BRONX BUREAU
Decade-Long Feud Over Bronx Buildings Erupts Anew
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Tenant organizations and a group of companies linked to a key real-estate operator were back in court last week arguing over the aftermath of a 2005 defamation lawsuit.
HOUSING and DEVELOPMENT
Properties Linked to Welfare Scam
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Two people associated with a notorious portfolio of troubled Bronx buildings took guilty pleas after a welfare fraud investigation involving fake eviction cases.
HOUSING and DEVELOPMENT
Landlord Lawsuit Slapped Tenant Group
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The Bronx activist group had targeted landlords and lenders before. This time, however, they were rewarded with a million-dollar lawsuit and a court order to leave the owner alone.
ECONOMY
City Probe Uncovered Operator’s Power
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After years of complaints about one Bronx real-estate figure, the city housing department issued an unprecedented subpoena. The records it turned up made for interesting reading.
HOUSING and DEVELOPMENT
Corporate Ties Linked Troubled Buildings
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The mortgages were massive—$36 million here, $32 million there, $19 million a couple years later. But the buildings remained in dismal shape, plagued by lead paint, rats and crime.
HOUSING and DEVELOPMENT
Years of Warnings, Then a Boy’s Death
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A Housing Court judge ordered repairs to the electrical system at the building on DeKalb Avenue. A year later, the work undone, an eight-year-old resident died in an electrical fire.
HOUSING and DEVELOPMENT
Dozens of Properties, Millions of Dollars, No Landlord
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One Bronx real estate operator had an interest in more than 100 buildings, most of them severely troubled. But when regulators or tenant advocates tried to push for improvements, they found no one to hold accountable.