Spitzer, Johnson Clean Up Bronx Building Plagued By Drugs

Attorney General Spitzer and Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson today announced a new "Clean Sweep" agreement that will help a Bronx neighborhood plagued by heroin and crack dealing.

Under the agreement, the landlord of a major apartment building will implement new measures designed to stop illegal drug activity and improve security. The building, which is across the street from a playground and near a public school, has been the site of dozens of arrests for heroin and crack dealing.

"Drugs destroy lives and doom neighborhoods," Spitzer said. "This new agreement will help reclaim a residential area, improving the lives of hundreds of Bronx residents."

District Attorney Johnson said: "We have long held property owners' feet to the fire regarding their accountability concerning public safety issues arising from the illegal activities of their tenants. This new agreement builds upon the work of our Narcotics Eviction Unit, which began more than a decade ago, and should improve the unit's effectiveness in ridding buildings of problem tenants."

The six story, 106 unit building, is located at 2427 Webster Avenue in the Fordham section of the Bronx. The District Attorney's office has identified the building, neighboring a playground and one block north of P.S. 85, as among the most drug-infested buildings in the borough. During the last three years, there have been at least 50 criminal convictions involving the sale and purchase of heroin and crack cocaine at the building.

The agreement, the first of its kind in New York City, is a continuation of the Attorney General's statewide "Clean Sweep" drug-house initiative, a cooperative venture with local law enforcement to hold certain landlords accountable for drug activity on their property. In previous cases, the Attorney General has brought either civil suits or reached settlements which have reduced drug traffic at target locations in Albany, Utica, Newburgh and Mount Vernon.

Spitzer said: "Once drug dealers seize control of a building, it can be extremely difficult to drive them out through arrests and prosecutions alone. Our "Clean Sweep" strategy allows us to reinforce traditional law enforcement with civil actions to improve safety and quality of life for the building's residents."

Under the agreement, the managing partners of the building, Joseph Yasgur and Joseph Gershonov of 2427 Webster Avenue Associates, must take a variety of measures on behalf of the buildings owners, including:

• Evicting known drug-dealing tenants, including any tenant identified by the Bronx District Attorney's Narcotics Eviction Unit to be a drug offender;
  
  
• Conducting a thorough occupancy survey to improve information on who is authorized to be in the building;
  
  
• Adding language to house rules and new leases stating that committing a drug offense within 200 feet of the building is alone grounds for eviction;
  
  
• Screening new applicants for criminal history and barring from tenancy persons who have been convicted within the last five years of a narcotics offense;
  
  
• Securing vacant apartments from unauthorized entry;
  
  
• Cooperating with efforts of law-enforcement agencies; and
  
  
• Submitting regular progress reports to the Attorney General.
  
  

Spitzer commended Yasgur and Gershonov for working with his office to implement the changes.

The case was handled by the Attorney General's Harlem Regional Office, Guy Mitchell, Assistant Attorney General in-Charge; and Assistant Attorney General Brian Stettin.

Spitzer's office is working on a number of additional Clean Sweep actions across the state. The Attorney General has also proposed legislation that would enhance the ability of landlords, tenants and law enforcement agencies to use the courts to combat drug enterprises in housing. The legislation would establish a legal presumption of the existence of an illegal business at a location where there have been two drug sale convictions within one year.