOR THE PETITION TO CARRY ANY WEIGHT WITH REPRESENTATIVES IT NEEDS TO COME FROM THEIR CONSTITUENTS.

One of the reasons why Change.org is overlooked by representatives is the fact that Change.org does not allow petition creators to limit reach to a specific geographical location. If you are a representative listed or work for the office of a representative listed and you would like a copy of the petition with only verified New York City residents listed, please send an email to john@citiresidents.org.

Only official emails with a .gov sTLD designation will have requests for a copy responded to.

For privacy reasons, I cannot share that list publicly.

Thank you!