Tenants At Manhattan Building Upset With Gate Installed On Stoop

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- They say good fences make good neighbors, but at least one gate is getting the thumbs down from some Manhattan residents.

As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, it's an easy five steps up to the front door of Peter's building on West 109th Street near Broadway.

But he said he's growing to hate the wrought-iron gate at the bottom of the stoop.

"You feel like you're in jail...it's just kind of unfriendly," Peter said.

A spokesman for one of the landlords of the property said the gate was installed in response to tenant complaints about people hanging out, and partly to add another layer of safety.

Mike, however, doesn't like the gates and doesn't buy into the reasoning.

"Well if it's tenant safety then how come half of the knobs and the doors on these don't close properly," he said. "So what's that keeping out?"

Peter said with all the cameras along the street, he doesn't see the danger.

"It would be one thing if they were hanging out selling drugs or something, but right now on this block they're not. And they got all these cameras anyway," he said.

Tom McCarthy said he believes the gate is part of an ongoing effort to get low-paying tenants to leave.

"Oh that was definitely the plan from the get-go, that was definitely the plan," he said. "But there's no way I'm going to leave."

Mike added he feels it's just another barrier that's keeping the block from feeling like a neighborhood.

As CBS2's Sonia Rincon reported, the landlord said they were put in place to prevent loitering. Martha Reyes said it's done that in a good way.

"So we don't find it negative. If we're the ones that have to go up with bags, and you have to get a lot of people off the steps," Reyes said.

While tenants have mixed feelings about the gates many would agree that the landlord has done other things to make life more difficult, especially for the residents who have been here for a long time and pay lower rent. The state attorney general's office has heard all about it.

Attorney General Eric Schneidermann has sent Orbach a letter warning them about harassing tenants.

Justin Bates has lived in the neighborhood for 14 years.

"They keep claiming people don't live here. People who've been here 60 years. People who were born in these apartments. And they've brought suits against them claiming they don't live here," Bates said.

Many have gotten help from the Goddard Riverside Community Center and organizer Larry Wood.

"Putting those gates on the stoop is, I find it offensive," Wood said.

He said it's just the tip of the iceberg.

"The litigation, the threatening notes, having investigators out there, having cameras in smoke detectors monitoring people's apartments to see when they're coming and going. That's far more threatening to tenants," Wood said.

Wood has helped bring claims to attorney general's office.

"As our letter to Orbach tenants in the Columbia area makes clear, we are actively investigating this matter," the office said.

A spokesman said the attorney general will take action against any landlord who uses illegal tactics to force rent regulated tenants out of their homes.

CBS2 reached out to the Orbach group and it's attorney, but has yet to receive a response.