By Ailsa Chang
A Bronx landlord continues to sit in jail for failing to make necessary repairs.
In an extremely rare move, the Bronx Housing Court last week ordered Sam Suzuki to be held behind bars until he corrects the nearly 700 open housing violations at his five-story building at 1585 E. 172nd Street.
The building had previously been owned by the Ocelot Capital Group, which bought and then abandoned 25 Bronx buildings. Ten of those buildings ended up on the city's list of the 100 worst-maintained buildings, and the Village Voice earlier this year dubbed Suzuki one of the city's "10 Worst Landlords."
Tenants of the East 172nd Street building filed a lawsuit almost three years ago. The judge ruled that Suzuki was in civil contempt last week after ignoring requests for years to remedy rotten floors, rat and cockroach infestations, mold, broken windows, dead radiators, shedding lead paint and gaping holes in the ceilings.
"When it rains, tenants have to keep buckets under ceilings in different positions all over their apartment," says Beatrice Hamza Bassey, the lawyer representing the tenants in the case, "and it's really just a shower of water coming down."
Bassey says at this point, the entire roof needs to be replaced. Many of the 50-some families in the building have spent winters without heat. Bassey says many of these tenants are on housing assistance and cannot afford to move elsewhere.
"It's regrettable that it had to come to this," says Bassey of Suzuki's incarceration. "Mr. Suzuki had every chance to cure these violations. The judge, we -- everyone -- gave him every chance."
Suzuki, who has been in jail since last Thursday, has appealed the court's refusal to stay his incarceration.
"I know many other derelict landlords out there are paying attention to this and seeing that, 'Look, we now have to take our responsibility seriously,'" says Bassey.
Suzuki's lawyers did not return calls requesting comment.
