Tenants Union — & Mayor — Protest Outside Landlord’s Office

by Laura Glesby

Mayor Justin Elicker: “Fix the problems, and then, yeah, you can have a moderate increase in rent. But not fixing the problem, that’s just not okay.”

“He gets his rent from everybody on time, but he doesn’t want to do no work,” said tenant Cheryl Stevenson.

Members of the Q Ave Tenants Union aren’t backing down from their demand for a meeting with their landlord — and now, they have the mayor on their side.

Over a dozen tenants union members and allies rallied outside the 350 Orange St. office of Hammock Home Management under Wednesday afternoon’s hot sun, calling for their landlord — Hammock owner Yohay Levram — to recognize their union, cancel rent increases, and address maintenance and infestation concerns across their east-side complex.

The Q Ave Tenants Union represents residents of the 40-unit apartment complex at 1275-1291 Quinnipiac Ave. and 530-554 Eastern St.

Since 2018, the complex has been owned by a limited liability company called Kings NH LLC. The holding company was once controlled by Shmuel Aizenberg, the owner of local megalandlord Ocean Management. While the property was never sold, Kings NH LLC transferred managers in 2024 from Aizenberg to Levram — the head of Hammock Home Management, who happens to have been a former Ocean employee.

Levram’s role at the helm of Kings NH LLC is why the tenants union organized their protest outside Hammock’s office at 350 Orange St. on Wednesday afternoon — just as they did during a similar downtown picket in November 2024.

“The message to Hammock Home and Yohay Levram is very simple. Come, sit down, recognize the union, deal with the problems. Let’s make a deal,” said CT Tenants Union Vice President Luke Melonakos. “It doesn’t have to be a battle if you actually come to the table and recognize your responsibilities as a landlord.”

Echoing a protest they had held at the apartment complex less than two weeks ago, tenants said on Wednesday that heat in the building has been unreliable, among other maintenance and appliance concerns. They said that mold, mice, and roaches have infested the building. They said that tenants had received verbal warnings of rent increases, somewhere between $100 and $200 a month. And one tenant said she had received an eviction threat over an already-cashed rent check.

They called on Levram to meet with them.

Levram, meanwhile, disputed these claims in an emailed statement.

Noting that the building is 97.5 percent occupied, wrote that “rent increases at this property were nominal (none even close to $200, as suggested in the previous Independent article). Most of the tenants that were up for renewal had not seen any increases for 2 or 3 years, and their rents post-increases, without exception, are still substantially below the Fair Market Rent standard, as set by the Section 8 program.”

He also wrote that “there are no open work orders other than in a couple of units” whose residents “failed to respond to repeated attempts to schedule,” and said that there is a full-time super at the building.

And he said that his company is in the process of installing new insulation and Google Nest thermostats in tenants’ apartments in order to cut down gas bills, having already done so in the Quinnipiac Avenue side of the complex.

“Contrary to the script being repeated to you, Hammock is a proactive and attentive property management company,” said Levram. “While New Haven has certainly seen its share of bad actors, the folks who desire to cast us in that same light seem to be intent on baiting Hammock into a manufactured controversy.”

The tenants — and the mayor — protesting on Wednesday had a different take.

“I am proud of my space. I am proud of my home,” said tenant Avery Amacher. “And it’s incredibly disappointing to know that the people who own it do not care about it, do not care about us as tenants, do not respect us.”

“At our last rally, Yohay decided to respond to the press and not to us,” Amacher said, calling out the landlord for avoiding the union despite saying that “his door is always open to us.”

“Yohay, you never returned my calls,” echoed resident and union leader (and Fair Rent Commission member) Hope Vaughn.

Mayor Justin Elicker spoke at the rally in support of the union as well.

“If you pay your check, and the check’s cashed, you deserve to be in a nice place,” Elicker said. “And the reality is that Hammock — which is part of the new rendition of Ocean Management, which has frankly been a problem around the city — Hammock is not holding up to its promise to its tenants.”

“I’ve heard stories about rodent infestation. I’ve heard stories about mold. I’ve heard stories about, with all that, now they’re raising the rent even more, which just seems crazy to me,” said Elicker. “Fix the problems, and then, yeah, you can have a moderate increase in rent. But not fixing the problem, that’s just not okay.”

The tenants then proceeded to march and chant outside Hammock’s building, garnering the occasional honk, wave, or peace sign of support from rush hour drivers.

“Mold, mice, vermin, trash! What are you doing with our cash?” the tenant activists chanted. “We pay rent for a place to live! Hammock Home, something’s gotta give!”

After the protest’s conclusion, several activists stayed behind to post flyers around nearby blocks with the demand: “Hammock Home: Meet with your tenants and negotiate fairly!”

Tenants Gregory Edwards and Avery Amacher with CT Tenants Union Vice President Luke Melonakos.

Union activists leave flyers on Grove, Whitney, Audubon, and Orange Street.