The Fight Continues at 172 N. 8th Street

Just when the tenants of 172 N. 8th Street thought the struggle for their home was coming to an end, they were hit with some unexpected and devastating news. On Tuesday afternoon, engineers from the Department of Buildings and HPD investigated 172 N. 8th Street and, upon discovering unforeseen structural damages, issued a second vacate order just one week after the first vacate order—in effect for nearly a year—was lifted.
The first vacate order, which was issued on June 26, 2009 due to illegal renovation and excavation of the basement by landlord Jamal Alokasheh, displaced the tenants of the modest eight-unit rent-regulated building for an entire year despite repeated efforts to force Alokasheh to cure the damages. Now, it seems that history is repeating itself.

Tenants allege that Alokasheh is directly responsible for damages, and has again deliberately compromised the structure, foundation and integrity of the building in order to keep the tenants out for as long as possible. In fact, one tenant claims that she witnessed workers enter the building, remove piping and building materials and leave, five days after the first vacate order was lifted, and two days before the second was instated.
“The day the tenants broke back in, the landlord had been there earlier and already done significant damage to the walls in order to provoke another vacate order,” said Marty Needelman of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, who is providing the tenants with legal counsel. “There has been a dramatic breach of the building, and the landlord has done such devastating work to create a condition for a new vacate order. He refuses to do what’s necessary to lift the newly installed order.”
The structural damages include the collapse of a foundation wall in the cellar, on the right side of the building. So as to prevent any immediate disasters, HPD installed braces throughout the building to support its foundation.
“This is the third time within the past year that, through his deliberate actions or negligence, [Alokasheh] has compromised the stability of that building,” said Filip Stabrowski, an organizer at North Brooklyn Development Corporation who has been working with the tenants since their struggle began. “This is a dangerous, hazardous situation.”
The DOB and HPD investigation was prompted by Alokasheh’s refusal to turn on the building’s gas, electricity and sewage, even after tenants won the right to return to their apartments. When the tenants took it upon themselves to reclaim their homes many were shocked by what they found: severe water damage, furniture and personal belongings destroyed.
“The landlord put all of my furniture in the kitchen,” said Ewa Fedorowicz, who lived on the first floor with her husband and five-year-old son. “My glassware—all my memories from Poland and Germany—it’s all broken on the floor. My home is broken.”
Not all tenants, however, were surprised at the condition of the place. Anna McCusker, who lives on the second floor, was evacuated from her apartment so quickly that she barely had time to pack: she left her social security card and identification behind. She has lived in the building for three years.
“He has made his intentions so clear, I know this is going to happen again and again,” McCusker said. “This landlord is doing anything and everything in his power to keep us out, and I’m not surprised that he endangered our lives again.”
A motion for contempt of the Court’s earlier orders to correct, and a separate case seeking an appointment of a court-appointed administrator will be heard in Brooklyn Housing Court on Thursday, June 17th. The tenants are seeking 7A, which would transfer ownership of the building from Alokasheh to a local non-profit. “There is a larger problem in North Brooklyn,” said Shekar Krishnan of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, who will be representing the tenants in court. “You’ve got all these landlords who don’t care about the poor, and can get away with anything. Gentrification isn’t a bad thing, in and of itself, but when you are forcing people out of their apartments—this case epitomizes the struggle.”
Calls to Alokasheh for comment were not returned.

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