By The Village Sun, December 5, 2023

“East Village tenants of landlord Sonny Tran are calling on him to ensure that construction in their buildings is safe, repairs and maintenance are not ignored, and tenants’ health and safety are prioritized.

During the height of the construction at 219 E. Fifth St., a Tran-owned building, the city’s Department of Health found elevated lead levels — reportedly three times the legal level — in the construction dust. Dozens of violations for unsafe work and repairs and maintenance in his buildings currently exist. Tenants are concerned about future plans and say they requested multiple meetings with both Tran and Dime Bank, but could not secure even a simple meeting.

Some of the construction that occurred is known as “Frankensteining,” in which individual apartment units are combined together, which allows a landlord to set a new, higher, first-time rent. Frankensteining is one of the last ways to significantly raise rents of rent-regulated apartments after New York State passed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act in 2019.

Meanwhile, a bill to close the Frankensteining “loophole” sits languishing unsigned on Governor Hochul’s desk, according to tenant activists.

“Our former landlord was far from perfect, but long-term tenants never faced the displacement pressure we do now with our current landlord,” said Merideth Genin, a tenant leader and native Lower East Sider. “The former landlord did not fill our homes with noxious fumes, or have us breathing dust with potential lead from improperly sealed dust barriers. I observed through an open doorway the two apartments on the floor below us being turned into what looked like a rooming house. Who knows what kind of neighbors he plans on moving there. Hearing the stories of others who live in Sonny Tran’s apartment buildings makes me fear for our future.”

Read more: https://thevillagesun.com/east-villagers-decry-unsafe-dust-levels-from-building-renovations