Hell's Kitchen tenants form two unions, one in buildings without cooking gas for nearly two years

Tenants in two groups of Hell's Kitchen buildings have launched unions over the past eight days, with backing from the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants, to press their landlords for repairs. In one of them, residents of 408 W. 56th St. say they have gone more than 700 days without cooking gas, City Limits and W42ST reported.

The Haruvi-Hungerford buildings

• Who: the Haruvi-Hungerford Tenants' Union represents tenants in 31 buildings owned by Arthur Haruvi and Peter Hungerford, City Limits reported. Members say a majority of tenants in 10 Hell's Kitchen buildings in the portfolio have signed on.
• The rally: tenants in matching blue T-shirts gathered outside 408 W. 56th St. on Saturday, Nov. 7, with city officials, according to both outlets. City Limits put the cooking-gas outage at 722 days.
• Conditions: there are 357 open housing code violations across the 478 apartments facing foreclosure, according to an analysis by Housing Conservation Coordinators cited by City Limits. Tenants also report hot water outages and pests.
• Foreclosure: the larger portfolio faces foreclosure over $173 million in outstanding loans, W42ST reported. Some of the buildings are part of a Housing Rights Initiative class action accusing Hungerford's PH Realty Capital of overcharging tenants in 18 buildings by $15 million, according to City Limits.

Hungerford told City Limits that a lawsuit and ownership dispute within the Haruvi family pushed the buildings into foreclosure, which left no money to fix the gas line after Con Edison work forced a shutoff two years ago. He said he has been talking with the union since receiving its letter on Nov. 1 and is willing to work with it. Tenants said they hope to meet with him in the coming weeks, and want a say in who buys the buildings if they are sold.

West 47th Street

A second union, the West 47th St. Tenants Union, says it has majority support in nine buildings between Eighth and Ninth avenues owned by landlord David Ohebshalom, and is pressing for action on rats, mice and other pests and on basic maintenance, City Limits reported. The group planned to launch Saturday, Nov. 14, with Cea Weaver, who leads the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants; CBS New York reported Saturday on tenants launching a union over poor conditions. Big Apple Management said in a statement to City Limits that it is "actively investing" in immediate relief and long-term upgrades at the buildings.

What the city can do

Charlie Dulik of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants told City Limits that the city can coordinate code enforcement, join tenants at the bargaining table or act as a go-between with the landlord. The tenants have not asked the city to help steer their buildings to a preferred buyer, but the office would "absolutely" discuss it, he said. Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act on Nov. 10, which gives some city-approved buyers an early chance to bid on distressed rental buildings (our earlier coverage). The city's last attempt, backing a nonprofit's bid for 38 East Harlem buildings, ended with the portfolio heading to foreclosure auction.

Tenants with repair problems can report conditions such as no heat, hot water or gas, or pests, through 311.