Packing Up

Out with the old, in with the new. That's the controversial tactic some say is being used by one of New York's largest owners of rent-stabilized apartments.

The NY Daily News reports that the Pinnacle Group LLC continues to carry out an aggressive campaign to chase out its low-income tenants — many of them here in Harlem. In fact, Pinnacle has filed more than 5,000 Housing Court eviction actions in the past two years. Once an apartment becomes vacant, Pinnacle typically renovates the unit, then sharply increases the rent — often to double or triple the previous rate.

"They have become the leading force for gentrification in northern Manhattan," says Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights). "My office is being overwhelmed by complaints from families being crushed by this company."

The growing threat of displacement has sparked a huge backlash from hundreds of Pinnacle residents and local political leaders in a half-dozen neighborhoods.

State Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Harlem) joined with a newly formed anti-Pinnacle group, Buyers and Renters United to Save Harlem (BRUSH), to picket the company's midtown headquarters last month. BRUSH has sponsored several neighborhood meetings in recent weeks that have drawn hundreds of irate Pinnacle tenants.