'Kushner Village' tenants sue to block paying rent until fire system concerns are met [View all]

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Washington (CNN)A group of tenants filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Kushner Companies of illegally collecting rent and creating dangerous living conditions by failing to maintain working fire sprinkler systems in four New York City apartment buildings.

The tenants in "Kushner Village" in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan want a state judge to block Kushner Companies from collecting rent and force it to complete work on the sprinklers and other fire safety measures.

"I'm more concerned about a fire starting now than I used to be," said Daniel Porvin, who has lived in one of the buildings for about 35 years and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "The sprinkler in the hallway is outside my unit. They're not even capped. They're an open pipe," he said. "There's no water in the pipes."

Kushner Companies, the lawsuit states, "have circumvented fire safety and other protections required by the [Department of Buildings] including: failing to install operable sprinklers throughout the Subject Buildings; failing to legalize the height of the existing boiler chimney that services all four buildings; and other fire egress conditions that threaten the lives and safety of the Plaintiffs."

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