How These East Harlem Tenants Won Their Rent Strike

Tenants in five East Harlem buildings won half a million dollars in back rent and repairs, in a settlement with their landlord over poor housing conditions. They now hope other tenants across the city can learn from their organizing.

NEW YORK – Caroline Schettler, 28, in her apartment in East Harlem, where she said previous ownership was known for “slapping a Band-Aid over something that needs stitches—or needs surgery,” when it came to repairs. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Tenants in five East Harlem buildings won half a million dollars in back rent and repairs, in a settlement finalized this week with their landlord over poor housing conditions. 

It’s a victory for tenants organizing in New York City, where Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has pledged to “crack down” on bad landlords.

“This settlement shows the power of tenants who stand together and demand change,” said Matt Latterner, staff attorney at Manhattan Legal Services. “These tenants drove one of the worst slumlords in the city from their buildings and won’t stop fighting until they get the repairs they need.”

The building’s most recent owner, Isaac Kassirer, was number 72 on the list of the city’s worst landlords in 2023. His firm, Emerald Equities, and its portfolio of rent-stabilized homes has been struggling for years, after the firm’s plan to deregulate the apartments came to a screeching halt after 2019, when new state laws made taking units out of rent stabilization much more difficult.

The buildings have been sliding into disrepair since.

“There’s so many code violations that it’s unfixable. And you know what it is, the landlord wasn’t paying the mortgage to the bank all these years. They were just taking our money, and I don’t know what they were doing [with it],” said Abir, a tenant in the building who asked to be identified only by his first name.

Emerald Equities did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The settlement win comes after a 16-month rent strike where tenants withheld payments and demanded the landlord make repairs. They now hope that their building will finally get the attention it deserves, and that other tenants across the city can learn from their organizing.

“You should stick it to the man if you feel like you are being cheated, and if you feel like you’re living in unsanitary conditions, call 311,” said Caroline Schettler, a 28-year-old tenant in the building who works nights on Broadway shows.

Organizing around bad building conditions

Black mold. Locked fire exits. Broken front doors. Leaks. No hot water. No heat. No electricity. Roach infestations. Stolen security deposits.

Those were just a few of the problems cited over the past six years by the city’s housing department and a lawsuit from Manhattan Legal Services.

“This building has been okay at slapping a Band-Aid over something that needs stitches—or needs surgery,” said Schettler.

The set of five buildings has 523 open housing code violations for 142 units—more than four violations per unit. The dysfunction took a toll on tenants, who told City Limits the repair issues caused them health problems, stress, and even risked their livelihoods.

Abir said that his bathroom roof leaked for months without remedy, and developed mold that affected his family’s health and made them miss work. “At one point we were even about to lose our jobs, because we would stay up all night cleaning out the water,” said Abir. “We would go to our work as zombies.”

“I was always thinking about my apartment when I was at work. I was always scared to go back home. I was always scared that I might get more sick because of this situation that I’m living in. So that emotional stress, I cannot even explain it,” he added.

Schettler said that some days she would have to shower at work or at the local Planet Fitness because of the lack of hot water.

The set of five buildings has 523 open housing code violations for 142 units, more than four violations per unit. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Residents banded together and worked with a local organizing group, Community Voices Heard. They began meeting regularly, laying out demands, documenting all the problems with the building and calling the city’s 311 line. They sued in May 2024.

“To hear stories from other people about all of the same issues that we’re having has been really, really helpful in not feeling like we’re going crazy here. Everybody’s experiencing the same issues, and everybody wants the same solutions,” said Schettler.

How to win a rent strike

Management was unresponsive to tenants’ repeated asks for help with repairs, they said.

“You got to complain, complain, and keep complaining and nothing is happening… I [felt] like it could cause revenge on us for complaining,” said Carlos Rodriguez, who moved to one of the buildings seven years ago to take care of his aging mother.

When landlords don’t make repairs, tenants can legally withhold rent until they address it, setting the funds aside. (If you’re having repair issues in your apartment, you may want to consult professional advice before withholding rent).

But starting a rent strike was scary, and many tenants feared retaliation from their landlord. “I did not go on the rent strike at first. I went on rent strike way after every other tenant, because I am a student, I’m young. I had no idea that this would even work, and I got so many threatening letters from the landlord,” said Abir.

But there is strength in numbers. By the end of the 16-month strike, 50 tenants were withholding rent and demanding repairs. “I did not know organizing had that much power,” said Abir.

In the middle of the rent strike, the building foreclosed, and the court appointed a receiver to manage the building. As part of the settlement, which Legal Services NYC began negotiating with Emerald Equities and completed with the receiver, residents will receive six months rent credit, and pay back the rest they withheld on strike. The receiver is legally obligated to use the remaining settlement money and future rent proceeds to fund repairs.

Rodriguez was one of the lead organizers in his building. He said the settlement is a relief, and might help him get some home health help for his mom so he could work more.

“That was wonderful because it shows we were in the right. It was a relief to not have the headaches, running around trying to get our apartment repaired,” said Rodriguez.

Mayor-elect Mamdani has promised to reactivate the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, among other changes. (Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com)

What’s next

The incoming Mamdani administration has signaled seriousness about enforcing the city’s housing code and rooting out bad landlords, and some advocates hope that it will be a boon for tenant organizing in the city.

“I would recommend to folks who are dealing with bad landlords, talk to your tenants, talk to your neighbors, start holding meetings and start comparing notes. The thing that scares bad landlords the most is a good tenant association,” said Latterner.

Mamdani has promised to reactivate the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which has been largely dormant under Mayor Eric Adams. His plan would increase fines for hazardous violations, consolidate code enforcement, and have the city step in to take buildings in disrepair from bad landlords and give them to community groups.

At the same time, property owners are pressing the incoming Mamdani administration to expand resources for owners of rent regulated properties in financial distress, arguing the mayor-elect’s pledge rent freeze could spiral into worsening conditions for tenants. 

Cea Weaver, director of the New York Tenant Bloc, said Mayor Mamdani could make the accountability process for landlords clearer. 

“We are going to hold you accountable to operating [affordable housing] alongside the housing maintenance code. If you can’t do that, we are going to offer you money so that you can do it, but you have to make the homes affordable,” Weaver said. “And if you still don’t do it, we’re going to take it away from you. Making that pipeline more clear is what I hope the Mayor’s Office of Tenant Protection can do.”

Tenants on East 103rd have dreams of turning the strip of buildings into a community land trust, where a nonprofit entity controlled by the tenants would own the property and each tenant would have a condominium.

“In this city it is so often taken for granted—we’ll just take what we get. We’re lucky to live here,” said Schettler. “And we still are entitled to electricity. We are still entitled to a mold-free and roach-free living space and locks on our doors.”

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