No heat for Christmas in troubled buildings

It was a cold Christmas at the historic Shalom Aleichem Houses in Kingsbridge Heights.

More than 100 apartments at the troubled housing complex were without heat for most of December, including on Dec. 25. 

As Russell and Susan Paige’s family gathered around the table on Christmas Day, they donned winter coats just to keep warm. 

The Department of Buildings issued a violation for a defective boiler on Christmas Day and according to Mr. Paige, the apartment warmed up again on Dec. 27. But he said his radiator had been ice cold too often up until then. He had to set up a space heater in the living room and Ms. Paige had taken to bundling up with a blanket.

Approximately 117 of 234 apartments in the 15-building complex, located between Giles Place, Sedgwick Avenue, Cannon Place and West 238th Street, were without heat or hot water at times until Dec. 27, the latest in a long line of problems at the building. Last year, tenants complained of no heat, a leaking roof, collapsing ceilings, crumbling walls and other dilapidated conditions. 

In May, the building went into foreclosure after owner Van Cortlandt Village LLC failed to make mortgage payments and could not negotiate a deal with New York Community Bank. 

Shortly afterward, the bank sold the mortgage note to Riverdale’s Chestnut Holdings. Currently, court-appointed receiver Albert Sontag runs the building and has hired Soloff Management to run everyday operations.

The conditions have landed five of the buildings in the complex — however not the buildings without heat — onto Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s NYC Worst Landlord Watchlist. Buildings at 3058 Godwin Terrace, 2709 Heath Ave. and 2856 Webb Ave. also made the list.

The Shalom Aleichem House 3451 Giles Place address, which comprises buildings K through O, was listed as the 12th worst building in the Bronx. Last year, this building was ranked 15.

But 3605 Sedgwick Ave. and 68 West 238th St., comprising buildings A through F, have recently been racking up even more complaints than the buildings that made the worst landlord list. Those buildings listed 139 complaints in December, almost all of which were lodged because tenants claimed they lacked heat. 

One tenant recently filed a suit against the receiver, the managing agent and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in Bronx Housing Court, according to Dan Padernacht, a lifelong resident of Shalom Aleichem, Community Board 8 member and an attorney, whose family used to manage the building.

Mr. Padernacht also said the receiver removed preferential rents for longtime residents and increased their rent to the maximum allowed under the law.

Many tenants don’t know who to turn to.

Mr. Paige said he called 3-1-1 to complain about heat and HPD has been to his apartment to investigate, but his apartment remained cold until Dec. 27. 

When asked how many times he called 3-1-1, Mr. Paige said, “Ay yay yay … at least 20 times in a month and a half.”

There is some confusion as to who to complain to. Some tenants call the court-appointed receiver, Mr. Sontag, while others call the managing agent, Angel Ortiz of Soloff Management. Some make the mistake of calling one of the Padernachts, who still work out of and live in the building but do not manage it. 

“You call the office, they say talk to the receiver … It’s a ping-pong table at this place,” Mr. Paige said.

Another tenant, who asked not to be named, said he/she went to the receiver directly about problems and they were fixed. The tenant said he/she received a new stove and repairs were done in his/her kitchen. The tenant also said heat and hot water problems have existed at the building for years and that the only way any real change is going to take place at Shalom Aleichem is if somebody buys it and cares enough to do preventative maintenance work.

Mr. Sontag did not respond to a call for comment.