GET OUT

Kushner’s Family Real-Estate Firm Accused of Forcing Out Tenants

Residents say they were pushed out with rent hikes and noisy construction.

More than a dozen residents of a Kushner Cos. building in Brooklyn say relentless noisy construction and rent hikes of $500 a month were part of a concerted campaign to push tenants out of rent-stabilized apartments and bring in high-paying condo buyers. According to the Associated Press, more than 250 rent-stabilized apartments—75 percent of the building—were emptied or sold over the past three years as the Kushner Cos. was converting the building to luxury condos, bringing in more than $155 million in sales. Current and former residents said hammering and drilling began shortly after the company bought the building—it would start early in the morning and go on until nightfall, regardless of complaints. “They won, they succeeded,” said Barth Bazyluk, who left an apartment with his wife and baby daughter in December. “You have to be ignorant or dumb to think this wasn’t deliberate.” In a statement, the Kushner Cos. acknowledged it received complaints about construction during major renovations, which ended in December 2017, but said that it responded to them immediately and that “tremendous care was taken to prevent dust and inconvenience to tenants.” It said many tenants moved out when their rent was increased to the maximum allowed under rent-stabilization rules. On Monday, a New York agency announced that it would launch an investigation into whether the Kushners violated state housing laws and regulations.