One day after making the news for moving forward with a Park Slope condo development, scorned landlord Haysha Deitsch is back in it again. Deitsch, who became the neighborhoods worst landlord when he tried to boot residents of the Prospect Park Residence senior home with 90 days notice in order to sell the building for $76 million, is at the center of new legislation proposed by angry kin who are demanding that landlords of old-folks homes throughout the city give residents a year's notice before giving them the boot, the Brooklyn Paper reports.
The kin of wizen Prospect Park Residence tenants will descend on Albany on March 1 to advocate for the legislation. Several tenants still remain in the facility, but 120 or so vacated with the order back in 2014. The handful who remain are embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit with Deitsch, which has evolved under claims that he has tried to harass tenants out by raising fees, feeding them moldy food, and turning off the air conditioning.
"[The legislation] would not only allow elders to be able to plan with more options, but it would warn so-called 'operators'who are usually property developersthat they cannot churn their buildings with impunity at the expense of the vulnerable," a daughter of a former tenant told BP. The bill, which is backed by Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, has been accepted by the Assembly's aging committee and is now making its way to the finance committee.
The legislation would require an investigation into the stresses the quick upheaval placed on elderly residents in hopes of building a case for the one-year minimum. "I am convinced that this decline was brought on by the shock of the forced move," the child of a former resident testified, elaborating that their mother suffered panic attacks and memory failure after the move.
· Park Slopers to Albany: Don't let Prospect Park Residence fiasco happen again! [BP]
· Park Slope Seniors Continue to Fight Horrible Landlord [Curbed]
· All Prospect Park Residence coverage [Curbed]
Loading comments...