Park West residents call for repairs, rent decreases

Park West Village resident Russell Banks said it’s hard for him to stomach the idea of a rent increase when he’s been waiting for months to get a replacement for his air conditioner, which stopped working last summer.

“More money, less service—that seems to be the problem,” Banks said, noting that he also had to wait seven months for his stove to be repaired last year.

In March, the city’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal sent residents of Park West Village buildings 784, 788 and 792—three of the complex’s seven apartment buildings along Columbus Avenue from 97th to 100th streets—a letter stating that the landlord had applied for a rent increase. Landlords can apply for such increases after making repairs or providing new appliances, like stoves or refrigerators.

“We’re contesting the increase,” said Albina De Meio, vice president of the Park West Village Tenants’ Association. “We responded to it through legal counsel, but we haven’t heard anything yet.”

But while they wait for word on the proposed rent increases, Park West tenants are busying themselves with a separate petition against what residents see as poor maintenance.

The tenants are asking for a decrease in rent, justified by what they say is a neglect of maintenance responsibilities at Park West Village. The petition was sent to the landlord last week, who has 10 days to respond to the complaints, after which tenants will appeal to the Division of Housing.

“We sent the landlord a list of problems that exist, dealing with security and maintenance,” Maggi Peyton, president of the PWVTA, said. “The halls are dirty, we have bedbugs, nobody ever cleans the laundry room.”

Park West Village management did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and employees said that the building manager was on vacation for two weeks.

De Meio cited maintenance issues like long response times for apartment repair requests and security concerns since a patrol station in the middle of the parking lot was eliminated.

“There’s a possibility that we may go ourselves to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal and make a claim against the management,” De Meio said.

Peyton said that she didn’t know the exact number of signatures on that petition, but that getting tenants to sign hasn’t been a problem.

“This is my home, it’s not being properly maintained,” said resident Florence Wagner, who has been living at Park West since the 1980s. She’s concerned that she’ll have to deal with adverse health effects from mold and mildew because of leaks in her apartment, though she said a worker has visited her five times to try to fix the problem.

“I have leakage problems, especially when we have heavy rains like the one on Saturday. I had to put six big beach towels on the windowsill—that’s how so much water gets in,” Wagner said.