Chinatown Tenants Claim Landlord Is Letting Building Fall Apart To Force Them Out

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- About 30 tenants of a six-story building in Chinatown claim their health and safety are in jeopardy, and they are looking to the city for help.

Tenants of 83-85 Bowery claim bathroom floors are in danger of collapsing, stairs are slanted, the building is infested with rats, and they recently had no gas service for 40 days, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.

Listen to Chinatown Tenants Claim Landlord Is Letting Building Fall Apart To Force Them Out

Tenants believe landlord Joseph Betesh is letting the building deteriorate to force them out, so he can turn the building into higher-priced units.

"We will not be moved," tenants chanted during a rally Monday.

"The bathroom is leaking every day," one tenant said through a translator. "My children go to school here. Where do they want our family to move?"

Tenants are demanding all hazards be immediately repaired and that the city go after the landlord.

1010 WINS has reached out to Betesh for comment and is awaiting a response.