Dangerous Conditions Force Suit

Allegedly dangerous conditions at 668 Riverside Drive have cause a group of tenants in the building to sue their landlord.

By: Ryan Hartley

Allegedly dangerous conditions at 668 Riverside Drive have cause a group of tenants in the building to sue their landlord. They claim that the building is is dire need of repairs, and far more than just a “little work”. The tenants are claiming that "mold, constantly leaking pipes, rotting wood, fallen ceilings, and dangerous electrical environments" must be fixed before the conversion to condo space can begin.

Pinnacle Group, the landlord, has an estimated $1 billion in real estate interests in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. They control more than 21,000 rent-stabilized units in roughly 420 buildings across the city. Pinnacle had its first bout with a tenant group in 2006, when tenants and politicians charged that Pinnacle had wrongly attempted to remove rent-stabilized tenants to raise rental rates. The investigation ended when Pinnacle negotiated a settlement, while claiming no wrongdoing.

The tenants have sued the landlord and the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. They claim that conditions in the building violate the city's Maintenance and Building codes. "Even to make it habitable, the building needs millions of dollars of work," the attorney representing the tenants, Adam Leitman Bailey, said. "If he put these apartments on the market as is, he'd be defrauding possible buyers." The tenants involved in the suit claim that Rand Engineering & Architecture prepared a report stating that the repairs would cost roughly $1.87 million, including $336,000 for a new roof.