Uninhabitable 3 part question

[petriskr]

1) Without informing us our LL is gutting the apartment below us and we now have a layer of dust and debris over everything in our apartment. There is dust in the air constantly as well. In addition, they are gutting the stairwell, leaving debris (rusty nails, metal framing from the plaster and sharp boards). His secretary said they would clean our apartment (to placate me) but this never occurred.

What action can we take about this?

2) We have a a leak in our roof that goes down through to our kitchen and bathroom. For 3 years the leak has never been repaired properly. We ask to get this fixed and it falls on deaf ears.

What recourse can we take for this?

3) Our heat and hot water goes out form time to time, we report this to the NYC heat hotline everytime it happens.

Could we get a lawyer and sue for our apartment being uninhabitable? What else can we do?

[joliett]

Under a provision of state law called the "Warranty of Habitability," tenants are entitled to an apartment fit for human habitation without any conditions endangering or detrimental to their life, health, or safety.

Consequently, all tenants, regardless of rent regulation status, are eligible to seek repairs and rent abatements for violations of this Warranty of Habitability.