Thomas Breen photo
Judge John Cirello Tuesday in housing court.
One of the city’s largest landlords agreed to pay $500 in fines related to a suite of housing code violations at properties that have subsequently been repaired.
That landlord is Shmuel Aizenberg of Ocean Management. Ocean, a property management company, controls hundreds of low-income apartments and millions of dollars worth of apartments across the city.
Aizenberg appeared in state housing court on the third floor of 121 Elm St. Tuesday morning for his third and final court appearance for three separate criminal housing cases.
Those cases stemmed from various housing code violations found by the city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) over the past year at two Ocean Management-controlled properties in Dixwell and Newhallville.
Having struck a deal with the state prosecutor’s office and having completed the necessary fixes at those properties, Aizenberg pleaded guilty to two municipal ordinance violations under state statute 7 – 148(c)(10). That’s a generic section of state law that empowers municipalities to enforce regulations by issuing warnings, citations, and penalties of up to $250 per violation.
Aizenberg also agreed to pay $250 fines for each of the two cases, resulting in $500 in total.
The state agreed to nolle the rest of criminal housing charges in those cases, effectively putting to bed these three cases against Aizenberg.
Shmuel Aizenberg, attorney Ian Gottlieb, and state prosecutor Donna Parker.
“All the work has been brought into compliance, and the city attests” that the repairs have been done, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Parker said on Tuesday.
In her recitation of the “factual basis” for these three charges, Parker said that LCI found “several problems” at these two properties — 55 Carmel St. and 76 Thompson St. — “from debris to smoke detectors not being available, carbon monoxide [detectors not available], and certain repairs to ceilings and the building itself.”
“All the repairs have been made,” she repeated, “to Livable City’s finding him in compliance” with the city housing code.
After talking Aizenberg through his rights, state Superior Court Judge John Cirello accepted the two pleas and the state’s nolle.
“The court finds that the defendants’ pleas are knowingly and voluntarily made, with the assistance of competent counsel,” he said. “There’s a factual basis for the plea. The plea is accepted, and the finding of guilty entered.”
Aizenberg: All repairs are done. Planning to meet with LCI soon to talk process.
After the five-minute hearing, Aizenberg stressed to the Independent that all of the housing code issues found by LCI in these cases have now been addressed.
He said that his company was finally able to schedule a reinspection with LCI and a tenant at one of the properties last Friday. When LCI came, he said, they quickly signed off on the problems in question as fixed. He also said that Ocean has “gut renovated” 55 Carmel St.‘s first-floor bathroom — which the Independent found earlier this month had cracked tiles coated in what looked like mold. (That bathroom was not included in the original LCI housing code violation order that ultimately led to Aizenberg’s prosecution in housing court in this case.)
Aizenberg also repeated a critique of LCI that he (and other local landlords in the comments section of this article) offered after a previous hearing: “LCI needs to be more communicative” with landlords.
He said he plans to sit with officials from LCI in the coming days to talk through the housing code inspection process as it exists today, and open up clearer lines of communication between Ocean and the city.
“Something has to change,” he said.