Posts tagged handymen
NYC apartment buildings could get stinky and gross if the workers that serve them go on strike, union reps warn
April 9, 2026 // Over a million New Yorkers could soon see crucial services in their apartment buildings disappear as tens of thousands of unionized doorpersons, porters, superintendents, handypersons and resident managers prepare to walk off the job later this month if their demands aren’t met. Luis Ayala, a union strike captain and overnight porter who has been in the building service industry for around five years, said the labor contract the real estate industry was offering stinks — and the stench of an odious labor dispute will be one that apartment dwellers will experience if a strike happens. “After a few days, the building is going to stink;
Unions call on lawmakers to tackle affordable housing
April 17, 2024 // Michael Heller, president of the Association of Riverdale Cooperatives & Condominiums, said he was happy to see the strike averted. “We’re delighted this was avoided and we hope our co-op boards and our co-op leadership can continue to have a productive relationship with their unionized employees for a full three more years,” Heller said. In a statement, realty board president Billy Schur said rising interest and insurance rates, vacancies, and other issues arising from the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act were to blame for a hostile environment for property owners throughout the borough. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz disagreed. “That’s a lot of nonsense,” Dinowitz said. “They’ve been bellyaching about the HSTPA for the past five years. But they certainly didn’t complain when the laws were so heavily skewed toward landlords, when they were making money hand over fist.” The root of the problem, Dinowitz said, is rents are too high. “The solution to everything is not necessarily in Albany,” he said.