By Michelle Ayr
Flatbush tenants are worried about strategies their landlords are using to incite them to leave, which would results in the increase of gentrification in the neighborhood and lack of affordable housing.
Flatbush, also known as District 14, has a population of 163,260 people, according to the Census Reporter, a website where individuals have easy access to finding facts, visualizing and getting context about a specific neighborhood based on what district they fall into. Since the year 2000, the amount that Flatbush residents pay for rent has gone up by 77%, making the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment $3,421, according to a non-profit organization in Flatbush that has been fighting against gentrification and for affordable housing, Equality For Flatbush. This is hard for most families, as the median household income in Flatbush is $50,649, but what many of the residents here may not know, is that they may be getting charged much more than they are supposed to, as well as that if they are dealing with any indiscretions, such as discrimination against their race, age, etc., regarding landlords, superintendents, etc., they are not alone, and there is help.
Equality For Flatbush, an organization that primarily focuses on the Flatbush community and fights police brutality, gentrification, and makes justice with the affordable housing issues that arise in Flatbush — and there are quite a few. Equality For Flatbushwas founded in 2012 and has been bringing many things to their audiences attention, such as the price of rent increasing and individuals being removed from homes they have been in for many, many years. Equality For Flatbushalso helps these people deal with racial-profiling and helps tenants, including ones who have lived in non-rent stabilized housing because these individuals are not seen to have the same legal portrayal that landlords and developers have. They also hold meetings in churches, where anyone, specifically from the community, who has dealt with anything they are fighting for, has heard about these issues and wants to learn more, and just wants to support others going through a hard time in their community can attend. Food and drink is provided.
700 Ocean Avenue, is just one of the multiple buildings where the judgements against residents are taking place. At a meeting called by Equality for Flatbush, many tenants spoke out. Brenda Gonzalez, says “Management is okay. I mean, this is probably the third management since I’ve been here. I think the effort between the landlords and the tenants has been decreasing, but I feel like that is happening everywhere in this area.” The 46-year-old has lived at this location for 18 years, come June, says she originally had grown up in Flatbush, and that she “has been her all of her life.” She says the superintendent’s’ name is Jose Santiago, but as far as who the landlord is, she says, “They’re pretty secretive with it. It could be a woman, for all I know.” When asked if she had seen or encountered any uncomfortable situations where she was asked to leave her apartment due to race or age with her management Gonzalez said, “Of course landlords and superintendents want to take out the old tenants and try to lie to them and say that their living conditions are rough, and by the time the apartment has a new fridge or something, it’s like ‘Oh by the way, your rent is now up by a grand or two.’ Personally, I’ve had no issues myself yet, but if I say I’d be surprised when it happens to me, I’d be lying”, essentially stating that she is anticipating the moment when management comes to her door with their complaints against her to try and push her out of the apartment because of her living there for over 20 years.
Just a few floors up, Emmanuel Linch spoke out on the issue saying, “My dad used to be one of the heads of the building before it changed hands and it ran out of business and ran out of budget, and then they sold it. So now, the new management has been constantly doing things. They’ve been on our case for a long time just because we’ve been here for as long as I can remember – we’ve been here forever.” Some of the examples Linch gives are raising the maintenance for tenants with the promises of the extra money going to better ventilation, or to the outdoor upkeep, but these promises are still yet to be fulfilled. Further information about his father was disclosed, but the 22-year-old said that he grew up in Flatbush and has heard about how, “They (management) try to throw people out all the time. They are always trying to find a new way to raise your rent or to not renew your lease. It’s always something new, but it’s hard for them to throw my pops out because he’s been here since before they were here since before they even were here, but they still try.” Linch explained that the way landlords try to kick out his family is by randomly asking them to see the apartment and adding unwanted commentary stating that they need newer floors, a new paint job for the walls, better kitchen appliances, etc. The 22-year-old says this is a common tactic he has heard of being used on other tenants in the building, with the goal of making rent or maintenance for the tenants who have fallen into this trap more expensive. Not to mention, many of these ‘newer appliances’ require a more costly upkeep, resulting in additional money escaping from the tenants’ pockets.
