City reaches $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a settlement was reached between the city and A&E Real Estate, alongside Queens City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan and Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy. Eagle photo by Noah Powelson

By Noah Powelson and Casey Wetherbee

A prominent real estate company that has racked up thousands of housing violations in rent-stabilized apartments, including dozens in Queens, reached a settlement with the city on Friday, promising to fix dangerous living conditions in its buildings and stop harassing their tenants.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development reached a $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate for violations in 14 buildings it operates across three boroughs. Roughly 750 tenants live in the buildings, according to HPD, and have reported bed bugs, fire hazards, malfunctioning elevators and many other issues over the years.

Making the announcement inside an A&E-owned apartment building at 35-64 84th St. in Jackson Heights, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the settlement also prevents the real estate company from harassing tenants and forces it to correct more than 4,000 building code violations.

Mamdani said the settlement was only the beginning of his administration’s actions against A&E, as the real estate company has acquired over 140,000 total violations, 35,000 of which came in the past year.

“For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations,” Mamdani said. “This is not just a failure to serve those to whom it holds an obligation, it is a cruelty to over tens of thousands of New Yorkers.”

One tenant, Diana de la Pava, who has lived at an A&E-owned apartment building for several years, said the elevator in her building has been out of commission 12 of the past 18 months, beginning in July 2024. The broken elevator has left some of her elderly or disabled neighbors trapped in their apartments.

Among them was 84-year-old Alberto Quintero, who died in his apartment on the fourth floor during a heat wave, de la Pava said. The elevator was out of service when Quintero died, and de la Pava said his death is why she and her neighbors sought legal action against the landlord, one of at least half a dozen lawsuits brought against A&E by tenants last year.

“This is not about broken machinery,” de la Pava said. “It is about neglect, indifference, and lives treated as disposable until public pressure makes inaction inconvenient.”

Stairs inside a La Mesa Verde building owned by A&E Real Estate tenants say they use while elevators remain out of service. Photo by Casey Wetherbee

One of de la Pava’s neighbors, Nathan Harding, said A&E never responds to complaints from tenants, and that many of his neighbors have left due to deteriorating conditions.

“A&E will just waste your time, or they just don’t maintain your apartment, so people just leave,” Harding said. “There is no level of accountability.”

An A&E spokesperson told the Eagle the company invests hundreds of millions of dollars in repairing acquired buildings, and that the majority of the violations at the 35-64 84th St. building had been resolved since it acquired the building in 2021, though they noted there were still over 200 open violations at the location.

“We’ve made it our mission to collaborate with the city to improve this building and others that were in deep disrepair when we took ownership,” the spokesperson said. “In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations.”

But the settlement announced on Friday represents a small piece of the myriad violations that residents are still demanding be addressed, especially in Jackson Heights.

New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, whose district includes the neighborhood, said that between the 17 buildings A&E owns in Jackson Heights, the company has accumulated 2,000 housing code violations.

“A&E’s greed has left New Yorkers without working elevators, crumbling bathroom ceilings, and termites eating through the walls,” Krishnan said in a statement. “Here in Jackson Heights, we’ve been fighting alongside the tenants of A&E buildings for years. Every repair we’ve won leaves us with 10 more to fight for — their buildings are revolving doors of neglect and major housing violations.”

One of those buildings is La Mesa Verde, whose tenants’ union just last September sued A&E in cooperation with the legal nonprofit organization Communities Resist for the hundreds of violations the building has accumulated. The tenants alleged the landlord ignored falling ceilings, mice and cockroach infestations, exposed electrical wiring and mold on the walls.

La Mesa Verde residents claimed that most attempts to report issues with A&E went unanswered. One resident, Ursulina Mora, has lived at La Mesa Verde for seven years and said her apartment has had severe mold issues.

“When we call the office and leave messages, they don’t even respond to the messages,” Mora said. “The mold harms all of us, even our pets, and us as human beings, so we’re demanding that our landlord fix it for us.”

La Mesa Verde’s lawsuit remains ongoing.

According to Christos Bell, a lawyer with Communities Resist who represents the La Mesa Verde tenants, A&E’s failure to address violations is not just about costs or building repairs, but a form of harassment.

“It’s a systemic issue,” Bell said.