Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh is asking the state supreme court to appoint a receiver to take control of four large properties owned by Green National. It’s the latest move against the company that city officials say continues to neglect several hundred tenants who live at the run-down properties.
City lawyers want a receiver to take over rent collection and management of the troubled properties, including the Skyline, the Vincent, The James, and Chestnut Crossing. Mayor Walsh says they also want Green National to pay one million dollars to be invested back into the properties.
“That's how we've gotten to this point is that the owners have collected rents and have not put sufficient funds back into these properties to address every day and ongoing maintenance issues," Walsh said. "That's why we've continued to have problems with everything from the elevators, to the boilers to security and the many other problems that we've had at these properties for many years.
Walsh calls the request an extraordinary but necessary move on behalf of tenants, whom he met with at the Skyline. Residents at at the 352 unit complex have had limited access to hot water for at least three weeks. Director of Code enforcement Jake Dishaw says they’ve had little success in forcing Green National to comply with previous orders from the city or state attorney general.
“[It’s] not fast enough for the people that live here," Dishaw said. "You wouldn't go without heat or hot water in your home. And we don't expect anybody that lives here to have to go through that, either.”
Mayor Walsh says they’ve applied every tool in their toolkit to hold the owner accountable.
“We’ll see certain improvements in some areas, and then they always fall back. And so any progress that's made is quickly lost. And again, that's what has led us to this extraordinary step.”
Juanita Nanowsky has lived at Chestnut Crossing for ten years. She says service and maintenance clearly went downhill when Green national bought the property.
“The laundry room is disaster. People sleep in it," Nanowsky said. "The door is broken. They repair nothing. You call, they don’t answer, you get ‘please leave message, voice box full.’ We went 60 hours without water, heat, and help around Christmas. I melted snow to flush my toilet.”
Even so, Nanowsky says at age 85, she doesn’t want to move. She’s optimistic that the city’s latest action will result in improved maintenance and service. Meanwhile, tenants are pursuing a class action lawsuit against Green National.
