Attorney General Letitia James is urging Maimonides Medical Center to halt the planned evictions of nearly a dozen current and former health care workers from hospital housing that were greenlit by a judge last month.
Maimonides, based in Borough Park, got the okay from a Brooklyn civil court judge to evict 21 current and former employees from a hospital housing program it has operated for decades. The judge ruled that Maimonides was exempt from rent-stabilization rules that would have prevented the health system from raising its rents and evicting tenants, allowing it to evict employees as early as April 15.
The attorney general sent a letter to hospital leadership on Wednesday to request a temporary stay on the evictions. The letter was addressed to Maimonides’ President Kenneth Gibbs and Marc Blumenfrucht, managing member of Iris Holdings Group, which owns the buildings.
“I am deeply concerned that Maimonides is evicting its long-time employees who have dedicated their careers to serving our communities,” James said, adding that it was troubling that Maimonides and Iris have yet to find an alternative solution to evicting the tenants.
Maimonides bought buildings near its hospital campus in the 1970s as a part of a program to provide affordable housing to health care workers. The program’s original intent was to offer housing to active employees, but many of the tenants have since retired, the health system said. Financial challenges pushed the health system to get out of the housing business.
Maimonides sold seven of its buildings to Iris in 2018, but secured a master lease agreement that allowed it to continue to control and lease out the apartments. That master lease agreement was the reason why the judge ruled that the health system was exempt from rent-stabilization laws – a decision that the tenants have argued.
Sam Miller, a spokesman for Maimonides, said that the health system has met with other elected officials and community partners, and is “happy to meet with the Attorney General’s Office and city housing officials to explore what options are available for these tenants.”
Miller added that Maimonides, a safety-net hospital, is no longer able to sustain employee housing due to financial barriers and “must focus its scarce resources” on providing care. He added that the health system has provided more than $1 million in annual rent subsidies to some tenants while continuing to urge them to find alternate housing options.
But Meghan Walsh, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society who is representing the tenants, said that Maimonides has actually refused to accept rent from some tenants, and has denied their requests to secure a new lease. The Legal Aid Society filed a motion on Thursday to re-argue the case in hopes of pausing evictions and reversing the court’s ruling.
Amanda D'Ambrosio , 2024-03-22 10:33:04
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