Building Tenant Power in Hell’s Kitchen!
On Saturday, November 7, tenants from 10 Hell’s Kitchen buildings gathered outside 408 West 56th Street for a press conference and banner drop to announce the launch of the Haruvi Hungerford Tenants’ Union. The tenants are organizing to demand better living conditions and control over the future of their homes.
HCC first learned of the portfolio of buildings owned by Arthur Haruvi and Peter Hungerford when a tenant came to our walk in hours. In the months since, HCC has supported the tenants to organize a union across the Hell’s Kitchen portfolio.
The union held its first rally outside of 408 West 56th Street because the tenants of 408 have been without cooking gas for 722 days. For Luis Pelaez, who has been a resident of the building for 34 years, that translates into not having access to something as simple as the ability to properly cook food for his family for the holidays. “You can’t cook our Thanksgiving food and Christmas food on a hot plate,” he said at the press conference.
Tenants in all 10 buildings have filed complaints over inadequate maintenance, pests, unresolved housing violations and concerns about the building management. As tenants started talking to each other, they began to see how many of the issues they faced were also experienced by their neighbors.That realization brought them together to organize.
As they organized, they found evidence of widespread illegal deregulation in the portfolio, and learned that while Haruvi and Hungerford continued to collect rent, they’d been falling behind on Con Ed and other bills. The full 31-building portfolio is currently in pre-foreclosure with $173.4 million in unpaid loans. Seven of those buildings have entered bankruptcy.
A majority of tenants in each of the 10 buildings organized by HHTU are now calling on their landlords to upgrade their homes, bring back cooking gas, fix their violations, fix the pest problems and keep up on building maintenance. On October 22nd, 124 tenants sent a letter to management describing conditions, and demanding a meeting. The owners agreed to meet, and the union is now preparing for negotiations to win ironclad commitments to improved conditions and transparency about the foreclosure and bankruptcy affecting their homes.
Saturday’s press conference also united community leaders and elected officials who voiced their support for the tenants. Representatives of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office were present while Council Member Gale Brewer, State Senator Erik Bottcher, and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal showed their support for the residents and their fight.
The launch of HHTU is an important step for tenants in Hell’s Kitchen. What started as neighbors sharing their stories with each other, has become a tenant union uniting 10 buildings. Tenants are showing that by working together they can have a stronger voice in holding landlords accountable and achieving quality housing.
HCC is proud to be part of the effort to help tenants organize toward safe, affordable, and quality homes. A building is more than an asset, more than a property. It is where we make homes, raise our families, and build our lives.
Learn about the buildings’ history and why the tenants have organized a union: “We Have Rights” — Hell’s Kitchen Tenants Rally as Buildings Face Foreclosure - W 42nd Street
Watch the CBS News coverage of the rally: Hell's Kitchen Tenants Rally to Form Union
Read about the movement to build tenant unions growing in Hell’s Kitchen: Mayor's Office Backs Two New Hell's Kitchen Tenant Unions, As Residents Push for Repairs - City Limits
Blog post by HCC Intern Thil Ali
