More than 100 tenants and community activists gathered outside of an East Village apartment complex on Monday evening to protest the landlord, who is allegedly forcing his tenants to move out within 60 days. The Village Voice reported that the protest took place outside of 58 East 3rd Street, one of the buildings where tenants say they received the landlord’s notice. Tenants who live in building numbers 50 and 54 say that they also received the same notification.
The landlord is Abe Haruvi, who has reportedly been accused of similar methods of evicting rent-stabilized tenants by claiming he needed their homes for personal use.
Sue Palchak, a resident of one of the buildings, told the Village Voice that the landlord “refused to give us an explanation” as to why she and her husband need to move out. “We’ve been getting threatening phone calls telling us that ‘there’d be trouble if we don’t leave’ lately.”
Palchak told the paper that her building is being put up for sale and that empty buildings could net Haruvi a higher price.
The paper did not specifically indicate whether they contacted Haruvi for comment. [Village Voice]