The tenants of 53 Broadway are having a tough time. Though they were promised a 24-hour doorman, a 24-hour parking lot manned by an attendant, and other building maintenance in exchange for their $4,000-a-month rent, these things have reportedly been denied to them, and now they're going on a rent strike! A new target for the "Pay Your Rent!" protestors, perhaps?

Brownstoner reports that about half the residents of the South Williamsburg building plan to withhold rent for the time being, over complaints of "incredibly high electric bills, problems with their parking lot and not having a promised 24-hour doorman." Apparently, electrical bills have been running higher than $1,000 for tenants in 3-bedrooms, which is more than a little nuts. More importantly, the tenants' doorman was unexpectedly switched to part-time not long after the building debuted in August, plus the promised parking lot turned out to be a bunch of slots that annoyingly keep cars blocked in.

"We were asked to give the other tenants with parking spots our phone numbers and be on call 24 hours a day and would be responsible to return home to move our cars within a one hour window so if you were blocking someone they would be able to get their car out,” a driver told the site in March.

We contacted the building's management company for comment, but were referred to an answering machine instead of the promised operator on the line. It's unclear how long the tenants, whose rents START at $2,704 for a one-bed and at $4,216 for a two-bed, will be striking. I once considered withholding rent when I didn't have heat until January, so #solidarity.



