Tenants at the 38-unit apartment building at 1155 East 35th Street in Flatlands, Brooklyn, say persistent maintenance problems have worsened while the property's owner and lender contest responsibility for the building. Residents describe overflowing garbage, mold, rodents and a lack of on-site management; they say the building has had no maintenance staff or superintendent since 2024.
“Apartments are being destroyed,” residents told CBS New York. Tenant Carola Brown said there has been no superintendent since 2024. Other residents described hearing rodents inside the walls and said one apartment's oven has not worked for more than a year.
A Building Frozen in Legal Limbo
The dispute intensified after Kearny Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2025 naming landlord Yeshaya Wasserman, whom tenants associate with SGW Properties, as a defendant. The court appointed a receiver in June 2025 to oversee day-to-day operations, but the receiver was terminated in late August, according to the station's report. Residents say basic services, including regular trash removal and emergency maintenance, then became harder to obtain.
SGW Properties told the outlet the building's disarray stemmed from the receivership Kearny Bank installed in June 2025, not from ownership, and said the company was contesting the foreclosure in court rather than filing for bankruptcy. The landlord said it had offered the bank constructive solutions and that Kearny Bank terminated its receiver in late August without ownership's involvement or agreement. SGW also said it would not allow tenants to be further used as pawns in the dispute.
Resident Ruth alleged that some apartments in the building had been illegally converted before tenants ever moved in. One resident reported finding a radiator pipe hidden inside a closet wall, while another said a bedroom in their unit had previously served as a kitchen and bathroom. A tenant also reported that heat from the boiler had broken through a wall and leaked throughout a closet. Ruth additionally said squatters have been present in the building.
Inspectors Find Gas Hazard and Illegal Construction
A city Department of Buildings inspection identified an active water-pipe leak and construction violations in the basement, where separate bathrooms had been built without required plumbing or construction permits. Inspectors also found an open union on a gas line in the meter room and an unlocked valve, both violations of code. National Grid locked off gas service to one apartment and removed the meter connected to the open union. The Department of Buildings said it would issue multiple violations after reviewing the inspection results.
The scale of neglect extends well beyond what inspectors saw on their walkthrough. Municipal housing data reviewed by AptRight shows the building has accumulated 464 open hazardous violations in records dated September 17, 2026. Those open hazards include 99 fire and life safety violations, 37 heat or hot water outages, 60 pest infestations, and 20 mold violations, according to the same records. At least 15 of the building's 38 units remain registered under New York City rent stabilization laws, meaning many of the tenants affected are protected long-term residents rather than short-term renters.
The building's legal troubles are not new. Housing court data compiled by tenant advocacy organization JustFix shows 1155 East 35th Street has recorded 31 eviction case filings since 2017, the highest volume of any property in its corporate owner's portfolio. Built in 1928, the four-story complex has been a fixture of the Flatlands block for nearly a century, according to StreetEasy.
Landlord's Past Runs Deeper Than This Building
Wasserman's SGW Properties has faced state enforcement before. In July 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James secured an agreement requiring SGW Properties and Wasserman to return $296,272 in illegally withheld security deposits to 129 Brooklyn tenants, according to the New York Attorney General's office. That investigation found the landlord had failed to provide itemized deposit deduction lists within 14 days and failed to keep security deposits in separate escrow accounts as required by state law, and SGW was also ordered to pay a $10,000 penalty and conduct staff training.
City Council Member Pushes for a Preservation Takeover
City Council Member Farah Louis said tenants faced deteriorating conditions and that many had lived in the building for more than 40 years; she said a majority were seniors. Louis proposed that New York City government purchase the building for preservation purposes, which would give the city or an appropriate partner control over operations, allow maintenance problems to be addressed and provide long-term support for the 38 households.
Under New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Article 7A, housing court can also strip a landlord of property control entirely and appoint an independent administrator to collect rents and carry out urgent repairs when conditions threaten life, health, or safety. Tenants at 1155 East 35th Street have also reached out to the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants for help, and that office has said it will follow up with tenants and local stakeholders, adding that every New York tenant has the right to a safe, well-maintained apartment. Agencies under the Mamdani administration have engaged with tenants at the building and with Louis's council team as the situation unfolds.
What a preservation takeover could involve
According to the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, its preservation-buyer program supports the acquisition and rehabilitation of unregulated and rent-stabilized buildings, particularly properties in physical or financial distress. The available program materials do not establish how often the city has used such purchases or what tenant outcomes followed, but the NYC Comptroller's Office has cautioned that distressed-building preservation projects often lack funding for interim repairs and stabilization before construction financing closes. Another possible intervention is an Article 7A proceeding. According to HPD, a court can appoint an administrator to operate a privately owned building when conditions endanger tenants' life, health or safety; the administrator may collect rents, provide essential services and make necessary repairs. The program's description does not determine whether an administrator will be appointed at 1155 East 35th Street.
One resident, using the handle @mfox1155, has documented the building's conditions over several months, including the accumulation of city violations. The ownership and foreclosure dispute remains unresolved, while tenants await a clearer plan for management, repairs and the property's long-term future.
