Landlord hit for $500G in renter harass

A BIG LANDLORD in gentrifying neighborhoods will pay $500,000 to settle accusations of harassing rent-regulated tenants with disruptive construction.

Icon Realty Management on Wednesday settled with a citystate task force created by Gov. Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Mayor de Blasio.

Rent-regulated tenants told the task force that Icon was trying to drive them out of Lower East Side, East Village and Brooklyn buildings by tearing up common areas and ignoring repair requests.

The task force, which includes the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal, found unsafe conditions that included collapsed ceilings, water leaks and construction dust in common areas.

Icon falsely claimed that buildings with tenants that were undergoing construction were unoccupied and hired contractors who did substandard work, the task force found.

Tenants endured long periods without heat, hot water and cooking gas, and at times Icon issued rent demands to tenants who had already paid up.

“Too often, bad landlords see rent-regulated apartments as a gold mine, looking to make a quick buck by using construction to harass tenants out of their homes,” Schneiderman said.