Sunnyside, Queens residents who were displaced when their multi-unit apartment building went ablaze last year said they will have nowhere to go when the temporary leases they were given after the fire expire in July.
They rallied in front of the building at 43-09 7th Ave. on Saturday to demand that their landlord, A&E Real Estate Holdings, extend their temporary leases until their apartment building can be rebuilt. They were joined by several community leaders and city officials, including U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and City Councilmember Julie Won.
The fire started in December at the complex after a contractor used an unauthorized blow torch to heat lead paint on a door, according to FDNY. Since then, tenants have been relocated to other apartments owned by their landlord. The temporary leases expire in July.
“The right thing to do is make sure that people have their basic needs met, especially when it is to no wrongdoing of their own,” Won said. “These innocent people who have working class jobs, if not completely low income, they deserve to have a roof over their head.”
Lauren Koenig, who has lived in Sunnyside for 14 years, said she’s had to travel around the country and world to stay with friends and family after being unhoused for months.
“People have had everything taken away from them, everything. We are worse off than COVID because of gross neglect due to our landlords who boast all over online that they are a wonderful real estate investment company,” Koenig said.
Legal firm McLaughlin & Stern represents 98 units in the complex, a total of 172 tenants. Brett Gallaway, an attorney for the firm, said they negotiated with A&E’s legal counsel for six months without reaching a resolution. He said tenants are now considering legal action.
Won said 28 tenants accepted temporary lease agreements. She also said A&E had said tenants might be able to move back to their apartments before the six month leases were up.
But she added that the landlord has shared plans to terminate these relocation agreements and raise rents on the people who accepted the initial offer. Many of those tenants, Won said, had lived in the building for generations before the fire or have accessibility needs.
Attempts to reach A&E were unsuccessful.