The New York Times
June 2, 1996
By Andrew Jacob
Neighborhood Report:
Greenwich Village
Adam Cooper, a tenant of Dror Levy, in his Hudson Street apartment
Photo: Rachel CobbWhen Ed Littman, a struggling jazz musician, moved to New York from Boston two years ago, he thought he had stumbled upon the perfect apartment in a converted carriage house once owned by Alexander Hamilton. But soon after he moved in, Mr. Littman, now 33, discovered that the architectural charms of his home at 250 West 10th Street were overshadowed by rats, leaky plumbing and rotting beams.
The landlord, Dror Levy, was slow to make repairs, according to a Housing Court judge, Peter M. Wendt and several city agencies. After Mr. Littman made repairs himself and tried to recoup the cost of materials, the landlord threatened to evict him. "At that point, I realized I wasn't dealing with a reasonable person," said Mr. Littman, who learned that tenants throughout Mr. Levy's four contiguous buildings were having similar problems.
Mr. Littman and a half-dozen tenants are now on rent strike and Judge Wendt, citing the landlord's refusal to make court-ordered repairs, has issued a warrant for Mr. Levy's arrest. Mr. Levy, however, is in Israel, where he is seeking medical treatment for wounds suffered in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, according to his younger brother Rafi.
Karen Stamm, a lawyer for the East Side S.R.O. Project, says Mr. Levy illegally converted the building next door, 252 West 10th Street, from a single-room occupancy hotel to market-rate apartments. Construction, according the Department of Buildings, was without a permit and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) says Mr. Levy never registered any of his buildings' 26 apartments with the agency, as required by law. In all, inspectors have recorded nearly 100 health and building code violations in his four buildings, which include 514 and 516 Hudson Street around the corner from the two 10th Street buildings. This week the Housing Division will hold hearings on a slew of allegations, including that Mr. Levy harassed tenants to force them out.
"This man doesn't think that housing laws apply to him," said Ms. Stamm, who represents tenants at 250 West 10th Street. Adam Cooper, who lives at 514 Hudson Street, has experienced Mr. Levy's wrath first hand. When he hired a lawyer to deal with the lack of heat and repairs to his apartment, he began to get intimidating messages on his answering machine. Mr. Cooper's lawyer, Douglas Kellner, said Mr. Levy even tried to hire him away, offering twice as much money for his services. "In 20 years of practice I've never seen anyone as brazen as this landlord," said Mr. Kellner, who says he has since received threaten ing phone calls from Mr. Levy.
Mr. Levy's lawyer, Todd Nahins, acknowledges that his client "has not been a stellar landlord, but he says he is trying to change. Rafi Levy is overseeing repair work, while Dror Levy is in Israel," he said. "The family," he added, "has spent $150,000 on improvements and hopes to address all court-ordered repairs by the end of July.
