{"id":256788,"date":"2026-06-05T20:29:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256788\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T20:29:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:29:45","slug":"tenants-rally-outside-bronx-housing-court-demand-repairs-from-notorious-landlord-david-kleiner-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256788\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenants rally outside Bronx Housing Court, demand repairs from notorious landlord David Kleiner \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rent-stabilized tenants from 337\u2013341 E. 146th St. and 705 Gerard Ave. rallied outside Bronx Housing Court to demand repairs and accountability from landlord David Kleiner<\/a>, citing years of deteriorating living conditions.<\/p>\n

Tenants from both properties, with support from Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), described chronic problems including a lack of heat and hot water, rodent infestations, leaks, mold, broken front-door locks and intercoms, inadequate garbage maintenance, tenant harassment and an unresponsive landlord and management company.<\/p>\n

Kleiner has previously been named one of the city\u2019s worst evictors<\/a> by the Stop Croman Coalition and appeared on the Public Advocate\u2019s Worst Landlords List. He also owns 1915 Billingsley Terrace, the Bronx apartment building that partially collapsed in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TenantsTenants hold images of broken doors and patched up cracks that have not been meaninfully repaired.Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n

\u201cThese tenants have spent years asking for basic repairs and safe living conditions, only to be met with delay after delay,\u201d said Jessica Bellinder, supervising attorney in the Group Advocacy Unit at The Legal Aid Society.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen landlords fail to uphold their legal responsibilities, tenants have every right to come together and seek relief through the courts. We stand with these residents as they fight for the safe and dignified housing they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellinder said the E. 146th Street buildings were placed under a court-appointed receivership for the past two years while a bank pursued a foreclosure case<\/a> involving the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat put a brake on our ability to move forward,\u201d Bellinder said.\n<\/p>\n

The receiver was recently removed, allowing tenants to pursue litigation after Kleiner regained control of the buildings. Tenants from 337\u2013341 E. 146th St. made their first court appearance on June 5, while tenants at 705 Gerard Ave. are expected to file their own case in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the litigation, hopefully, we\u2019ll be able to find out who owns this building, what are they doing, and why are they not making meaningful repairs,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Among the tenants who spoke was Ana, who moved into an apartment at 705 Gerard Ave in February 2024 with her husband and two daughters. She said she soon discovered serious problems in the unit, including a sunken floor, missing walls and a large closet that had been removed during renovations.<\/p>\n

According to Vivar, the apartment lacks a radiator, electrical outlets and windows in part of the living room. She said walls were constructed around existing windows and a radiator, leaving a significant portion of the room inaccessible.<\/p>\n

During the winter, Vivar said temperatures inside the apartment dropped to as low as 40 degrees, forcing her family to rely on portable heaters and extension cords to stay warm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my living room back, my radiator, and I want a deduction on rent for the years that I have made,\u201d Vivar said. \u201cNo more illegal monster renovations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olga, a tenant at 337 E. 146th St., said the building lacks an on-site superintendent and instead relies on a handyman who has access to the property. According to Olga, the handyman hired people off the street to remove trash from the building, and one of those workers posted flyers urging tenants to report undocumented immigrants to federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

\"WorkersWorkers placed flyers in 337\u2013341 E. 146th St. encouraging tenants to report undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which tenants believe were intended as an intimidation tactic. Photo courtesy of CASA<\/p>\n

Olga also described persistent safety concerns around the building, saying people regularly congregate outside the property to use and sell drugs and harass residents. She said tenants have repeatedly reported the activity to police but were told that building management must file complaints. Despite raising the issue with management, she said, tenants received no response.<\/p>\n

The conditions have left residents feeling unsafe, Olga said. She recounted multiple incidents of violence affecting tenants, including an assault on her and her father. She also said she was followed into the building and sexually assaulted.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The three buildings contain 130 apartments and have accumulated more than 540 open housing code violations, according to the Department of Housing Preservation with litigation involving both properties dating back more than two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tenants at 705 Gerard Avenue have faced dangerous conditions for years, including roach and rodent infestations, mold, lack of heat, and serious building integrity and safety concerns. They have repeatedly reported these conditions to the landlord and the city to no avail,\u201d said Divya Korada, staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center\u2019s Safety Net Project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy holding their landlord accountable in court, the tenants of 705 Gerard are not only standing up for their own right, but every New Yorker\u2019s right to live in dignified, safe housing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rent-stabilized tenants from 337\u2013341 E. 146th St. and 705 Gerard Ave. rallied outside Bronx Housing Court to demand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[100056,100057,100058,128,100059,42975,43981,39982,2954,13052,9,24,63,15285,129,131,130,14015],"class_list":["post-256788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-337-e-146th-street","tag-341-e-146th-street","tag-705-gerard-ave","tag-bronx","tag-casa","tag-community-action-for-safe-apartments","tag-david-kleiner","tag-housing-court","tag-landlords","tag-legal-aid","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-repairs","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-urban-justice-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}