When asked about who the landlord was, Lich said, “The company is secretive. They’re some ‘LLC’ company, some big corporation — you know how it is. They’re difficult to get a hold of.” Lich also added that he had heard of Equality For Flatbush, for he knows they’re interested in issues with immoral landlords and putting a stop to police brutality, to which he says, “We need organizations like that. It’s a must.”
Linch believes that gentrification and lack of affordable housing are almost inevitable at this point. “To be honest, I can’t really hope for anything because the landlord is going to move as far as the economy does, and such, and the structure of the society in the neighborhood. The structure of society is moving, and right now, Brooklyn, especially Flatbush, is just this melting pot that is a cash card right now, as far as moving people in, getting new people in.” Linch believes landlords are always going to try to move people out because there are new buildings being built where new residents are not opposed to paying expensive rent. “They’re trying their hardest to get people in and out. I know my apartment is worth well over $3,000 and I have rent control and I don’t pay even half of that. So in my case, they want to push me out. They want to charge that much because now there are people coming to the neighborhood who actually want to pay that much to get in,” said Linch.
645 Ocean Avenue, with the same management as 700 Ocean Avenue, is just another building in the Flatbush area that has tenants that have been experiencing the same problems. Amy Johnston, 71, refused to speak on behalf of her landlord situation but did want to get her voice heard on the broad spectrum of the lack of affordable housing and discrimination against tenants, saying “What I hope is that the city government would stop trying to force tenants out who have been here over 15-20 years. I mean, there are horror stories of tenants getting evicted. You know, they want to turn their apartments into a big bedroom to charge $4,000? That’swhat I want to see change. I really, really do. It’s not right, it’s not fair.” Johnston also added that she sees many prospective residents looking into purchasing apartments in the buildings where previous tenants have experienced issues with the landlord, resulting in them relocating, saying what is happening at 645 Ocean Avenue is a perfect example of rapid gentrification.
Imani Henry is the founder and lead organizer of Equality For Flatbush. The 48-year-old is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, where he says, “My parents migrated from Jamaica, and they joined the working class of the caribbean people. I grew up in a very segregated part of Boston, where racism and segregation was incredibly intense, and I saw a lot of violence.” Henry says that he became politicized around the ages of nine to 12, was because he had dealt with racism in Boston, but that he also participated in a process of getting school buses for his school. “So, I started a petition and the students on the bus all were like ‘Yes, we love this!’, and then it went into our parents”, and then there was this exposure of the fact that the principle had made some kind of deal where it was more white and more absonent students who got picked up in the neighborhood, and more working-class students of all nationalities, but particularly of color, weren’t. “So anyway, we eventually got school buses, and I think that was my first time understanding of, what a good friend of mine would tell me: ‘If you’ve struggled, you’ll win,’” said Henry. The, also, social worker says the main thing that has gotten him politicized was Rodney King, or, more specifically, the exposed beating of Rodney King, who Henry had explained to be an African-American taxi driver who had become nationally known as the victim of a Los Angeles police beating, that happened to be filmed on video camera by a neighbor. “For me a way of emotionally healing is activism, and having children do something active and stand up for what they believe is the right thing is incredible,” added Henry.
In regards to affordable housing in Flatbush, Henry says, “We’ve [Equality For Flatbush] have had landlords who have tried to evict people that had all paid with money orders, and that is a scam.” The founder of the organization explained that the landlords will take residents to court for non-payments, making many of the residents get scared, especially residents who are older. This results in people getting scammed and ripped off. In addition to that, the landlords are said to be taking elders to court for evictions that they know are not right. “For the past three to five years, people have struggled to put other people on their leases. Why? Because the landlords have been giving them hard time even about this, so people are afraid, and even if a family member has left or passed on, they are still putting the check in that person’s’ name, and so the landlords will then give these individuals a hard time when these family-related tenants come to court and the landlords will pretend they don’t know who you are. That is a scam!”
Eyes on Flatbush 