The city agency tasked with enforcing the Big Apple\u2019s housing maintenance code flagrantly violated those very same laws, according to what could be a first-of-its-kind ruling, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development showed a \u201cdisregard\u201d for four judicial orders demanding it repair a city-owned Brooklyn apartment that was leased by a dad of one more than a year ago, the court ruling states.<\/p>\n
Tenant Julian Butler has won a contempt order against HPD after months of unresolved repairs and deteriorating living conditions. Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Housing Court Judge Enedina Pilar Sanchez found the agency in contempt of court \u2014 noting in her scathing ruling that HPD\u2019s unit lacked electricity and stable flooring and had broken windows and an unusable, even \u201cdangerous\u201d bathroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenting substandard residential units to communities historically living in substandard housing perpetuates a cycle that must end with the very agency empowered to enforce the housing code,\u201d she wrote in her scathing decision.<\/p>\n
HPD showed a \u201cdisregard\u201d for four judicial orders demanding repairs at 143 Noll St., according to the ruling. Julian Butler<\/p>\n
The tenant of HPD\u2019s decrepit Bushwick apartment, Julian Butler, 43, was supposed to move in with his then-6-year-old son after losing his home in a fire in late 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought the city would do this type of stuff,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cYou would think it would be like a private landlord that moves like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apartment is off-limits as HPD promises to \u201ckeep working until Mr. Butler has the safe home he deserves.\u201d Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n
Indeed, one attorney who has spent years in housing court says a private landlord would be facing \u201cthousands and thousands of dollars in fines\u201d in a similar situation \u2014 and noted it was the first time he\u2019d ever seen the HPD held in contempt for housing violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very important decision,\u201d said the lawyer, David Schwartz, calling it \u201ca real slap in the face that the government really deserved here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A judge ordered HPD to redo a shoddy bathroom tile job in violation of a past order, the ruling reads. Julian Butler<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the ones that are supposed to be enforcing the law. Meanwhile, they\u2019re breaking it \u2014 It\u2019s just so twisted,\u201d Schwartz said.<\/p>\n