I've been lurking these boards since I moved to NYC a year ago, from a region of the country where there are strong tenant rights ordinances and relationships with your LL are personable. Now I need your help to resolve a problem.
I'm subleasing an apartment on the top floor of a six-story, ~60-unit co-op in Brooklyn. Last week, I noticed someone on the fourth floor has installed an A/C in their fire escape window, which clearly blocks my egress should the worst happen.
I've tried to make contact with the offending tenants, to no avail (they won't answer their door).
I then contacted my super, a great (and overworked) guy, who told me that the NYFD has already been by: they cited the offending tenants and forcibly removed the A/C from the window, but the tenants reinstalled it. The super now seems resigned to the situation.
So I contacted my LL (a nice Hispanic lady who originally bought the place to move her parents up from Mexico, but health issues foiled that plan, hence my two-year sublease). She is very reticent to contact the management company because she's gotten racist vibes off of them. (She's the first Hispanic to own in this building.)
Then I called management myself, who told me they were aware of the problem and taking care of it, and that it was "ridiculous" to call 311 about it. I, too, have had nothing but disrespectful interactions with management in the past, and there are ongoing building issues (leaky roof and pipes) to which they have been dismissive.
Nonetheless, I called 311 and got transferred to the NYFD fire prevention hotline. Left a message, heard nothing back. I followed up with a mailed complaint to the NYFD, using the appropriate form, including pictures (from street-level and from the fire escape landing) illustrating the A/C's placement and how it blocks egress.
Normally, I am a relatively easygoing tenant, but this is a potentially life-threatening situation. What are my next steps if nothing is done? Do I have a Warranty of Habitability claim? From my research, it would seem that I could institute proceedings against the LL — but this is a building situation, as the violation isn't occurring inside my apartment, and thus the LL wouldn't seem to have much recourse here.
Any advice you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated....