Flatbush Gardens Drama Continues

A federal judge ordered the landlord of the Flatbush Gardens apartment complex to end the 16-month lockout of workers yesterday. The workers of the 59-building complex on New York Avenue between Newkirk and Farragut turned down a 30-40% paycut in the fall of 2010, which led to the lockout. According to the Daily News, the judge’s ruling means “workers would have to take a 20% pay cut while their bosses and union work out a new contract, ordering the landlord back to the bargaining table.”

It’s not just the workers who have had it bad. You may remember that the Flatbush Gardens Tenants Association filed a lawsuit last year against the landlord, David Bistricer, and his company, Renaissance Equity Holdings, alleging rodents, broken elevators, basements full of sewage, and more. The company was on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist, but has been removed because they have fewer current infractions. But my, what a shiny impression you get from their website.