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Read the press release here.

Landlord Forced Us to Live in Filthy, Dangerous Basement, Family Says

By Dartunorro Clark | January 31, 2017 7:45am
 Hernandez demonstrates how he turns the valve on and off to cook to avoid the gas leaking.
Hernandez demonstrates how he turns the valve on and off to cook to avoid the gas leaking.
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Dartunorro Clark/DNAinfo

HARLEM — For more than a month, Marino Hernandez says he's had to wake up every half-hour to empty a bucket collecting waste water dripping from his bathroom ceiling.

This past Thursday, a pipe burst and the water came gushing down, leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling and sending a flood throughout his family’s small basement apartment in West Harlem.

This was just one incident the family says it has faced since moving into the apartment at 505 W. 135th St, less than two years ago.

This past weekend, the building owner, Elias Louridas, was slapped with more than 40 violations after the Department of Housing and Preservation Development and the Department of Buildings sent inspectors to the building.

 The bathroom has mold and a gaping hole in the ceiling. There are also holes in the wall.
The bathroom has mold and a gaping hole in the ceiling. There are also holes in the wall.
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Dartunorro Clark/DNAinfo

Louridas did not respond to a request for comment. 

Several of the violations were deemed Class C by HPD, which means the conditions are “immediately hazardous” and repairs cannot be delayed.

The agencies noted a number of problems including pests, gas defects, structural and sanitation issues.

The bathroom is riddled with mold. The refrigerator is broken. Some parts of the walls are caked in chipping paint while other sections are riddled with holes.

A ventilation system for the whole building discharges into the basement, filling the apartment with an odor, according to one violation. 

And Hernandez also said he has to turn off gas at the supply line after cooking because his stove leaks, which he demonstrated in the apartment.He said his 10-year-old daughter developed a respiratory illness in the past four weeks because of the apartment’s conditions, which resulted in an overnight stay in the hospital.

Hernandez, 40, said his family lives in the squalid basement apartment because the building’s landlord forced them out of another apartment to hike rents for new tenants.

Hernandez said he stopped paying his $1,700 rent because of the apartment’s condition. The family is now in court regarding nonpayment. Their attorney, John Gorman, said the violations are a strong defense.

Hernandez said his wife and his daughter have been living in the five-story building for about eight years, but were told to move to the basement in 2014.

“He told me he would offer me a super job, but I would have to move to the basement,” Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant, said.

Christopher Padron, a program coordinator from PA'LANTE Harlem, a tenants’ rights organization, translated for Hernandez who spoke in Spanish.

PA'LANTE has taken on the family’s case and hired a lawyer for the family.

Hernandez said the landlord never followed through on his promises, harassed the tenants and neglected repairs to the apartment.

“I never bothered to ask the landlord [about the job] because he was always verbally aggressive,” he said.

HPD is now monitoring the building and will bill the owner for the work if it's not carried out.

“We are in direct contact with the owner and our teams report that steps have been taken to make the necessary corrections,” a spokeswoman said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation.”