Photo by Adi Talwar
By DAVID CRUZ
The cluster of tenants chatted amongst themselves inside 3013 Valentine Ave., a seven-story building in Bedford Park. They stood inside the lobby decked in thick sweatshirts and layers, wondering just when sufficient heat will return to their apartments.
It’s a new normal for these tenants. And in Pelham Parkway, five buildings endure similar heat conditions as 3013 Valentine Ave. The same goes for 12 other buildings in Bedford Park, five in Norwood, two in Kingsbridge Heights and Pelham Bay respectively, three in University Heights and Edenwald, and one each in Fordham, Morrisania and Van Cortlandt Village.
Linking these buildings, and the thousands of tenants residing there, is The Related Cos., which purchased the buildings, 36 in all, for $253 million last year. A multi-billion dollar development firm with projects that include the Bronx Terminal Market mall and Equinox Fitness gym chain, The Related Cos. partnered with the city Pension Fund to purchase the properties.
A coalition of tenants, housing advocates and local Community Board 7 has now led the charge in addressing the problem. They’ve in turn enlisted the help of elected officials and other tenants at various buildings, hoping to reverse the trend.
For now, tenants in the Valentine Avenue building have gotten creative to get by. One resident routinely wears a jacket inside their apartment. Another takes a gamble by regularly turning on their oven as an alternative heat source. Some sleep with extra layers that include a winter hat. For newborn infants, double blankets and fleeces are in order. With no hot water, many resort to boiling several pans to shower. In many cases, some just skip a shower.
These residents are not used to complaining (many of them asked for anonymity), but their mobilization efforts signaled the severity of the systemic issue.
“I invited management to come over and sleep in my house to enjoy the stay and the cold,” said one tenant. “They didn’t take up my offer.”
Residents in 20 apartments at 3013 Valentine Ave. have filed a total of 94 heat complaints to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), according to numbers compiled by West Bronx Housing, a housing advocacy group based in Bedford Park. In all, roughly 1200 heat complaints have been by tenants at the properties. Executive Director of West Bronx Housing, Sally Dunford, emphasized that the number of heat complaints is not as important as the number of people who filed complaints.
“At 2780 University Ave., there were 115 calls since the beginning of heating season from 26 different apartments. That’s 25 percent of the people who’ve taken the step of calling the city and complaining,” said Dunford.
Dunford’s efforts in finding solutions have been almost obsessive. She’s tracked the volume of complaints daily, sifting through the city’s HPD website to log new numbers. Her staffers have visited the Valentine Avenue building numerous times, encouraging more tenants to voice complaints. Above all, she hopes management and tenants put their heads together for some resolve.
A spokesperson for Simply Better Apartment Homes (SBAH), a subsidiary management company of The Related Cos. to oversee the properties, challenged the tenants’ assertions that it’s negligent. The spokesperson for the company said they “have made numerous improvements to the buildings that average nearly 80-years-old.” That included $20 million in upgrades to its boilers and heat sensors.
Heat Sensors
Tenants have pointed to the new programmable heat sensors on the top floors at 3013 which have been installed in other buildings, as one source of the waffling heat. The sensors monitor the temperature in apartments. Should temperatures dip, it would send a signal to activate the building’s boiler.
But tenants complained the sensors can trigger a false reading since it picks up a variety of heat-related sources such as an open oven or an electrical heater. Indeed, the sensors’ placement can produce a false reading, according to Heat-Timer Corp., which manufactures them. Through a case study, Heat-Timer Corp. revealed it’s “easy to fool a sensor.”
The SBAH spokesperson disputed tenants’ claims of having no heat or hot water, saying management has “not found the sensors to be reading incorrectly” saying temperatures are “well above the legal requirement.”
Heat and hot water are required to be provided for all tenants. Property owners are required to provide hot water 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Between Oct. 1 and May 31, property owners are also required to provide tenants with heat between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. if the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees (the inside temperature is required to be at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit) and between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if the temperature outside falls below 40 degrees (the inside temperature is required to be at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit).
The spokesperson noted that complaints have been dismissed as unfounded after an inspection from HPD finds nothing. Tenants argue that HPD often calls the super or landlord ahead of a visit, inadvertently giving the super enough time to fix the problem. An HPD spokesperson did not return an email seeking an explanation.
