Ensuring the Safety of Residents of 85 Bowery

Our team has been working every day for months to make 85 Bowery safe and to correct dangerous conditions which predated our ownership, and which caused the Department of Buildings to order the building repaired because the “public is at risk.” Our expenditures so far have included an architect selected by the tenants with whom we and the DOB have been working on a plan to rehabilitate the apartments, work which we expect to finish as soon as the building is safe.

The massive staircase spanning the full height of the property, which was literally wrenching apart, leaving the building structurally unstable, has been replaced. Dozens of floor joists that support almost every floor of the building which were almost entirely deteriorated and put the building at risk of collapse, have also been replaced. Other dangerous conditions we only discovered when we were able to get access to the apartments, including unpermitted partitions which contributed to dangerously overcrowded conditions, and blocked windows, are being addressed.

Throughout this time, we have provided quality hotel accommodations in Chinatown at our expense for families of 85 Bowery to ensure they are able to remain in the local community while the work continues. Additionally, we are providing storage space for the residents’ belongings.

We are continuing to advance this work each day and continue to provide ongoing updates on the status of our progress to city officials and the Court which ordered the initial inspection. We are disappointed that some have misguidedly misrepresented our efforts and those of the involved City agencies, especially the Department of Buildings, to return the residents to the building as quickly as possible. Despite that, we continue to work on an agreement with the tenants, and hope that we will finally be able to reach one soon.

We have made real progress and are doing everything we can to bring this unfortunate situation to resolution.