Inside the Battle to Save One of the Last SROs in the East Village

In 2022, Michael Geylik, the owner of 109 East Ninth Street, one of the few remaining single-room occupancy buildings in the East Village, told tenants that he needed to demolish their only communal kitchen to remedy a DOB violation from the '90s. Geylik, who had bought the building the prior year for $3.35 million, promised to build it back better, and the tenants were eager to do what Geylik said they needed to do to make that new kitchen a reality, they allege in a recent harassment lawsuit filed against him and his company. 

Geylik proceeded to tear out the kitchen, as well as one of their two communal showers and two of their four toilets, telling them all of the work was necessary to clear the violation, the tenants say. They say they then cooperated to help Geylik acquire a certificate of no harassment from the City's Housing and Preservation Department—a requirement for landlords of certain buildings, including SROs, before they can demolish or change the use of a building—believing him when he said he needed it to build the amenities back. 

Geylik got that certificate of no harassment in the spring of 2024, but the residents—some of whom pay as little as $155 per month—kept wondering when they would get their kitchen back.