CHINATOWN — Ousted residents of a now-demolished Hester Street building are continuing to push for the roughly $1 million in restitution fees that were pledged to them seven years ago.
Twenty-nine tenants in 2009 were forced to clear out of 128 Hester St. when the city ordered the building's demolition after the construction of an adjacent hotel, under the same ownership as 128 Hester, left it damaged beyond repair, court records show.
Shortly after, the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal ordered property owner William Su to pay tenants roughly $1 million in compensation. Seven years later, the money has yet to change hands, as Su disputes the amount owed and tenant advocates refuse to budge.
"The tenants are really frustrated, because we've been pushing back against years of appeals," said Donna Chiu, an attorney representing the tenants on behalf of advocacy group Asian Americans for Equality, claiming Su's continued appeals are unjustly delaying her clients' fair compensation.
"We're going to continue to fight him as well. We're asking him, 'Look, you should do the right thing and own up to your obligation.'"
Chiu and other AAFE representatives joined tenants at a gathering at the group's Chinatown headquarters Thursday to repeat their demands that Su pay up. Their fight has been backed by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Councilwoman Margaret Chin, and Assemblywoman-Elect Yuh-Line Niou.
NYSDHCR documents show the agency has ruled tenants are owed a total of $981,452.88 divided across nine apartment units into varying amounts on a case-by-case basis, most recently affirming this amount in an order dated Dec. 2, 2016.
But Su has every right to appeal the ordered amount, argues his attorney, Stuart Klein, who could not immediately specify what his client would consider a fair amount.
"I don't know how we're delaying this — we're simply exercising our right," said Klein, noting he had most recently appeared in an appellate court last week and is now awaiting a decision.
"We don't accept DHCR's finding on the money, and the thing that is being appealed is that DHCR applied the wrong directive to our situation, and that's what's being argued here."
DHCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Buildings in 2009 issued an Emergency Declaration stating 128 Hester St. had suffered "severe structural damage" during the construction of the neighboring Wyndham Hotel at 93 Bowery, court records show, ordering its demolition. It was also noted the demolition and construction on neighboring property 126 Hester St. may have contributed to damages, though that project was ultimately halted.
Department of Buildings records show William Su to have been the owner of 93 Bowery. However, Klein has argued that 128 Hester St. was already in disrepair when Su purchased the property, noting Su had poured more than $100,000 of repairs into stabilizing the building after buying it up.
