One of de la Pava’s neighbors, Nathan Harding, said A&E never responds to complaints from tenants, and that many of his neighbors have left due to deteriorating conditions.
“A&E will just waste your time, or they just don’t maintain your apartment, so people just leave,” Harding said. “There is no level of accountability.”
An A&E spokesperson told the Eagle the company invests hundreds of millions of dollars in repairing acquired buildings, and that the majority of the violations at the 35-64 84th St. building had been resolved since it acquired the building in 2021, though they noted there were still over 200 open violations at the location.
“We’ve made it our mission to collaborate with the city to improve this building and others that were in deep disrepair when we took ownership,” the spokesperson said. “In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations.”
But the settlement announced on Friday represents a small piece of the myriad violations that residents are still demanding be addressed, especially in Jackson Heights.
New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, whose district includes the neighborhood, said that between the 17 buildings A&E owns in Jackson Heights, the company has accumulated 2,000 housing code violations.
“A&E’s greed has left New Yorkers without working elevators, crumbling bathroom ceilings, and termites eating through the walls,” Krishnan said in a statement. “Here in Jackson Heights, we’ve been fighting alongside the tenants of A&E buildings for years. Every repair we’ve won leaves us with 10 more to fight for — their buildings are revolving doors of neglect and major housing violations.”
One of those buildings is La Mesa Verde, whose tenants’ union just last September sued A&E in cooperation with the legal nonprofit organization Communities Resist for the hundreds of violations the building has accumulated. The tenants alleged the landlord ignored falling ceilings, mice and cockroach infestations, exposed electrical wiring and mold on the walls.
La Mesa Verde residents claimed that most attempts to report issues with A&E went unanswered. One resident, Ursulina Mora, has lived at La Mesa Verde for seven years and said her apartment has had severe mold issues.
“When we call the office and leave messages, they don’t even respond to the messages,” Mora said. “The mold harms all of us, even our pets, and us as human beings, so we’re demanding that our landlord fix it for us.”
La Mesa Verde’s lawsuit remains ongoing.
According to Christos Bell, a lawyer with Communities Resist who represents the La Mesa Verde tenants, A&E’s failure to address violations is not just about costs or building repairs, but a form of harassment.
“It’s a systemic issue,” Bell said.