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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Karen Baez, Tenant Organizer from Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
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Karen Baez, a tenant organizer from Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, testifies about the long-standing issues at 2205 Davidson Avenue and the tenants' efforts to hold the landlord accountable. She describes the poor living conditions and the upcoming transition to a cooperative structure.
- Tenants have been organizing for ten years, hosting press conferences and utilizing city mechanisms to address issues
- Building conditions include ceiling collapses, mold, and lack of heat and hot water
- Tenants have demonstrated commitment to their building, including organizing a cleanup last year
Karen Baez
0:23:00
Okay.
0:23:01
Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today.
0:23:05
My name is Karen.
0:23:06
I work at Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.
0:23:09
I'm a tenant organizer of 2205 Davidson Avenue, and the Northwest Bronx has been organizing these tenants for ten years now.
0:23:18
Together, we've been hosting multiple press conferences trying to hold the landlord accountable.
0:23:25
And these tenants have been suffering through the conditions that have you guys have seen on the screen.
0:23:31
Ceiling collapses, mold, and tents, heat and hot water.
0:23:36
Like, they they didn't have, a working boiler during the December, Christmas holiday season.
0:23:44
And so this has been a long time coming for these tenants.
0:23:48
We've utilized a lot of the city's mechanisms to bring the landlord accountable, and that includes multiple housing proceedings that the tenants have filed with the Legal Aid Society.
0:24:05
And to no avail, these are landlords that kind of come in, they don't really show face, They send their lawyers in and they don't really give a proper explanation to the the building's future.
0:24:20
And last year, we've we organized a cleanup where the tenants kind of invited volunteers and also banded together to clean their own building.
0:24:32
And the these are tenants that are demonstrating that they are committed to their building, committed to living in their building.
0:24:40
And this is something that they're really excited about, the cooperative structure that they'll be coming into.
0:24:47
So thank you so much.