“The tenants put all the schmattas on the ground, it is not me, what can I do?”

A report from Tenement Inspector Bayo:

On January 30, DS4 went to the Tenement Museum. When we got there we were tasked to become inspectors.  The first thing we did when we got there was have a conversation about tenements. Then we talked about how there was a law passed on about the way the tenants were being treated because residents in the tenements were complaining and writing letters and then the word spread on the streets and boom! A new law was passed and was about… you guessed it, living conditions. The things I am about to list are only a few of the requirements of under the new Tenement Law. There needs to be a  sink on every floor, trash cans in the hallways or outside of the building, and no rags on the floor in the apartments. In the apartment there should be a window in every room. That is only ⅛ of the  requirements that you need in as tenement.

When we were at the museum we were split up into two groups so it wasn’t too chaotic. My group were going to talk the landlord of the tenement. (He was Russian so I didn’t catch everything he said). So almost everybody in my group asked the landlord questions that were about the law and the requirements for it. It turned out the tenement sadly did not meet all the requirements of the new law. We were finding things like rags on the floor and much more but we don’t have to get into the specifics right now. But what the landlord said was very interesting because he said he used to live in the tenement and he said he now lives on 110th St and he said since he lives so far away he didn’t have time to clean the building but I think it was just an excuse for not being there enough. The landlord said he was aware of some of the problems like the broken flusher inside the bathroom and he was quick to assume that little Sam did it. Being an inspector was very fun.

From the landlord’s perspective I’m guessing that he wasn’t too happy with us inspectors coming in to his tenement without any notice and finding out that his tenants weren’t taking the best care of it. The owner seemed almost angry about the laws and disagreed with them.  An example of that is the outhouses, some of his tenants prefer to go in the outhouse rather than going inside. Also, he agreed with some parts of the law, for example every tenement should have trash cans so you can throw your rags out instead of on the floor. This is dangerous because fabric can catch on fire easily. When my group of Inspectors went to check the indoor bathrooms, we found poop on the seat, the flusher wasn’t working, the water was trickling out of the tap and the light and window was broken. The landlord was very quick to blame a tenant’s son, Sam, because that day he saw him running around with a bat but it very easily could be he just came back from playing stickball. This shows that the city needs to help tenement owners take care of their building.  

From Becky’s, the tenant’s perspective: Her apartment was not too big but it was very dirty with rags on the floor and chicken feathers on the stove. Becky said that she couldn’t get rid of the rags because she needs to sell them, which is very smart. She also said that the reason only one of the two lights in the room lit up was because gas prices would be too high. We asked her a few questions about the living conditions and what she thinks the building needs. One of the questions we asked her was whether there were any farm animals in the building. Just as we were asking that we found the chicken feathers and then Becky said that a neighbor had a chicken and she won’t tell who so they get in trouble. The last thing we talked about with Becky was little Sam and how the landlord thinks that he smashed the light and we found the bat! Becky said that she has tried to tell Sam no but he just doesn’t listen sometimes. Becky also agreed things needed to be changed around here.

Here are our recommendations:

• City gives them garbage cans with lids
• Takes away outhouses  
• Lower gas prices
• Get a janitor
• Get new flusher
• Get more light bulbs
• Tell tenants to tell landlord about problems in the tenement
• Take better care of the tenement both landlord and tenants
• Landlord moves closer some could be there earlier
• Charge less rent tenants can barely afford
• Check everybody’s apartment for farm animals

97 Orchard Street Tenement Report

by Inspector Libi

At 97 Orchard Street, we inspected and reported the following: 

Today we met the landlord of the building. When we asked him some safety questions, he answered that it was not his fault, it was the tenant’s fault. He also claimed that the tenants do not pay their rent in time, and therefore, it is hard for him to maintain the building in good condition. He doesn’t live in the building, he lives on 110th street, far from this area, which is hard because he is the one who cleans the building and takes care of it. If he does not get there in time, the building won’t be clean, and diseases can spread. It is hard to be this building’s landlord because the tenants do not collaborate to keep the building clean and in a good shape. The landlord does not have enough money to fix windows, toilets and hire someone to clean and take care of the building.

Another person we interviewed was Becky who has two children with one on the way. One of her kids is Sam. She told us she would happily move to another tenement, but the rent is too high for them to pay because her husband gets sick when he paints houses (that is his job). Becky tries to support her family by making rags but they get all over the floor and that can be a fire hazard. Also, the apartment looks very untidy. Sam, her son, sleeps on a very tiny bed and water falls on him through the leaky wall. Her sink was broken, I tried to turn it on but it did not work. With a child on the way, it is hard for Becky to live there. Also, Sam has a stick that he uses to play with, however, he uses it in the hallway. This is not good, because he breaks windows and other things. Becky’s life is very hard. It is hard to live in a small apartment with five people and no basic things you need such as running water and working toilet.

The building was not clean. While walking in the hallway, there was a lot of trash on the floor and no garbage cans to throw the trash in. Additionally, it was very unsanitary and not in great shape, for example, we saw at least 10 cockroaches in the hallway and the apartment. It is important to note that the toilet was dirty and not working and there was no light in the bathroom. When we asked him, the landlord kind of did not take responsibility for the problems. He said that the tenants break things, and do not keep the place clean. He said, and I quote, “The tenants put all the schmattas on the ground, it is not me, what can I do?” There were a lot of violations in the building. For example, there were chickens in at least one of the apartments, layers of peeling wallpaper, no light in the hallway bathroom, and no running water in one of the apartments we saw.

In summary, I noticed a very unsanitary environment. There was paint and wallpaper peeling off the walls, cockroaches all over the building, and outhouses, which are unsanitary. Importantly, tenants were not happy. The rent is very high, and it is hard for people to live there.

In conclusion, on behalf of all the inspectors, I recommend to clean up the building, install trash cans inside, take off all the wallpaper, use paint, fix everything that needs to be fixed, and make the building nice to live in, or…