We are not taking it any more. We have seen our families, friends and neighbors displaced by landlords who will resort to anything to drive tenants out so they can jack up the rents. At Haven Plaza, the rents have been going up, up, and up while the living conditions are going down, down, and down. Robert Watlington, a leader from 103 2nd Ave., a privately owned building, described how tenants there endured a whole month without heat and hot water last winter. It was hell, and it was not until we organized a tenant association and took action that the landlord repaired the boiler.
Times are hard for low-income tenants in the Lower East Side.
Landlords know that there are upper-income tenants who are able to pay significantly higher rents, and it is making life difficult for us.