Today, residents of 2201-05 Davidson Avenue celebrated a major victory for tenant organizing alongside Council Member Pierina Sanchez, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, and The Legal Aid Society.

After more than a decade of negligence, the building has completed the final step of the Third Party Transfer (TPT) program – removing ownership from Romad Realty, who owed more than $27 million in municipal arrears and was responsible for over 600 open hazardous and immediately hazardous housing code violations. 

“We celebrate the transfer of 2201-05 Davidson Avenue through the TPT program—a major victory for the tenants we’ve represented for nearly a decade,” said Russell Crane, an attorney in the Housing Justice Unit – Group Advocacy at Legal Aid. “This marks the end of years of neglect, including broken elevators, heat and water outages, and hazardous conditions.”

Legal Aid continues its fight against the building’s former owners, David Kornitzer and Dov Guttman, in the form of a contempt motion to push for legal consequences that will deter similar unscrupulous landlords.