Today

[mamadeb]

George is the landlord of the place where I work. Like many properties in Brooklyn, it's a ground level commercial property with three apartments above it, one atop the other. And George is...well, he doesn't *think*.

Two winters ago, there was something wrong with the boiler. That meant no heat *or* hot water for the entire building in the middle of winter. It took two weeks and a complaint to the city for him to even start repairing it, and he refused to give a deposit to the repairman. It was insane.

For us, it was unpleasant. We had to work in our coats and apologize to our clients and customers.

For the tenants, it was hell. It was impossible to live there. So. They moved out. And they vandalized the place before they left. Now, morally and legally, that is not defenisible. However, it *is* understandable.

Even so, he listed the three apartments with us, without renovating and for prices that were out of market range even if they'd been renovated. Our agents refused to show them - they were filthy, damaged and had profanity on the walls. Actually, that's not strictly true. One agent found a guy who was willing to rent them as is, and renovated them himself, for a more reasonable price.

George refused.

This summer, he decided that having only one income producing property was not enough, and he'd move in to the unlivable apartments and renovated them himself. I mean, they don't even have electricity.

Does he get a permit from the city to renovate? No.
Does he dispose of his debris properly? Not at first. First, he drops it out the window to the backyard.

This was not only dangerous, it raised a cloud of dust that could be smelled up and down the block, that choked the rear a/c and made everyone in the back cough. And then he started burning things.

Dangerous *and* illegal. We call the fire department and the health department and he got cited.

So, he rented a large dumpster, had it parked in front of the office and filled that up. And up and up and up. In fact, he overfilled it. So, today, when the dumpster people came to take it away, they had to remove some of the debris - otherwise it would be dangerous and illegal for *them*. And having no other choice, they piled it as neatly as possible around our store front, leaving enough room to enter the office and the door. I could see my employer talking to them, and understanding them. One thing I can say about my boss - she's very ethical and law abiding.

Instead, she had her partner call the city and complain, and George got cited. She also took lots and lots of pictures - one set with *me* holding a copy of today's paper to document the date.

Just like those pictures of hostages. :)

Meanwhile, we didn't get a lot of walk-in customers today, and the dust was so thick we had to turn off the air conditioner to the front office and keep the door closed, so it got very hot.

She's getting her own rubbish removal guy to take care of it tomorrow - she manages buildings and runs her own construction company as well, so she has a rubbish guy - and deduct the cost from her rent. If George wants to sue her, he can. She'll win.

Comments

[karmenghia.livejournal.com]

Good grief! Why does your boss keep the office there? She ought to be able to find a better place, cut a better deal and get out of whatever lease she has with the beast. I'm certain he's broken it over and over again.

Ick, trouble around living/working spaces, is too horrible.

Karmen

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

She's put a lot of money and time here. In fact, she just painted and replaced all the light fixtures.

It's only been this bad recently.

I do wonder why they haven't offered to buy the building. It would be a decent investment.

[sheltiesong.livejournal.com]

*shudder*

You'd think the multiple citations would buy this guy a clue, huh?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

We fedexed everything to his mother, but yeah.

One would think.

[cellio]

What a pain! Pity your boss wants to stay there; otherwise, I'd think a suit for damages from lost business would be feasible.