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NEW YORK – Pounding and drilling began a few months after Jared Kushner's family-run family business purchased a converted warehouse building in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Renters say that it started early in the morning. nightfall, so strong that she drowned a normal conversation, so violent that it made the walls vibrate. So much dust floated through the ducts and under the doors that she covered the beds and clothes in the closets.
More than a dozen current and former residents of the building told The Associated Press that they believed that the construction of Kushner Cos., As well as rents rises $ 500 per month or more were used. As part of a campaign to move tenants away from rent-stabilized apartments and attract buyers of well-paid condos.
In the affirmative, this campaign has been remarkably successful. An investigation by the AP revealed that in the last three years, more than 250 apartments stabilized by rent – 75 percent of the building – were either dumped or sold while the Kushner Cos was in the process to convert the building into luxury condominiums. These sales have so far totaled more than $ 155 million, an average of $ 1.2 million per apartment.
"They won, they succeeded," says Barth Bazyluk, who left with his wife and granddaughter in December. "You must be ignorant or stupid to think that it was not deliberate."
This close look at one of Kushner Cos's largest residential buildings in New York illustrates what critics describe as the company's sharp elbows in commercial practices while it was led by the son-in-law of President Donald Trump and the prospective White House advisor, Jared Kushner.
Judge Kushner told the AP that he was not harbading any renters to get them out. But the data suggests that the Austin Nichols House building's business figure was significantly higher than the city averages for the stabilized rents, leaving behind a trail of anger, disturbed lives and a complaint filed Monday according to which tenants would be harbaded. "We have investigated hundreds of buildings stabilized by rent and this is one of the worst we've ever seen," says Aaron Carr, head of tenure monitoring Housing Rights Initiative. In a statement, Justice Kushner acknowledged that he had received complaints about construction work, which ended in December 2017, but responded that they responded immediately and that "extreme precautions were taken to avoid dust and inconvenience for tenants ". many tenants moved when their rent was increased to the maximum allowed by the rent stabilization rules.
The city's construction department says it has sent inspectors building dozens of times since 2015 and found no evidence of construction rules were violated, a finding that some residents say does not match their experiences.
When Jared Kushner and two partners bought the former Wild Turkey bourbon warehouse for $ 275 million in April 2015, they made it clear that they wanted to convert the complex's 338 apartments – all stabilized into rent – in condos. All but nine have been busy, and apart from increasing rent increases, developers have few tools if they want to take out tenants.
Months after the purchase, the Kushners began renovations, ripping off appliances, floors and counters. "There were always people in the hall early, 8 or so, hitting things, tearing down the walls," says technician Marcus Carvalho, who left the building in December. "I did not want to spend another minute in this construction zone, not at all."
A few weeks after Carvalho's departure, Jane Coxwell could no longer absorb the noise
. direction, "says Coxwell, a chef who works late at night and writes at home during the day. "It was impossible to take a call, you could never sit down and read a book or do any work."
Dust samples taken in May by consultants Olmsted Environmental Services revealed levels dangerously high levels of lead and crystalline silica, which can cause cancer. The ongoing $ 10 million lawsuit alleges that Kushner Cos and his partners have attempted to repel tenants by creating unbearable conditions with noise and dust in violation of state laws and laws and the city. He also alleges that the Kushners, by failing to take proper precautions, exposed residents to a "cloud of smoke and toxic dust".
Justice Kushner disputed the findings of the environmental report, alleging that it was an updated version of a report prepared several years ago. The company did not respond immediately when asked to comment on the lawsuit.
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Burke brought back from San Francisco. AP researchers Jennifer Farrar and Randy Herschaft contributed to this report.
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