Jake Robbins, Contributing Photographer

Union organizer Esther Fesale led tenants holding signs reading “Tenant Power” and “Respect Tenants” in a chant — “Who got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Union power!” — close to the Sunset Ridge Apartment complex on Thursday. 

Sunset Ridge tenants held a press conference with local officials to call for Capital Realty Group, a New York-based property management company that owns thousands of units across the country, to stop alleged anti-unionizing efforts and address maintenance concerns at the New Haven apartment complex. 

“We are here with those simple reminders that despite rumors to the contrary, the right to free speech and freedom of assembly remains sacred and essential in this state and in this country,” Peter Fousek DIV ’23, the secretary-treasurer of CT Tenants Union, said at the press conference. “That means that you can talk to your neighbors about what’s wrong in your place, what might be wrong at theirs too, and about what you can do together to fix that.” 

The action at the Sunset Ridge complex came just over two months after tenants at the Park Ridge Apartments, which is also managed by Capitol Realty Group, formed New Haven’s ninth tenants union on Aug. 6. In recent months, residents of Capitol Realty Group properties across the country have alleged unsafe conditions, intimidation and retaliation for their efforts to unionize. 

Capital Realty Group did not respond to the News’ requests for comment about the allegations raised by tenants and union organizers at the Thursday press conference. 

The press conference was originally planned to take place in front of the Sunset Ridge management office, but was moved due to fears of retaliation, Luke Melonakos, the vice president of CT Tenants Union, said. Instead, with a homeowner’s permission, organizers held the press conference in the front yard of a house beside the complex entrance, creating what a press release described as a safer and more welcoming space to gather. 

Three residents spoke at the press conference, sharing their accounts of poor living conditions and intimidation from management and their hopes for stronger tenant protections. 

“When I first moved here, it was a beautiful place,” April Hedge, who said she has lived in the Sunset Ridge Apartments for 21 years, said at the press conference. “When Capital took it over, like four, five years ago, I started seeing the downfall.” 

Hedge said that when mice began to appear in her unit, Capital Realty Group staff told her they would not be able to send help for months. 

“I am really sad that you guys are experiencing all of these situations, especially all of the intimidation that we have from Sunset Ridge,” Cynthia Vega, another resident, said at the press conference. “They don’t really want to help us get rid of mold, get rid of mice or get rid of all of the unsafe conditions we have.” 

Vega described feeling increasingly concerned as management installed more cameras around the buildings and sent maintenance staff to monitor the tenants, calling the management “abusive” in their treatment of residents. 

Tenants and organizers accused the realty group of attempting to stifle union activity through intimidation tactics and surveillance. They said management called the police on residents discussing unionization, issued “no trespassing” orders to tenant advocates and towed cars without notice. 

Mona Mahadevan ’23, a reporter for the New Haven Independent, said she was told she was banned from the Sunset Ridge property by a Capital Realty Group lawyer. Melonakos and Hannah Srajer, the president of CT Tenants Union, were issued no trespassing notices on Oct. 2 after speaking with over 100 tenants from the 312-unit complex, Melonakos said. 

“I am proud to see the kind of energy and courage that tenants have to stand up and talk truth to power,” Mayor Justin Elicker said at the press conference. “To stand up and tell your story and not be intimated, that takes a lot of courage.” 

Elicker said that Capital Realty Group had failed to address 38 complaints filed by tenants with the Livable City Initiative, New Haven’s housing code enforcement agency. Capital Realty Group does not have a residential licensing permit and has not responded to the city’s notices about the complaints, Elicker said. 

The Sunset Ridge Apartments are located at 17 Mountain Ridge Terrace. 

Kade Gadjusek contributed reporting.