Priest's Cafe Closes When NYC's Worst Landlord's Refuses Repairs

BEDFORD STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A nonprofit coffee shop that provides job training to the Bed-Stuy community was forced to close because the building's owner — who was named the worst landlord in New York City this year — refuses to make necessary repairs, cafe owners said.

Reconnect Cafe — a coffee shop that provides job training to young men who hail from Bed-Stuy — took to social media this week to shame Silvershore Properties into making necessary building repairs.

“Reconnect Cafe is temporarily CLOSED due to the slumlord who refuses to repair the building,” Father Jim O’Shea, the priest and social worker who runs the program, wrote on Instagram. “If you can do something to help, Please do.”

O’Shea, who launched Reconnect in 2014, said that the cafe at 139 Tompkins Ave. has been inhabitable for weeks because a leaking ceiling drips dirty water near the food area and a recent flood ruined the floors.

Silvershore Properties complained at the cost of the repairs and told O'Shea to be patient, he said. But meanwhile, the half-dozen young men who rely on Reconnect Cafe for work are going without paychecks.

"They’re not working during the holidays and it’s hard for them," said O'Shea.

The non-profit director took to social media to garner support for a coffee shop because he wanted "to show the guys you can have a fair fight."

"You don’t have to give up and you don’t have to get angry," O'Shea said. "There are ways to run a campaign."

Which is why O'Shea published the landlord and building manager's telephone numbers on social media with pleas for followers to call them.

“If you can do something to help, please do,” wrote O’Shea, next to the contact information for his landlord and management company. “Please help us by calling and lodging a complaint.”

This is not the first time Silvershore Properties has been called out for poor practices; Public Advocate Letitia James named the company — and its owner Jonathan Cohen — the worst landlord in New York City in 2017, and cited its building’s 1,090 open housing violations as proof.

And tenants in four Silvershore buildings in Sunset Park, Greenpoint and East Williamsburg sued the company in July, claiming that the landlord refused to address mice infestations, enormous trash heaps and heatless apartments in an attempt to force residents to take buy-outs.

Followers responded to O’Shea’s pleas with messages of support and promises to call up the landlord and plead on the coffee shop’s behalf.

"Such a shame," wrote one Facebook user. "I’ve loved this spot since its inception. I have so many memories in here and definitely wasn’t expecting this today since they’ve been doing great things for over 4 years."

"Praying for resolution," added stelorraine. "This mission is doing very important work."

Patch was unable to leave a message with Silvershore Properties because its voicemail box was full, but the woman who answered the management company’s phone said managers were “in the process for setting up an appointment with someone from the cafe.”

O'Shea confirmed that the Silvershore had promised to meet with the cafe owners on Monday and would discuss completing repairs or helping them to relocate.

"If I take him at his word, he’s making a good faith effort," O'Shea said. "But we’ve had words for a month."

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps