Bronze in the Bronx- Visually and culturally enhancing the neighborhood with plaques, Chestnut Holdings and Dream Yard Project team up for Bronx Arts Festival, Chestnut employee featured in international magazine bringing acclaim to company Belong Magazine, Historic Sholem Aleichem Complex in the press- New York Times, South Bronx- A MAGICAL PLACE says Anthony Bourdain of CNN- New York Post, Volunteers and community cleanup Claremont Park Bronx Times. The Environmental Protection Bureau is a part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and is under the oversight of First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy. The event brought out close to 100 volunteers who enjoyed a great In New York City it has been found in 43 percent of all dwellings. In the lawsuit, the Attorney General seeks injunctive relief requiring Chestnut Holdings to comply with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, including bringing all apartments into compliance with the Acts requirements, penalties for its repeated violations of the Act, and disgorgement of money it would have expended to comply with the Act. According to a 2018 study, the city of Buffalo suffers from some of the highest rates of childhood lead exposure in the nation from poor housing conditions in old homes with lead paint. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2017, 715 children in Erie County under six years of age tested with blood lead levels between 5 and 9 g/dL, and 415 children tested with blood lead levels of 10 g/dL or higher. Chestnut Holdings continues to amass properties in the Bronx, paying $46.6 million for a 10-building portfolio in the borough. In October 2000, partnerships comprising Lenfest and several other individuals involved in the Philadelphia real estate scene, along with a related entity Todays agreement, negotiated in partnership with Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse, permanently bans Kiggins and Endzone from managing or owning residential rental properties in the state of New York. Lead poisoning is devastating for a childs future health, and I applaud Attorney General James for taking swift measures to ensure this never happens again., These settlement agreements are showing landlords who have generally acted autonomously for decades that they can no longer ignore their duty and continue to put the health and safety of our communities at risk, said New York CityCouncil Member Oswald Feliz. NYC workers strip searched in hunt for 'stolen' money - New York Back in Our intention is to deepen our understanding and connection to nature and weave it into the daily life of our communitys residents. Childrens lives and futures are a stake in this ongoing effort, and the actions we take today will help to safeguard our youth and punish those who would harm them., Families living in Buffalos older, distressed properties are disproportionately vulnerable to the serious health consequences of lead poisoning, said U.S. Representative Brian Higgins. We must continue to ensure that landlords are in compliance with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act and continue to promote this important law. Mehdi Bolour faces 25 criminal charges over illegally rented Hollywood building, More than 1,000 children in public housing have had high levels of lead since 2012, Landlord groups say lead poisoning laws will hurt affordable housing, Chestnut Holdings buys Bronx-centric 19-building retail portfolio, High Street, Daiwa bring resi to River Oaks, St. Charles revamp of torched resort takes center stage in local City Hall races, LIV plans massive resi project in Fort Worth, KBS deal to sell Union Bank Plaza to Joel Schreiber delayed for 9th time. In September 2021, Attorney General James announced an agreement in her lawsuit against Chestnut Holdings, a property management corporation, over its failures to protect children from lead paint hazards in New York City. The Environmental Protection Bureau is a part of the Division of Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux, and all under the oversight of First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy. All rights reserved. Chestnut workers (from left) Francisca Orduna, Luis Dominguez, Maria Orduna, Teodoro Santos are suing over their April 5 ordeal. )D Attorney general sues Chestnut Holdings for lead paint Exposure to lead paint in our aging housing stock puts children in grave jeopardy and our future at risk. However, it is 2020 and we still have thousands of cases of New York City children that tested positive for lead poisoning, and it is children from low-income communities and communities of color, like those we represent in Northern Manhattan, that suffer the most. I commend the New York State Attorney General for taking this action, and thank my team at HPD, along with our colleagues throughout the city and state who work day in, day out to protect the people we serve., All New Yorkers deserve safe homes, free of the dangers of lead poisoning, said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. I am proud to stand with Attorney General Letitia James to fight for Bronx residents and to stand with all New Yorkers to demand that landlords and management companies treat their tenants with the respect and dignity they deserve., "Exposure to lead has devastating consequences for all those exposed, but it is particularly dangerous for young developing children, said New York State Senator Jos M. Serrano. Chestnut Holdings is a family-owned real estate investment and management firm of properties throughout New York City. It is wrong and unacceptable. Recently, a lawsuit on behalf of eight housing voucher recipients was filed against Chestnut Holdings in the Manhattan Supreme Court. I want to thank Attorney General Letitia James and her staff for taking swift action to hold our landlords accountable, and for ensuring they are in compliance with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. NYC workers strip searched in hunt for 'stolen' money - New York quoteRotator.delay=5;quoteRotator.fadeDuration=1;quoteRotator.fadeoutDuration=2;quoteRotator.quotesInit(); At Chestnut Holdings, we value our relationships with our tenants and are dedicated to building and preserving our tenant communities. Residents of the Bronx took part inClaremont Park Dayas Chestnut Holdings partnered with The Bronx is Blooming and The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to engage the community through environmental stewardship and educational activities. I will continue to do everything within my power to uphold our lead laws and hold landlords accountable for exposing our communities to serious and irreversible harms., As a part of LeadFreeNYC, HPD is committed to keeping children safe from lead through enhanced enforcement, education, and resources for property owners to make good on their obligations, said New York City Department of Housing Preservation and DevelopmentCommissioner Louise Carroll. The rate of lead poisoning in New York City is highest in children of color and those who live in low-income areas. New York has some of the strongest lead poisoning prevention measures in the country, but without enforcement, families will continue to suffer. Chestnut purchased its first building in the Bronx in 1997, and still owns that property today a testament to the firms long-term commitment to enhancing and effectively managing its properties. WebPhone: (718) 543-8200. '' Welcome to Chestnut Holdings - Chestnut Holdings The rental housing operations addressed in the suit are controlled by Angel Elliot Dalfin. As Buffalo continues to have some of the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning in the country, my office will continue to hold bad actors responsible. Chestnut is a hands-on owner-manager that acquires, manages and improves multifamily properties throughout New York City. James says her office reached out multiple times to Chestnut Holdings, but did not get a response. Harvey Lindo, 68, is another plaintiff in the case against Chestnut. Developer files $30M lawsuit over construction of W/Element This is the second major action that Attorney General James has taken in the past week to hold landlords accountable for failing to comply with New York Citys lead paint laws. They failed to ensure that my constituents and New Yorkers across the city were living in homes that were free of lead paint and, in doing so, put hundreds, if not thousands, of families at risk of lead poisoning. Google Translate cannot translate all types of documents, and it may not give you an exact translation all the time. WebCompany profile page for Chestnut Holdings Inc including stock price, company news, press releases, executives, board members, and contact information We are fortunate to have Letitia James in our corner as Attorney General. In 2020, an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that over a period of more than six years, at least 18 children were poisoned by lead paint while residing in 17 of Endzones estimated 89 properties. Anyone relying on information obtained from Google Translate does so at his or her own risk. CHESTNUT HOLDINGS We have met with the staff personally to AG James Takes Action To Protect Tenants From Lead and one of the advocates who helped write the current New York City lead law. Earlier in September 2021, she reached a pre-suit agreement with A&E Holdings to ensure that children living in its New York City apartments are protected from dangerous lead-based paint. %PDF-1.7 % Chestnut Endzone has sold all the properties it owned and all of the properties it once managed are now under new management. Bronx landlord sued for failure to protect tenants from lead Since 2017, OAG hasfound that the group violated the law in other ways, such as: The poisoning of children from lead paint in aging rental housing is an ongoing national public health crisis, but is of particular concern within New York, and especially the Buffalo region. Her and her husband were being evicted from their apartment after he fell off a scaffold and was no longer able to work his construction job. The residents in Broadway-Fillmore, and throughout the entire city, have been held hostage for decades by slumlords who have left housing stock uninhabitable and detrimental to the health, safety, and sustainability of our neighborhoods. These include annual inspections and ensuring that an apartment is code compliant when a tenant moves into their new home. The lawsuit, filed in October 2021, alleged that Kiggins and Endzone endangered the health of its tenants, primarily children, by repeatedly violating lead paint A copy of this disclaimer can also be found on our Disclaimer page. This highly toxic metal causes serious and irreversible harms, and I am committed to ensuring that landlords follow the laws to protect young children from lead poisoning.. 3145 0 obj <>stream She's passionate about the future of work and helping Latin American freelancers achieve time, location, and financial freedom. Additionally, Chestnut Holdings has repeatedly certified in new leases that it has complied with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Acts turnover requirements, even though it had not done so. I commend Attorney General Letitia James for filing suit against landlords who have so flagrantly ignored the laws we have put in place to protect our children. The New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act requires owners of apartments and houses built before 1960 to take critical safety measures to prevent lead poisoning in children tenants. Hopefully, legal actions like this one will send a message to others who might choose to ignore lead poisoning prevention laws that such behavior will not be tolerated. Huggins v. Chestnut Holdings of New York, Inc.; 1425 U LLC; and WebChestnut Holdings is a family-owned real estate investment and management firm with a strong track record as an owner-manager of properties throughout New York City. The property management company is in charge of more than 6000 apartments located in 134 residential buildings across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. That same year, Erie County was the only county in New York in which children who tested with blood lead levels exceeding 45 g/dL were reported. The lawsuit, filed in Erie County Supreme Court, alleges that since 2013, the Erie County Department of Health has identified dozens of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) in 22 of the Dalfin properties. In the lawsuit, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) identifies six specific Dalfin properties that serve as examples of the egregious and illegal lead hazard management practices used by the landlords and the poisoning of children in those properties. NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL. The group also consistently violated federal lead disclosure requirements by providing either no lead disclosure statement to tenants or false disclosures, which stated that the landowner had no reports of lead paint or lead paint hazards, when in fact there were multiple reports of lead paint and lead paint hazards regarding the residences. Understanding Recent Changes to New Yorks Gun Laws, Endzone Properties Barred from Owning or Managing RentalProperties in New York, Must Pay $215,0000, Landlord Failed to Maintain Lead-Safe Conditions in Rental Properties,Resulting in At Least 18 Children Poisoned With Lead. Lead poisoning persists as one of themost prevalent and preventable environmental diseases in New York, with thousands of children having blood leadlevels above the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions reference value. Chestnut also works to make a positive impact on surrounding neighborhoods by providing cleaner, safer housing options and reliable service to tenants at reasonable rental rates. ` *d * $4%Y1\ - Z:q;.&&c60e`tIrS*hd He eventually received help from Breaking Ground, a permanent supportive housing provider. Through the Mayors LeadFreeNYC initiative, we will continue to work with our partners on all levels of government to keep New Yorkers safe and drive lead exposure down to zero," said NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Louise Carroll. What we do have is the fact that the landlord, unfortunately, has not complied with the law and as a result of that, he again, it poses a threat to all of the children who are currently residents in this building, she says. The building in front of which the attorney general selected to announce the lead lawsuit, 1515 Macombs Road, has exactly zero lead violations. It is as immoral as it is illegal that a landlord would knowingly expose families to lead poisoning, which disproportionately threatens the health and development of Black and brown children, said Attorney General James. A 2017 Reuters investigation revealed that several zip codes in the city of Buffalo were some of the most saturated lead-burdened communities in the country, which is why I cosponsor Dakota's Law in the State Senate. as Chestnut Holdings partnered with The Bronx is Blooming and The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation to engage the community through environmental stewardship and educational activities. NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL. A group of eight New Yorkers is suing a Bronx real estate company for allegedly refusing to accept housing vouchers