Zara Vile

 

 QNS

During one of the hottest days in New York City on Thursday, July 27, Imran Patel, a Flushing resident at 140-60 Beech Ave. claimed that he and his family are facing eviction by Jamaica-based real estate company Zara Realty for putting an air conditioner in their apartment. 

“We’re in the middle of a heatwave here in NYC and they’re threatening to kick us out of our home because we want to be able to live in this heat,” Patel said. “They claim that we’re violating the lease, but nothing in the lease says that we can’t have an AC in the window. They gave us no warning — the super had even told me two years ago that it was fine, but two weeks ago we were given a notice that Zara wanted to evict us.” 

A spokesman for Zara Realty said Patel’s claims for not being able to have air conditioning in his apartment is false and is a safety concern. According to the company, the building has air conditioner sleeves and the tenant refused to install the air conditioner where it is supposed to be.

“Putting the air conditioner in the window is a significant risk to health and human safety as it could fall out of the window onto someone below causing serious injury or death,” the spokesman said. “The air conditioner sleeve is the appropriate, safest, and approved place for the air conditioner unit, not the window.”

Patel, who has been living at the apartment for 20 years, was joined by rent-stabilized tenants from two other buildings owned by Zara Realty (140-30 Ash Ave. and 140-50 Ash Ave.) at the July 27 press conference in calling out the company for alleged harassment of immigrant tenants, including asking for birth and marriage certifies, excessive fees for keys, and increasing rents by nearly $300 per month. 

“Zara has been continuously harassing us since they bought the building in 2019—there is no peace,” Patel said. “When Zara changed the locks, they only gave us one key for our family of five. We still only have one key. We have leaks and mold in our bathroom; the electrical outlets are loose and often don’t work.” 

“And I’m not the only one,” Patel continued. “They’ve started eviction cases against a few other families in the building for the same reason. I’ll fight back and I know I will win, but I also know that for every tenant like me, there’s another who would move out of fear because an eviction record can destroy your chance at finding a home.”

After two years, Maria Jenny Lopez, a tenant of 140-30 Ash Ave., was able to get a key for her brother who lives with her. Lopez claims she suffered harassment, including Zara employees on the fire escape taking pictures through her window. 

“Other tenants are still waiting for a key and are forced to pay up to $100. It’s outrageous for such a simple yet important thing. They are also asking us for marriage or birth certificates. This isn’t right. That is abuse. That is harassment,” Lopez said. 

Doug Ostling, a tenant organizer and resident of 140-50 Ash Ave., said he’s “sick and tired of Zara’s harassment tactics and attempts” to raise their rents. 

“This is our home. This is our community. We pay our rent just like everyone else, but Zara continues to harass us and treat us like pawns in their money-making schemes,” Ostling said. “They don’t make basic repairs and then try to raise our rent? Enough is enough. We just want to live peacefully and in safe and livable homes!” 

The tenants claim Zara is trying to unlawfully raise rents by filing Major Capital Improvement (MCI) applications with the NYS Department of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR), the state agency that oversees rent-stabilized buildings in New York. 

They’re calling on DHCR to deny Zara’s applications due to building disrepairs and apply the letter of the law which prohibits MCIs while certain violations exist. 

The tenants allege that there is a lack of heat and hot water, roaches and mice infestation in the hallway and basement, leaking roofs, broken garage chutes, and security cameras they can’t access. According to the tenants, Zara’s repairs include “patchwork jobs” that quickly fall back into disrepair.

 

Rent gouging developer behind latest luxury public housing tower in Jamaica

Queens Chronicle

Adjacent to Rufus King Park in Jamaica will be a new housing complex valued at $110 million, on which Zara Realty, a real estate firm that provides apartment units in Queens and Long Island, is expected to break ground very soon.

Ismael Leyva Architects and Monadnock Construction designed the project and are based in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively, according to the housing provider. The building will be energy efficient, have 223 units and a state-of-the-art HVAC system, nine stories and 218,000 square feet.

The apartment complex will be located at 153-10 88 Ave., a two-minute walk from the park, according to Google Maps.

The apartments will be studios to two-bedroom units with energy-saving appliances. Thirty percent will be affordable homes, while the remainder will be at market rate, according to Zara Realty.

The building will have a solar roof capable of producing 69 KW, a 169-space valet parking garage that has 10 electric vehicle chargers, a 1,272-square-foot fitness center, a 3,167-square-foot recreational space, a 5,449-square-foot roof terrace with gardens and seating areas and storage units.

There will also be a 6,480-square-foot community facility space on the ground floor.

“Manhattan has Central Park, Brooklyn has Prospect Park, and the beautiful and historically significant Rufus King Park is an absolute jewel for the people of Queens,” said Tony Subraj, co-managing partner for Zara Realty, in a statement. “Our company’s ethos centers on quality, well-located buildings that are a complementary part of the community. This has been a key part of Zara Realty’s success for the past four decades.”