The new normal continues at Valentine Avenue, though one tenant, Elsa Ocasio, who’s experiencing a mold issue, said she’s unsure how much more she can take. “I wish I knew about this,” said Ocasio. “I would’ve stayed where I was.”
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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.
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“$20 million in upgrades to its boilers and heat sensors.” There was never a problem with the boilers!!! There are many other repairs that the money should have gone too. Tenants whom have lived in these buildings for years are now moving out. This is a disgrace the previous owners S.W management never treated there tenants this way.simply better needs to retrain its staff they have no respect for there tenants cocerns.I think simply better wants to push out long term tenants so they can get market rate from new tenants. As stated in article in new york times bedford park is going to be the new brooklyn why else would a billion dollar company invest 253 million in the bronx. I think they want to push out the poor and get ready for gentrification its a shame that the city pension fund would invest with a company that takes advantage bronxites.
“$20 million in upgrades to its boilers and heat sensors.” There was never a problem with the boilers!!! There are many other repairs that the money should have gone too. Tenants whom have lived in these buildings for years are now moving out. This is a disgrace the previous owners S.W management, whom never treated there tenants this way. Simply better needs to retrain its staff they have no respect for their tenants concerns. I think simply better wants to push out long term tenants so they can get market rate from new tenants. As stated in article in New York Times Bedford Park is going to be the new Brooklyn why else would a billion dollar company invest 253 million in the Bronx. I think they want to push out the poor and get ready for gentrification it’s a shame that the city pension fund would invest with a company that takes advantage bronxites.
Yes that is correct $20 million in upgrades for these properties once managed by Wassermann. My mother- in -law has lived at one of the properties managed by previous landlord… over 20 years, and her apartment looks just as it did 20 years ago. She has NEVER gotten not one upgrade, not a paint job, not a nothing from old Management office except eviction notices! From what I recall Wassermann didn’t even have a staff who spoke with residents for ex: if you needed to pay your rent; you either gave it the super ( which for many turned out she was a thief ) and many residents had to go to court because of this. Since she never gave it to the billing department. Or you could go to their “offices” where you would slide your rent through a slot ( 2″ X 2″ opening) and that was IT! No speaking to an accountant, or a leasing agent about your lease, someone for repairs… NOTHING. It looked more like a Public Assistance office than a Management office.
Last I heard the reason old management sold these properties was because they were drowning in dept, repairs, rent that was not being paid nor collected… Why else would he sell it for $245 million?
Now to finalize the complaints about pushing out the “poor”…the problem is the “poor” are the same ones who are living in apartment 3/4 bedroom 2 bath getting Section 8, Welfare and don’t even keep their apartment clean, don’t pay the rent on time and most of all are not POOR!! They just know how to keep stripping me and all of us Tax paying employees out of our hard earn money. So I /we can keep paying their rents which is disgusting. These are the same resident who drive BMW’s and Range Rovers to the office to pay their $ 100 share of rent because city agencies are shelling out money they don’t deserve…wearing Gucci, Louis Vuitton bags but cant pay their rent on time, keep their kids from smoking and doing drugs in the hallways! I pay full Market rent for my 2 bedroom and I am more appalled by my Simply Better neighbors than anything else. Such good buildings; square footage X building up keep for the current Market rent can’t go wrong!! I love my Simply Better Apartment the new face of the Bronx for residential living.
I have no clue as to where you are getting your information from you are more then likely working for simply better. As for the poor my family is not poor and the treatment we have gotten has been far from satisfactory to say the least. We paid our rent have taken them to court and the rent money has never ever been an issue for us, we just cannot live in the conditions we live in.This is why the Court rewarded us 5,500 dollars due to our conditions. You must be either a false reviewer or you work for them. Just check out the google reviews and you will find the half of star they have received, there is no conspiracy to give Simply Deplorable negative reviews. You can google Simply Better and before they cause so much suffering to New Yorkers they been doing this in Arizona and other states. So please stop writing fake reviews and do your job and make it right for the tenant.
I’ve never been in hpd court in my life and now I’ve been in court 3 years in a row fighting this new landlord. I’ve lived in this building 2100 Bronx park east and never had these types of problems. Simply Better Homes are slum lords. New Renters Beware
2100 Bronx Park East is one of the 36 buildings purchased.