The tenants of an apartment building in Brooklyn are worried about being forced out of their homes when it goes up for sale – and instead of selling to the highest bidder, they want the owner to sell it to them.
Joy Foster has been living at 63 Tiffany Place in Cobble Hill for 27 years – it’s where she raised three children – and if her home is sold, there is no plan B.
“If I have to leave, I will have to go where things are more affordable. And that is not New York City,” Foster said.
She joined other tenants and city leaders on Thursday to call on the building owner to sell the building to its tenants.
“So we really feel like we are simply, you know, pieces on a chessboard and not human beings to these people,” Foster said.
Once purchased for $5.3 million, the 85-unit property is home to mostly low-income families and the rent has been affordable through a federal 30-year tax agreement that is set to expire next year.
That means rents could soon go up significantly or the owner could sell the building — which could lead to hundreds of people being displaced.