Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia and Councilmember Pierina Sanchez joined tenants, NYLAG and the West Bronx Housing & Neighborhood Resource Center at Tuesday\u2019s rally and toured the apartments under vacate orders.<\/p>\n
Sanchez, chair of the City Council\u2019s Housing and Buildings Committee, has also sponsored legislation to reform the city\u2019s Third Party Transfer program and warned the Zar brothers of the consequences landlords can face when they neglect their buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Zar brothers \u2026 made a bad business deal,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cThey purchased this property in 2019, and then there were reforms to strengthen the rights of tenants, and that made their business model of exploitation, of displacement, that made their business model unfunctional.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we\u2019re here to say to all the landlords across the city: If you made a bad business deal because you wanted to exploit and pick our people out of our homes. That\u2019s too bad. You have to respect the rights of tenants in our city, and you have to do the right thing and follow the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018No place of my own to go back to\u2019<\/p>\n
After Tuesday\u2019s rally, Rodriguez unzipped the plastic seal covering the entrance to her apartment, which remains under a vacate order.<\/p>\n
Inside, much of the apartment has been stripped down to its beams. Plastic covers her belongings, which she said she is trying to protect from further damage.<\/p>\n
![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_6972.jpg\")
Diana Rodriguez\u2019s home was damaged in the fire, leaving her belongings covered in plastic as she lives with family.Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never imagined at my age I would find myself with no place of my own to go back to,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez said she also continues to check on the apartment because she fears her belongings could be removed by the building\u2019s superintendent while she is gone.<\/p>\n
She is one of the tenants who has been unable to return home since the fire.\n<\/p>\n
Tenant Ephrain Cazalez\u2019s apartment has also been unliveable since the fire. He has since moved in with family while caring for his two children.\n<\/p>\n
Afterward, he said, the landlord offered to rent him another apartment in the building for $4,000 a month.\n<\/p>\n
The Red Cross initially helped Cazalez and other displaced tenants with temporary housing, he said, but that assistance lasted only two days. Cazalez said he has since had to shoulder additional housing costs while waiting for a permanent solution.<\/p>\n
Tenants turn to Article 7A\n<\/p>\n
The tenants are seeking relief through an Article 7A proceeding, a legal mechanism that can allow a court to appoint a third-party administrator to manage a building when serious housing conditions are not being addressed.<\/p>\n