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Brooklyn, NY – On Tuesday, January 7, Communities Resist joined the 156 South 9th Street Tenants Association, Los Sures Lucha, Southside United HDFC-Los Sures, and other community activists at 156 South 9th Street in Williamsburg calling on the city to take steps and remove Hindy and Jacob Meislik as landlords. The rally comes after the 156 South 9th Street building has racked up 396 housing violations, including no cooking gas, lack of heat and hot water, and power outages.
For years, tenants at 156 South 9th Street have lived in uninhabitable conditions due to the neglect of Hindy and Jacob Meislik. This building contains over 20 units that are warehoused, mostly infested with rodents. Many of these warehoused units are fire hazards since they are used to store wood, and some have no windows. Additionally, tenants have gone up to weeks at a time without any electricity. And in the basement, there are several leaks, including a sewer line which empties straight on to the basement floor.
In August 2024, a gas leak in the basement forced a complete shut off, leaving the tenants without cooking gas, hot water, or heat. It took Meislik until September to respond by illegally hooking up five propane tanks with a hose to the boiler. A tenant later saw the tanks and called the FDNY. The tanks were then confiscated before they caused an explosion.
The tenants of this building then quickly took action by meeting as a tenant association and filing an Housing Part case against Meislik in September 2024. By October, tenant advocates successfully convinced the Department of Housing and Preservation to send in their Emergency Repair Program unit, who then provided heat and hot water by restoring an old fuel oil operated boiler in the basement. However, this is only temporary since the boiler leaks and often goes out for days. The tenants are still searching for a more permanent solution.
You can find photos from the rally and remarks from Communities Resist Staff Attorney Daisy Fernandez here: Click Here.
News coverage of this rally was aired on the following stations: ABC 7, PIX 11, and Univision.
“It’s unconscionable what the tenants at 156 South 9th Street are currently going through,” said Communities Resist Executive Director Nick E. Smith. “Having no heat, hot water or electricity during the coldest months is inhumane, and no human being should ever have to live this way. It’s long overdue that the city steps in and removes Hindy and Jacob Meislik as landlords. All tenants have the right to live in a safe and humane environment.”
“Housing is a human right. Everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy home, free of disrepair,” said Communities Resist Staff Attorney Daisy Fernandez. “The tenants at 156 S 9th St, are tired of living in horrendous and unsafe conditions, and have united to fight for their rights to safe housing.”
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