The unexplained firing of three longtime union workers just before the new year at a historically well-maintained building on the Grand Concourse in Bedford Park led to a furious battle between tenants and their landlord. But after months of heated exchanges and union protests, two workers were rehired and tenants continue to put pressure on their landlord.

The story of 3224 Grand Concourse, a massive complex of eight buildings, is a classic tale of how tenant organizing can bring about change from even the most stubborn of landlords.

“We’ve had impeccable building service seven days a week, for the past 50 years,” said Charles Fritsch, during a strategy meeting earlier this year after the firings. “How can they get rid of a group of men who have taken care of this complex and replace them with unqualified workers?”

He encouraged tenants to keep calling 311 to register grievances about the stockpiles of trash that are blocking basement fire exits, creating a serious fire hazard.

“I know it doesn’t seem like much, but at least we will have a paper trail with the city that documents our concerns, in case anything happens,” Fritsch said.

Orlando Torres, from the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, a well-known advocacy group that has a history of joining with community groups in support of accountability for abusive landlords, facilitated the meeting where Fritsch implored his tenants to keep battling.

“We are committed to doing what is in the best interest to bring light to this situation,” said Torres. “If we have to march right up to the offices of 3224 Grand Concourse LLC, to demand a meeting, we’ll do it.”

Residents began to share stories of the deteriorating conditions in their apartments and a common thread began to unspool.

“I woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning and had a puddle in the middle of my bathroom,” said Denise Gonzalez, who lives in building E.

Kenneth Adams, a longtime resident of building A said, “I had some minor cracks in my ceiling which I have been trying to get repaired for some time, but with the constant work being done in the apartment above me, a lot of them have gotten much worse.”

Resident Danny Jackson, a local firefighter at the North Bronx Firehouse on Briggs Avenue, lives in building H. “As a firefighter, I fully understand the dangers that stockpiled trash can pose, especially the level to which the trash has been allowed to accumulate,” he said.

At the height of the real estate boom, many private equity investors poured capital into rent-regulated housing in the Bronx, assuming that if apartments could be released from regulation (through vacancies and capital improvements), rents would increase dramatically and swell investors’ incomes. Housing advocates say the high sale price for many buildings and the landlord’s debt obligation often leads to maintenance cutbacks or an aggressive effort to hike rents, which is exactly what the residents at 3224 Grand Concourse say they have begun to experience.

“Firing union workers, cutting back on building services and doing unlicensed, uninsured work, these are tactics right out of the playbook” of other “sinister” management companies, said Fritsch, a resident of Building E since 1972.

It’s not only residential tenants that are experiencing the pain. Eight-year commercial tenant Dr. Jomarie Zuleznik, of Comprehensive Geriatric Care, is also concerned.

“One of my treating rooms began to get extremely hot,” Zuleznik said. “The super came to do an inspection and concluded there was a broken steampipe beneath the floor. It would have to be ripped up.”

When unusual sounds began emanating from beneath her treating room floor on Jan. 11, Zuleznik immediately called 311 to file a complaint. Inspectors from the Department of Buildings were dispatched the next day, but were unable to gain access to the area. According to Zuleznik, the work lasted until Jan. 25, when according to the DOB website; another inspector was refused access to the structurally compromised area.

“This is disruptive to my business, my employees, and especially my patients. I have people who come here to get care, and when I can’t get assurance from the landlord about the integrity of the work they’ve done beneath my office, it’s extremely frustrating. It really has me thinking twice about renewing my lease,” Zuleznik said.

A search on the NYC Department of Buildings website shows four stop-work orders being issued. The first, a Class 1 (immediately hazardous) violation issued Jan. 4, was for illegally gutting two apartments, and storing unsafe building material in another basement apartment.

It was again slapped with another stop-work order two days later, when an inspector observed exposed plumbing in a basement apartment, and construction debris piled from the floor to the ceiling. A subsequent violation was issued on Feb. 2, for continuing to do work in apartments without proper permits; blatantly violating the stop-work orders.

DOB inspector efforts have been systematically stymied with new building workers outright refusing access to areas of interest or “coincidentally” being adrift when inspectors appear. As of the writing of this article, 3224 Grand Concourse LLC., has been fined a total of $10,000, for what Fritsch called “the gangster mentality” in its disregard of the stop-work orders, and continuing to work without DOB permits.

A recent meeting on April 2, between the National Labor Relations Board, the building workers union, 32BJ, and the management office yielded positive results for residents and workers.

Two of the terminated workers were reinstated to their positions as of April 16. Hector (the super), the only worker to survive the initial cut, was reinstated to union status.

The third terminated worker was not given his job back; however, the union is still working with the management office to resolve that matter separately.

“Not only are we getting most of our original workers back, but they’ve stopped the illegal construction, and agreed to return to seven-day-a-week maintenance service,” said Fritsch. “This is a major victory for us, but I know it’s going to be a rough place to work for the next few months.”

Editor’s Note: Repeated calls for comment to the management office of 3224 Grand Concourse, LLC have not been returned.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.