Sunnyside tenants displaced by fire to remain in temporary homes under new agreement
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A deal was reached that will allow nearly two dozen tenants displaced after a fire in Sunnyside to stay in temporary accommodations for another six months. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Tenants who lived in a Sunnyside building that remains uninhabitable after it was destroyed by a fire late last year will receive another six months of temporary housing from their landlord, who faced public pressure in recent days to extend the tenants’ housing after initially threatening to end it.
The new agreement comes after Queens Borough President Donovan Richards brokered a deal with the building’s landlord, A&E Real Estate, to extend the tenants’ temporary housing while their apartments in Sunnyside remain unlivable.
Twenty-two of the rent-stabilized tenants of 43-09 47th Avenue in Sunnyside, who were displaced after a devastating fire in December and who were at risk of being without housing after their landlord, A&E Real Estate, initially declined to extend housing while still working on reconstruction, will see their temporary housing continue under the agreement.
The deal, which was shared exclusively with the Eagle, was made just a day before the tenants – who are currently suing the landlord for negligence in the incident that started the fire – would have been kicked out of their temporary housing and potentially entered into the city’s shelter system.
The tenants will now be able to stay in their temporary homes, which are in other A&E properties, until January 2025.
“These individuals now have somewhat temporary housing, but, at least, some stability for them,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards told the Eagle on Monday.
The relationship between the landlord and the tenants has, at times, been tense. In addition to the lawsuit filed against A&E, the landlord claims that some of the tenants owe rent on some of the temporary housing units they’re currently living in.
Under the new agreement, payment plans will be established to help the residents pay for the back rent, which has been accrued as the tenants also attempt to recover their personal lives that were ensnared in the fire.
Some of the unpaid rent is expected to be covered by fundraising or nonprofits, the borough president said.
The tenants were expected to be notified of the deal on Monday.
“Borough President Richards picked up the phone and asked how we could work together to do
more for residents,” an A&E spokesperson said in a statement. “Working through the weekend, we found a path forward that will enable us to offer temporary housing for residents affected by the fire for up to six months more.”
“While we know this has been challenging, we have worked hard at every step to go above and beyond to give residents some security and breathing room to plan for the future,” the spokesperson added.
The borough president, who was one of several elected officials to put public pressure on A&E to extend the temporary leases last week, said that he hopes the agreement will signify a “new norm” for landlord-tenant relationships.
Borough President Donovan Richards helped strike a deal for tenants who had been displaced by a fire from their Sunnyside building owned by landlord A&E Real Estate. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
“Think about what [the tenants] went through,” he said. “These are people, hardworking individuals, some who probably exhausted all of their resources.”
Since the Dec. 20 fire, which injured 14 and in total displaced nearly 250 residents, local officials have been pushing for assistance for the tenants.
Councilmember Julie Won and Senator Michael Gianaris held rallies for the tenants, and Assemblymember Juan Ardila donated new socks and hygiene kits to affected residents.
In early June, Won and Gianaris and Congressmember Nydia Velázquez held a rally outside the building alongside tenants, calling for an extension to A&E’s temporary leases.
"Our neighbors lost their homes through no fault of their own and should not be displaced again and again,” Won said.
Velázquez called not renewing the temporary leases “unconscionable.”
“These actions raise the possibility that these families that have been through so much could lose their homes for a second time,” said Congresswoman Velázquez. “I stand in solidarity with the Sunnyside tenants of 43-09 47th Avenue who have been displaced by this fire through no fault of their own.”
Although a deal was reached, it will not be the end of the fight at 43-09 47th Avenue, where the tenants have filed a lawsuit against the real estate company for the actions which lead to the fire, which is believed to have started after a hired contractor used a blowtorch to burn off lead paint.
The $10 million suit alleges negligence, gross negligence, breach of contract and other violations.
“We will seek every single penny from A&E,” lawyer Brett Gallaway said last Thursday at a rally. “The damages continue to accrue on a daily basis.”
Gallaway said that while attempting to negotiate for the six-month extensions that Richards eventually got, they received a “lack of remorse,” from the landlords.
A spokesperson for A&E told the New York Law Journal that they are working to stabilize the building, so tenants can eventually return.
“We have been transparent with residents about those challenges, and that the emergency hotel stays and discounted apartments we provided after the fire were a temporary solution to give everyone breathing room as they made longer-term plans,” the spokesperson said. “By law, residents who follow State procedures will retain their rights in rent stabilized apartments, no matter what other arrangements they make.”