Despite the company’s endeavors — it owns at least 2,500 rent-stabilized units in 45 buildings in Jamaica alone — it was hit with a civil suit in 2019 for allegedly charging thousands of low- and middle-income tenants with illegal fees and rents or requiring them to sell illegal leases, according to a 52-page complaint from Attorney General Tish James.

The real estate firm or affiliated entities have allegedly “spent years evading and circumventing rent stabilization laws in order to scam tenants out of thousands upon thousands of dollars,” said James.

Renters were allegedly asked to pay for keys, room reservations, advance rent and excessive security deposits that were three to four times the monthly rent, according to the complaint. Some tenants allegedly paid upwards of $11,000 simply to move into a rent-stabilized apartment.

Zara did cooperate with the Tenant Protection Unit and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to resolve any issues deemed “potentially unlawful involving rent regulation” but said that some allegations made in a civil suit were “inaccurate.” It also lost a bid to dismiss the lawsuit in 2020, according to the therealdeal.com, a real estate news outlet.

Assemblywoman doesn't do her homework

 

Queens Ledger

 On December 10th, 2020, a six-alarm fire ripped through six buildings at 109-25 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, destroying the homes and possessions of 12 families right before Christmas.

To help the 50 victims of the fire who were left homeless, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, representative of Assembly District 38, coordinated donation efforts along with Community Board 9 leaders, the Richmond Hill - South Ozone Park Lions Club, the Red Cross, and non-profit leaders and small businesses. 

Rajkumar converted her Woodhaven based office into a donation site, and donors quickly filled four rooms with food, clothes, and gift cards for the victims.

Among the donors was the Zara Realty Charitable Foundation and the George Subraj Family Foundation, two philanthropic organizations who continuously support their local community in various ways. Together, the organizations purchased and donated 13 laptops to the children of the affected families. 

With remote learning required during the pandemic, this donation will ensure they do not fall behind in their schoolwork. 

"Our team is proud to partner with Zara Realty Charitable Foundation and provide the students with the necessary technological tools for their education," said Rajkumar. 

“We are working every day to help the community through the pandemic. This work includes ensuring that education is not interrupted,” she said. “These Chromebooks will ensure that these children can continue to learn through remote learning.

“When we saw this fire tear through our community, we knew we needed to step up and help those who were impacted, including children who need to continue to complete their school work remotely,” said Tony Subraj, co-managing partner at Zara. “Residents of these buildings are lucky to have a representative as dedicated and hard-working on their behalf as Assemblywoman Rajkumar. We were happy to work with her to ensure that these families have access to the help they need.”

So Zara Realty is in the "philanthopy" game now after building a legacy of recidivist tenant harassment. It wasn't that long ago when they were charged for swindling tenants at one of their apartment buildings with onerous fees and charges in order to circumvent rent stabilization laws and when they threatened immigrant tenants by placing DHS placards in the hallway of another apartment building at the height of President Trump's ICE crackdowns to scare them into moving out of their rent control apartments.

Landlord threatens to call ICE on tenants

From the Daily News:

A landlord who’s faced past allegations of tenant harassment has posted signs touting a Department of Homeland Security tip line in some of his Queens buildings, which have unnerved some tenants.

Between President Trump’s push to deport undocumented residents and a spike in immigration raids, the Bangladeshi tenants of a Zara Realty apartment building on 168th St. in Jamaica are on edge.

“It’s to scare the people,” said Abukhar Hossain, whose family has lived at the nine-story brick address for 15 years.

A recent visit showed the DHS placards posted prominently at 168th St. and at another Zara-managed building a block away on 88th Ave.

Tenants at 168th St. said the signs have been up since Zara arrived in 2014. Tenants at 88th Ave. didn’t know when they first went up.

Hossain said he couldn’t say whether the signs at 168th St. resulted in DHS activity, but noted that at least one undocumented family was among several tenants who’ve moved out since Zara Realty took over.

Living in the crap of luxury

Just for laughs I had to include photos of The Park Haven apartment building (probably circa 1960's-70's) near King Manor Park, refurbished by the very questionable & shady real estate agency, Zara Realty (who has several violations with other apartment buildings in Jamaica). Now you wonder why would I include that. Well first off I am glad to see that these regular looking apartment buildings are a major step up from the new third world/ghetto crap apartments that are being built today all over Jamaica, BUT if you look closer at the sign it states "Luxury Apartments".

Only in Jamaica could a very questionable company such as Zara Realty pass off these regular apartments as "Luxury" and then probably charge an arm and a leg for them. I guess if for years you lived in a hut and you shit in a hole in the ground outside, then yes it would be considered "Luxury", but to pass these regular apartments off as "Luxury", please, as the 80's TV show was titled, GIVE ME A BREAK!

I guess that is the 24 hour doorman standing next to the authentic statue of a lion, which I guess the statue screams out "Luxury" as do those God awful big metal fences that look like headboards for beds that seem to be so prevalent in many of these new homes being built in Jamaica. Love the Z on the fence.
Joe Moretti