Pinnacle Tenants Union sits down with new ownership and mayor's office to negotiate for better living conditions
Although a judge ruled that the city could not block the sale of the 93 buildings to new owner Summit, city officials have taken an unprecedented step to protect residents.
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One hundred days into Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, the issue that defined his first day in office—the fate of the troubled Pinnacle buildings and the thousands of tenants living in them—has reached a critical turning point.
Although a judge ruled that the city could not block the sale of the 93 buildings to new owner Summit, city officials have taken an unprecedented step to protect residents.
Members of the Pinnacle Tenants Union met with representatives from the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and executives from Summit to negotiate terms for the transition.
At the center of the talks is the tenant union’s request that Summit formally recognize the union and enter into collective bargaining. Residents say this is essential to ensuring accountability as the new landlord takes control of buildings long plagued by severe maintenance issues.
Tenants are also pressing Summit to honor commitments made in court, including repairing half of the thousands of open housing code violations by June 1 and addressing the remainder within six months. Many of those violations involve conditions tenants describe as unsafe or unlivable—problems Mamdani saw firsthand during his first official visit to the properties on Day One of his term.
In addition to repairs, residents are seeking clearer communication about ongoing work, a voice in decisions about building staffing, and other measures they say are necessary for a “fresh start” under new ownership.
According to the Tenants Union, the commitments won include:
Meeting once every two weeks, and once every month with all decision-makers, including representatives from Summit, Strada, REM and New Amsterdam management
Affirmation that Summit will meet the timeline of repairs that it swore to in court
Commitment to transparency of budgets for common and building-wide repairs
Using licensed contractors for repairs
Union decision-making over supers and porters
No late fees on rents during the transition
More concrete commitments to give tenants the dignity they deserve
There are a few commitments tenants will hear back on in one week:
Union recognition and a bargaining process: Recognize the union that is organizing in 80% of buildings in Summit’s new portfolio as tenants’ bargaining representative and agree to negotiate in good faith
Show good faith by committing to:
Allow tenants to add themselves to their leases for 120 days, so families know they have the stability of a long-term home and the protections of rent-stabilization they are entitled to under state succession law.
Not to pursue back rent from tenants who withheld rent from Pinnacle because of neglect, extensively documented rent-impairing violations in their homes.
“Tenants feel confident that Summit will soon assess its position, recognize the power of the tenant union, the support they have from the city, the Mamdani administration, HPD, the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, as well as the public, and they feel confident and agree to participate in this process in good faith. And they should know we are preparing for their answer,” a spokesperson for the Tenants Union wrote in a statement.
In a statement to News 12, Summit LLC wrote, “We had a productive conversation and we look forward to working with our residents to improve the portfolio.”
