The owners of Flatbush Gardens apartment complex were fined for exposing maintenance workers to pools of raw sewage, asbestos and other dangerous conditions.
The feds haveĀ slapped an accused East Flatbush slumlord with fines for exposing maintenance workers to pools of raw sewage, asbestos and other dangerous conditions.
The owners of the sprawling Flatbush Gardens apartment complex were hit with 20 violations and will be fined up to $51,100 by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA inspectors found basements flooded with raw sewage that workers had to wade through without any protective equipment, agency officials said. They added that workers had to strip lead paint and dry wall using toxic chemicals without proper training, and were were never warned that pipes at the complex were full of asbestos.
“Our inspectors found workers exposed to a variety of health and safety hazards while performing their duties,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s Manhattan-area director. “The violations uncovered are basic safety and health issues that should have been addressed and were not.”
There were also dangling electric wires, holes in the floor and other hazards, according to OSHA.
Employees at the 59-building complex have been locked out since November after they refused to accept a 30% pay cut, but they complained to the feds about working conditions last year before the lockout started.
“The basement had a lot of raw sewage, a lot of water. Rodent feces was floating in the basement,” said Lucien Clarke, 46, a handyman. “I had to walk through it.”
A lawyer for landlord David Bistricer’s Renaissance Equity Holdings said the company would fight the charges.
“Flatbush Gardens management is taking appropriate measures to address this matter responsibly and cooperatively,” said lawyer Robert Wolf.
“No prior violations have ever been found at Flatbush Gardens and none of the citations issued were classified as willful or repetitive,” Wolf said. “We contest the allegations and fully expect a favorable resolution.”
But Kyle Bragg, vice president of Local 32BJ, which represents the workers, said the findings “are more proof that the owners of Flatbush Gardens have no regard for the health and safety of their workers or the welfare of their tenants.
“The workers, who are now locked out, have for years voiced concerns about deteriorating structural conditions at the complex; their concerns have been ignored by the building’s owners,” Bragg said.