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A prominent Brooklyn couple accused of illegally trying to boot tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic have agreed to turn over their $2 million property to the city so that it can be converted into affordable housing, according to a settlement Wednesday.

The city filed suit against the landlords — so-called “eco-builder” Gennaro Brooks-Church and his ex-wife and, former yoga studio guru, Loretta Gendville — in November 2020 after they were accused of harassing the tenants of their Crown Heights brownstone.

The pair were accused of trying to boot their tenants despite a pandemic-related state eviction moratorium.

A month later, the city filed another suit claiming the pair was running shoddy, illegal Airbnb rentals of out of nine buildings.

On Wednesday, the duo settled both cases in agreeing to turn over the building at 1214 Dean Street worth $2 million so that it can be converted into affordable housing, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Mayor Eric Adams said in a joint press release.

They also agreed to fork over another $250,000 – half of which will go to the AG’s Affordable Housing Fund and the other half to be paid as penalties. The pair is also barred from running illegal short-term rentals ever again under the agreement.


  The Brooklyn property is is worth $2 million. Paul Martinka The Brooklyn property is is worth $2 million. Paul Martinka

Brooks-Church and Gendville also settled with their former tenants and have agreed to pay them for their alleged illegal eviction, officials said.

Gennaro Brooks-Church
Gennaro Brooks-Church and his ex-wife were also accused of running illegal Airbnb rentals out of nine buildings. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

“These landlords may have been sending a loving and peaceful message out publicly, but they were kicking tenants to the curb privately,” the mayor said in a prepared statement. “Today’s settlement sends a clear message to slumlords everywhere in the city: Cruel and illegal behavior will not be tolerated, and, as long as I am mayor, you will never get away with putting tenants at risk.”

“During a period of unprecedented global struggle, Brooks-Church and Gendville callously forced New Yorkers from their homes,” James said in a statement. “We have long seen these types of harmful housing scams, especially in Central Brooklyn, where people make a business out of unfairly and inhumanely pushing others out of their homes.”

Brooks-Church and Gendville didn’t admit to any liability in agreeing to settle the cases, the court papers show.

“The matter was settled without the need for protracted and expensive litigation and without any admission of liability,” the landlords’ lawyer Kenneth Fisher said in a statement. “It was a good outcome.”

The incident made headlines in the summer of 2020 after a group of protesters sought to stop the alleged illegal evictions. The city opened up an investigation into the matter soon after.

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