Bedford-Stuyvesant buyers say contractor is slow and shoddy
BY ELIZABETH HAYSDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, November 11th 2007, 4:00 AM

When Ben Sangare first spotted the new Bedford-Stuyvesant home he won in an affordable housing lottery, he was so stunned by his good fortune he got into a fender bender.
Now, more than two years later, Sangare feels less lucky.
Delight Construction, the community developer behind the project, still hasn't finished Sangare's Lexington Ave. house and five others in the neighborhood, despite taking the buyers' down payments - and getting nearly $2.2 million in government subsidies.
Meanwhile, the owners of some of the 23 Bedford-Stuyvesant homes Delight did complete last year have been locked in a battle over chronic leaks and allegedly shoddy work - which they charge the contractor has been slow to fix.
"I'm disgusted," said Sangare, 40, a train dispatcher who still rents a Bronx apartment and began applying for the city-run affordable home lotteries in 1999.
"I still want to get in the home, but now I'm worried that it's going to be a nightmare," added Sangare, who put down $13,000 in July 2005.
A Daily News investigation of the city's building boom this year uncovered other city-subsidized projects riddled with problems. The projects go to the lowest bidder, encouraging contractors to cut corners, The News found.
In Bedford-Stuyvesant, the problems range from loose windows that won't stay open to mold and buckled facades due to chronic leaks.
"The quality of the workmanship and the materials are very poor," said Shanita Wells, 39, who bought a Delight home on Clifton Place and has spent hours writing letters and making phone calls about the problems.
Sue Lee, 62, who lives next-door, said the first time she used the third-floor bathroom, water came pouring through the second-floor ceiling.
When a plumber cut a hole to find the problem, he discovered that a large connecting pipe had never been installed, Lee said.
"He was shocked," said Lee. "He couldn't believe they didn't finish the job, but they sealed the ceiling."
Nearby, Sandra Jones discovered that workers had failed to provide ventilation for her boiler.
"I don't know how that passed inspection," said Jones.
Delight's owner, Mohammed Aziz, denied the allegations and insisted the delays were beyond his control.
Aziz also said there are always small kinks in new construction, but he quickly responded to complaints at the two-family homes, which went for $239,000 to $260,000.
"Do you think that any other developer can build a house for $247,000?" asked Aziz, adding that the downpayments for the delayed homes are in escrow. "They act like they are the owners, but I'm the one paying the interest. I'm the one losing money."
Officials from the Housing Preservation and Development Dept., which oversees the project and provided the land for $1,000 a parcel, said they are pressuring Delight to finish the remaining homes and make repairs.
"The new homeowners have a right to expect a quality home as well as an affordable one," said spokesman Neill Coleman, adding that the city is reconsidering another Delight contract in light of the complaints.
Daniel Martin, president of the nonprofit Housing Partnership, which set up the financing, said: "We understand the homeowners' concerns, and we believe they are legitimate concerns."
Aziz, who said he has lost more than $1 million from spiraling construction costs, shortfalls and delays in government subsidies, insisted he has successfully completed dozens of other projects across the city.
"If there is anyone who has profited in this whole process, it's the homeowners, because they are sitting in gold," said his lawyer, Jasleen Anand.