Tenants and Advocates Publicly Lambast Samy Mahfar for Constant Harassment and Unsafe Living Conditions
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In a high-profile move, embattled residents of Samy Mahfar (SMA Equities) properties queued yesterday in the rain to announce a new round of legal action. Indeed, now a total of four buildings are suing the notorious landlord – 102 Norfolk, 113 Stanton, 22 Spring, and 210 Rivington.
Here is a quick recap of what went down.
From our perspective, the rally was extremely organized and highly impactful. There were over fifty people in attendance, ranging from select tenants in each building speaking out about their living situation, to legal representation, advocacy groups, press and concerned elected officials repping each district and their constituent’s rights.
Each Mahfar-owned building had at least one tenant describe the horrible abuse they’ve endured to date. One resident who lives at 210 Rivington spoke while dressed up as a “demo worker” wearing a hazmat suit. It was a stunt aimed at Mahfar, who promised each tenant in their protection plan that workers would always don protective suits during demolition. Obviously, this never happened.
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Stories were many. We heard accounts of no heat in the winter to no cooking gas for months, infestation of rodents, roaches, mice, dozens of deliberate no-shows from HPD and DOB, respiratory issues from inhaling clouds of lead-laden during construction, removal of staircases and apt electricity, even gas tampering (at 22 Spring). In sum, a total disregard for anyone living in these buildings during construction, and so on…
Squadron, Chin, Mendez and a rep from Brewer’s office also spoke to the crowd. Each one very powerful, moving and concerned about the lack of regulation Samy Mahfar and others like him have employed to game the system. Calling on tougher laws in Albany, etc.
Mendez even reminded everyone about the last press conference when Omer Zwickel tried to intimidate speakers with in your face video recording – bringing “their brand” of harassment front-and-center for everyone to see. The councilwoman also mentioned that Mahfar’s PR team reached out to her for a sit down a couple of months ago. She said she would never meet with Mahfar until he shows respect for his tenants and follows the law. So, never.
Apparently Mahfar’s PR agency ended up dropping him as a client because of how toxic he is.
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