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Families in Bath Beach are demanding they be allowed back in their homes after they were forced out nearly eight months ago. Six families at 150 Bay 22nd St. in Bath Beach, who all resided in rent-stabilized apartments, say the problems began after a new landlord took over the property last August - and they're worried that landlord may have done intentional damage to the building. "He opened up the walls on the outside of the building, he made a big hole on the front left it open," said one tenant. According to the Department of Buildings, a 311 complaint about the holes was filed last October. An inspection later found the building was in a "state of disrepair" and the landlord received a violation for "failure to maintain the building." Another inspection took place last November and officials found the building was in danger of collapsing. That led to a full vacate order that the DOB says was violated by both the tenants and landlord. Once all tenants were forced out, the owners of the building filed to have the building torn down. Those tenants are now fighting in the state Supreme Court to keep the building from being demolished - and their attorney says it's for good reason. "Our tenants will lose their rent stabilization rights if this building is demolished. And those are rights they have had for 30 years," said Legal Aid Society attorney Emily Eaton, who is representing the tenants. A man who was identified by local residents as an owner was approached by News 12 at the building but declined to comment. News 12 also reached out to the attorney for Bay 22 Street Group LLC, the group that manages the building, and is waiting for a response. The Department of Buildings provided the following statement: “Protecting the public from unsafe building conditions is one of our highest priorities, which is why we are working to set up a new proactive building inspection unit here at the Department to compel building owners to fix their buildings before an incident occurs. When our inspectors find conditions at a building that are posing an immediate life safety threat to occupants, we have to vacate the building to protect the lives of those inside until the landlord can make the necessary repairs. Our vacate orders are not a permission slip for landlords to permanently displace their rent-regulated tenants, and we are in close coordination with our partners at HPD to prevent that from happening in this case. We have worked to ensure that the tenants were able to get inside of the building to obtain their belongings, and are now working to compel the landlord to make the needed repairs.” The DOB also says that when the incident took place, Housing Preservation and Development was at the scene to provide emergency shelter in hotel rooms for the families who opted in, which included 22 adults and 8 children. Households from this building who still need temporary housing can call the EHS hotline at 212-863-7660 and leave a message. "
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