During a Dyker Heights town hall meeting last Thursday, State Senator Martin Golden called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to form a task force to combat illegal home conversions, one of the most pressing problems facing the south Brooklyn community.
Senator Golden told the packed room that the task force would "save the lives of not just the people here...but the firemen and police officers that live in our community."
Illegal conversions occur when a one or two-family house is converted into a multiple family or single room occupancy apartment, regardless of permits or zoning laws. The conversions, Golden said, strain infrastructure and endanger lives.
District manager Josephine Beckmann also blamed illegal apartments on overcrowding in schools, noting specifically PS 176, which is at 175 percent capacity and located in an area with a concentrated number of 311 complaints concerning illegal conversions.
Landlords who illegally renovate apartments also place both first responders and tenants in danger by ignoring fire codes, Golden and others noted. In 2010, a fire in an illegally converted Bensonhurst apartment building killed five people. The casualties were partially attributed to illegal renovations that blocked firefighters from reaching those trapped inside.
Golden also expressed frustration with limitations on investigations, since the law dictates that inspectors can only enter a suspicious apartment with either the tenant or the landlord’s permission. He argues that too many cases slip through and endanger the community.
“At some point there has to be a line drawn...There has to be a larger picture here," he said. "A larger picture that gives us the ability to [proceed] if we can’t go beyond that door.”
The City Council is currently working on a bill backed by Councilman Vincent Gentile that would allow inspectors to write violations based on easily observable evidence, like multiple utility meters.
As Bay Ridge resident Victoria Hofmo put it: “It’s exploiting people. It’s hurting neighbors. I don’t understand the point, why we allow this to happen.”
