NYC Chinatown SRO Tenants Win Legal Battle to Stay In Their Homes

posted 8/7/08

After over two years of struggle, tenants at 81 Bowery Street in Chinatown won a major victory. A judge has decided that all the tenants in the single-room occupancy (SRO) building can stay in their homes!

Tenants in 81 Bowery, a SRO building in Chinatown, won a major victory in June when a judge dismissed the landlord’s case against all the tenants.

In 2006, all the tenants were served with legal papers that challenged whether the space was for residential use. Many having lived there for more than 10 years, and some for more than 20 years, the tenants knew immediately that this was a ruse to get them out of their homes. If the landlord had issues with tenants living there, then why was he illegally converting empty rooms into hotel rooms and charging people $50-$80 a night to stay there?

With the support of the Chinatown Tenants Union (CTU) and MFY Legal Services working on the lawsuit, the tenants organized, refused buy-out offers and made consensus agreements to fight the landlord.

After two years, a state judge finally made the decision that all the tenants had a right to stay in their homes and dismissed the case. CTU will now continue to work with the tenants around improving their housing conditions and fight the landlord on rooms that have been illegally converted to hotel rooms.