Urgent Action Alert for 1/27
Press Contact: Imani Henry 646-342-9673
Maxx Properties Is Attempting To Illegally Stop Tenants And Shareholders From Four Flatbush Buildings From Having An Organizing Meeting
Tonight, January, 27th
Maxx Properties Threatens Tenant Rights Organization, Equality For Flatbush (E4F) With Lawsuit Barring Them From Entering The Building. Please Call Attorney Richard Walsh At (917) 842-1877 And Ask Why Is Maxx Properties Interfering In Residents Right To Meet Tonight
Tenants and Shareholder Leaders Call For 6pm Rally At 3400 Snyder Ave To Demand That Residents Are Allowed To Meet Freely Without Interference And Harassment From Maxx Properties
New Video Documenting The Lack Of Repairs, Mold Removal And Tenant Harassment At 3400 Snyder Ave. Please Call Maxx Properties At 914-899-8000
For some time, Equality for Flatbush has received numerous complaints by both shareholders and rent-stabilized tenants living in co-op buildings at 3400 Snyder, 3500 Snyder, 282 E 35th St, & 285 E 35th St located in Flatbush, Brooklyn. All four buildings are managed by Maxx Properties which is owned by the Wiener Family.
These complaints include rent overcharges, the lack of repairs, the lack of mold removal, damages due to leaks , as well as accusations of both racial and sexual harassment by Maxx Properties employees. Here is a recent video from Ms. Francis, a Black rent-stabilized tenant, living at 3400 Snyder Ave, documenting the lack of repairs and mold removal in her apartment . She also reports, that she has endured years of racially-based harassment by Maxx Properties as well as being sexually harassed by an Maxx Properties employee. Ms. Francis is asking for assistance from the general public to please call Maxx Properties at 914-899-8000 to demand they thoroughly remove the mold which is impacting her health.
In January, the tenants and shareholders began organizing within the four buildings for their 1st resident meeting on Thursday, January 27th at 7pm in the lobby of 3400 Synder. At 5:49pm on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Richard Walsh, an attorney with Horing Welikson & Rosen, P.C. sent Equality for Flatbush (E4F) a letter (see attached) stating the following: “The right of the tenants to organize is not the issue here and you may not rely upon that statute as an excuse to trespass on the cooperative’s property. However, the safety of the building’s residents is the issue. There is no location inside the building that can be used safely for meetings.“
“Moreover, anyone intending to enter the building, not a tenant or resident, will have to provide proof of COVID vaccination.”
“If necessary, the cooperative will seek a preliminary injunction against your organization to prevent it from illegally entering or using the lobby or any other part of the building for meetings involving numerous people that will disrupt the life, peace, and safety of the residents of the property.”
After Equality for Flatbush sent back a letter in response (see attached) to Walsh stating “Please be advised that all of the shareholder and tenant leaders of 3400 Snyder, 3500 Snyder, 282 E 35th St, & 285 E 35th St. have been sent your letter and have decided to exercise their right to organize a meeting in the common area of 3400 Synder on January 27, 2022, in accordance with NYS Housing Law which is protected by the US Constitution. “
Walsh responded through email with , “You have been warned. Here are no tenant “leaders” or shareholder “leaders” to our knowledge so you better have proof.”
Cced to E4F’s response was lawyers Lina Lee and Adam Meyers of Communities Resist (CoRe).
Tenants and shareholders leaders are asking the general public to call attorney Richard Walsh at (917) 842-1877 and ask why Maxx Properties is interfering in residents’ right to meet tonight.
Tenants and shareholder leaders have also called for a 6pm rally at 3400 Snyder Ave to demand that residents be allowed to meet freely without interference and harassment from Maxx Properties.