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City Agents Go Undercover on Craigslist to Scout Illegally Converted Apartments

By DNAinfo Staff on April 26, 2011 7:23pm

Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke about new measures to crack down on illegally converted apartments Tuesday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke about new measures to crack down on illegally converted apartments Tuesday.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pressing the FDNY and Department of Buildings to come up with new, creative strategies for cracking down on building owners who illegally subdivide apartments after a deadly fire in the Bronx left a 12-year-old and his parents dead.

"The real disgrace here is the building owners who put profits ahead of people's lives by illegally converting apartments to make more money," Bloomberg told reporters at a press conference in the Bronx.

Bloomberg said that part of the problem was that it's extremely difficult for inspectors to gain access to apartments, even when they believe unsafe conditions exist. If building owners refuse to let inspectors inside, the city needs a court order, which he said requires evidence that often can't be seen from the outside.

"Building owners have become very savvy in concealing evidence of illegal conversion," he said, noting that some now avoid telltale signs, such as extra mailboxes and doorbells.

That has forced the DOB to get more creative in its approach. One trick it's used is to have city inspectors go undercover, posing as potential apartment-seekers on the website Craigslist to gain access inside units.

A recent sting targeting 64 apartments from May through Sept. 2010 resulted in a whopping 54 violations and 33 vacate orders —  meaning an apartment poses an imminent risk to public safety, a department spokesman said.

The city has also distributed 120,000 fliers in different neighborhoods warning of the dangers of renting in illegally converted buildings, and plans to continue to crack down.

"You can rest assured the city is trying to do that," the mayor said.