A New Contender For Worst NYC Landlords? The Ones Who Illegally Turned Two Condos into 20 Micro Units

We’re all used to small apartments, but the slicing and dicing of a former yeshiva on Manhattan’s Lower East Side is on a whole new level—literally.

Last week, building inspectors received a complaint alleging that illegal subdivisions had been erected to create additional apartments on the 6th and 7th floor of the building. When they arrived at 165 Henry Street, which is only a five-story building with 27 units, they discovered that two of the units on the upper floors were illegally divided into 20 cramped, single-occupancy micro-hovels.

But these weren’t just your average tiny, urban dwellings—some had ceilings as low as 4-and-a-half feet high. There was unpermitted electrical and plumbing work throughout the units, and no windows, sprinklers or fire safety systems in place. The micro-units also didn’t have sufficient egress—a serious danger in case of an emergency. 

According to the New York Post, authorities are still searching for owner of the first unit, who is facing up to $400,000 in fines if the 11 violations aren’t remedied in the next 45 days. The owner of the second unit lives in Maryland and also faces some $400,000 in potential fines.

“This is like the room out of the movie ‘Being John Malkovich,’” Manhattan Councilman Ben Kallos told the New York Post, who broke the story. “It was funny in fiction, but a horror story in real life.”

Gothamist reported that each illegal apartment was being rented out for $600 a month.

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe and legal place to live, which is why we’re committed to routing out dangerous firetraps and ordering the landlords to make these apartments safe,” a representative for the city told Apartment Therapy. “Tenants living in truncated windowless dwelling units like this poses an extreme hazard to their safety, as well as the safety of their neighbors, and first responders. Dangerous living conditions like this cannot be tolerated in our city, and we are holding these landlords accountable for their egregious failure to keep the building safe and livable for tenants.”