NEW YORK — It was in 2003 that Ms. Donna Lewis first noticed a strange smell at her restaurant, Home Sweet Harlem Café on West 135th Street in Manhattan. It was not until in 2004 when someone broke off the lock on her neighbor's basement that she found out what it was.
"There was six and a half feet deep of raw sewage," said Lewis, whose landlord is now telling her she has to leave for not paying rent.
Lewis says the stench made her lose customers and shut down on numerous occasions, severely hurting her ability to earn money.
The smell continued to emit from the sewage-filled basement and could be smelled four blocks away, said Lewis. A local school sent Lewis a letter about the smell and said they would consider doing their catering elsewhere.
ALDO Properties III owns the commercial strip on 135th Street where Home Sweet Harlem is located. Among the owners is Alex DiLorenzo, who was criminally charged in connection with the Happyland Club fire in 1990 which killed nearly 90 people. DiLorenzo did not return Lewis's calls and only took care of the waste pipeline problem—as well as other structural problems—after she took him to court.
"I just want him to take care of the building and I'll make money and do what I need to do," said Lewis.
The waste problem has been resolved and the café serves a steady flow of customers—for now. DiLorenzo is refusing to renew the café's lease, and is charging Lewis property tax increases.
State Assemblyman Keith Wright has gotten involved in the case, which he described as "a huge corporation with an army of lawyers against one black woman."
"This is a landlord we in the Harlem community have been keeping our eye on for years, basically ever since the Happyland fire killed 87 people in the Bronx," said Assemblyman Wright. "In the past, some of Mr. DiLorenzo's buildings have had as many as 2,000 housing code violations, so there is a record of gross negligence on his part."
Assemblyman Wright has tried to arrange a meeting with DiLorenzo and Lewis, but DiLorenzo has not responded.
DiLorenzo also did not respond with comment for this article.
Wright believes that ALDO Properties and DiLorenzo want to turn the commercial strip, including Home Sweet Harlem Café, into a massive laundromat.
That, he said, would be a tragedy.
"Home Sweet Harlem Café adds to character of the neighborhood," Wright said.
Café customer Magali Lee said, "No way this place can close down, it's a wonderful eatery. The neighborhood has been changing and old timers as well as new comers love this place."
Lee was enjoying breakfast at the café with her family on April 23—a Sunday tradition she hopes to continue, she said.
A Larger Problem
Lewis says her case is indicative of a much greater problem currently facing Harlem.
"Landlords are increasingly using legal tactics to push out community businesses all around Harlem in order to make room for investors with deeper pockets," she said.
Our Cleaners next to Home Sweet Harlem Café was also affected by the stench, which originated from their basement and stuck to the clothes they dry cleaned, said Lewis. For months, they also lost customers and couldn't pay their rent. They were also not allowed to renew their lease and faced eviction, losing in court to DiLorenzo and ALDO Properties when they tried to fight it. Our Cleaners officially closed on March 1.
"The most annoying thing about all of this is that there are still open code violations on my building, and on other buildings that ALDO Properties III owns," said Lewis, "yet the city doesn't use the legal tools at its disposal. The landlords use all of the legal tools at their disposal, and why shouldn't the city use their tools to force problem landlords to shape up or ship out."
No date has been set for Lewis' eviction, which she does plan to appeal.
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