as rent payment. Plaintiff Huggins brings this action on himself and all similarly situated current and former employees pursuant to the FLSA and NYLL. announced an agreement in her lawsuit against Chestnut Holdings, a property management corporation, over its failures to protect children from lead paint hazards in New York City, reached a pre-suit agreement with A&E Holdings to ensure that children living in its New York City apartments are protected from dangerous lead-based paint, Attorney General James sued a group of Buffalo individuals and companies for repeated violations of city, county, state, and federal laws by illegally allowing lead paint-related hazards to accumulate in their rental properties. Chestnut Holdings is dedicated to visually and culturally enriching our Bronx neighborhood. Any future violation of the law by Chestnut Holdings will violate the agreement and subject the company to possible legal action by the OAG. Attorney General James is pursuing legal actions across New York to end the scourge of childhood lead poisoning by holding accountable landlords that allow lead paint-related hazards to proliferate in low-income rental properties. Endangering a child in the place they are supposed to feel most secure is the worst form of exploitation., We have been working hard to protect families from lead paint poisoning in Erie County and I thank the Attorney General for bringing this lawsuit against scofflaw landlords who refuse to do their part in the fight, said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. WeWork's Bid To Find A New Lease On Life | PYMNTS.com Young children are more likely to be exposed to lead than any other age group. She believes she was discriminated against by a broker at Chestnut Holdings. I look forward to continuing to work with the attorney general and our colleagues at all levels of government, to prevent these types of abuses going forward., Access to safe housing is a human right. Lead poisoning in New York City is highest among children of color and children living in high-poverty neighborhoods. Chestnut Holdings Inc - Company Profile and Unfortunately, some landlords have ignored that responsibility with impunity., New York Lawyers for the Public Interest supports Attorney General Letitia James' offices action today to protect families from toxic lead exposure through enforcement of New York Citys Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, Local Law 1 of 2004, said Christine Appah, senior staff attorney, Environmental Justice Program, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. On 04/29/2020 Avery, Mary filed a Property - Other Property lawsuit against 1560 GC LLC Chestnut Holdings of New York, Inc Wiener, Jonathan Rieder, Ben Department of Buildings Department of Housing Preservation and Development.This case was filed in Bronx County Courts, Bronx County Civil Court located in Washington, New Aaron Carr, whose tenant watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative is also suing Chestnut for deregulating apartments in buildings receiving tax benefits, said that James is proving to be the most proactive attorney general combatting unlawful real estate practices.. Attorney General James Shuts Down Syracuse Landlord Last week, she reached a pre-suit agreement with A&E Holdings to ensure that children living in its NYC apartments are protected from dangerous lead-based paint. During this same period, at least 32 Endzone properties were flagged by the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County for chipping, peeling, deteriorating paint, and other conditions conducive to lead poisoning, which are prohibited by county and city laws. Russell Shank, a lawyer for Chestnut Holdings, says they didnt receive applications from seven of the eight people in the lawsuit. Upon revealing that she would be paying her rent with the voucher, the broker shut down the conversation and said, Oh, were not taking those.. endstream endobj startxref OPINION & ORDER. We uncover insider info about living in NYC and keep you updated on everything from tantalizing experiences and eats, to iconic stories and urban legends. The investigation was initiated in 2017, according to a source familiar with the matter. It's the first-ever lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General for failing to comply with the lead poisoning prevention law. If such properties are properly maintained, however, lead poisoning can be prevented. No New Yorker should be exposed to the dangers of lead poisoning due to the negligence of their landlord. Select a Language Below/Seleccione el Idioma Abajo. WebChestnut Holdings of New York is a family-owned real estate investment and property management firm with a long track record of successful, responsible and reliable Chestnut Holdings Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2017, 715 children in Erie County under six years of age tested with blood lead levels between 5 and 9 g/dL, filed a lawsuit against Chestnut Holdings of New York, Inc., a property management corporation, for failing to comply with provisions of New York Citys lead poisoning prevention law.