First the facts: A new lawsuit brought by Legal Services NYC – Bronx will attempt to place responsibility for deplorable conditions at buildings owned by private equity investor Milbank Real Estate to the Trustee, Wells Fargo. At a press conference in front of one of 10 buildings owned by the troubled investor and part of a huge commercial mortgage backed security, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and Councilman Fernando Cabrera joined tenants, organizers and lawyers to announce the filing of the lawsuit. As opposed to trying to impersonate a journalist (I’m the deputy director of University Neighborhood Housing Program, a nonprofit), I’d like to give some background to the situation and explain why the lawsuit, if successful, could be extremely significant nationwide.
